Essex SX Pickups---amazing!

JimmyM · #1 04-01-2008, 04:06 AM

I got my second SX bass a couple days ago. My first is a sunburst 57 P copy. This one is a white PJ I bought for $90 because it was a blem. Had some scratches on the pickguard and two tiny dings on the upper bout that you can barely see. I would put more damage on it after two gigs, so yeah, I'll save $30.

I was pretty blown away by the pickup in my P, and this new bass is no exception. I couldn't believe how good the pickups sound, even the J. I was actually expecting to have to replace the J since it's single coil (I'm assuming) and I hate that single coil hum, but it was dead quiet. Even when it was soloed, there was no hum whatsoever. Haven't played it in a lot of places, of course, but the place I played it today is prone to single coil hum.

I have no clue why so many people buy these basses and the first thing they do is replace the pickups. The pickups are the best thing about them. And even the fretwork was good on this one. The only mods I'm going to do are Straploks and string tree. Everything else is staying as is. It's really unbelievable what $90 can get you these days...when I was a kid, $90 got you a heap of crap with a pickup. And now it gets you a totally usable Fender copy! Won't make you forget the feel of a vintage Fender, but it's not really supposed to, is it?

Ric5 · #2 04-01-2008, 05:58 AM

Some dude in China was really underpaid to make that bass ...

JimmyM · #3 04-01-2008, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ric5

Some dude in China was really underpaid to make that bass ...

Yeah, and I used to get paid $3 an hour to deliver pianos when I was 18. What's your point?

69nites · #4 04-01-2008, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ric5

Some dude in China was really underpaid to make that bass ...

people in china don't need money they're commies

69nites · #5 04-01-2008, 12:47 PM

it's not poor tone of the pickups it's that many people buy them with the intention of installing aftermarket pickups to get a specific tone.

jumbosilverette · #6 04-01-2008, 02:27 PM

I'm also a fan of SX pickups. Like others I thought before the bass arrived that the pickups were the weak link, so bought some SPB2's. After a/b'ing the stockers and the SD's I went back to the stock pickups. And you're right about quietness -- my Fender MIM jazz is noisier than it should be but the SX Jazz is stone quiet.

JimmyM · #7 04-01-2008, 10:40 PM

If SX ever sells those pickups separately, I'm going to buy a couple just to have them around. And if anyone has any they want to get rid of, PM me

69nites · #8 04-01-2008, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

If SX ever sells those pickups separately, I'm going to buy a couple just to have them around. And if anyone has any they want to get rid of, PM me

they pop up in the TB classifieds all the time.

they're normally really cheap.

you should post a WTB thread

JimmyM · #9 04-01-2008, 10:48 PM

Thanks but nah, WTB threads are just an invitation to get over-charged. I will check the classifieds, though.

Pickebass · #10 04-01-2008, 11:17 PM

I wasn't a fan of the pickups at first. Changed the pots from 500k to 250k and it made a huge difference.

69nites · #11 04-01-2008, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pickebass

I wasn't a fan of the pickups at first. Changed the pots from 500k to 250k and it made a huge difference.

I very much agree

if there's no bucker I strongly prefer 250k pots

but then again I strongly prefer buckers

MakiSupaStar · #12 04-01-2008, 11:20 PM

I just got a SX Jazz and I find the pups really lacking. I'm looking to get rid of them.

niftydog · #13 04-01-2008, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Yeah, and I used to get paid $3 an hour to deliver pianos when I was 18. What's your point?

Just to put it in perspective - the guy in China might be 38, with a family, and getting $6 a week.

JimmyM · #14 04-01-2008, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niftydog

Just to put it in perspective - the guy in China might be 38, with a family, and getting $6 a week.

He might. How about we quit buying products from SX and this guy will lose the best job he ever had and instead of $6 a week, he will make $0 a week? Would that make you happier?

niftydog · #15 04-02-2008, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Would that make you happier?

What makes me happy is when we can all respect each others opinions.

blizzard · #16 04-02-2008, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niftydog

Just to put it in perspective - the guy in China might be 38, with a family, and getting $6 a week.

Mind you thats not much money to you. It might be fairly significant to them.

diechris · #17 04-02-2008, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ric5

Some dude in China was really underpaid to make that bass ...

you mean some little kid?

....now when you were a kid and your parents paid you $5 a week to do yard work... would you rather have done yard work for $5 or make basses

JimmyM · #18 04-02-2008, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niftydog

What makes me happy is when we can all respect each others opinions.

Oh, so I have to agree with your opinion? I respect your right to have an opinion, but I don't necessarily have to respect the opinion itself, especially when it came barreling into a thread out of nowhere unsolicited and uninvited. This is a pickup thread, not a Chinese economy thread, but if you want to make me feel bad for buying a cheap bass, I'm going to defend myself. And if playing the "Can't we all respect each other" card is your way of arguing your point, you've lost.

Anyway, back on topic...what do 250k pots do for the tone? I've never been a big modder because the results are almost never as dramatic as advertised, and I never got what changing the pots to a lower resistance does.

DavePlaysBass · #19 04-02-2008, 08:18 AM

In passive basses, the pickup inductance reacts with the capacitance in the instrument cable. I'll spare the technical jargon and just say that a 500k pot changes this response relative to a 250k pot. The 500k pot will have a higher resonant peak right before dropping off like a rock (treble roll off). The 250k will still have a peak but it will be less pronounced.

I have some graphs. I can dig them up if interested. Not sure where they are at.

I have only simulated the response, never did and A/B. So as to whether or not you hear it, I don't know.

JimmyM · #20 04-02-2008, 08:26 AM

Ah, so the 250k pots just have a slower roll-off? I could live without that...I always dime it anyway.

BTW, I found one minor drawback to the SX pickups...the polepieces stick way out of the pickup and make it easy to clank the strings if you have them too close. A bit irritating but nothing I can't live with.