Hmmm, now I'm not sure which one I got, because I thought mine was a 5 screw, but it came with both the grooved and un-grooved saddles. I thought it was a III but maybe I'm wrong.
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SX vs. Fender
- Thread starter Goose72
- Start date
Hmmm, now I'm not sure which one I got, because I thought mine was a 5 screw, but it came with both the grooved and un-grooved saddles. I thought it was a III but maybe I'm wrong.
I can't say anything about the the SX's but I love my squire more than any Fender i've seen.
Seems to be a matter of opinion.
+1, +2, etc.
SX are better than any Fender, sans MIA. I'd even take one over a Highway 1.
I'd take an MIA... then sell it and buy a few SXes though
I just bought a used SPB57 from eBay. I am very impressed with the quality of the instrument. The only gripe I have is the ends of the frets. They're so sharp and long that they almost cut my fingers on the G string side. It may be the worst job of finishing fret ends I've ever seen - or felt. They'll have to be dressed soon or I'm going to need stitches and a transfusion.
Otherwise, it's a great instrument in stock condition, and will be even better with a couple inexpensive mods.
Otherwise, it's a great instrument in stock condition, and will be even better with a couple inexpensive mods.
I agree with Philbiker 100% Sx basses are nice for the money but they are not close to todays MIM Fenders..a few years ago i would say they were but not even close today. Squiers have up'd their game and are quite nice, except for the new mod ones the standard squiers are right with most SX basses.
I owned two SX's and several MIMs i now have two main gigging MIM's one a 5 one a 4 and a beat up squier i practice on...not one of the SXs held up to one of these basses not even close.
SXs are Heavy, Poor output on the bridge pup, horrible tuners the worse i have ever seen metal scraping metal binding and snaping sounds. The necks are like they were dippped in glue to glossy and very sticky a lot of sanding needed to get em playable in humid hot weather outdoors or when your hands sweat.Every screw was stripped out on the pickguard and two on the jazzes control cavity had to add toothpicks when i removed them to sheild it. BUT for 125.00 shipped it did sound and play great and was gigable..with work and more $$ they could be up to a MIM...a MIA or highway 1 thats a laugh..even a MIM has sheilding now all have CTS pots and good wiring...Sx have tiny junk pots and junk wiring...plus there is no resale i sold both mine one for 75.00 the other 90.00..MIM i get back most of my money and i need little mods a great neck , good tuners, wiring,and my stock pups are fine.I did at one time jump on the TB SX wagon but fell off when i bought 2 and tryed them for a while...i guess you need to try it too.
I owned two SX's and several MIMs i now have two main gigging MIM's one a 5 one a 4 and a beat up squier i practice on...not one of the SXs held up to one of these basses not even close.
SXs are Heavy, Poor output on the bridge pup, horrible tuners the worse i have ever seen metal scraping metal binding and snaping sounds. The necks are like they were dippped in glue to glossy and very sticky a lot of sanding needed to get em playable in humid hot weather outdoors or when your hands sweat.Every screw was stripped out on the pickguard and two on the jazzes control cavity had to add toothpicks when i removed them to sheild it. BUT for 125.00 shipped it did sound and play great and was gigable..with work and more $$ they could be up to a MIM...a MIA or highway 1 thats a laugh..even a MIM has sheilding now all have CTS pots and good wiring...Sx have tiny junk pots and junk wiring...plus there is no resale i sold both mine one for 75.00 the other 90.00..MIM i get back most of my money and i need little mods a great neck , good tuners, wiring,and my stock pups are fine.I did at one time jump on the TB SX wagon but fell off when i bought 2 and tryed them for a while...i guess you need to try it too.
yeah thats one of the only problems i have with them is that i cant try it before i buy
ive played MIA P before and i love the thing, and i know that the GC and other stores by me have multiple Fenders and Squiers. So i hate to break it to you guys, but im going to continue playing my Ibanez until i feel i need a new bass and then I am going to bite the bullet and make a upgrade into either a good solid MIM or the Highway one.
if you feel that i have wasted your time, im sorry, but im doing what i feel is right for me
thanks a lot to all of you who contributed to this forum.
ive played MIA P before and i love the thing, and i know that the GC and other stores by me have multiple Fenders and Squiers. So i hate to break it to you guys, but im going to continue playing my Ibanez until i feel i need a new bass and then I am going to bite the bullet and make a upgrade into either a good solid MIM or the Highway one.
if you feel that i have wasted your time, im sorry, but im doing what i feel is right for me
thanks a lot to all of you who contributed to this forum.
Ok, I'll weigh in.
My experience: one MIM, several SX's over the years.
Factoring dollars in, I'll choose the SX, because I seem to have a fetish about playing the lowest end Stuff that works for me.
Without factoring dollars, I'd say my MIM is better than SX's I have worked with. [At 3X the cost, but, yes, better, especially the neck and fretboard.]
Well, this thread and others like it made me take the plunge on an SX P bass today. I've been wanting another P so I can string it with rounds but I didn't want to spend any money, so I got an SX in sunburst. I'm going to attempt leaving it stock.
The SX Jazz basses and the Fenders both weigh about 9 lbs, so I don't see why the weight of the SX is a factor when comparing to the Fender.
There is nothing on Fender's site about MIMs being shielded. If you go to this thread you will see info on how to shield your jazz and people posting as they did it over time, some in the last few months even saying how much it helped their Fenders to do this.
My Scorpion's tuners seem fine. They don't grind and they hold a tuning well.
The fret ends are nicely finished. I did the silk scarf slide test and it passed.
The neck was sticky and it took me darn near 3 minutes to satinize and it loaded up a piece of 0000 steel wool so full of powdered finish that I had to throw it away and it probably cost me a quarter! Hopefully they will get that straightened out before it costs them too many sales.
My bridge pickup had lousy output until I adjusted it closer to the strings. The bass needed a pretty thorough setup; truss rod, string height and intonation all needed adjustment and this took me the better part of an hour to get right, though a substantial portion of that was playing to try out action adjustments.
The electronics don't seem too bad to me. I wired a series toggle in. I did wick away more solder than I put back; they were a little heavy handed with that. But there were no shorts and everything was wired correctly. The pots are small form factor but are standard issue as far as the specs and they work well without any noise.
My bridge pickup is misaligned about a millimeter. I took the pickguard off just to look and had no stripped screws and was surprised to find it fully finished and the routing for the neck pickup so precise that the pickguard could have been optional.
The gig bag is not padded, but it was included in the price ($119 + $13 S/H) as was a decent strap (a little thin, but with a shoulder pad that has a matching Scorpion on it as does the gig bag).
The MOP inlays look very good even close up. I think it is real, but I can't be absolutely certain.
I like this bass more every day. Plays like a dream with the satinized neck and sounds great. I have put it in the hands of guys who have gigged for years and have received nothing but compliments.
It is possible that you would like a MIM this much. It's possible that I got lucky and they aren't all this good. But the good reports seem to outweigh the bad (if you can call the ones that say they are good for the money but don't compare to Fenders bad).
There is nothing on Fender's site about MIMs being shielded. If you go to this thread you will see info on how to shield your jazz and people posting as they did it over time, some in the last few months even saying how much it helped their Fenders to do this.
My Scorpion's tuners seem fine. They don't grind and they hold a tuning well.
The fret ends are nicely finished. I did the silk scarf slide test and it passed.
The neck was sticky and it took me darn near 3 minutes to satinize and it loaded up a piece of 0000 steel wool so full of powdered finish that I had to throw it away and it probably cost me a quarter! Hopefully they will get that straightened out before it costs them too many sales.
My bridge pickup had lousy output until I adjusted it closer to the strings. The bass needed a pretty thorough setup; truss rod, string height and intonation all needed adjustment and this took me the better part of an hour to get right, though a substantial portion of that was playing to try out action adjustments.
The electronics don't seem too bad to me. I wired a series toggle in. I did wick away more solder than I put back; they were a little heavy handed with that. But there were no shorts and everything was wired correctly. The pots are small form factor but are standard issue as far as the specs and they work well without any noise.
My bridge pickup is misaligned about a millimeter. I took the pickguard off just to look and had no stripped screws and was surprised to find it fully finished and the routing for the neck pickup so precise that the pickguard could have been optional.
The gig bag is not padded, but it was included in the price ($119 + $13 S/H) as was a decent strap (a little thin, but with a shoulder pad that has a matching Scorpion on it as does the gig bag).
The MOP inlays look very good even close up. I think it is real, but I can't be absolutely certain.
I like this bass more every day. Plays like a dream with the satinized neck and sounds great. I have put it in the hands of guys who have gigged for years and have received nothing but compliments.
It is possible that you would like a MIM this much. It's possible that I got lucky and they aren't all this good. But the good reports seem to outweigh the bad (if you can call the ones that say they are good for the money but don't compare to Fenders bad).
When you are buying a fender, you are more or less buying their name on your instrument, thus their lower end model would cost about 2x a Sx.
Gee.... i guess i dont know when a neck becomes sticky again after i sanded it..it only has 1/8 of finish on it i swear it does.
Don't care where you put that bridge pup its weak!
I bought my last SX 3 years ago and it weighed alot more than any MIM jazz i have ever owned (6) i think it was the ton of poly on it.
Fret ends were ok leveling wasnt so good.
Tuners
metal on metal horrible complete junk!
I had the same one in the bass player review and found out after i read the review mine was almost spot on. They complained about the weak pup, gloosy neck and bad tuners but did say for the money it played good and had a good sound...which i also did. I am no expert but i know Fenders MIMs and i know an SX IMO doesnt hold poo to it so i dont try to tell people who ask that they do...i have owned both and i am comparing jazzes by the way. The SX P i bought was even worse...wont go into it i just sold it for 75.00 to a punker kid. SX is gigable and a good beater bass or backup in case you think you are in a part of town your goodie might go for a ride...throw in the SX but it aint no Fender.
Don't care where you put that bridge pup its weak!
I bought my last SX 3 years ago and it weighed alot more than any MIM jazz i have ever owned (6) i think it was the ton of poly on it.
Fret ends were ok leveling wasnt so good.
Tuners
metal on metal horrible complete junk!I had the same one in the bass player review and found out after i read the review mine was almost spot on. They complained about the weak pup, gloosy neck and bad tuners but did say for the money it played good and had a good sound...which i also did. I am no expert but i know Fenders MIMs and i know an SX IMO doesnt hold poo to it so i dont try to tell people who ask that they do...i have owned both and i am comparing jazzes by the way. The SX P i bought was even worse...wont go into it i just sold it for 75.00 to a punker kid. SX is gigable and a good beater bass or backup in case you think you are in a part of town your goodie might go for a ride...throw in the SX but it aint no Fender.
Gee.... i guess i dont know when a neck becomes sticky again after i sanded it..it only has 1/8 of finish on it i swear it does.
Don't care where you put that bridge pup its weak!
I bought my last SX 3 years ago and it weighed alot more than any MIM jazz i have ever owned (6) i think it was the ton of poly on it.
Fret ends were ok leveling wasnt so good.
Tuners
I had the same one in the bass player review and found out after i read the review mine was almost spot on. They complained about the weak pup, gloosy neck and bad tuners but did say for the money it played good and had a good sound...which i also did. I am no expert but i know Fenders MIMs and i know an SX IMO doesnt hold poo to it so i dont try to tell people who ask that they do...i have owned both and i am comparing jazzes by the way. The SX P i bought was even worse...wont go into it i just sold it for 75.00 to a punker kid. SX is gigable and a good beater bass or backup in case you think you are in a part of town your goodie might go for a ride...throw in the SX but it aint no Fender.
If they were so bad, why didn't you just return them? Rondo has a 30 day money back policy.
Why must I read Talkbass? All these glowing posts about SX made me finally take the plunge on one today, and now I read this post slamming them? Wow, now I'm bummed! Let's hope I get a better one than yours.
I think you'll find a heck of a lot more positive reports than negative.
I play the hell out of mine, and gig with it all the time. After a good initial set up with the strings of your choice, I'm fairly certain you'll see what the vast majority of us are talking about here.
Keep this in mind. If you have any issues at all, Kurt at Rondo will refund your money or replace the bass. They have fantastic customer service. Something I can not say about Fender after a recent go around with them. Piss poor would be an understatment.
I couldn't be happier with my SX basses.
The glossy neck thing constantly makes my laugh. Have you that complain about the glossy necks never played a 70's Fender?? Never found it to be a problem.
Thanks Savit, I needed that. It was a total impulse purchase. I swore I'd never buy another bass once I got my MIA Jazz, but I've been jonesing hard for a P, plus I wanted a Fender style bass that I don't mind flying as baggage since the airlines quit allowing basses in carry-on. And it was between the new Squier Vintage and the SX, and I decided to save $100.
You have to take the zealots at both ends with a grain of salt (including me). I love my SX and get defensive about slams. When I try to save money and buy stuff that doesn't cut it (and I have done this on many occassions) I will admit it. This time it was a good choice. On the other end, I pointed out that the earlier post that seemed to slam SXs had some major factual errors about relative weight (they are about the same) and shielding (neither is shielded as shipped). There is a complaint about "metal on metal" in the tuners. Are Fenders plastic? No, metal on metal also. I can believe that some of the tuners need a little TLC and yes it would be a pain if you had to take one apart and clean up the cog with a needle file, but it isn't incredibly difficult either. I have done it to other instruments (including a set of Squier guitar tuners I used on a stick dulcimer I built) but the SX didn't require it.
Oh well. Enough TalkBass; I think I will concentrate more on PlayBass for a few days...
You also have to realize that the one being bashed above is three years old. Look at the h-c reviews from them in that era and you will see those common complaints. Come back to more current reviews, and you wont see much complaints at all. Except for the people who are expecting Sadowsky's.
First off i am not bashing SX in fact it is the best budget bass i have ever played for 125.00 it rules and i said that so did Bass Player Mag. Overall the build body, neck joint and all was good.I get a bit defensive when people here bash Fender and say a SX is better when i have owned both and IMO
dont agree..so when someone posts and ask i give my views on owning both...some get testy oh well...i call em as i see em. would i buy another SX...YES..if i wanted to mod it but i don't so i wont be buying one. They need tuners and pups to match a MIM right out of the box and in that alone i would have about the same amount as a MIM. They need new pots...thats cheap..need sanding cheap but messy and then i might have a MIM clone..might...would have to get the pups to get the tones my MIMs have now. For what ...i get this right out of the box ecept for a few slight mods (pickguards,setups, strings, straplocks) my MIMs are stock and rock I got both for a great price they say Fender on the headstock will get a fair price in re-sale. This is not Bashing my Tber's this is the truth as i see it. speaking of a budget player you are speaking to one...i say all the time i wouldnt own an american jazz over my mexis i dont see the diffrence for the coin...some see the Mexi's as a budget line...i play thru a GK BL210 combo ..budget line GK thru a Sunn410 and a berhinger sansamp knockoff pedal so i am budget and loving it all the way ...fact is i love getting great sounds out of low cost gear and rubbing it in gear snobs faces and have done it...many times...even when i owned my SX! I just feel the Fenders rule it was proven to me ...so Jimmy enjoy that SX as all of you ...who knows maybe someday i will once again have time to tinker and buy an SX one cold winter to mod...i did say i liked the tone and playability....peace.
dont agree..so when someone posts and ask i give my views on owning both...some get testy oh well...i call em as i see em. would i buy another SX...YES..if i wanted to mod it but i don't so i wont be buying one. They need tuners and pups to match a MIM right out of the box and in that alone i would have about the same amount as a MIM. They need new pots...thats cheap..need sanding cheap but messy and then i might have a MIM clone..might...would have to get the pups to get the tones my MIMs have now. For what ...i get this right out of the box ecept for a few slight mods (pickguards,setups, strings, straplocks) my MIMs are stock and rock I got both for a great price they say Fender on the headstock will get a fair price in re-sale. This is not Bashing my Tber's this is the truth as i see it. speaking of a budget player you are speaking to one...i say all the time i wouldnt own an american jazz over my mexis i dont see the diffrence for the coin...some see the Mexi's as a budget line...i play thru a GK BL210 combo ..budget line GK thru a Sunn410 and a berhinger sansamp knockoff pedal so i am budget and loving it all the way ...fact is i love getting great sounds out of low cost gear and rubbing it in gear snobs faces and have done it...many times...even when i owned my SX! I just feel the Fenders rule it was proven to me ...so Jimmy enjoy that SX as all of you ...who knows maybe someday i will once again have time to tinker and buy an SX one cold winter to mod...i did say i liked the tone and playability....peace.06' MIM Fenders are shielded look at the catalog or check online..they also have CTS pots which are bi-pole hum canceling when wide open.My fiver even has a Pau Ferro fretboard and gotoh tuners...they are getting very nice.
