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What happened to SX?

#25
MultiScaleMale said:
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.
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I think the Squier line revamping itself has something to add to it. Before Rondo was releasing a Jag type bass before Squier did, in various colors. J and P basses made from alder at the old Affinity prices and also in various colors, matching headstock colors. At that time Squier was doing none of that. I remember because I was buying them like Tee shirts. Then you had the pickup variation, Jazzes with MM's in the bridge, PJ in a Jazz body. Short scales to be had. Again long before Squier did any of that.

Now you've got Squier doing some of this with their name recognition. Harley Benton doing this with shipping not that high coming from Europe. Rondo always being more of a mom-and-pop operation and no doubt age also figuring into it. It hard to compete with a big company like Fender and the others.
 
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#27
Kurt, who I think still runs Rondo, is a pretty shrewd businessman. He had always looked for a party if the market her could be successful in.

Be aware that SX was a brand that he simply distributed. More that he had dropped them, he might still sell some similar guitars, but not basses, under his house brand Hadean.

As for his house brand Agile, it appears he has found a niche in extended range and multi-scale guitars.

Someone, made s comment about the dropping of Brice, which was his upper end house bass guitar brand (he also had some Douglas basses which were a little lower). Kurt tried a number of bass models, often starting out with a test model of one or two, but it appears that the volume interest just wasn't there for basses. I play bass mostly, and I am glad that I got my Brices before he dropped the basses. They were wonderful values.

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#29
dabbler said:
Kurt, who I think still runs Rondo, is a pretty shrewd businessman. He had always looked for a party if the market her could be successful in.

Be aware that SX was a brand that he simply distributed. More that he had dropped them, he might still sell some similar guitars, but not basses, under his house brand Hadean.

As for his house brand Agile, it appears he has found a niche in extended range and multi-scale guitars.

Someone, made s comment about the dripping of Brice, which was his house bass guitar brand. Kurt tried a number of bass models, often starting out with a test model of one or two, but it appears that the volume interest just wasn't there for basses. I play bass mostly, and I am glad that I got my Brices before he dropped the basses. They were wonderful values.

View attachment 5296795 View attachment 5296796 View attachment 5296801
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Those look a LOT nicer than I expected. Sucks they didn't succeed enough to keep rolling.
 
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#30
Guitalia said:
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.
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From my experience, Glarry is nowhere near the quality that SX instruments were back in the day. I have owned both and SX were far superior to Glarry in fit, finish and overall quality. Out of the box, the SX basses I bought just needed a decent setup to be playable. I can't say that about the Glarry I got. The thing was trash out of the box and required a lot of work to even be playable. It was bad enough that I won't ever buy another.

I think Harley Benton is the real SX killer. They have created so much more variety than SX ever attempted to reach and have found a worldwide following. I have never personally owned or even touched a Harley Benton, but they seem to have filled the niche that SX once did as the low-price starter instruments and mod platforms, at least from my perspective here in the middle of the US. If the shipping prices on them weren't so dang high, I'd probably have a half dozen of them by now.

I will add that Donner makes a dang fine instrument for the money. The ones I have played have really made me think of the SX brand in terms of quality out of the box. Selection of colors isn't much, especially when it comes to the bass models, but hey...we bass players don't get near the choices that guitar players do, in ANY brand.
 
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#31
JC BASS 91 said:
From my experience, Glarry is nowhere near the quality that SX instruments were back in the day. I have owned both and SX were far superior to Glarry in fit, finish and overall quality. Out of the box, the SX basses I bought just needed a decent setup to be playable. I can't say that about the Glarry I got. The thing was trash out of the box and required a lot of work to even be playable. It was bad enough that I won't ever buy another.

I think Harley Benton is the real SX killer. They have created so much more variety than SX ever attempted to reach and have found a worldwide following. I have never personally owned or even touched a Harley Benton, but they seem to have filled the niche that SX once did as the low-price starter instruments and mod platforms, at least from my perspective here in the middle of the US. If the shipping prices on them weren't so dang high, I'd probably have a half dozen of them by now.

I will add that Donner makes a dang fine instrument for the money. The ones I have played have really made me think of the SX brand in terms of quality out of the box. Selection of colors isn't much, especially when it comes to the bass models, but hey...we bass players don't get near the choices that guitar players do, in ANY brand.
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I agree with you, Harley Benton (shipping costs aside) is now my go to brand for value basses. Every one I have bought has hit above it's price point.

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Here are 2 HB Js between 2 of my SX Js

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#34
micguy said:
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.
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A race to the bottom
 
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