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SX Pino Palladino precision anyone?

#41
Johnny Alien said:
I see people say this here all the time and I have to disagree. Is it a great value for the price? Sure...if you like the stock setup. If not than take the money you would spend upgrading and buy a MIM Fender which I have found to be incredible values with no need to mod most of the time.
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That's one way of looking at it. Some people use their SX basses stock and are happy with them that way. I love my fretless (which is stock). I'd love it a whole lot more if it was modded to my specs, but I don't have the funds right now.

Some SX basses don't need all the mods you mentioned. For example, on my fretted Jazz, the frets were fine and didn't need any work. The tuners are fine the way they are (they're not the best, but they work and stay in tune) so they don't necessarily need to be replaced. New pups and a bridge will work wonders to transform the SX into a much better bass. That is the minimum I would do to it.
 
#45
Perhaps a shiny Polyeurathane body with a tort guard is enough for some, but there's a LOT of differences between these 2 basses.

Pino Palladino
Precision Bass
Scale length 34"
Weight 8 lbs, 2 oz
Body Alder with
nitrocellulose lacquer
Neck Quartersawn maple
Fingerboard Rosewood
Nut Plastic
Neck width at nut 13/4"
Neck width at 20th fret 21/2"
Pickup Fender Custom Shop Precision split-coil
Electronics Passive
Hardware Fender vintage-style bridge and Kluson-style tuners
Made in U.S.A.
Hard case Vintage tweed, included
Warranty Lifetime Limited

And it's relic'ed from the original bass closely, but not like a tribute that's almost exact. I'm not going into the CS pros and cons, but if anyone thinks there's no difference between a 3rd world production-line instrument and a hand built, hand made Custom Shop Fender, well there simply is NO comparison other than they sort of look similar.

Bass Player Mag wrote this about the Pino:

"Why would someone go for a brand-new bass that costs nearly as much an actual refinished early-’60s Precision? Perhaps to get the vibe, sound, and feel of an older bass, but without the worries that come with owning an expensive vintage instrument. By coming out of the gates as a great representation of a vintage P-Bass, the Fender Pino Palladino Signature Precision Bass manages to be a modern “vintage” treasure."

No offense, but the SX looks nice and all that, but it will never age and wear like the Pino will in years to come. And we won't even get into how better they play and tone........
 
#46
D-Bone said:
Perhaps a shiny Polyeurathane body with a tort guard is enough for some, but there's a LOT of differences between these 2 basses.
Click to expand...

Anyone who tries to compare a MIA Fender and an SX, point for point, is wasting their time. There's no comparrison. I certainly was not trying to do so.

SXs are not Fenders. Never were, never will be.
 
#47
Johnny Alien said:
I see people say this here all the time and I have to disagree. Is it a great value for the price? Sure...if you like the stock setup. If not than take the money you would spend upgrading and buy a MIM Fender which I have found to be incredible values with no need to mod most of the time.

So by the list of things you listed and others ahve said need replaced...

Price of bass : $109
Pro setup with fret leveling $75
Pickup replacement: $60
Pots/Electronics: $10
Bridge: $15
Tuners: $40

By the end you have spent $309 so IMO you would ahve been better with a used MIM.

Again my opinion. More power to the SX lovers I think they are fine basses but I wanted to give a flipside opinion on the MIM comparison.
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Need implies the bass would not function without those things. Wrong. Besides, Lord knows MIM don't have a lot of duds...A LOT.

The fret levelling is only "needed' if you have a real dud, the p-ups, while not perfect, work, and the bridge and tuners are fine. Setup, I agree on...
 
#48
D-Bone said:
Perhaps a shiny Polyeurathane body with a tort guard is enough for some, but there's a LOT of differences between these 2 basses.

Pino Palladino
Precision Bass
Scale length 34"
Weight 8 lbs, 2 oz
Body Alder with
nitrocellulose lacquer
Neck Quartersawn maple
Fingerboard Rosewood
Nut Plastic
Neck width at nut 13/4"
Neck width at 20th fret 21/2"
Pickup Fender Custom Shop Precision split-coil
Electronics Passive
Hardware Fender vintage-style bridge and Kluson-style tuners
Made in U.S.A.
Hard case Vintage tweed, included
Warranty Lifetime Limited
Click to expand...
The only difference between the SX specs and the Fender PP specs are the Fender PP has more expensive things, but still the same materials. I.E. SX's neck is maple, Fender PP's neck is Neck Quartersawn maple. It will age alright too because the body wood is made of exactly the same thing which the Fender PP has-Alder! The only real differences between the two are the craftsmanship, how well the bass ages and the top of the range materials. This is where the Fender PP beats the SX.
 
#49
Stan_da_man said:
The only difference between the SX specs and the Fender PP specs are the Fender PP has more expensive things, but still the same materials. I.E. SX's neck is maple, Fender PP's neck is Neck Quartersawn maple. It will age alright too because the body wood is made of exactly the same thing which the Fender PP has-Alder! The only real differences between the two are the craftsmanship, how well the bass ages and the top of the range materials. This is where the Fender PP beats the SX.
Click to expand...

Okay, but not all alder is created equal, and not all maple is of the same quality. So, really, these basses are NOT made of exactly same thing.
 
#51
Jim Deacon is SX! You learn something new everyday.

The day I read that (actually, maybe it was yesterday, or the day before) I stumble into a music store and there is the Fender PP!

Nope, Jim Deacon. And it sucked. Really really badly. The pickup (E string side which I used as a thumbrest) fell into the body so was flush with the wood and the D and G pup would freely rotate too. Neck was good, quick, no bad frets etc but everything south of the heel wasnt worth anything near the £109 asking price.

Hopefully that isnt a representatve sample of Essex or even Jim Deacon.
 
#53
WoodyG3 said:
Okay, but not all alder is created equal, and not all maple is of the same quality. So, really, these basses are NOT made of exactly same thing.
Click to expand...

That assumes Fender uses higher quality wood than SX. It's probably a safe assumption. But I wouldn't be too surprised to find out otherwise.

SX basses are put together well and accomplish their job. They are well worth the price Rondo charges.
 
#55
Stan_da_man said:
That's what I said. The same starting materials, but the Fender PP has the best sort of those materials you could probably buy. The SX does not.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I misread your post. :hmm:

Anyway, I think it's odd that someone would want such a close copy of a particular signature bass. I also think it's unethical to make a copy like this, too, even though some have said it may be legal because of where it's made and sold.

To me this is like a Rolex knock off. :rollno:
 
#56
I don't think there's anything unethical about it-there's no patent I know of for a certain color scheme on a bass. It's wierd how certain schemes become the "proprietary thing" of some artist, think:

Geddy Lee
Chris Chaney
Pino Palladino
Steve Harris

It's like Fender wants you to think that just because a jazz bass has blocks, or tort + LPB, it's a signature item. If you like the color, you TOO can own that bass. No need to ask permission....
 
#57
Dr. PhunkyPants said:
I don't think there's anything unethical about it-there's no patent I know of for a certain color scheme on a bass. It's wierd how certain schemes become the "proprietary thing" of some artist, think:

Geddy Lee
Chris Chaney
Pino Palladino
Steve Harris

It's like Fender wants you to think that just because a jazz bass has blocks, or tort + LPB, it's a signature item. If you like the color, you TOO can own that bass. No need to ask permission....
Click to expand...

Tortoise + LPB would be my signature SX :D ;) :hiding:

The Steve Harris pickguard is red mirror so far as I can remember.

D-Bone said:
No offense, but the SX looks nice and all that, but it will never age and wear like the Pino will in years to come. And we won't even get into how better they play and tone........
Click to expand...
Well, as I guy who happens to own both a Pre-CBS Fender P (Best bass I've ever wraped my hands around ever
) and an SX modded to sound and play as close to the Fender as possible, I'll tell you this. You'd be shocked by how close they sound to each other. In the context of my band, I can barley tell them appart.
 
#58
Why is a bass that is manufactured with the same colors as Pino's bass make it a Pino bass? I understand about the Geddy Jazz as it is made with the same specs and modified to be just like his, but the SX Pino? C'mon. It's just a P copy with PP colors. That is not a PP bass.
 

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