SX vs FENDER: FACE TO FACE

[mongo2]

Can't agree more. The point of the video is invalidated by the fact that neither are stock instruments. Return them to stock, re-do the video, then you'll have some valid results.

I disagree, since there are many, many, many basses modified with aftermarket pickups. The video demonstrates that both are solidly performing instruments and excellent platforms for such modification.

 

[jfh2424]

Does anyone know where there is a video like this, but with stock instruments? I would be very interested in hearing that.

To the OP, as others have said...great playing. Congrats!

John

 

[curbowkid]

And Fenders cost an arm an a leg for some pretty shoddy work that "slips through".

You want to compare? Ok, what about the wood. Fender? Bottom of the barrel. 15 pieces of scrap wood glued together. SX? THREE pieces of really nice tone wood glued into an excellent bass body (that may or may not have killer matching grain) SX has Alder and Ash. Fender sometimes does but lower lines (Squier) usually has soft cheap wood like basswood or pine.

Bridge. SX has two models the bent metal crappy one and a really fine (high mass) bridge. Fender? Well Fender invented the cheap crappy bent metal bridge and often still use it. They've also got some better ones too. This is sorf of a draw.

Tuners. My experience with tuners is SX tuners work but tend to be crap. Some are VERY stiff. Some are VERY loose. Fender tuners are usually great. Fender wins.

Pickups. SX pickups are VERY consistent. Sound good. And you always know what you are getting. Fender pickups vary from crap to astounding, but you never know what you'll get because they keep changing them and discontinuing all the astounding stuff (eg. SCN pickups)

Neck wood. Maybe Ive been lucky but the necks on both my SX basses and on my Fender basses have been EXCELLENT. Extremely stable, well made. Truss adjustements easy and refined. SOME Fenders and SX bass have had to have some fret leveling. Some of EACH brand came excellent out of the box. Personally I prefer the neck profile of the SX jazz basses over Fender profiles. (Love Fender P-bass profile, however,)

Shielding. Sx is unshielded so that is first mod to do. Fender comes shielded BUT sometimes they hum anyway and you have to shield them too! But point is that not all of them are bad so Fender wins.

Electronics. For passive electronics both Fender and SX seem to
use similar parts (not exceptionally good quality). Both really end up needing reapairs eventually. But that is expected with cheaper parts. I've had little trouble with either. but I did have a pot die on my Fender and a couple SX pots get "scratchy".

Finish. Well the SX has a thick gooey poly that isn't the most boutique look in the world. And my Fender looks like a million. But is also has a veneer to cover up the glued together peices. So it looks like an amazing one piece body, but isn't while my SX bodies look like real three piece bodies of real quality tone wood and they ARE! Still the finish on the Fender is more classy looking. And of course there are the old SX basses in "nuclear orange". (I've got an SX strat copy in that...ew!) Fender at least has the good taste let aged color come with actual age.

Which gets us down to the final compare: PRICE. Fender can hand you an excellent bass if you have a grand or more to spare. You have to get down to the Squier lines to compare to SX and while I do own a Squier PJ 5er that came out excellent, it needed mods to get that way and the wood is only pine. (Agathis). So the main thing about SX is you start with nice wholesome wood already shaped out for you and finished with some usuable hardware. If you want to go beyond that then you have to start modding and spending money. If you don't want to bother, Fender will do that stuff for you, for a price.

While I agree with a vast majority of this. Sx is still a fender copy. That's gotta say something.

As for the bridge portion, yea it's the same basic bridge, but it works does it not? Why fix it if it isn't broken

And lastly I have seen fender and squier bodies with 3 pieces of wood as opposed to the 15 you mention. It varies from model to model though.

 

[Showdown]

While I agree with a vast majority of this. Sx is still a fender copy. That's gotta say something.

Sadowsky is a Fender copy. Lakland has a couple of Fender copies. Both are superior to Fender. Quite a few other boutique builders make Fender copies. Your point doesn't hold up.

 

[overdrivethree]

My feelings on Fenders vs copies (of all price ranges):

Leo invented modern instruments as we know them, just like some company (Dick Blick?) invented the yellow #2 pencil. Both are tools that get the job done. Innumerable other companies produce variations on both.

And besides, if I'm gonna get romantic about playing a "real" Fender, that could mean a vintage Music Man or a G&L. And with Fender outsourcing so much production to China for instruments badged "Fender," then it's hard to knock SX.

No matter. I've got my eye on some old US Peaveys...essentially copies that really took Leo's ideas and ran with 'em.

 

[bootsox]

I find SX to be more consistent in quality. Fender has a higher ceiling than SX but the floor is somewhere around Dean.

 

[Mindthegroove]

Thanks everyone for your comments!

I don´t understand why people gets so angry in YT. Come on, we are just talking about musical instruments!!

I just wanted to show that, with a few mods, you can get a decent tone from chinese bass guitars.

Fender feels better of course, but i just wanted to compare sounds from two different basses with mods.

And, after all, it is all about pickups. I prefer Aeros for Jazz Basses. But IMO, there is nothing like Fralins for P Bass!!!

 

[Flaked Beans]

Hi guys!

I just wanted to share with you a video I made a few month ago.

Now it has about 40.000 visitors. Wow!

Hope you like it!

Overall (soundwise), that SX sounds brighter but weaker in the low end than the fender with fralins. I prefer fender's tone but the slap sound of the sx was nice, indeed.

That's pretty awesome, but not as awesome as this, which was a suggested vid on the side bar.

Invalid Link Removed

 

[Stewie26]

I did really did enjoy your playing.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

Well I agree with those that this is pointless since your basically comparing aftermarket pickups and not the actual basses themselves.

This video also doesn't mention the actual playability of the basses, a pretty big factor in why the Fender is worth thousands and the SX is worth hundreds.

I preferred the Fralins, and yes you can clear as day hear a difference, they are fairly close but not the same.

 

[richntiff]

I haven't play an SX (yet) - but I've played a lot of basses that didn't cost what a Fender American or even MIM cost - but play and sound MUCH better. Playability is often very much in the eye of the bass-holder....

I do also wish they had played both with stock pups though....

 

[fourstringbliss]

I have an SX P bass and a Fender MIA P bass.

Both sound quite similar.

The SX sounds deeper and bass-ier and slightly more dirtier.
The Fender is much more even sounding across the register.

Both cop the P bass tone beautifully.

The Fender is more refined sounding to my ears.

Playability is different.
THe neck on the Fender (2008 model) is just amazing.
The SX doesn't sit as nice in my hands.

Overall, both are great basses.
I feel the Fender is definately the better of the two (and at the price, you'd want it to be).
It is more playable, the quality and hardware are nicer.
But the SX is a damn good bass for the money.
I wouldnt sell it for twice what I paid for it, becuase I really think its value is higher than what i paid.

I love them both.

Edit:
I'll also say that when you look at them both next to each other, the Fender jumps out more.
THe finishing of the paint (Candy Cola), the fret board and the neck, along with the nicer controls, tuners, bridge, make it look classier and more higher-end.
It looks like a more expensive bass than the SX

I've got to agree with all of this and say that I'm an SX convert. I'm not sure I'm going to be investing in "better" basses than SX for a while, if ever. Why? They do what I need them to do. I've played and owned lots of basses - Fender, Carvin, Ibanez, Lakland, Peavey, G&L - and all of them are better made than the SX bass that I own and the ones I have owned. Are they a lot better? Nope!

The SX bass I own now has a three-piece American alder body, a Canadian maple neck, upgraded SX tuners (much better than their usual tuners, but I've never had a problem with the usual ones), and a new bridge that I installed. Altogether I have about $175 in it including strings. It plays great and sounds great (I'm a fan of SX bass pickups). In order for me to be willing to upgrade from this bass at all, the replacement bass would have to be much better in every way.

To me, my SX is like a really loyal mutt. Definitely not a purebred pooch, but most of those cost way too much and are no friendlier than my mutt.

 

[awilkie84]

Sadowsky is a Fender copy. Lakland has a couple of Fender copies. Both are superior to Fender. Quite a few other boutique builders make Fender copies. Your point doesn't hold up.

This is personal opinion.
I've played all 3, and still prefer Fenders.

 

[fourstringbliss]

I'm not at all trying to say that an SX jazz is as nice as an MIM, MIJ, MIA Fender jazz, but that there isn't enough of a difference to me to make it worth spending more to get "better". It weighs around 9 lbs, the neck is straight, the tuners are really nice, the pickups sound good, the frets are good. The only real change that I made is a different bridge. I'm going to be shielding it but I've done that to every bass that I've owned that didn't have copper foil shielding.

 

[Medford Bassman]

Just got done doing two gigs with my SX -bass stock except flats, nut and copper shielded for noise. With my Genz shuttle dialed in special EQ. Classic p-bass sound

 

[GrandLowBass]

Haha hilarious, I watched that too... then i got onto this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgK3Hx7VWfQ&feature=related

2:16 is the best part!!!

Wonderful find! This video is superior to Fender and SX basses.

...but really. Fender makes lovely instruments that are mostly high quality axes, while SX offers a much more affordable alternative to the world's standard bass. I own and play both because both are great products!

Now go watch this video, dangit.

 

[LowNotes1]

You can see below what I have for comparison, and my SX 5-string sounds great to my ears, and that's priority #1 for me. If a bass sounds like garbage, I couldn't care less about what strings/hardware/finish it has. I used to own a Jay Turser Sting Ray copy that looked really nice, but sounded way thin. My SX hits me in the gut just like my two Fenders.

One thing I will say, I have not had the opportunity to play the SX in a band situation or on a stage. I have had some basses that sounded OK solo but disappeared in the mix in a band.

 

[fourstringbliss]

You can see below what I have for comparison, and my SX 5-string sounds great to my ears, and that's priority #1 for me. If a bass sounds like garbage, I couldn't care less about what strings/hardware/finish it has. I used to own a Jay Turser Sting Ray copy that looked really nice, but sounded way thin. My SX hits me in the gut just like my two Fenders.

One thing I will say, I have not had the opportunity to play the SX in a band situation or on a stage. I have had some basses that sounded OK solo but disappeared in the mix in a band.

I used to own an SX 70's spaced jazz and it sounded better in the mix than the G&L L2000 Tribute I used to own.

 

[Munjibunga]

Thanks for sharing. I agree that it's some nice playing. I also like the way the video is put together--it makes it easy to hear the different playing styles back-to back.

Comparing a Fender Jazz with Fralin pickups vs. SX Jazz Bass with Aero Pickups isn't exactly controlling for all variables, but I think the point is still valid that they sound more alike than one might expect. The difference is definitely audible, but they both sound good. I do have a clear preference for the Fender/Fralin combo. I suspect that playing live, it would be hard to discern. May be more of a difference in a studio recording, however.

What the OP needs to do now is swap the the pickups between basses and redo the comparison. I'm another who doesn't get the point. Is this a pickup comparison or a bass comparison?

 

[fourstringbliss]

What the OP needs to do now is swap the the pickups between basses and redo the comparison. I'm another who doesn't get the point. Is this a pickup comparison or a bass comparison?

It is kind of funny, huh? If you take Dan Atkinson's scrap wood bass experiment into account then this is purely comparing pickup/string combinations.

I've A/B'd an SX with an MIA Jazz before and the Fender pups didn't sound better, just different. The SX pups were more raw and unrefined, but still sounded good.