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SX Ursa 6-string Jazz bass

#662
ImageUploadedByTalkBass1358829747.351103.jpg
 
#664
I'm gonna go hipshot on the bridge and either gotoh or hipshot on the tuners... I'll admit with all the upgrades I'm giving this bass...it totally negates the whole "super affordable" as pect of the jazz 6er. Although it'll still be cheaper than the KSD and BassMods Jazzes. It will still be the most affordable Jazz 6er out there next to a stock SX Ursa...at least that I've found.
 
#665
Showdown said:
This is my SX Ursa2 6 string, except that a week ago it was a 5 string. I have rheumatoid arthritis and sometimes the wider neck of a 6 string is painful for me to play.

I saw the Ibanez GVB36 with a narrow neck and 14mm string spacing and thought it might be cool, but I wasn't interested in spending $1100 to see if I liked it, then I saw this thread:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f18/converting-5-string-into-6-string-836808/

So I bought the SX and converted it. It has 14mm spacing at the bridge, but really narrow at the nut (1 5/8"). I like it, and it only cost $300 total.

I used a Kahler bridge because it could be adjusted to the narrow spacing (although I do think it is ugly). I used Hipshot Ultra-Lite tuners, a couple that are mismatched because I just used what was in my parts drawer. The strings are very even sounding in volume, even though they don't line up with the poles on the 5 string pickup. It sounds really good.

Before:

SX04_zpsa4ff108e.jpg


After:

SX01.jpg


SX03.jpg


sx04.jpg
Click to expand...

Have you looked into those individual string bridges? I had them in my old Ibanez BTB. Seemed nice. And as far as I know...they're not very wide so you could vary the spacing quite a bit.
 
#666
DD_Nick said:
Have you looked into those individual string bridges? I had them in my old Ibanez BTB. Seemed nice. And as far as I know...they're not very wide so you could vary the spacing quite a bit.
Click to expand...

I thought about that, but this one was easier because I could just put strings on it then move them until they were where I wanted them then tighten them down.

I just put an Audere preamp in it today that I had taken out of another bass a couple of years ago. Sounds great. I did have to chisel out a small area (under the plate, can't be seen when the plate is on) to get the circuit board in the preamp to fit. But that is the advantage to modding a cheap bass, no worries about devaluing it doing something like that.
 
#667
Showdown said:
I just put an Audere preamp in it today that I had taken out of another bass a couple of years ago. Sounds great. I did have to chisel out a small area (under the plate, can't be seen when the plate is on) to get the circuit board in the preamp to fit. But that is the advantage to modding a cheap bass, no worries about devaluing it doing something like that.
Click to expand...

I have an Audere in mine as well. Sounds amazing.
 
#668
DD_Nick said:
I'm gonna go hipshot on the bridge and either gotoh or hipshot on the tuners... I'll admit with all the upgrades I'm giving this bass...it totally negates the whole "super affordable" as pect of the jazz 6er. Although it'll still be cheaper than the KSD and BassMods Jazzes. It will still be the most affordable Jazz 6er out there next to a stock SX Ursa...at least that I've found.
Click to expand...

Yep. My view too. In my case I decided that I really wanted to try the Fenderish Jazz passive 6 string idea. Given I've got a bunch of fretted and fretless SX 5ers I had high hopes for the idea. (I've got several active sixers so mods like adding an audere preamp weren't what I was interested in. Well, it took some mods and time, but now I've got thre SX 6ers: One fretless, one with flats and one with rounds. I just love them all! And sure after a while the cash start to add up, that is until you go poking around and try to find something else that gives you the passive Fender 6er thing. Sure I could have done the same "educational" project with a nice Low End jazz or a STeve Bailey fretless, but those "lessons" would have cost a great deal more, and even worse if it had turned out I hated the idea of the Fender Jazz 6er, even with decent resale I would have been out some serious coin!

That's what I love best about SX. When you just want to try something and aren't sure it's for you (short scale, fretless, 6er etc.) you can grab an SX and live with it for a while and not break the bank. I figure if at the end, I'm really sold and want to go top of the line that's OK, but so far my "training" SX basses seem good enough!
 
#671
We've confirmed it's 16mm spacing at the bridge. You should do what I did and take an hour or two and read the whole thread. Pretty much all questions about the bass are answered and lots of really awesome upgrade ideas are mentioned. I can't wait until mine is done. Gonna look completely different...
 
#672
Man these look like a great deal... I was really debating one of these, but I really can't imagine that the Chinese workers over there are in humane working conditions. At this price, someone is getting exploited. I'll make do with the used 6-string fretless I'm getting off of Craigslist on Saturday for $160...
 
#677
Well, I used some recommended mods when I got mine... some of it did NOT turn out as planned.

I wanted to play mine for a bit and had a gig coming up, so I didn't have time to use the shielding paint on the electronics cavity. I did get a little bit of foam underneath the pickups. From one of the earlier post recommendations, I got a couple magnets to stick under the pickups, a thick one and a thin one. The thin one broke before I got it in under the neck pickup, but I put it in anyway, and it sounds KILLER. Huge output, great tone. The thick one... doesn't fit under the bridge pickup. I can chisel out some wood, or buy a thinner magnet. Bridge pickup is useless as is; no output at all, but I have to turn it up to cut the hum.

It plays great. Small amount of adjustment because of the narrow string spacing at the nut, but overall not too bad. I dig it. Worth the money and the effort.
 

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