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Can someone explain SX basses to me?
- Thread starter Dbt25677
- Start date
It's funny-people complain about inexpensive basses being "junk" and high-end basses being "not worth the money". Silly wabbits.
Now, that's my way of thinking! I'll buy an SX, drop some coin into the project to get her into playing condition, and then build another bass with the leftover parts!
Riis
While I have never made either of the arguments that you point to, I would say that it makes a case for a consensus among many players that there is a sweet spot in the price/quality continuum where the bulk of people wind up feeling like they haven't overpaid for garbage OR luxury. I think the same holds true for many things: cars, tools, furniture, vacations, etc.
Yep...and I'd use it as a back-up to the bass I just rebuilt!
Riis
Franchisee: Twisted Logic / Idiotic Conclusions
Not necessarily. This would be true if the SAME people were making both statements. In reality, what I think you have is somewhat of a continuum based on what people value.
There are people like me, who don't mind spending a little time and money (the money I spend on my SX J type basses nowadays just goes for straploks, shielding foil, a switchpot for a series/parallel mod and a hipshot string tree) setting up a bass and like chunky necks (like an SX), there are others who want it basically the way they like it out of the box, those 2 groups do not have the same price sweet spot. In fact the second group is nonhomogeneous depending on what they consider essential for it to be "good".
Different strokes for different folks. But the good news, IMO, is that there are mfrs satisfying the whole spectrum of players.
Well, Zooberwerx, I spent an entire $120.00 plus or minus two dollars on this bass. The way to get to the point of a MIM Fender with one of these is to get one that has been modded quite a bit already for a quite cheap price and have some nice parts in your bin.
I found one cheap and bought it. The original bridge and tuners sucked and went away. The white pickguard didn't fit so I got a used tort guard. Had a MIM bridge and a set of Hipshot open-gear tuners sitting around so used them. Bought a set of US Fender knobs for it.
The guy I bought it from had the idea but didn't go far enough. I was able to finish it and it's a great bass.
I found one cheap and bought it. The original bridge and tuners sucked and went away. The white pickguard didn't fit so I got a used tort guard. Had a MIM bridge and a set of Hipshot open-gear tuners sitting around so used them. Bought a set of US Fender knobs for it.
The guy I bought it from had the idea but didn't go far enough. I was able to finish it and it's a great bass.
Excellent! FWIW, the tuners are worth more than the bass itself...your junk drawer has better stuff than mine. In all fairness, sounds as if the bodies are not all that bad.
Riis
I have purchased 4 sx basses; 2 for me, and 2 short scales for relatives. I also have currently other budget models to compare them to....Squier vm jazz, Peavey USA Fury p bass, Serling SUB ray4, etc.
The SX are out of the box very comparable to my other basses...some things are better, some are not. But, they are very decent basses as is for beginner and intermediate players, or as a back up/ light duty instrument for gigging musicians. And they can be modded very easily into fantastic main instruments for advanced players. Just look at the body of an sx...and then price a similar body from Warmoth, and you'll see what I mean. are they comparable to high end instruments...not out of the box, but yes with appropriate mods. I haven't modded any of mine because I haven't felt the need to. And I only had to do very minor set ups on the ones that I purchased...far less involved than on any of my others.
My only regret about buying them is this...that I didn't find out about them before.
The SX are out of the box very comparable to my other basses...some things are better, some are not. But, they are very decent basses as is for beginner and intermediate players, or as a back up/ light duty instrument for gigging musicians. And they can be modded very easily into fantastic main instruments for advanced players. Just look at the body of an sx...and then price a similar body from Warmoth, and you'll see what I mean. are they comparable to high end instruments...not out of the box, but yes with appropriate mods. I haven't modded any of mine because I haven't felt the need to. And I only had to do very minor set ups on the ones that I purchased...far less involved than on any of my others.
My only regret about buying them is this...that I didn't find out about them before.
I have 4 of them - maybe five, can't remember, lol. I've modded nearly every one with just a couple dollars worth of CTS pots, some foil shielding, filed the nuts, the occasional bridge or two, etc. Solid modding platform if that is your thing - makes for a sweet sounding & solid performing instrument. Quite the workhorse. I love the 70's pickup spacing (ala Geddy Jazz) on all of them. Gives a great, low-mid push & growl to the tone. I don't play them as much as I used to or probably should because I prefer a humbucker tone for the stuff I am doing lately, but these aren't going anywhere - they have me covered for a great sounding jazz bass single coil tone (70's style to boot). 
Yeah I know about the tuners Zooberwerx. They came off my U.S. G&L L-2000 as I replaced those with straight shaft long stem Schallers (don't like how the Hipshots force the strings down and the chrome shafts look better than aluminum to me.) I agree that's overkill on a SX but it's not likely to leave my possession with those on there.
The body and neck on mine are excellent.
The body and neck on mine are excellent.
Well, I guess I'm not in my right mind then. I've got a MIM Fender, I've got Squier and I've got about seven SX.
Now what you say is without a doubt true about the components. If you get a cheap version SX with the bent metal bridge it's junk. It has no slots for saddles and they slide all over the place and you end up prying on them. Fixing that for me is big money...like say $20 for a musicman clone bride. And anyway, better SX models have nice high mass bridges even though sometime B string hole needs drilled but I think I can handle that.
And yes, tuners are stiff/loose if that bothers you. They do work though. And the plastic nut isn't something to write home about, but a graphtech nut really brings the bass alive for a few bucks. And yes pots and jack are cheap but nice ones aren't that much and you forgot to mention the fact that there is NO shielding, so add that too.
As for frets? Sometimes they are fine. Sometimes there are high ones. Just the luck of the draw. Ive got a set of fret files and a dremel.
But what about wood? Here's the thing that makes SX worth fooling with. Three supernice piece of Ash or Alder which if you get lucky look like a $3000 bass. And if you don't the grain/color doesn't match but it's still a great sounding/playing bass. Compare to my MIM Fender.
My MIM no doubt came with a GREAT neck. Nothing needed. But the body? 12 or 15 pieces of Alder glued together like some scrap-heap bass. Then the whole mess covered with alder veneer so nobody notices the scrap wood construction. And how did it sound? Lousy! Semi-floppy B, nasty pickups and still some hum left. Yes, it's wonderful now but it took new pickups, shield job, new nut, and electronics mod. And you know what? I STILL like to play my SX better because they have a neck profile I prefer and they sound great too and I didn't have to lay out the cash for new pickups.
And I have a Squire too. Great neck. But again terrible shielding, and HORRIBLE pickups. Had to change it all out. In the end I'm spending hundreds of dollars I never need to spend on SX and it still only has an agathis body. And yes, I know tonewood doesn't matter (much) but it still doesn't have that right "feel" to me. And worse the body is the one thing that it doesn't make sense to upgrade. And THAT is why I much prefer to upgrade SX than Squire because when you are done you have something with the potential to be really nice.
Really nice like my 6 string SX I converted to fretless. This bass just KILLS! Looks, hardware, wood, you name it. And sure it may not quite be like a nice Low End but I wasn't shelling out thousands for it either.
So yes, I'm an SX fanboy and no, I really do NOT like my MIM or Squiers nearly as much even when upgraded to decent status. Neither seemed to respond anywhere near as well as SX does to upgrades.
The only major fail of SX is when the gig absolutely calls for a Fender-shaped headstock.
