What happened to SX?

[Tim Schnautz]

I think there's a club here that honors that marquis, but there's almost none of the brand offered by Rhondomusic anymore
A few years ago they were the go to line for budget Fender clones. Now it seems they're all but nonexistent

what happened?

 

[jd56hawk]

Rondo Music Bass Guitars

 

[B-Mac]

I think there's a club here that honors that marquis, but there's almost none of the brand offered by Rhondomusic anymore
A few years ago they were the go to line for budget Fender clones. Now it seems they're all but nonexistent

what happened?

Essex Bass Club - Part 15

Check the last few pages of this club thread.

 

[Tim Schnautz]

Rondo Music Bass Guitars

Yes and almost no SX and the Brice label is gone as well

 

[Guitalia]

I think there's a club here that honors that marquis, but there's almost none of the brand offered by Rhondomusic anymore
A few years ago they were the go to line for budget Fender clones. Now it seems they're all but nonexistent

what happened?

Too much competition. Rondo was once just about the only source for affordable but decent-quality instruments. But in the last few years, guitars and basses from Glarry and equivalent previously unknown brands, with prices equal to or well below those of the Rondo guitars and basses, have flooded Amazon and other outlets and have gotten mostly glowing reviews on Talk Bass and elsewhere.

 

[Tim Schnautz]

Too much competition. Rondo was once just about the only source for affordable but decent-quality instruments. But in the last few years, guitars and basses from Glarry and equivalent previously unknown brands, with prices equal to or well below those of the Rondo guitars and basses, have flooded Amazon and other outlets and have gotten mostly glowing reviews on Talk Bass and elsewhere.

Yep, I was thinking that way as well
Now I wonder if Rondo will shutter as well

 

[Guitalia]

Yep, I was thinking that way as well
Now I wonder if Rondo will shutter as well

One of the most recent posts in the Essex (SX) bass club thread linked earlier in this thread included a statement from the guy who runs Rondo Music. He said that shipping costs from China to Rondo have become unworkable, so he's dropping all of the guitars and basses, with the exception of a few that still sell well, such as the lap steels.

 

[jd56hawk]

Yes and almost no SX and the Brice label is gone as well

For a good reason, I'm guessing.

 

[Tim Schnautz]

One of the most recent posts in the Essex (SX) bass club thread linked earlier in this thread included a statement from the guy who runs Rondo Music. He said that shipping costs from China to Rondo have become unworkable, so he's dropping all of the guitars and basses, with the exception of a few that still sell well, such as the lap steels.

That's a shame. Even though shipping has increased you'd think they could adjust and keep going. They've had a heck of a following for many years
I say this because it seems that Fender has no problem selling $400.00 Squiers…

 

[Heiwa]

Sadly they couldnt keep up against Harley Benton, Bacchus, Vintage and those type of brands

 

[Tim Schnautz]

Sadly they couldnt keep up against Harley Benton, Bacchus, Vintage and those type of brands

Yes, the direct from China people

 

[hrodbert696]

I'm not an economist, but I think that in a lot of businesses, the bottom-dollar products tend to have a pretty small profit margin and they're only worth selling if you can move them in high volume. SX was never widely known enough to generate that kind of volume, and would make it vulnerable to the kinds of changes the previously-quoted message mentioned, like increasing shipping costs. I would assume it would cost the same to ship a Chinese SX bass as an Indonesian Squier or Yamaha - it's the same size and weight - but those would sell for $300 and have stronger branding behind them while the SX would sell for $120 and nobody knew what it was.

 

[pglaser01]

I'm not an economist, but I think that in a lot of businesses, the bottom-dollar products tend to have a pretty small profit margin and they're only worth selling if you can move them in high volume. SX was never widely known enough to generate that kind of volume, and would make it vulnerable to the kinds of changes the previously-quoted message mentioned, like increasing shipping costs. I would assume it would cost the same to ship a Chinese SX bass as an Indonesian Squier or Yamaha - it's the same size and weight - but those would sell for $300 and have stronger branding behind them while the SX would sell for $120 and nobody knew what it was.

good points. Along with the fact that continued operations would likely need either new lines of debt/credit in addition to cash flow well into the future.

whoever owns the actual operations may have decided that ROI into the future wasn't high enough, costs were too high to take on increasing debt, maybe they projected lower sales figures into the future, or the owners themselves decided that their investments were better served in other areas of their portfolios……never can fully tell

 

[BobKos]

I read about Rondo punting the SX line a few months ago. Too bad IMO but I get it. They have to make money and better to bail out before the red ink flows. Have to say I own 2 SX medium scale Jazz Basses and they are pretty good basses overall and actually great basses at their price point (sub $300). One will be modded with an audacious level of expensive parts just because I can! The other will stay bone stock.

 

[Nightsprinter]

One of the most recent posts in the Essex (SX) bass club thread linked earlier in this thread included a statement from the guy who runs Rondo Music. He said that shipping costs from China to Rondo have become unworkable, so he's dropping all of the guitars and basses, with the exception of a few that still sell well, such as the lap steels.

Dang. I wonder if the Korea to U.S. shipping is the same way and if Agile will suffer the same fate. EGR guys love them their Agiles.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I think the headstock change a few years ago, the bad one, took a lot of steam out of SX sales, at least from the NBD announcements here on TB. By the time the newer headstock came out, and not sure it was much better, you could get a really good Squier for not much more that looks like a Fender.

 

[40Hz]

I say this because it seems that Fender has no problem selling $400.00 Squiers…

The SX name doesn't have the cachet of Fender's products as evidenced by the resale market for Squires vs the virtually nonexistent one for SX and other budget labels.

This isn't necessarily a reflection on the quality of these brands. However, over the last ten or so years Fender has put a significant effort into upscaling their sister brand and shucking the "for the price" qualification that inevitably got tacked onto the end of every Squier review. Truth is, it's now reached the point where many FSO players will just as happily play a Squire as they will a Fender. And not feel the need to apologize for doing so.

 

[bassliner50]

As an alternative to SX, I have a Xavier Precision which I nabbed from guitarfetish.com. I expect these too will be discontinued soon if not already. BTW, thesehave proven to be surprisinglywell made and playable instruments. Certainly well above the price point.

 

[Nightsprinter]

As an alternative to SX, I have a Xavier Precision which I nabbed from guitarfetish.com. I expect these too will be discontinued soon if not already. BTW, thesehave proven to be surprisinglywell made and playable instruments. Certainly well above the price point.

Went to look. No 5ers

 

[micguy]

If your business model is sell the cheapest thing, once someone else comes along that's even a tiny bit cheaper, you're done. It's not a sustainable business model, unless you have control of something (distribution, manufacturing, etc) that is a barrier to entry for competition. Rondo didn't have any of that - they just bought stuff from a manufacturer and sold it.