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SX fretless

envy1400

envy1400

Feb 19, 2010
125
29
Tulsa, Oklahoma
#1
Looking to get a fretless. I was thinking of getting an sx since my price range is around $200. Is an sx a good choice? I've heard great things and its a great price. Also I kind of want it to be an artsy bass so i was thinking of having friends who are artists draw on it. Does anyone forsee any problems? What type of paint/art stuff should i use? Many thanks. I love all of you.;)
 
#2
lots of people are going to say go for it, but I highly recomment going with a fretless squier VMJ. it costs a little more, but is well worth it. i had a fretless sx and gave it away. it was just completely uninspiring. no mwhah, a weird chorusy sound, could never get the action to my liking... I really disliked it. The squier is in a whole different league as far as I and many other who have owned both will tell you.
 
#3
You can do a lot of inexpensive mods on the SX, change the pots etc. to make it pretty nice. It doesn't need an overhaul. The fretless vmj is probably a better suggestion if you don't have any experience/desire to do such mods though. It's worth the money.
painting: strip the finish, clear coat it afterwards. Make sure the paint sticks. Amidoinitwrong?
 
#4
Joe Nerve said:
lots of people are going to say go for it, but I highly recomment going with a fretless squier VMJ. it costs a little more, but is well worth it. i had a fretless sx and gave it away. it was just completely uninspiring. no mwhah, a weird chorusy sound, could never get the action to my liking... I really disliked it. The squier is in a whole different league as far as I and many other who have owned both will tell you.
Click to expand...

Yeah....uninspiring is how I'd describe mine too.
 
#5
Wishbass- almost in the same pricepoint as SX and also a good base bass to do mods on- and they are meant to be fretless! There were 2 on ebay yesterday.
People have a lot of love and hate for Wishbass as well as SX. I own one of each and really like my fretted SX as well as my fretless 6 string Wish.
The strongpoint of the Wish is the neck-looks unplayable but they are quite fast considering. Wish doesnt radius his fingerboards but Ive never felt a need for it- its not like im gonna bow it!
 
#10
I just checked with Rondo the other day about the next batch of basses. He's not going to get any medium or short scale basses until mid summer or fall. I take that to mean he's not getting a shipment at all until then.
I vote VM. You can get a lot of information and supplies from ReRanch to shoot the bass a solid color. Hand out paint pens (local art supply store) to your friends and spray clear over the art when you're done. Have fun!
 
#11
I have owned 2 SX fretlesses. 1 was a 5 string that was ideal and played like a dream. The other was a 4 string, and there was a low-spot on the fingerboard between the 5-6 frets that made the D and G string unplayable in that critical area. Kurt at Rondo, as always, totally took care of itand accepted the return including refunding shipping. For a $200 4-string I'd jump on a used Squier VM fretless. 5-string would be an SX.
 
#14
Normally I would say go with the SX. I have a fretless SX P my wife got me for Christmas '09. I really like it. The finish is great and the neck is nice and straight. Even with all the mods I did (pickguard, knobs, CTS pots, high mass bridge and new nut) it was still under $200. Unfortunately, Rondo's selection of fretless basses is terrible right now. So if you want something soon either go with the Squier or look for a used SX.
 
#16
envy1400 said:
What qualities should i look for to let me know its a good SX?
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For a used bass, all you can really do is ask the current owner for an honest evaluation of the bass prior to purchase. If they're not straight with you, then you can call them on it here on TB. All basses have flaws to some degree. It's a matter of which flaws you can live with and which ones you can't.
 
#17
My only advice with SX fretless basses is don't opt for the (coated) maple fretless necks/fingerboards. My maple fretless neck had nasty humps where the fret markers were, making it impossible to set up the bass for low action. I was able to shoot arrows with it more easily than play songs on it once I got the action high enough to make the buzzing as negligible as possible. Go for a rosewood board, blocked or unblocked.
 
#18
envy1400 said:
Interesting. I probably would like to mod it but not immediately. Is the sx more able to mod over the squier? Are any of the other rondo fretlesses of higher quality?
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The non-SX brands are better, but they cost more. I also had a lot of problems getting my fretless SX basses to sound right. Mostly the problem was wiring and setup, but it took me like a YEAR until I finally figured out what made it tick! I was nearly ready to sell! But the good sounds ARE in there.

But my comments would more relate to your decoration ideas. That is what would back me off a bit on the higher priced Squier. You (and your artist friend) would need to be more than a bit careful in choosing what kind of paint/finish you'd use. You'd want to make sure it really stuck to the poly finish of a bass and you'd probably want a hard poly overcoat to protect it from wear. Nothing looks worse than an instrument with a nice artistic paint job that is chipped and peeling from using the wrong kind of paint!

So I'd say if you've got your ducks in a row the Squier is probably the best choice, but if the decoration is still "experimental" I'd get the cheapest SX I could find to give it the "true test" before I applied the method to an expensive bass. The SX can be upgraded to sound quite good for a passive Fender clone kind of bass.
 

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