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Uh oh another SX post

M

Mr.Brightside

Dec 5, 2006
35
0
#1
OK before everyone says use the search function, i've done that and have been reading through posts for the last hour(fun;) ) so anyway, ive saved up £70 over the last month purely for a SX bass set up and i am looking to purchase one after xmas. Ive been reading alot on here and ive come to the general conclusion that:

1)Some are good, some are not so good
2)The strings need replacing
3) (and this is the tricky one) Try before you buy, i dont happen to live close to a music store so that puts that out of the window, but if i was pre-paired to travel to my nearest one, ive never played a bass before in my life, so i'd look like a tard and i wouldnt really know what i was doing anyways.

I'm willing to spend £150 which is a hell of alot to me considering im only 14 so i dont wanna waste it, ive seen a shop on ebay selling them for £140 but then im gonna (possibly) need new strings aswell .

I'm into RHCP, muse, green day, QOTSA, bands from mixed genres and i wasn't sure if i should be going for a J or a P and (if i were to replace the strings) what strings should i go for.

Thank you for your time

Your views please

:hiding:
 
#2
If you're new to playing I wouldn't worry about changing the strings. And even though I'm a P guy, I think jazz style pups are more popular so I would go for that. But my advice would be, this is your 1st bass, you don't know what you want. After learning and playing for a while you'll learn what you want. So go play them, make a day of it if you must and grab one that looks and feels cool and sounds cool to you and don't worry about the rest.
 
#3
A p will fit in with any genre, a j can get more different tones, it is purely a preference thing, but I would suggest you start with a p. I am also young and hate wasting money, luckily sx's are fairly inexpenive (as basses go) and if you check out ebay, you can actually sell these basses for the same and sometimes more than you bought it for. I would recomend DR coated strings, they sound nice, look good, and last a really long time so you don't have to change them as often. Good luck.
 
#5
It's always preferable to "try before you buy" but that is not always possible.

I disagree about the strings. SX uses D'Addario strings which are the same ones you can buy in any music shop. There's nothing wrong with them. I have the stock D'Addario flats on my fretless and they're great strings.

So you won't necessarily need to replace them immediately, unless you don't like the feel of them. On most of the basses they use roundwounds and flats on the fretless ones. String are a personal preference. But whoever told you SX strings need replacing immediately probably never actually played an SX. They do not.

Jim Deacon's SX series basses are made by the same company that makes SX basses. If there's a shop selling JD near you, you might want to go in and try a few.

There are a number of online shops on eBay selling SX that are reliable. If you're buying a new one, I'd say go for it. You can always resell it if you're not happy with it without taking much of a loss.
 
#9
I am a relative newcomer also. My notes on your list...

1 - Some may require more work than others. If you get one that is truly "bad", that is a warranty issue.
2 - Some people don't like the D'Addario strings that come with them. They used to come with really bad strings and some people are operating with old info.
3 - There is no getting around the difficulty of trying them when you have never played. Can you get someone who can play (and that you know/trust) to go with you?

I would not be overly concerned about #3 since you don't play yet.
 
#13
DeanT said:
Man that's expensive. If my conversion is correct, that's about $195.
Click to expand...

It's not that expensive considering the tax, duty & cost of shipping over here.

The SX I ordered from Rondo worked out at about €180 ($240) because of shipping. That doesn't include tax or duty (which I still haven't had to pay :hiding: )

The shops here sell them for €230 ($305).

It's still as cheap as you'll pay for any new bass.

Our tax rate on goods is 21% & the U.K.'s is 17.5%, I think.:rollno:
 
#14
There might be some bad SX basses going out, but from all I have read they are far and few between. My Scorpion needed a good setup, action & truss rod adjustment, but that was it. Frets were great. The only thing I want to do is shield it as the jazz pups are noisy. But I won't change them, they sound great. Next to my MM5 it's my fav. :)
EDIT: Where is my post count???
 
#16
tycobb73 said:
If you're new to playing I wouldn't worry about changing the strings. And even though I'm a P guy, I think jazz style pups are more popular so I would go for that. But my advice would be, this is your 1st bass, you don't know what you want. After learning and playing for a while you'll learn what you want. So go play them, make a day of it if you must and grab one that looks and feels cool and sounds cool to you and don't worry about the rest.
Click to expand...

+1000:bassist:
 
#18
RWP said:
My Scorpion needed a good setup, action & truss rod adjustment, but that was it. Frets were great. The only thing I want to do is shield it as the jazz pups are noisy. But I won't change them, they sound great. Next to my MM5 it's my fav. :)
Click to expand...

Shielding is on my to do list as is adding a series toggle. I did look at noiseless Fenders - they cost as much or more than the bass did (including shipping and the cheesy bag and strap). But from my very limited testing (the SX is under the tree, but I got to mess around with it to make sure it wouldn't be a DOA bummer on Christmas morning) the pups do sound okay.
 
#19
floopy said:
I noticed the other day that McCormack's in Glasgow are doing SX Scorpions (Jazz bass) on Ebay for about 100 quid.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SX-SXPJSC-Jaz...21QQihZ019QQcategoryZ4713QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Might be worth a look . . .
Click to expand...

Ok i had a look and found a set up for £140. How would that comapre to say the bass you posted and getting a cheap practise amp like this?

Setup- http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=290046893519&rd=1&rd=1

Amp-http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-Rumble...5QQihZ015QQcategoryZ58719QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 

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