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SX Stingray
- Thread starter Sippy
- Start date
I bought an SX 5 string last year. I promise you I'll never buy another Fender bass as long as SX's are as good as mine is. Of course I did the upgrades- bridge, pickups and pots; I put $125 into it and it KILLS. The fit and finish on it are SUPERB. I won't even use the "for the price" qualifier. If you held this bass, especially you guys that refuse to buy one on "principal", you'd be amazed how nice it really is. The clear coat on the ash body is flawless, and the binding on the neck is as nice as any bound fretboard I've played.
I would gig with it in a heartbeat, and the first gear snob that said "oh, a cheap bass" would get a cheap headstock in the face.
C7
I would gig with it in a heartbeat, and the first gear snob that said "oh, a cheap bass" would get a cheap headstock in the face.
C7
Good to know.mheintz said:
Another question: would you consider this passage in an article about patents:
to be accurate?Wikipedia said:
Wouldn't the peghead design go under a trademark and not a patent? If so... you can renew those forever.
5Thumbs said:Harumph and all that....does it even sound anything like a Stingray? If it doesn't, then EB has nothing to worry about, eh? Do the SX Fender knockoffs sound like fenders? And last but not least......When are they making a Bongo knockoff, eh? *waits hopefully*
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Yes.pilotjones said:
In this case, I believe EB does not have a design patent on the headstock, but I have not researched this. Trademarks can be renewed. Copyrights and patents have a definite life.lowrez said:
I'll throw something else interesting into the mix. Harley tried to trademark the distinctive Harley roar. Could EB trademark the Stingray slap sound? Probably not, but check out some interesting analysis at: http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/law/st_org/iptf/articles/content/1998101101.html
History can be so interesting. For example the Tokai ripoffs Fender sued over. It was a travesty on Fenders pure name that these Japanese basses would dare to imitate the one true bass. Surely anything 1/3 the price of the real thing can only be a POS and for beginners only.superbassman2000 said:yeah, if EBMM sues, they might turn out to be like the lawsuit ibanez basses
Then magically a few years later these same basses were no longer Tokai's but Fender Japan. Once they signed the deal with Fender and got the special decals the price went way up along with the percieved quality. After all, nothing plays or sounds like a real Fender
So the real lesson here is stop judging a bass by the way it sounds and feels, all you need to know is what's on the headstock and how much it costs.
Okay, back to the irony of bashing one company while complaining that someone is bashing another
Question: Was H-D successful in their claim registration attempt?mheintz said:
I'd say an instrument sound trademark attempt would fail for the same several reasons the H-D one should have failed.
This is beginning to remind me of the uproar on all the guitar message boards when Gibson sued PRS over the PRS Singlecut's shape' claiming that people were confusing it with the Les Paul. Gibson lost, partially because they conceded that (paraphrasing) "only an idiot would confuse the two."
They ultimately withdrew their application. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_trademark. MGM did manage to trademark their lion roar, but that's a bit different. It's always the same.pilotjones said:
On another note, I'm curious to hear some side by side comparisons of OLP, SX and the EB MM. How's about a blind test?
Careful, that kind of question can stir up a lot of fear and pre-emptive attacks.mheintz said:
First off, it's not a Stingray replacement or a clone. MM owners rejoice.
But it's a really damn good instrument for $180ish. And if you really want the Stingray sound and are cheap or poor, this will give it to you.
This is my 5th Rondo bass purchase. Of all of them, it's the best built bass I've gotten out of the box. Very good finish, no blemishes, great fret job (the binding probably helps ensure no extra tangs). The stock tuners are also quite a bit better than the stock tuners on my SX Jazz 5. Good wood, the maple neck even has a touch of quilt to it. No dead spots, the fretboard is level (both to the eye and to my level I use when fretting my own basses). No hum, noise, static, CB interference, nada/zilch. No noise in the pots. The stock strings aren't bad either (probably DAddarios - not the same strings on other SX). Snap on battery cover. No shielding in the control cavity.
That being said, this is also the first bass I've gotten from Rondo that exhibited some major QC issue. Wasn't a big deal to fix, but someone else not used to tinkering with their instrument would probably declare it a lemon. (one of the leads on the 9v battery container came loose during shipping - wasn't soldered so I blame the factory - simple enough to fix).
The EQ is very responsive in bass and treble. Mid EQ is functional but is pretty useless compared to the other 2 bands. Rolling it acts more like a slap switch. Knobs are center detent with cut/boost. I haven't had a chance to use the bass live yet.
It's probably heavy. My main axe is a BTB 6 (and before that the Myung 6) so I'm not the best judge of bass weight. It's comparable to my BTB. The body wood is regular ash, not swamp ash. Most of the body underneath the pickguard is routed out probably for weight savings.
If you're at all considering getting one, do it now. I have a feeling the prices will rise just like the Brice 6 string Neckthrough prices jumped (was $279 -> now $449).
30 seconds of noodling around. Haven't given it any sort of setup yet other than tuning. Bypass mode on my POD and everything is flat.
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But it's a really damn good instrument for $180ish. And if you really want the Stingray sound and are cheap or poor, this will give it to you.
This is my 5th Rondo bass purchase. Of all of them, it's the best built bass I've gotten out of the box. Very good finish, no blemishes, great fret job (the binding probably helps ensure no extra tangs). The stock tuners are also quite a bit better than the stock tuners on my SX Jazz 5. Good wood, the maple neck even has a touch of quilt to it. No dead spots, the fretboard is level (both to the eye and to my level I use when fretting my own basses). No hum, noise, static, CB interference, nada/zilch. No noise in the pots. The stock strings aren't bad either (probably DAddarios - not the same strings on other SX). Snap on battery cover. No shielding in the control cavity.
That being said, this is also the first bass I've gotten from Rondo that exhibited some major QC issue. Wasn't a big deal to fix, but someone else not used to tinkering with their instrument would probably declare it a lemon. (one of the leads on the 9v battery container came loose during shipping - wasn't soldered so I blame the factory - simple enough to fix).
The EQ is very responsive in bass and treble. Mid EQ is functional but is pretty useless compared to the other 2 bands. Rolling it acts more like a slap switch. Knobs are center detent with cut/boost. I haven't had a chance to use the bass live yet.
It's probably heavy. My main axe is a BTB 6 (and before that the Myung 6) so I'm not the best judge of bass weight. It's comparable to my BTB. The body wood is regular ash, not swamp ash. Most of the body underneath the pickguard is routed out probably for weight savings.
If you're at all considering getting one, do it now. I have a feeling the prices will rise just like the Brice 6 string Neckthrough prices jumped (was $279 -> now $449).
30 seconds of noodling around. Haven't given it any sort of setup yet other than tuning. Bypass mode on my POD and everything is flat.
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The Basslines MM system won't fit this bass (the 5 string - the 4 may be different). I've got it installed in another bass so I compared the two.
Dimensions wise, if you shave down the sides of the pickguard to fit the housing of the SD replacement pickup it's pretty much a drop in replacement. However, the pole pieces are way too off so you'd result in poor sound, uneven levels, etc.
Replacing the bridge isn't much good as the neck isn't wide enough to accomidate a bridge with a string spacing sufficient to cover the poles.
Personally, I like the tight spacing (I'm not a slapper) and the electronics are pretty good as is.
Dimensions wise, if you shave down the sides of the pickguard to fit the housing of the SD replacement pickup it's pretty much a drop in replacement. However, the pole pieces are way too off so you'd result in poor sound, uneven levels, etc.
Replacing the bridge isn't much good as the neck isn't wide enough to accomidate a bridge with a string spacing sufficient to cover the poles.
Personally, I like the tight spacing (I'm not a slapper) and the electronics are pretty good as is.
Ok, for all of you arguing about this. Take something into consideration. EB doesn't care as much as many of you think they do about their product. Neither does Fender. Large corperations their size don't need good products, they just need to make money. If they think that they would make money off cheap POS basses, then thats exactly what they would put out. The thing is, they make their money by putting out decent quality basses (I'm not gonna say great quality basses. EBMM products probably have the best QC of any mainstream large scale production bass, but that doesn't make them outstanding. I have seen my fair share of issues.)
Leo Fender did care when he designed his Fender, Music Man, and G&L products, and each time he sold each company, it was his hope to get the best designed instruments possible out there. His dream was sadly not fufilled. EB and Fender just wanted to put out basses that would make money. Thats why they bought the companies from Leo. Because they were instruments designed well enough to still be good if they were put together like crap (I'm talking more Fender here. EB, as I said, has good QC). I personally don't feel that EBMM products are worth 1,500-2,000 dollars. I don't feel that the S.U.B. basses are worth what they cost (they are as low quality as any SX bass could be. I dont care if they are made in the US. That makes no differnce to me. Being on out soil doesn't make a bass holy. It can still be a crap bass). I don't feel that MIA series Fenders are even worth 1,200 dollars.
I do feel that SX basses could be better put together, and have more attention to detail, what what is important is the price. SX basses take into consideration their customers, and the prices that they are willing to spend, and thus put out a product at the highest quality possible at that price. What can you expect out of a bass that costs 100 bucks? Not a lot. And every SX owner knows and appreciates this. What can you expect out of a bass in the 1,000-2,500 range? A lot more than Fender and EBMM are providing for us.
Leo Fender did care when he designed his Fender, Music Man, and G&L products, and each time he sold each company, it was his hope to get the best designed instruments possible out there. His dream was sadly not fufilled. EB and Fender just wanted to put out basses that would make money. Thats why they bought the companies from Leo. Because they were instruments designed well enough to still be good if they were put together like crap (I'm talking more Fender here. EB, as I said, has good QC). I personally don't feel that EBMM products are worth 1,500-2,000 dollars. I don't feel that the S.U.B. basses are worth what they cost (they are as low quality as any SX bass could be. I dont care if they are made in the US. That makes no differnce to me. Being on out soil doesn't make a bass holy. It can still be a crap bass). I don't feel that MIA series Fenders are even worth 1,200 dollars.
I do feel that SX basses could be better put together, and have more attention to detail, what what is important is the price. SX basses take into consideration their customers, and the prices that they are willing to spend, and thus put out a product at the highest quality possible at that price. What can you expect out of a bass that costs 100 bucks? Not a lot. And every SX owner knows and appreciates this. What can you expect out of a bass in the 1,000-2,500 range? A lot more than Fender and EBMM are providing for us.
