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NBD: SX Ursa 1 JR Short Scale B Stock

Jan 23, 2016
269
428
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Bronx, NY
I guess Kurt over at Rondo(SX' distributor) knew I needed a short scale bass on a budget so that I can continue to practice(minor nerve damage in fretting wrist), and lo and behold the fine instrument you see here appeared....yeah right :) I was just lucky enough to see this just as he posted it I guess and I snatched it up ;) Normally I avoid B stock items as the damage is sometimes severe...but when I read that it was only a 1 1/2" finish crack in the bass side neck pocket, I decided to take a chance as it was an easy return if it was too bad. Well, it was a great gamble that paid off! I can hardly see the "crack" even in good light...it took several shots with full flash to even get a pic of it, so the "damage" was almost non existent, I might just try to buff it out, or not.

This is not my first Rondo instrument, not by a long shot, as I have been buying their Fender Strat style guitars for modding for nearly 10 years now, and still continue to do so(I mod guitars as a hobby). This Ursa 1 JR is a really fine example of just what you can get for under or at $100.00US...if you buy from a reputable source that is. The neck is simply gorgeous with really nice figuring/flaming all over, the fret board included! The pics do it no justice, it's amazing to look at, and it feels great to boot. The rest of the paint on the body was equally nice. It had almost perfect intonation out of the box, plus it sounds, at least to my untrained (yet) ears, sweet. At least as good as my Peavey Fury, and that really surprised me, no doubt. The weight is 7.6 pounds according to my digital luggage scale, and the smaller body is nice to hold, it doesn't feel like a kids toy to me(I'm also 5' 6" so....). I need to change out the strings and that should only help out the sound and feel even more. All told it's all the bass I need at the moment, and I am really happy I took the plunge and grabbed it. Let me know what you think thanks!

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I must say that the factory(ies) that make the vintage series basses do seem to have remarkable attention to the finish details. The Hadean models, not so much.
All of the Vintage Series guitar's I've gotten with only a few exceptions always make me smile when I get them in. They really are worth much more than their price tags say :) The Hadean's are simply cheaper than the Vintage, in every way. But the higher priced Hadean's aren't too bad, at least worth a shot more so than the under $100.00 ones. With Rondo it's always a crap shoot, but the odds are in your favor ;)
 
Sorry, I have a Douglas Sculptor 5 not a Hadean. You can see the cost cutting mostly in the routing of cavities and the hardware (screws etc). The active EQ is also a bit bizarre but the sound and play ability is very good.The frets needed some dressing due to marks and rough spots but had nice smooth ends. All in all worth the $135 i paid for a back up 5 string.
 
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Looks good to me!You'll never notice that small spot.
Considering I paid a paltry $79.00 for this means that I wouldn't care even if I did notice it(which I honestly don't) ;) The neck alone is worth more than that for real. I'm a happy camper now that I've gotten 2 practices in with it and feel zero pain in my wrist so it solves a huge problem for me and it's looking great while doing it :) Oh, and did I mention it also came with a cheap but FREE gig bag...? Really, I sometimes don't know how Rondo makes any money at all....
 
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Nice buy! I just got a fair deal on the 'bay for an SX JR natural with maple neck and black block inlays. Sadly, when I was flipping out the string nut (I play strings upside down) the nut cracked. Nice thing is-- Rondo Music had replacement nuts for the JR for $3.00 each. So I sent for two. Do you think the GraphTech Tusq J bass nuts would fit this bass?

Also, I bought a pair of D'Addario XL Short Scale nickel strings from Amazon for $14.99 and free shipping. Prime. I will post a picture once I get the new string nut and string mine up.

Once again, nice score! How are you liking it so far?
 
Here's a pic of my score on eBay. I really like it! Great bass for the money. The only downside is that the pole pieces on the neck pickup fell into the pickup and the bottom end is non-existent or very weak. I was very disappointed because I'm not very good on bass maintenance. But I'm going to take the pickup out of the body this weekend and see if I can get the poles back up where they belong. If they sound nice I will keep the little guy. I love the finish, and the 1 1/2" gloss maple neck is gorgeous.

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