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SX Ursa 6-string Jazz bass
- Thread starter Figbassist75
- Start date
Did you change the vol/tone knobs on this bass before taking the picture? The other pics I've seen of this bass show the "chrome-plated-plastic" (or whatever they are) knurled knobs.
Yes. I guess I should have stated that in my post. I like black Jazz knobs on my sunburst basses, so I changed these.
Man these things are going quick. Thats a good sign, maybe hell do another run down the line with some more options, colors, etc.
If I recall he has stated before that he is pretty much at the mercy of whatever they send him.
I'm guessing he just got some in, it's jumped back up to 10 in stock, lol.
Good Question!
Dude! Mine are real nice plated metal killer knurled knobs!
Much nicer than the standard black ones that came on my other SX basses, not that those are bad knobs, mind you.
Mine arrived today! I had to leave the house 10 minutes after it arrived and I just got back home for the night, so I haven't spent much time with it.
Original out-of-box stock bass:
Cons:
Pickup output is fairly weak. I set my amp to my "normal" band rehearsal settings - my 75SJB was quite loud whereas the 6-string was certainly quieter. Cranking up the amp gain to get a respectable volume out of the bass just adds to the noise floor.
The neck does tend to dive. I'm not sure putting Hipshot Ultralites on it is going to do much - it's a big ol' neck. It's not as bad as some basses I've played and doesn't require much effort to hold it in "normal playing position", so not a big deal for me.
Pros:
The bass is gorgeous - very pleased with the sunburst finish and the transparent glimmer of the alder underneath the finish.
Intonation out of the box was pretty dang close. String action is very playable - a little on the high side for my taste, but lower than some bass-playing friends of mine like it.
Fretwork looks nice. Big solid bridge. Not a blemish on the finish (save for minor file marks near the nut). The bass is very well made, that's for sure!
Vintage orange neck is WAY more toned down when compared to some of the SX SJB's I've seen (especially the 5-string which absolutely required a citristrip treatment). With the sunburst body, I kinda like it and I think it's going to stay.
Tuners, nut, strings, string trees - totally sufficient for this bass - what you'd expect for a bass of this price-point. Tuners feel a tad cheaper than the tuners on my 75SJB and about the same as what's on my 62SJB-5string.
All in all, I think this is a tremendous bass for the money. In all honesty, you could drop the action a hair, change the strings and have a very comfortable, playable bass. I am going to upgrade the pots/cap/jack, shield the routed pockets, put Hipshot string retainers on it and perhaps shim the neck to get nice low action. I'll probably pull a tuner off and weigh it and compare to Hipshot tuners to see if there's a few ounces to be shaved off. Maybe I'll add a tortishell pickguard too.
I'm also going to seriously investigate the options available for new pickups. The tone I get out of this bass has some growl and I think with hotter pickups would sound killer in it.
Pics to come up hopefully tomorrow!
Original out-of-box stock bass:
Cons:
Pickup output is fairly weak. I set my amp to my "normal" band rehearsal settings - my 75SJB was quite loud whereas the 6-string was certainly quieter. Cranking up the amp gain to get a respectable volume out of the bass just adds to the noise floor.
The neck does tend to dive. I'm not sure putting Hipshot Ultralites on it is going to do much - it's a big ol' neck. It's not as bad as some basses I've played and doesn't require much effort to hold it in "normal playing position", so not a big deal for me.
Pros:
The bass is gorgeous - very pleased with the sunburst finish and the transparent glimmer of the alder underneath the finish.
Intonation out of the box was pretty dang close. String action is very playable - a little on the high side for my taste, but lower than some bass-playing friends of mine like it.
Fretwork looks nice. Big solid bridge. Not a blemish on the finish (save for minor file marks near the nut). The bass is very well made, that's for sure!
Vintage orange neck is WAY more toned down when compared to some of the SX SJB's I've seen (especially the 5-string which absolutely required a citristrip treatment). With the sunburst body, I kinda like it and I think it's going to stay.
Tuners, nut, strings, string trees - totally sufficient for this bass - what you'd expect for a bass of this price-point. Tuners feel a tad cheaper than the tuners on my 75SJB and about the same as what's on my 62SJB-5string.
All in all, I think this is a tremendous bass for the money. In all honesty, you could drop the action a hair, change the strings and have a very comfortable, playable bass. I am going to upgrade the pots/cap/jack, shield the routed pockets, put Hipshot string retainers on it and perhaps shim the neck to get nice low action. I'll probably pull a tuner off and weigh it and compare to Hipshot tuners to see if there's a few ounces to be shaved off. Maybe I'll add a tortishell pickguard too.
I'm also going to seriously investigate the options available for new pickups. The tone I get out of this bass has some growl and I think with hotter pickups would sound killer in it.
Pics to come up hopefully tomorrow!
^ Thanks for the review.
For $150, this bass is a steal....even if you have to spend a few hundred upgrading. For under $500 invested, I see this being a real beast. Mine is suppose to arrive on Thursday. From the reviews, I'll probably have my tech re-wind the pickups & install a Aguilar OBP-3 preamp, just because I like to make quick EQ changes from the bass for different styles.
For $150, this bass is a steal....even if you have to spend a few hundred upgrading. For under $500 invested, I see this being a real beast. Mine is suppose to arrive on Thursday. From the reviews, I'll probably have my tech re-wind the pickups & install a Aguilar OBP-3 preamp, just because I like to make quick EQ changes from the bass for different styles.
I urge you to change the strings before making up your mind about new pickups. I was convinced I should install new pickups but after a new set of GHS flats I'm not so sure now!
(B string Hole in bridge needs to be drilled out too.)
Listen to bassbenj. It REALLY DOES make a noticeable change in tone AND VOLUME!
And if you use Webstrings, you don't have to open up the B hole (even with a 0.130 B string) 'cause they don't use silk on the ends.
Thanks for the strong advice to both of you about the strings. I do intend to change strings first, before changing pickups. Then I'll probably cut the stock strings apart to see what's inside
I worked on the bass a little this morning, attempting to drop the action. It looks like the saddles are so tightly pressed together that they're binding up a little and will not easily just drop. It's not going to be a huge issue but will probably require the strings be loosened before lowering the action. I'm eyeing a Hipshot A-style bridge right now actually, so that should solve that problem!
Some more dimensions for you guys...
Total string spread @ Bridge = 3.170" [80.5mm] (center of B to center of C strings)
String spacing @ Bridge = 0.632" [16mm] (center of string to center of string)
String spacing @ Nut = 0.35 - 0.39" [8.9 - 9.9mm] (center of string to center of string). Looks like the nut was cut for equal string gap spacing. This measured out to be 0.3" [7.6mm] between any two strings.
Fingerboard width @ Nut = 2.13" [54.1mm]
Fingerboard width @ 20th fret = 3.270 [83.06mm]
Pickup length = 4.065" [103.3mm]
Pickup width = 0.765" [19.4mm]
Pickup ear-mount spacing = 0.775 [45.1mm]
My dial calipers and measurement technique are OK to about 0.010" [0.25mm]
The string spacing feels a little wider than my 62SJB fretless 5-string, but certainly narrower than my 75SJB 4-string. It's a very comfortable string spacing for my hand size (medium).
I played it for about 10 minutes early this morning. The fingerboard feels flat (14" radius I think I read somewhere), but I'm getting the hang of playing this beast! I did a quick check on the frets and aside from a little neck relief, the frets appear quite level. I don't see an obvious roadblock to lowering the action once I get the saddle issue sorted out.
Cheers!
Some more dimensions for you guys...
Total string spread @ Bridge = 3.170" [80.5mm] (center of B to center of C strings)
String spacing @ Bridge = 0.632" [16mm] (center of string to center of string)
String spacing @ Nut = 0.35 - 0.39" [8.9 - 9.9mm] (center of string to center of string). Looks like the nut was cut for equal string gap spacing. This measured out to be 0.3" [7.6mm] between any two strings.
Fingerboard width @ Nut = 2.13" [54.1mm]
Fingerboard width @ 20th fret = 3.270 [83.06mm]
Pickup length = 4.065" [103.3mm]
Pickup width = 0.765" [19.4mm]
Pickup ear-mount spacing = 0.775 [45.1mm]
My dial calipers and measurement technique are OK to about 0.010" [0.25mm]
The string spacing feels a little wider than my 62SJB fretless 5-string, but certainly narrower than my 75SJB 4-string. It's a very comfortable string spacing for my hand size (medium).
I played it for about 10 minutes early this morning. The fingerboard feels flat (14" radius I think I read somewhere), but I'm getting the hang of playing this beast! I did a quick check on the frets and aside from a little neck relief, the frets appear quite level. I don't see an obvious roadblock to lowering the action once I get the saddle issue sorted out.
Cheers!
Thanks for the strong advice to both of you about the strings. I do intend to change strings first, before changing pickups. Then I'll probably cut the stock strings apart to see what's inside
Be careful... they probably have a lead core.
Thanks for the dimensions, Allan. Can't wait for mine to arrive tomorrow.
me too!
And got a fresh package of slinky strings just waiting on it to arrive.
Be careful... they probably have a lead core.
Heh. Sound like it anyway!
New bass day! My second SX 6 string arrived today. I swear it's even MORE gorgeous than the last. (strings sound as bad though).
Been working with the string trees. The string tree on the highest string is pretty much OK as is, except I'll need to take the Dremel and smooth down the ends of the grooves where the strings go through. With my GHS flats on the G and C string the silk is out of the tree and the grooves are pretty much OK as they stand. However, I did notice that even with flats the sharp edges of the tree groove is digging into the strings. That needs to be smoothed down!
The Second tree for the A and D strings is a problem. First off the Flats have silk there! That makes them much fatter than the grooves. Even without silk the grooves seem too narrow. And of course there is also the sharp edges problem there too. So my plan is to rework these with the Dremel as well even though they are going to take more work.
I thought about roller trees but in searching the net I found that they seem to have too narrow grooves too! And that doesn't even mention the fact that nobody selling these things bothers to tell you what size they are, what the spacing between strings is, how high the tree is from the headstock or even what the width of the grooves in the rollers are. Apparently nobody that uses these things actually cares if they work or not.
So I decided to rework the muchroom type already on the SX. And I noted that the ones on the SX in terms of finish and quality are actually BETTER than some of the things on line sold as Fender replacements!
