So, I recently purchased a SX Ursa 2 MN NA 6-string from Rondo Music, and want to share some facts and findings. First off, It's a great bass for the money. I've been playing Fender P and Jazz basses for 40 years, and while I won't go so far as to say it's as good as a Fender, I will say the SX is a playable bass, and at this point probably my favorite guitar.
I saw it being offered for $160, and couldn't pass it by. I looks a lot like my 2011 Fender DJB, and the wood is gorgeous. Real American Swamp Ash, Maple neck, I cannot fault the woodwork. Near perfect poly finish.
Construction is solid, the bass feels like it will be around for a hundred years. The only cheeez factor I can find is the neck plate, it's a standard 2" x 2.5" four-string plate, not really big enough. I can't find a bigger one though, and it still feels solid.
Can't use postimg, can't use imgsafe, can't use ANY of the regular hosts, only metadata sites. Can't access the BB code, or HTML, or whatever the hell they use.
Dual Truss Rods - this was a welcome surprise. They adjust at the headstock, making life a little easier.
This bass is 14-1/2" wide, so be careful in choosing a case. I strongly recommend you get the case when you buy the guitar, it will save on shipping, protect the guitar, and you know it will fit. Besides, the case Rondo sells with this bass is about the lowest price anywhere for a case, and it's a perfectly sound generic case. I think it's $60, and it fits the bass. You will definitely want one, this bass is a keeper!
The bridge is nearly identical to the Fender High Mass bridge, it works fine except, like most basses, it needs to be moved 3/8 - 1/2" toward the tail for the low B to make intonation. That done, the bass tunes perfectly. An option would be the Kahler 2460-XW6 slant bridge, a bit expensive though. And you don't need it, the stock bridge works great if you move it back.
If you do want to move the bridge, first get some M3 x 50mm screws on ebay (Ace only has up to 35mm). The first three string saddles have 45mm screws, which won't be long enough for the mod. But, you can then use the 45mm screws for the lower 3 strings.
The electronics need a little help, but nothing any nube couldn't do. The pots are 500K, giving the bass an ice-pick treble. I changed out the tone pot to a Fender No-Load 250K, but it's a tight fit, The routing was barely wide enough, the stock pots are mini-pots, 500K all. I will change out the volume pots to 250K and install an S1 toggle switch for series/parallel.
Note that if you change the pots, and use standard size Fender pots, there may be issues fitting it all in the narrow channel, and also you'll need to drill the switch plate to accomodate the 3/8" threaded shank of the Fender pots. When I change out the volume pots, I'll be using cheaper mini-pots as I want to leave room for an S1 mini toggle switch. Good news is that the stock knobs fit the Fender pot shaft.
Pickups - this is where things get dicey. I haven't looked at the coils, but the pickups are way too small to be standard 6-string bass pickups. They're only 3.96" and 4.09", compared to Aguilar 4.6". If you were thinking of upgrading these pickups, think again. The only way would be to re-route the channels and that might not work out so well. There might be a possibility of doing a Neodymium magnet upgrade, I don't know yet.
I started tuning the High B string to C, but the Rotosound .035 is pretty stiff. There are singles available in .030, so I changed the top string to .030, tuned to C, it's perfect. Following the convention tuning of this string makes sense for six-string guitar players, because they have a high E string. Since the 6-string bass has no high E, tuning the high string is completely arbitrary. I like C because it maintains the box pattern (and keeps the guitar players from messing with my bass).
some specs:
string length: standard 34" scale
Neck radius: 14"
string spacing: 11/16" at bridge
overall length: 47"
maximum width: 14-1/4"
body thickness: 1-11/16"
neck Width / nut: 2-1/8"
Neck width / 12th: 2-15/16"
Neck width / 20th: 3"
Neck pickup: 3-15/16" x 11/16"
Bridge pickup: 4-1/16" x 11/16"
Stock pickups:
Neck: 3.96" (100.6mm)
Bridge: 4.09375" (103.98mm)
I saw it being offered for $160, and couldn't pass it by. I looks a lot like my 2011 Fender DJB, and the wood is gorgeous. Real American Swamp Ash, Maple neck, I cannot fault the woodwork. Near perfect poly finish.
Construction is solid, the bass feels like it will be around for a hundred years. The only cheeez factor I can find is the neck plate, it's a standard 2" x 2.5" four-string plate, not really big enough. I can't find a bigger one though, and it still feels solid.
Can't use postimg, can't use imgsafe, can't use ANY of the regular hosts, only metadata sites. Can't access the BB code, or HTML, or whatever the hell they use.
Dual Truss Rods - this was a welcome surprise. They adjust at the headstock, making life a little easier.
This bass is 14-1/2" wide, so be careful in choosing a case. I strongly recommend you get the case when you buy the guitar, it will save on shipping, protect the guitar, and you know it will fit. Besides, the case Rondo sells with this bass is about the lowest price anywhere for a case, and it's a perfectly sound generic case. I think it's $60, and it fits the bass. You will definitely want one, this bass is a keeper!
The bridge is nearly identical to the Fender High Mass bridge, it works fine except, like most basses, it needs to be moved 3/8 - 1/2" toward the tail for the low B to make intonation. That done, the bass tunes perfectly. An option would be the Kahler 2460-XW6 slant bridge, a bit expensive though. And you don't need it, the stock bridge works great if you move it back.
If you do want to move the bridge, first get some M3 x 50mm screws on ebay (Ace only has up to 35mm). The first three string saddles have 45mm screws, which won't be long enough for the mod. But, you can then use the 45mm screws for the lower 3 strings.
The electronics need a little help, but nothing any nube couldn't do. The pots are 500K, giving the bass an ice-pick treble. I changed out the tone pot to a Fender No-Load 250K, but it's a tight fit, The routing was barely wide enough, the stock pots are mini-pots, 500K all. I will change out the volume pots to 250K and install an S1 toggle switch for series/parallel.
Note that if you change the pots, and use standard size Fender pots, there may be issues fitting it all in the narrow channel, and also you'll need to drill the switch plate to accomodate the 3/8" threaded shank of the Fender pots. When I change out the volume pots, I'll be using cheaper mini-pots as I want to leave room for an S1 mini toggle switch. Good news is that the stock knobs fit the Fender pot shaft.
Pickups - this is where things get dicey. I haven't looked at the coils, but the pickups are way too small to be standard 6-string bass pickups. They're only 3.96" and 4.09", compared to Aguilar 4.6". If you were thinking of upgrading these pickups, think again. The only way would be to re-route the channels and that might not work out so well. There might be a possibility of doing a Neodymium magnet upgrade, I don't know yet.
I started tuning the High B string to C, but the Rotosound .035 is pretty stiff. There are singles available in .030, so I changed the top string to .030, tuned to C, it's perfect. Following the convention tuning of this string makes sense for six-string guitar players, because they have a high E string. Since the 6-string bass has no high E, tuning the high string is completely arbitrary. I like C because it maintains the box pattern (and keeps the guitar players from messing with my bass).
some specs:
string length: standard 34" scale
Neck radius: 14"
string spacing: 11/16" at bridge
overall length: 47"
maximum width: 14-1/4"
body thickness: 1-11/16"
neck Width / nut: 2-1/8"
Neck width / 12th: 2-15/16"
Neck width / 20th: 3"
Neck pickup: 3-15/16" x 11/16"
Bridge pickup: 4-1/16" x 11/16"
Stock pickups:
Neck: 3.96" (100.6mm)
Bridge: 4.09375" (103.98mm)
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