SX - you Americans are lucky

[rhettro]

You should probably keep it and live with the blemishes, but you paid for a new bass why should'nt you get one?

Yep, I decided to keep it. Even with the problems in the finish, I still consider it a bargain. I might have to put my Ibanez SR505 on Craigslist. To answer your question, it *is* new. But to your original point, I'd never advise a beginner to purchase one of these unless they were a friend and I was willing to help them with it.

 

[sloasdaylight]

Find me a comperable cheap US alternative and i'd jump on it in a heartbeat. Till then... my search for a US Peavey (t20/Fury) continues

I have a Fury VI. You want?

 

[Diogenes]

... plus the fact they could "use" a fret level not "need" one...

That's one and the same... either the frets are level or they're not.

 

[A-Step-Towards]

Yep, I decided to keep it. Even with the problems in the finish, I still consider it a bargain. I might have to put my Ibanez SR505 on Craigslist. To answer your question, it *is* new. But to your original point, I'd never advise a beginner to purchase one of these unless they were a friend and I was willing to help them with it.

Thats pretty much how i feel , enjoy the bass.

 

[A-Step-Towards]

That's one and the same... either the frets are level or they're not.

Opening a bag of popcorn .



The post i have a few up is all i needed to here from someone.

 

[Diogenes]

Opening a bag of popcorn .

It'll do you good.

 

[FunkMetalBass]

I have a Fury VI. You want?

Fury VI? Does it have 6 strings?

 

[Assumer]

Always wanted to visit Russia. If you will buy me a round trip ticket, I will buy the SX for you and deliver it.

 

[Din Of Win]

I have a Fury VI. You want?

Thanks to another TBer as well as another friend of mine... i'm sending out payment today for a t20!!!

 

[bassbenj]

I agree SX is a great start for a modding platform , but out of the box not that many can be tuned and played that day comfortably the majority need frets leveled, set ups and other adjustments.

I feel there a great bass for memebers of Tb to buy and mod and thats about it , if i saw a 14 year old at guitar center i would not say hey for your first bass save some dough an buy an sx . Why? because they come usually with issues that need addressing , this kid is not going to know it needs a fret dress and such and this young player can give up because of this.

So i am not dismissing them but i think people need to quit pushing how great they are for begineers because really you need to posses some skill at working on instruments because more then likely it will have some issues. Both mine needed fret dressing andd the pickups were so unaligned that the E string was very dead no matter what i did. I gave up on trying to fix it and i have experience.

I don't agree that "most" cannot be tuned and played the day they arrive. Certainly mine (fretted and fretless) could. I NEVER had the frets leveled. In fact I was just looking at my SX thinking of getting a Plek job on it and then decided it would do nothing to the playability which is already perfect! And I'm not just lucky. You can read report after report here of people saying their SX was completely playable right out of the box.

Now sure, you can dump $200 for a new bridge, and $200 for a Plek job, and $100 for all new pots and wiring and shielding. And maybe you'd like all new tuners that aren't so stiff. And if you've got lots of time you can strip the nuclear orange etc. And then maybe you end up with a bass that you'll play instead of your Fender American (lots of examples here including me) because you just like it better. And you'll STILL have saved a ton of cash.

But point is for a beginner, the important feature is if the bass is playable. I've played a LOT of odd-named "beginner" basses and there are NO raw materials there for later improvement! They suck right out of the gate and will stay that way no matter how much money you drop. This is not what a beginner needs. What a beginner needs is something EXACTLY like the SX. Plays well enough out of the box that you don't give up, yet, provides "teaching moments" when you get tired of the fret buzz or hum and decide to move one step up. Point is I don't agree that SX is not a beginner bass. There are lots of cheap basses out there that are just as you describe but SX isn't one of them. The key with the SX is what you get at the low price point. And that's important for a beginner. If you don't like bass and give up you'll be a lot happier if your bass cost less than your lessons rather than more than your car. And because of the potential SX resale is much better than beginner junk too. Which means you lose even less if you give up. Which why SX is also great for people who say want to try fretless or 5 string for the first time or wonder what "short scale" is all about.

As for your bad luck getting lemons, well it happens. When I was in the market for a "real" Fender, I played more than a FEW Fenders with nasty dead spots on the neck, A neck angled so badly that you couldn't lower the saddles near enough to get a reasonable action (and I LOVE a high action), or nasty fret buzz. Well, hey, if that's what a grand buys you, then what's a beginner to do? Take up drums?

PS. I just had to pay $200 for a fret job on my new (used) Conklin 7 string. Third fret buzzing like mad. I guess that means that I can't recommend a beginner drop $1500 on an "almost junk" import (Indonesia) bass like that!

 

[jasper383]

The US still has the world's 2nd largest manufacturing sector in the world.

I guess because US manufacturing isn't in easily visible things like guitars, lunchboxes, and pants anymore, people think it's gone. It's not.

 

[sloasdaylight]

Fury VI? Does it have 6 strings?

Yea.

 

[bassplayer8953]

The US still has the world's 2nd largest manufacturing sector in the world.

I guess because US manufacturing isn't in easily visible things like guitars, lunchboxes, and pants anymore, people think it's gone. It's not.

True, but many more things USED to be manufactured in the US. And could still be, but for the greed of those at the top. And more manufactured items join the ranks every day. Much more visible than lunchboxes & pants (guitars/basses, btw, are still MIA. Maybe not as many as in years past, but still available, if you look, and are willing to $pend. At least we players have a choice...unlike products in other categories) Things like appliances, furniture...the exodus continues...

...and the trade deficit continues to rise. Not good for the long term, regardless of what those defending the move to Asian/MIM manufacturing say about it...

 

[nomadh]

The US still has the world's 2nd largest manufacturing sector in the world.

I guess because US manufacturing isn't in easily visible things like guitars, lunchboxes, and pants anymore, people think it's gone. It's not.

Maybe with the way we consume ours should be 6 times bigger than any one else or so. I don't know what the ratio should be or even if it matters much but it might matter a lot.

 

[Meatrus]

True, but many more things USED to be manufactured in the US. And could still be, but for the greed of those at the top. And more manufactured items join the ranks every day. Much more visible than lunchboxes & pants (guitars/basses, btw, are still MIA. Maybe not as many as in years past, but still available, if you look, and are willing to $pend. At least we players have a choice...unlike products in other categories) Things like appliances, furniture...the exodus continues...

...and the trade deficit continues to rise. Not good for the long term, regardless of what those defending the move to Asian/MIM manufacturing say about it...

Ran out of popcorn? . I probably agree with you, it was certainly the case in the UK, nothing is made here anymore, cars, clothes, tools, etc all gone (ignoring luxury items). I dont think it would be too much of an exaggeration to say the US could go the same way, or close to within the next 20 years.

This is still not really what the OP was asking though, and everyone (me included) has used it for a rant...So in answer to the OPs question, we dont have SXs here as far as I know .

 

[bassplayer8953]

Ran out of popcorn? . I probably agree with you, it was certainly the case in the UK, nothing is made here anymore, cars, clothes, tools, etc all gone (ignoring luxury items). I dont think it would be too much of an exaggeration to say the US could go the same way, or close to within the next 20 years.

This is still not really what the OP was asking though, and everyone (me included) has used it for a rant...So in answer to the OPs question, we dont have SXs here as far as I know .

Yeah, my minimum-wage service job doesn't allow me the luxury of popcorn every day. Sure wish I still had my manufacturing job, that paid a living wage. I guess I should be glad that some people in SW Asia are earning a living, even though the money they earn won't buy the type of goods they produce. At least the CEO and the BOD are happy, though, that's the important thing...

(sarcasm mode off...)

I'm going to a guitar show this weekend. Last year they had a dealer with several SX basses for sale. If he's there again, I'm going to check them out. Just to see what the hype is all about.

 

[jasper383]

True, but many more things USED to be manufactured in the US. And could still be, but for the greed of those at the top.

You blame "those at the top", whoever that is. What about the consumer? If you can get a good pair of socks for $3/pair, why would you buy a similar pair for $8?

There are still a few sock makers in the US, but they make high-end specialty or fashion socks, because US labor has become too expensive to compete in the regular sock market.

Does the US want to be the country that makes socks, while the rest of the world is making high tech computers, medical devices, etc?

 

[cheezewiz]

Wow exactly what i opened this thread to say, and trust me werenot lucky to get these Sx's i had 2 they got sent back they were one step above junk.

I agree. I owned one, and got exactly what I paid for. A $100 bass.

 

[bassbenj]

You blame "those at the top", whoever that is. What about the consumer? If you can get a good pair of socks for $3/pair, why would you buy a similar pair for $8?

That would be because the $3 socks are junk! Why would I buy junk that I have to send back when I can buy some $65 socks with nice designer logos on them? You get what you pay for!

Same thing with basses. Why get some near-junk SX when you can fork out a grand and get a "real" Fender? the only problem here is that somehow I always seem to be taking the SX to the gig... Something must be the matter with me.

 

[A-Step-Towards]

I agree. I owned one, and got exactly what I paid for. A $100 bass.

Pretty much.

I just think if you live in a big enough town you can get a used bass thats better, Sx's are 100$+20$ shipping

Locally i can get a squier P bass any week for like 60$, add a set up , usually 35$ an some cheaper fender flats 20-30$ and for about the same price as a Sx out of the box i have a comparable P , flats and set up.

Or even just spending the 120$ on a Used peavey or something. If i lived in the middle of no where i would probably buy an SX.