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Hate the new SX headstock?
- Thread starter mmbongo
- Start date
It's a fact that headstock design directly affects the way someone plays. My Lakland and Fender with their fantastic headstocks allow me to play with vigor, while my SX Ursa's headstock makes me play horrible.....
If I had $100 to buy a bass, I would be looking at pawn shops for Yamaha, Peavey, and Ibanez. The SX went out of fashion when the headstocks changed. Plain and simple. I know they are decent instruments especially for the price, but the truth is, they took a very nice design and screwed it up.
There will still be people to buy it because they don't have to take the pawn shop gamble but for whatever it's worth, Rondo has brought this upon itself. There were so many of us in the agile forum that tried to speak up against it. So how does a Rick 360 copy get made but they won't keep the bass headstock to a normal shape? Answer that and stay fashionable.
i know it shouldnt be this way, but i tend to opt for aesthetics as well.. dont get me wrong its not ALL i go for, but sometimes ill just skip past a bass if i dont like the way it looks... tis a shame i know.
yeah the headstock change annoys me, but that wouldnt deter me from from investing in an sx. i remember i didnt care for the headstock on my squier, and now i love it. i suppose its more of a process of growing to love an instrument for its playability, and accepting its aesthetics later. like an ugly girlfriend whos really good in bed.
yeah the headstock change annoys me, but that wouldnt deter me from from investing in an sx. i remember i didnt care for the headstock on my squier, and now i love it. i suppose its more of a process of growing to love an instrument for its playability, and accepting its aesthetics later. like an ugly girlfriend whos really good in bed.
The answer is simple. It's been called the "Dixie cup mod" because the first guy here to do this used a dixie cup of the right size to draw that circle that chops off the offending Ursa point. ALL my SX Ursa headstocks are now "Dixie cup" modded. And they look GREAT. Which is what Sam's is. It's simple to do. One jigsaw cut and some sanding. If the finish is natural just get some rub on minwax poly and give the sawed part a few coats. If it's a "nuclear orange" neck then first stain the wood with "colonial maple" stain to match and then give it the poly coats. The diameter of the rounded end isn't fixed. You need to find the right sized object to draw it. Dixie cup, tape roll, top to poofcan, etc. For example my 5 string Ursa took a much larger circle than the SX 6 string. Go figure. End result is BEEOOOTIFUL!
No shame on stage with this modded headstock, even though the mod on my old "canoe paddle" headstock was to a Fender shape as someone else just showed here. But the newer ones just don't have enough wood to do that.
When I actually play my $177.00 natural Ash 5 string SX jazz, the only part of the headstock I can see is the side and it looks just like the side of a jazz bass headstock.
The guitar tech I go to talked me out of the headstock reshape- he asked "do you like the way it sounds and feels?" and I do. I mentioned how good these instruments are for the price and he said "these instruments are good at any price!". This is a guy who builds basses for rockstars!
Now that SX uses canoe paddles for headstocks, I bet there will be a lot more FMIC MIM POS's sold.
I dislike ugly guitars as much as the next guy but its a tool to make music on. For $177.00 shipped you get something that looks and sounds like 90% of what a $1500.00 bass looks and sounds like and thats a pretty good deal in my book!
The guitar tech I go to talked me out of the headstock reshape- he asked "do you like the way it sounds and feels?" and I do. I mentioned how good these instruments are for the price and he said "these instruments are good at any price!". This is a guy who builds basses for rockstars!
Now that SX uses canoe paddles for headstocks, I bet there will be a lot more FMIC MIM POS's sold.
I dislike ugly guitars as much as the next guy but its a tool to make music on. For $177.00 shipped you get something that looks and sounds like 90% of what a $1500.00 bass looks and sounds like and thats a pretty good deal in my book!
Wow, good reason not to get a bass, because it's not "Fashionable" anymore.
Spare me.
I don't think you got what I was saying. I said they went out of fashion, meaning that a lot of people were buying them. If Rondo wants to get some customers back, the headstock shape has to be changed again. It was us at the agile forum that were informed first. We tried to suggest some decent headstock shapes but they were not approved, apparently.
My biggest problem with this is how can Rondo "listen to customers" and make a straight Rickenbacker copy and we get totally ignored about the headstock shape?
I have a $650.00 Traben Pheonix bass and I use my SX PJ combo bass more. It sound and feels so much better then the Traben. Thinking of selling the Traben.
There were choices for the headstock shape.
It was never a legal issue. Kurt never said it was a legal issue. And what company was SX infringing upon?Lot's of rumors get started this way. And even still, we offered plenty of other headstock shapes and we got some cross between an RG Ibanez and a Carvin.
There were choices for the headstock shape.
Lot's of rumors get started this way. And even still, we offered plenty of other headstock shapes and we got some cross between an RG Ibanez and a Carvin.
Of course. It's typical musician rumors. But obviously there is a grain of truth in there somewhere. The old headstocks are not sold in the US, but do seem to still be available in some other countries.
Why? I don't know. Maybe Kurt once worked for the gummint on the Philadelphia Experiment or maybe he played an old headstock SX bass secretly doing the bass parts on all the Beatles hits instead of Paul. Who knows what the truth really is if the people who know won't talk? Maybe they can't talk about it.
Point is if you don't like the Ursa all you can do is:
1. Buy an SX from another country.
2. Don't by an SX at all.
3. Buy a new aftermarket neck for it.
4. Get out the bandsaw.
My choice was # 4.
Some have been able to fit mighty mite necks on them. I don't think the rogue neck would be much of an improvement though.
+1
I choose to not buy them. It's more of a protest thing for me. I mean look at the guitars. Some are by "customer request". Well, aren't we customers? Why can't the bass players have a say in what gets offered, especially after we were solicited for ideas?
Kurt gets some input in the US versions as Team Intl only allows one distributer per country. He tells them what will and won't sell and Team sends what he tells them to. If there needs to be an adjustment made (i.e. the headstocks, pickup combinations, etc...), he makes suggestions and Team will comply (for the most part).
I am not here to say they are bad instruments, I'm not here to tell you Kurt is a bad guy, I am just dissapointed I guess.
