I've only ever bought one and all I wound up keeping was the body. From what I remember, other than the strings being crap, it was definitely worth the $119.
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SX basses. worth it?
- Thread starter Thebaum92
- Start date
Engine207
Losing faith in humanity...one call at a time.
I wouldn't go as far as to say they NEED anything to be playable. I've been able to play every one I've gotten to a reasonable extent. Most times (as with other cheap instruments as well) they can benefit from having fretwork done and a good setup. That's generally what Buzzard says when he talks about them. (btw, all that drama is explained on his website, been dealing with him for years with no issues and a whole lot of good help)
Over in the Setup and Repair forum there is a long thread about a guy building up SX basses for newbies. You'll get a good idea what he does to turn an "ok" SX into a very good instrument.
I'm willing to bet most of the people on here that claim they are junk just have different preferences than others. Someone who wants super low action and no noise will need to tweak them a little to get them up to their "higher" standards. Someone who doesn't care as much can use it just fine in most cases. Some people can't buy a $119 bass and expect it to be as good TO THEM as an American Fender. Others can do that...
if its old headstock its not an ursa. ursa is what they named them when they changed to the hideous headstock.
that being said its worth the buy, rondo is good about exchanging basses that are flawed, and alot come out of the box 100 times better than anything you would get out of the box a GC or samash.
Are they worth it?
Short answer: yes.
Long answer: no.
And to all the ursa haters out there, I'd like to remind to you re-examine your motivations for buying an SX in the first place. Seriously.
Short answer: yes.
Long answer: no.
And to all the ursa haters out there, I'd like to remind to you re-examine your motivations for buying an SX in the first place. Seriously.
Absolutely worth every penny,
I bought the ursa 6 about a month ago, got it a setup and a new set of strings and seriously the cheap little bastard is contending for my main bass against my Warwick. and the pickups have some mean growl to them.
Some mentioned squire but imo my VM jazz doesn't hold a candle to it.
I'm looking at a PJ too as soon as a color I like comes available.
I bought the ursa 6 about a month ago, got it a setup and a new set of strings and seriously the cheap little bastard is contending for my main bass against my Warwick. and the pickups have some mean growl to them.
Some mentioned squire but imo my VM jazz doesn't hold a candle to it.
I'm looking at a PJ too as soon as a color I like comes available.
Stick_Player
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- Nov 13, 2009
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You beat me to it.
The truth is...
No, SX instruments are NOT of the same quality as high-end 'boo-dee-que' instruments.
What they are fine for is a starter instrument. I'm sure that VERY few poster here bought a 50,000 sq. ft. mansion for their first home.
The two instruments that my son have are very good. They both needed to be tweaked to increase playability - but so what? They both have good action and are in tune up and down the neck.
I can't speak to 34" SX basses, but these 30" instruments are at least as good as an old (mid 60s) Fender Mustang - which I owned and played for many years.
And I suppose the same can be said for Squier.
Because the $89 SX J and $129 PJ I use on gigs cost me exactly that. The fret work I did to bring them up to my standards didn't cost me anything and it was the same amount of work I have to do on factory made basses costing over $1000.
Well the problem is QC is inconsistent to the point that no one can do anything but share their personal experiences.
A couple of years ago, I bought 3. One fretless J for my son, a fretless P, and a fretted PJ for me. MY 2 NEEDED work to be playable. The fretless P needed the board leveled. The PJ had bad pups, they were weak and squealed to the point you couldnt stand to plug it up. New pups were necessary in it.(shielding didn't help it) Now I modded both ALOT more than that over time(to the point that the fretless P is now a fretted P and the fretless PJ is now a fretless PJ) but those other mods were more of a choice than a necessity.
On the other hand, my new Ursa(which I at one time swore I would never buy because of the headstock) is perfect. I tuned it up and gave the truss a turn and it was good to go. No mods planned for it. So have they improved QC, or did I finally get one that is the basis for their good rep? I don't know, but that Ursa is a good bass, and not just for the money. The other 2 (since mods) can now hold their own against any P or PJ out there.
I love my two. SX 75 Jazz and Douglas 825.
I personally think people who obsess about whether the strings go between the pickup polepieces need to take an electricity and electronics course, but I understand the drive for aesthetics. That said, no lineup issues for me.
I did teach myself to do a setup using the SX 75... basic instrument maintenance is good for everyone to learn. It has a couple uneven frets but I got a nice low action with the right strings.
I personally think people who obsess about whether the strings go between the pickup polepieces need to take an electricity and electronics course, but I understand the drive for aesthetics. That said, no lineup issues for me.
I did teach myself to do a setup using the SX 75... basic instrument maintenance is good for everyone to learn. It has a couple uneven frets but I got a nice low action with the right strings.
+1 On that. I've owned 2 frettless jazzes and loved them both. Very well made bass, especially from the price point. Lotta room for modes with the lower price as well.
Censorship. Really now? How will anyone ever warn someone that there's junk for sale?
All I was saying was that there's good and bad of any brand and one cannot know all there is about a product by their narrow exposure. You should go back and look at my post again.
Same here. It seems that any production bass I buy is basically an assembled kit that I have to set up to my specs including fret, fingerboard, and nut work.
I've seen alot of SX basses and was wondering if they were worth getting. im looking to get a P&J style bass and i seen this SX bass on rondomusic.com Like do they sound good. are they strong basses (wont break easy). or any other info you could good will be greatly appreciated.
At those prices why wouldn't they be? How much cheaper to obtain would it need to be to make a bass "worth it", if not the SX?
The tech repair is wrong. Mine needed no mods and is as gigable as any bass, including MIA Fenders that I've owned.
I've seen alot of SX basses and was wondering if they were worth getting. im looking to get a P&J style bass and i seen this SX bass on rondomusic.com Like do they sound good. are they strong basses (wont break easy). or any other info you could good will be greatly appreciated.
Click here, my friend and listen
This adequately sums up my experience with every SX bass I've touched. Quite frankly, they play and sound about like I'd expect given the price point. Not saying they are a bad deal, they just don't live up to the hype IMHO. They make cheap basses period.
I think the hype centers around many people coming to realize that they can get by with an inferior bass if they spend time getting it set up. All the comparisons to nicer instruments are usually of the "my setup SX plays as nice as an off the wall GC Mexi-Fender". Spend the time setting both up and the Fender, barring the occasional lemon, will smoke the SX IME.
While this may be true in your experience, a new Mexi-Fender is still going to set you back around $300 more than a new SX, depending on the model.
That $300 is a substantial chunk of change to some people, and is probably a big factor in making purchasing decisions that don't revolve around the name on a headstock.
I got one SX used...it was worthless IMO. It was a short scale jazz or jag copy
I recently scored a 5 string SX, and its great for the money.Has the straightest neck of all my basses. I have handled some squier bass's at GC, and a buddy had one. I don't like the feel of most of them, but they sound great.
Quality varies more on the SX, I think. Quality on the Squiers are probably more consistent.
I recently scored a 5 string SX, and its great for the money.Has the straightest neck of all my basses. I have handled some squier bass's at GC, and a buddy had one. I don't like the feel of most of them, but they sound great.
Quality varies more on the SX, I think. Quality on the Squiers are probably more consistent.
