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SX Project Complete ...

IotaNet

IotaNet

Supporting Member
Dec 8, 2004
3,566
503
64
Minneapolis (Chicago Native)
#1
I decided to get an SX (Essex for the search engine), clean it up electronically/cosmetically, and see what $119 would get me ...

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The Verdict: She doesn't sound bad at all and she's a pretty good (if unusual) looker.

Pretty decent deal for $119, wouldn't you say? ;)
 
#12
SuperDuck said:
1) Where did you get the black pickup cover?
2) Are you going to complete the black hardware look and get a black bridge?
I'm not crazy about the Strat-style knobs, but to each his own.
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Thanks!

1) That pickup cover started life as a chrome cheapie from EBay. I took it to a shop that does powder-coating and they made it black. Cost me $13 for the unit and $12 for the powder coating.

2) I'll probably get a black bridge but only if I can find a cheap/used one. It makes no sense to put a $75 bridge on a $120 bass.

Regarding the strat-style knobs, IMO, they add a kind of "old-school" touch. What I really wanted were the Sadowsky/Nino Valenti styled knobs but I don't know how/where to get them. :help:

Captain Chaos said:
How is the neck of that bass, is it thin by the nut?
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The nut width is 1.5 inches but unfortunately, this neck is significantly thicker than a standard Fender Jazz bass. It's not "baseball-bat' proportions but it's not slim as I might have liked. I'll get over it.

irjason said:
I like that pickguard on there more and more as I look at it.
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Believe it or not, that pickguard is Black pearloid. Between the ambient light and the color of the bass, it takes on a bluish cast -- especially in pictures.

Grey Goose said:
That thing would be smoooookin' with a black bridge and tuners!
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I agree and again, if I can find some cheap tuners in black, I'm in there.

Truthfully, a new bridge and tuners wouldn't hurt this bass. The original components aren't bad but the upgrades would be better. That said, I won't spend crazy money on upgrading this thing. For example, a J-Retro would be the BOMB ... but $300-400 worth of parts in a $120 bass? Hmmmm -- I'm not sure about that. :eyebrow:
 
#13
If you want to get black tuners, I'd recommend the Mighty Mite ones from guitarelectronics.com. They're pretty smooth, much more so than the stock SX ones, and cost like $30. You will have to do some slight fitment work to them though. I had to open up the peg holes a little for the new bushings, and the holes on the back don't line up so you have to make new ones. But the new tuners completely cover the old holes so it looks clean when you get done. IMO the black goes great with the tint of these necks. Here's what mine look like from my thread.

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#18
Tage said:
Were they selling a maple-neck'd Jazz at the time of your purchase, or is that a different neck you put on?

Last I checked, the only maple necked basses in that color with a maple neck from Rondo is a 3/4 scale Precision.
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Tage -

When I bought it, it had the maple neck. (I picked the maple version on purpose.)

Rondo tends to flow in-and-out of stock on certain models on a week to week basis. For example, when I bought my bass, they didn't have any of the natural-finish ash bodied basses. Now there are several.
 

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