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Can't decide between those basses

Which one ?

  • Total voters
    60
#21
Scavel said:
You guys actually made me love my SX again, I thought It was awful but after giving it a time I started to like it, the strings are very high, I will give it to luthier If he can make the fretboard feel easy, I will keep it and save money for Fender basses because those basses won't make any difference IMO. Thanks for the information :)
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True story - I had a friend who was selling her bass because it didn't seem to feel right to her, it was very difficult for her to play on. She was new to the instrument so I thought I would help her and give my feedback on what to look for in a bass but to bring her current bass with her one day. She came over, and I'm not kidding you, the strings were almost 3/4 inch above the fretboard and had a bow to it- she had bought it used. I adjusted it (thankfully the truss rod was still good), lowered the strings and gave her the bass the following day. It played so differently, she thought I switched out the neck. lol. It played so much better -she absolutely loved it and decided to keep it- it was perfect for her so I gave her tips on what to look for and how to adjust the bass in the future.
What I recommend if you can, is to sit in with the luthier and watch him adjust the neck/truss rod and string height. I would not recommend doing it yourself at first if you're not familiar with the process- you can break the truss rod on your bass and mess up your neck if you don't do it right. Maybe for the first time, get an idea of what a well set up bass feels and sounds like. At some point, it would be something you should learn to do on your own as temperature, string change, other factors will probably affect the neck later on down the road and will need a little adjustment. As mentioned above, lots of videos and instructions on it, but I would recommend having it down professionally this first time and watch how they do it if you can.
 
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#23
Maxdusty said:
True story - I had a friend who was selling her bass because it didn't seem to feel right to her, it was very difficult for her to play on. She was new to the instrument so I thought I would help her and give my feedback on what to look for in a bass but to bring her current bass with her one day. She came over, and I'm not kidding you, the strings were almost 3/4 inch above the fretboard and had a bow to it- she had bought it used. I adjusted it (thankfully the truss rod was still good), lowered the strings and gave her the bass the following day. It played so differently, she thought I switched out the neck. lol. It played so much better -she absolutely loved it and decided to keep it- it was perfect for her so I gave her tips on what to look for and how to adjust the bass in the future.
What I recommend if you can, is to sit in with the luthier and watch him adjust the neck/truss rod and string height. I would not recommend doing it yourself at first if you're not familiar with the process- you can break the truss rod on your bass and mess up your neck if you don't do it right. Maybe for the first time, get an idea of what a well set up bass feels and sounds like. At some point, it would be something you should learn to do on your own as temperature, string change, other factors will probably affect the neck later on down the road and will need a little adjustment. As mentioned above, lots of videos and instructions on it, but I would recommend having it down professionally this first time and watch how they do it if you can.
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Yeah will do that, I actually never had time to take care of my bass, that's the reason I was using my friend's bass for the gigs, I've tried squier and fender they felt great to play string height might be the biggest issue on my bass, bought it used also so looks like your friend i have same issue.
 
#25
DigitalMan said:
If ever there was a selection that suggested buying used to move up a rung of the ladder this is it.
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Scavel said:
I don't know why my sx keybord doesn't feel right maybe the problem is my bass, i have played squier which felt a lot more easy to play rather than my sx, the reason I have these 3 options are I will buy second hand these are the basses in my city in my price range. Don't you think squier would be better for blues? Thank you for the reply
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His list is a list of used instruments in his city. He's in Turkey.
 
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#26
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#30
SX instruments are not "iffy at best."

I have 7 basses, and two of them are SX basses. One of the SX instruments is my favorite and gets the most gig time. And two of my current students also have SX basses, one of them gigs regularly (she used to take bass lessons from me, but currently is taking guitar lessons). She uses a short scale and has not found anything that she likes better.

SX instruments are at least equal to any instrument within about three times their price range (probably even more than that), as long as they are set up well.
 
#33
Well I gave my SX to luthier hope it becomes much beter, I will not sell it, not considering to buy a new bass, after giving it to luthier, went to a music shop asked him about SX if it's better than squier, he said SX is the cheapest bass you can have and cannot be compared to squier basses, tried out a squier fretboard felt great, he said SX is really bad but maybe he said it in order to sell squiers because he didn't have any SX basses.
 
#34
Scavel said:
Well I gave my SX to luthier hope it becomes much beter, I will not sell it, not considering to buy a new bass, after giving it to luthier, went to a music shop asked him about SX if it's better than squier, he said SX is the cheapest bass you can have and cannot be compared to squier basses, tried out a squier fretboard felt great, he said SX is really bad but maybe he said it in order to sell squiers because he didn't have any SX basses.
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Look, I'm no luthier, but I've played and/or owned enough budget instruments to know what I know. SX instruments are a great instrument for the price, if set up well. It is possible that your instrument is a "lemon" but that happens with most manufacturers from time to time, until you get into the really high prices. Squiers are generally great for the price too, but aren't really that much different than an SX. And before the Squier CV owners flame me, there are different price/quality levels of SX basses too. If I were you, I'd either get your SX set up by a pro, or do some online research and do it myself, before I even thought about selling it.
 
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#35
oldcatfish said:
Look, I'm no luthier, but I've played and/or owned enough budget instruments to know what I know. SX instruments are a great instrument for the price, if set up well. It is possible that your instrument is a "lemon" but that happens with most manufacturers from time to time, until you get into the really high prices. Squiers are generally great for the price too, but aren't really that much different than an SX. And before the Squier CV owners flame me, there are different price/quality levels of SX basses too. If I were you, I'd either get your SX set up by a pro, or do some online research and do it myself, before I even thought about selling it.
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With setup what exactly you mean ? changing pops ?
 
#36
oldcatfish said:
Look, I'm no luthier, but I've played and/or owned enough budget instruments to know what I know. SX instruments are a great instrument for the price, if set up well. It is possible that your instrument is a "lemon" but that happens with most manufacturers from time to time, until you get into the really high prices. Squiers are generally great for the price too, but aren't really that much different than an SX. And before the Squier CV owners flame me, there are different price/quality levels of SX basses too. If I were you, I'd either get your SX set up by a pro, or do some online research and do it myself, before I even thought about selling it.
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After I take it back from the luthier, I will give you my opinions on SX
 
#37
oldcatfish said:
SX instruments are at least equal to any instrument within about three times their price range (probably even more than that), as long as they are set up well.
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Why don't they sell for 3x the amount then? Because they need work? And if you pay for a pro setup, you are virtually adding 1/3 to a 1/2 of the money you spent on the bass to do it.

There is a reason they sell basses that cheap. It's because a lot less is put into the workmanship, wood, parts, and so on. Serviceable, yes. Beginner instrument, check. Not a lifelong instrument I would want to own though.
 
#38
Scavel said:
Well I gave my SX to luthier hope it becomes much beter, I will not sell it, not considering to buy a new bass, after giving it to luthier, went to a music shop asked him about SX if it's better than squier, he said SX is the cheapest bass you can have and cannot be compared to squier basses, tried out a squier fretboard felt great, he said SX is really bad but maybe he said it in order to sell squiers because he didn't have any SX basses.
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If he does his job correctly, it should feel and play just as well as the Squier Affinity Jazz. The SX is not bad...lol. I think you're right, he's only saying it so he can sell you one. I just hope it doesn't affect the way he fixes your SX though.
It's going to change the playability of the instrument - it should be easier to play and you may just like it. Now in terms of comparing it to your friend's LTD, it's not going to sound like that because the LTD has a P/J pickup configuration. If the SX is playable, I would play it for a while and try to save up a little more money to get into that next level of basses. Ultimately, you'll see much bigger differences if you can pay a little bit more. Take your time though, this is where you can find out what features are most important to you and you'll have a better idea of what to look for when that time comes.
 
#39
Maxdusty said:
If he does his job correctly, it should feel and play just as well as the Squier Affinity Jazz. The SX is not bad...lol. I think you're right, he's only saying it so he can sell you one. I just hope it doesn't affect the way he fixes your SX though.
It's going to change the playability of the instrument - it should be easier to play and you may just like it. Now in terms of comparing it to your friend's LTD, it's not going to sound like that because the LTD has a P/J pickup configuration. If the SX is playable, I would play it for a while and try to save up a little more money to get into that next level of basses. Ultimately, you'll see much bigger differences if you can pay a little bit more. Take your time though, this is where you can find out what features are most important to you and you'll have a better idea of what to look for when that time comes.
Click to expand...
Luthier is actually someone else not related to music store, I wouldn't hand my bass to someone talks like that about it :D
 
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#40
FingerDub said:
Why don't they sell for 3x the amount then? Because they need work? And if you pay for a pro setup, you are virtually adding 1/3 to a 1/2 of the money you spent on the bass to do it.

There is a reason they sell basses that cheap. It's because a lot less is put into the workmanship, wood, parts, and so on. Serviceable, yes. Beginner instrument, check. Not a lifelong instrument I would want to own though.
Click to expand...

Actually, with many of the SX models, the wood is really nice. Hardware and pickups are cheap, but not too bad. And any instrument should have a pro setup, if the owner doesn't know how to do their own. I do my own setups and my SX basses actually required less setup work than some of my others did.

Lifelong instrument....I have 2 SX's and I plan on keeping them. They seem to be holding up as well as my other instruments. Of course, I do keep all of my instruments inside cases in a climate controlled room. Don't get me wrong, an SX is not in the same league as an American Fender or Musicman, but they are a lot better than their price would suggest.
 
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