The point of this post is that in going to several shops I was able to play an American Fender, a MIM Fender and a used SX. The MIM and SX were in the same shop. I also played a few G&L's, a Musicman, a Yammi or two, A Warwick Thumb, some Washburns and an Ibanez Artcore semi acoustic, but they have as bearing in this shootout as the electronic drum kit and the Les Paul and Peavey guitars I mucked about with...
If my comments offend anyone, it is not my intent. If I do offend you, two things must be said, "I am sorry" and get over yourself. I am nothing more than a music lover who is learning to play bass and mucks around at home, for now. However the thought strikes me, there are a lot more guys like me, than pro's who make a living from playing bass, therefore I felt it relevant to post a review.
As to the three basses in the comparison, If I were blind folded, I could not have told you the quality difference/price/brand of any of the 3 of them. And, oddly enough, the American Fender had the worst fret ends of the 3!
The American Fender also had the worst bridge pup route with a gap of over 1/8 inch on the knob side, and a gob of poly running over into the hole. The Pickguard route on this bass was as bad, minus the finish glob...speaking of finish, there were several spots on this bass where there was a dark line in the wood. No biggie, that is part of the nature of the graining in any wood. But the finish had a noticeable raised area along with the grain. And by noticeable, I mean if you looked right at it, at the righ angle, from like a foot away.
The MIM was used, but still felt great! Lightly used I suppose would be a better term. The bass sounded the same as the American Jazz, and again, blind folded I could not have picked it from the others. The finish was still great and nary a flaw, aside from some mild player induced wear. But being poly, I am sure a buffing would have done wonders to this bass.
Now to the SX. I was really excited about this one as I figured I could pick up the bass I have been GASing for for probably 80 bucks or so, right? WRONG! They wanted 189 dollars for it!!
Anyway, again, the SX sounded fantastic, as did the other two although the neck pup was adjusted really low on the E string side. But this was a setup issue and no fault of the bass. The pickup routes were as clean as those on the MIM and better than those on the American Fender. The finish was, honestly? The best of the 3 unless you removed the player wear on the MIM, then I'd put those two equal. And once again, blind folded I could tell you the pickups were a little hotter and a little noisier than the two fenders, but not bad. In fact, the SX has the "vintage" sound many are looking for.
All together, all 3 basses were great! Each has a strong point over the other in terms of finish, hardware overall parts used vs. the cost of parts used. But none of them has the advantage in terms of feel in the hands, playability, fretwork, sound (other than the SX was slightly different than the Fenders)
So what did this say to me? If I wanted a Fender American, I would buy one, as I am sure the quality of some of the components was of a higher grade than the other 2. However, here is the crux of the biscuit.
I would definitely take the MIM or the SX over the American! If some of the components needed upgrades, a guy could do the swap of some screws, a bridge a nut and still be light years ahead of the American Fender in terms of cost, even if all 3 were brand new!
The "flaws" of any of these basses amount to a hill of beans. Nothing I saw would discourage me from buying any of them. Nothing I saw would alter the playability or sound of these basses and all 3 pass the 3 feet away test. I just find it odd that the highest priced instrument ran far and away ahead of the other 2 with the flaws.
Yes, I said it! I put the lowly SX in every way the equal to the MIM and on par with the American Fender I played! In terms of feel, sound, finish and playability! The American, I think, would probably stand up to years of hard use much better than the other 2, but that is only a guess....Do I condemn Fender or the American line? Absolutely not. They are fantastic instruments and the reasons to buy one must be something other than fit and finish, or even playability. Longevity and quality of the components would most likely come into play 20 years down the road. But If I bough a new SX every 10 years.......
And before I get tossed into a boiling lake of lava, I said all 3 basses were great basses, just different. What this comparison really proved to me was that there are quality, very playable, entry priced instruments out there and a guy or gal can get interested in and begin playing without a huge outlay of cash. And, still get an instrument that will serve you well. And it proves to me that arguing over which one is better or condemning someone for buying a low cost, quality instrument is just silly.
Aerosmith said it best, "Let the music do the talking."
I do have pics of the SX and MIM, and as soon as I figure out how to get the damned silly things off my cell phone, I'll post them here.....but really one id me playing the SX and one is me playing the MIM and one is the price tag of the SX...what would that prove to the point of the review?
If my comments offend anyone, it is not my intent. If I do offend you, two things must be said, "I am sorry" and get over yourself. I am nothing more than a music lover who is learning to play bass and mucks around at home, for now. However the thought strikes me, there are a lot more guys like me, than pro's who make a living from playing bass, therefore I felt it relevant to post a review.
As to the three basses in the comparison, If I were blind folded, I could not have told you the quality difference/price/brand of any of the 3 of them. And, oddly enough, the American Fender had the worst fret ends of the 3!
The American Fender also had the worst bridge pup route with a gap of over 1/8 inch on the knob side, and a gob of poly running over into the hole. The Pickguard route on this bass was as bad, minus the finish glob...speaking of finish, there were several spots on this bass where there was a dark line in the wood. No biggie, that is part of the nature of the graining in any wood. But the finish had a noticeable raised area along with the grain. And by noticeable, I mean if you looked right at it, at the righ angle, from like a foot away.
The MIM was used, but still felt great! Lightly used I suppose would be a better term. The bass sounded the same as the American Jazz, and again, blind folded I could not have picked it from the others. The finish was still great and nary a flaw, aside from some mild player induced wear. But being poly, I am sure a buffing would have done wonders to this bass.
Now to the SX. I was really excited about this one as I figured I could pick up the bass I have been GASing for for probably 80 bucks or so, right? WRONG! They wanted 189 dollars for it!!
Anyway, again, the SX sounded fantastic, as did the other two although the neck pup was adjusted really low on the E string side. But this was a setup issue and no fault of the bass. The pickup routes were as clean as those on the MIM and better than those on the American Fender. The finish was, honestly? The best of the 3 unless you removed the player wear on the MIM, then I'd put those two equal. And once again, blind folded I could tell you the pickups were a little hotter and a little noisier than the two fenders, but not bad. In fact, the SX has the "vintage" sound many are looking for.
All together, all 3 basses were great! Each has a strong point over the other in terms of finish, hardware overall parts used vs. the cost of parts used. But none of them has the advantage in terms of feel in the hands, playability, fretwork, sound (other than the SX was slightly different than the Fenders)
So what did this say to me? If I wanted a Fender American, I would buy one, as I am sure the quality of some of the components was of a higher grade than the other 2. However, here is the crux of the biscuit.
I would definitely take the MIM or the SX over the American! If some of the components needed upgrades, a guy could do the swap of some screws, a bridge a nut and still be light years ahead of the American Fender in terms of cost, even if all 3 were brand new!
The "flaws" of any of these basses amount to a hill of beans. Nothing I saw would discourage me from buying any of them. Nothing I saw would alter the playability or sound of these basses and all 3 pass the 3 feet away test. I just find it odd that the highest priced instrument ran far and away ahead of the other 2 with the flaws.
Yes, I said it! I put the lowly SX in every way the equal to the MIM and on par with the American Fender I played! In terms of feel, sound, finish and playability! The American, I think, would probably stand up to years of hard use much better than the other 2, but that is only a guess....Do I condemn Fender or the American line? Absolutely not. They are fantastic instruments and the reasons to buy one must be something other than fit and finish, or even playability. Longevity and quality of the components would most likely come into play 20 years down the road. But If I bough a new SX every 10 years.......
And before I get tossed into a boiling lake of lava, I said all 3 basses were great basses, just different. What this comparison really proved to me was that there are quality, very playable, entry priced instruments out there and a guy or gal can get interested in and begin playing without a huge outlay of cash. And, still get an instrument that will serve you well. And it proves to me that arguing over which one is better or condemning someone for buying a low cost, quality instrument is just silly.
Aerosmith said it best, "Let the music do the talking."
I do have pics of the SX and MIM, and as soon as I figure out how to get the damned silly things off my cell phone, I'll post them here.....but really one id me playing the SX and one is me playing the MIM and one is the price tag of the SX...what would that prove to the point of the review?
