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SX Jazz - gigging?

#61
Im gigging with mine for two years now (because it's my only bass lol) , and what the hell, bass is totally allright, can't complain.......yeah, the thing is kind of hard to set up right when you are a poor bastard without the appropriate tools for that......but once again, nothing to complain ' bout my SX....and it looks nice with the quilt top...wish it had a block inlays and binding on the neck, but anyway, you can't have it all....lol :D and I can get a whole bunch of sounds from it throguh peavey tour head :D
 
#62
Rip Topaz said:
The only reason I see for replacing the bridge on mine is that it tears up my hand when palm muting, just like a Fender bridge. It's totally functional and nothing wrong with it.

Some prefer to swap them for a high mass bridge. I like the old bent plate style bridges on fender-style basses. If I swap it for anything, it'll be for the MIA high mass bridge.
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That's called Kirk Wahmett syndrome (KWS) :D But yeah, that's exactly the reason I want to swap as well, that and it has got a lot of rust on screws that hold the saddles. Nothing wrong with that either, I just don't like that for some reason, also I want to put a bridge with 18.5mm spacing instead of 20mm, because my pickups are narrow and because I played a bass with 18.5mm and really liked how it feels on the right hand, seems 20mm is too wide for me.
 
#63
I no longer play on-stage much these days, but I wouldn't hesitate to use my SX Ursa 5-string if I got the opportunity. In fact, I'd love to hear how it sounds in a live band setting. It sounds great even thru my little Acoustic B-15 just playing in my house, and I have my 1982 MIA Fender Jazz to compare. The SX has great punch and tone, only one dead spot and not a bad one at that, and I've had no complaints with the electronics or hardware so far. It's also very loud compared to my other basses.

I didn't buy it to brag about getting a deal - it was my first-ever 5-string, and I wanted to minimize the cost in case I found out that 5-strings didn't suit me. Because of the low price, my expectations were also low, but they have been greatly exceeded. Maybe I just got lucky with the wood, who knows, but it sounds waaaaay better than some other basses I've had that cost more, such as a Jay Turser Sting Ray copy that sounded thinner than Twiggy on Nutri-System.
 
#64
Rip Topaz said:
The only reason I see for replacing the bridge on mine is that it tears up my hand when palm muting, just like a Fender bridge. It's totally functional and nothing wrong with it.

Some prefer to swap them for a high mass bridge. I like the old bent plate style bridges on fender-style basses. If I swap it for anything, it'll be for the MIA high mass bridge.
Click to expand...

The standard SX bridge is OK (It's basically a copy of the old Fender bent metal thing) but sometimes you have to pry on it to get the saddles where they should be (there are no grooves in the base plate to guide them). Yes, you can get better and sometimes I do. My favorite SX mod is the $20 Stingray bridge swap. These babies:

Link Removed

Excellent bridges and the 5 strings are a perfect match to SX. (don't know about the 4s) Only problem is they are too wide to fit under SX ashtrays. The SX "high mass" bridges are also excellent. So my SX have either factory bridges with ash trays, or the musicman, or a few came with SX high mass. All work just fine.
 
#66
Rip Topaz said:
I play with a pretty light touch so I haven't experienced the saddles moving on me yet, though I remember having that issue on a MIM Jazz I owned for a spell in the 90's.

I've got a spare Hipshot A in the shop if it becomes necessary.
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I think this has more to do with tension than 'tough playing', though technique is still very important. If you have thin strings with low tension, it's obvious they won't keep saddles in place. However, if you hit strings hard (don't pull but hit) and they are fat and high in tension, I don't think there'd be a single bridge you'd have a problem with. Since I've switched from 40-95 to 45-100 copper/steel sets and changed technique, I haven't had a problem with strings jumping out of nut or moving bridge (both problems I've had prior to that).
 

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