what makes essex so cheap?

[lunker]

Lead based based paint.

Just don't chew on your bass and you'll be fine.

 

[JimmyM]

The wood is an interesting issue...I could possibly agree with the wood not being as good, or at least not as dried out. The bodies are 4-pc, not 3, and I don't think my SX's have strong harmonics like my real Fenders. I don't know why, but I could easily believe wood that's not as dried out is the culprit. Having said that, I got a PJ for $90 that sounds as good on tape as any Fender I've ever owned, so I'm willing to deal with the harmonics not popping out so strong.

 

[savit260]

Cheaper woods, all plainsawn instead of riftsawn or quartersawn. Plainsawn necks are very likely to warp over time.

Cheap hardware that will tarnish and rust much sooner.

Poor finishes

Poor fretwork (lots of labor involved in quality fretwork)

Poor routing jobs, neck pockets, etc

SX basses are fine for what they are. But a quality instrument will cost much more. And then you can spend even more than that for something that has a lot of TLC put into it.

I'm not aware of any mass produced bass that uses rift sawn necks. That's a very low yield cut. You don't even see quartersawn much anymore unless you're talking about fairly high end stuff. Even Sadowsky Metros, Lakland Skylines, MIA Fenders Ernie Ball Music Man etc. all use flatsawn necks.

Hardware. After close to 3 3/4 years of gigging, I see no signs of rust or tarnish on the hardware.

Finishes are poor compared to what exactly? Every bit as good as any sub $600 bass I've ever seen.

Fretwork is acceptable in most cases. No, they aren't going to have the fretwork out of the box like a $2000 bass, but for a standard type set up, they're usually pretty decent.

Routing. Only speaking for my own P copies, the neck routing is pretty good overall, and again, way better than you would expect for $109, and quite a bit better than a lot of MIA, MIM and MIJ Fenders that I've encountered over the past 25 years, though not as good as my new American Standard, or Vintage Fender.

I'd say the quality far surpases the price tag. No, it's not a Mike Lull, or a Carl Thompson, but it's certainly a reasonably good quality instrument at an exeptionaly low price.

Certainly gig worthy on a super low budget.

 

[DeanT]

Another big factor is lack of marketing. SX does little or no advertising of their product. A company like Fender probably has an advertising budget in the millions of $. SX gets by on word of mouth and any marketing that their distributors (like Rondo in the US) do for them.

 

[Bassamatic]

king xanadu - I work with clients in USA and Europe to develop and manufacture new products and arrange and manage Asian manufacturing. We specialize in audio products, but handle many kinds of projects. www.nwdginc.com if you are interested.

 

[king_xanadu]

king xanadu - I work with clients in USA and Europe to develop and manufacture new products and arrange and manage Asian manufacturing. We specialize in audio products, but handle many kinds of projects. www.nwdginc.com if you are interested.

so you basically outsource things to china and nearby counties?

 

[Muddslide]

Plainsawn necks are very likely to warp over time.

Really? I've never heard this said before. Even if it were true, I think it'd be more judicious to say "Plainsawn necks are potentially more likely to warp over time."

Poor finishes

Finishes on all the SX'ers I've seen has been fine. Just your typical thick poly job, but well-executed. It's not so thick that my SX P-copy doesn't have a nice resonance even unplugged.

Poor fretwork (lots of labor involved in quality fretwork)

Again the fretwork I've seen on SX instruments has been surprisingly good. They do use high, wide jumbo fretwire. And I know that's not to everyone's liking. I like it fine. The neck on my SX is one of the best things about it to me.

Poor routing jobs, neck pockets, etc

Wouldn't know about the routing. Haven't done anything to mine but swap out the strings. May be pretty rough under there, definitely. The neck pocket on mine is nice and tight.

 

[Bassamatic]

Yes - we typically provide electronic, mechanical and industrial design locally, and then outsource and manage the manufacturing at one of our select vendors that we match to the customer and the job. We started in Taiwan and Korea, and have migrated to China as required. Some high-end manufacturing is now going back to Taiwan as their economy is not so strong these days.

Even for some guitars being made in, say, Indonesia, most likely the hardware and electronics are imported from China vendors where they are made at a very low cost. The reason that we may not see electronic products made large scale in other countries is that most of the parts still come from China.

 

[JimmyM]

You know SX basses are returnable if you get a bad one. I've got two...one had uneven frets so I did a fret dressing on it and now it's great. I could have returned it but they ran out of P's shortly after I bought it. No biggie, though...$20 in materials for the fret dressing. The other one was good right out of the box except it needed a setup. It was a blem $30 cheaper than a non-blem, too. I have no problems with either bass, and they're both totally stock except for strap locks.

 

[bassbrock]

I haven't had a single problem with my SX BG-205 since I bought it almost FIVE years ago! And as far as I know it isn't a Fender copy bug does look like an Ibanez model Ive seen around. Quality wise it is as good as my G&L Tribute L-2500 which was significantly more expensive than my SX.

 

[cheezewiz]

Cheaper woods, all plainsawn instead of riftsawn or quartersawn. Plainsawn necks are very likely to warp over time.

Cheap hardware that will tarnish and rust much sooner.

Poor finishes

Poor fretwork (lots of labor involved in quality fretwork)

Poor routing jobs, neck pockets, etc

SX basses are fine for what they are. But a quality instrument will cost much more. And then you can spend even more than that for something that has a lot of TLC put into it.

What he said. You get what you pay for.

 

[JimmyM]

What he said. You get what you pay for.

I think I got what I paid for...a couple decent little basses, nothing special, but sounds great, stays in tune, and plays well.

 

[denchiq]

Cheaper woods, all plainsawn instead of riftsawn or quartersawn. Plainsawn necks are very likely to warp over time.

You forgot to say, "guys, 95% of you play flatsawn (or plainsawn, as you say) necks. Fenders, MMs, Warwicks and so on. Even Lakland Shoreline and Skyline."

 

[Jim Carr]

Oh Please, until wages in China allow Chinese workers to buy products from American or French or "where ever" workers, their low standard of living is subsidizing the low prices of SX products, and is the major factor in that low price.

As far as working conditions, benefits, and environmental hazards are concerned, painting factory life in China as rosey is seriously misguided, IMHO. One need not visit China to learn this, the pages and web pages of ALL major new sources, even Chinese cover this almost daily.

You guys are half right -

High quantities, automated machining and assembly and good design are true, and the reasons for the low price. In addition Essex does not have a chain of stores to support and has minimal marketing and sales costs - ever seen an ad for them?

Starvation wages are not - this is a myth. The factory workers don't make a fortune, but compared to their real cost of living, they make a good wage, and they have room, board and uniforms provided by the factory, so it costs them NOTHING while they are working.

I spend about 2 months a year in China visiting factories for our clients, just returned. Factory workers in the South now make around $100 / month (up another 5% just this year) for 40 hours and now have overtime, unemployment, social security and other benefits paid. Wages in the North are only a little less, but catching up quickly. This may not seem like a lot, but a multi-course meal for 5-6 people in a nice restaurant in a small town may only be a few dollars.

Most workers save the money for 2-3 years and go back to their little village where people make 30 CENTS a day and buy a farm or business or donate the money to support their entire family at home.

Sure there are some sweat shops with slave labor but this has really gone away over the last 20 years as the standard of living throughout China has skyrocketed and large buyers such as Wal-Mart have insisted on changes and have their own inspection staff to enforce the rules. Wal-Mart is the largest buyer in China and has tremendous power there.

Something to note - Prices in China will continue to climb - in another few years products will not be any cheaper there. Some business can go to other countries, but no one has the resources to take over, and the standard of living in other places is also climbing. Companies that are SMART will start to re-design their products for fully automated assembly with minimum labor and stuff will start to get made HERE again. This will put me out of business, but hopefully I will be retired by then so I can play full time!

 

[JimmyM]

Gio didn't paint it as rosey. He painted it like it is...not great but getting better, and working making guitars is better than a lot of other jobs they could have.

 

[Jim Carr]

Gio didn't paint it as rosey. He painted it like it is...not great but getting better, and working making guitars is better than a lot of other jobs they could have.

I deeply respect the workers and their work.

But let's see, very low wages, environmental hazards, uniforms, away from families, factory food and room. You're right, he didn't paint it as rosey. I think it reminds me of something else.

 

[bass_fish]

I deeply respect the workers and their work.

But let's see, very low wages, environmental hazards, uniforms, away from families, factory food and room. You're right, he didn't paint it as rosey. I think it reminds me of something else.

this is normal in a lot of parts of the world, when we were in Turkey for holiday, we talked to the guys that worked in the hotel and except for the environmental hazards it's exactly the same story....

hell I wouldn't want to trade with any of the guys, but they do make money this way...

and unless every other company stops using parts from China, this will remain the same... 'cause the "made in USA" is all fine, but 99% of the electronical parts are coming out of China, so you can comment all you want, but unless you trow out all your electrical stuff, you're probably supporting it...

 

[ProfGumby]

Lot of good points here...

However, anyone bagging on the way China treats it's people as far as workers safety need only remember where America used to be about 100 years ago....we were not much better in the beginning of the industrial age.....

Also, anyone here who has posted or buys anything based on a sale price etc has no one to blame but themselves. America's (and other places) incessant demand for low cost goods or getting a great price on a great product has created this demand....

I bought my first SX based on reviews here, and I wanted a nicer bass than what I had. The price was so attractive that I could buy a new bass and not have to wait several months to get a Fender etc...

Now I have 3. You are right, you get what you pay for, except with SX I got way more than I paid for! Yes I have fretwork done on 2 of my 3 basses, but it was worth every penny (I even got that at a great price!)

Will I buy more SX, yes. But I am also moving towards another Squier and eventually a Fender or two. I do not see myself with very many ultra high end basses. I am a simple man and as long as I have something to play that holds up and sounds good, well, better than me anyway, I will be a happy little camper.

And I do hope the conditions in China, and elsewhere improve. As far as the workers, I feel these people do not get enough credit for the quality of their work due to the low prices.

Will everyone like SX? No. But the same goes for any brand at any price....

Gear snobs can fire at will now......

 

[Eublet]

Let me rephrase. Poorly chosen flatsawn woods are likely to warp. No doubt about it. Quartersawn definitely increases longevity and sturdiness, especially in one piece necks.

 

[musicelectronix]

this is normal in a lot of parts of the world, when we were in Turkey for holiday, we talked to the guys that worked in the hotel and except for the environmental hazards it's exactly the same story....

hell I wouldn't want to trade with any of the guys, but they do make money this way...

and unless every other company stops using parts from China, this will remain the same... 'cause the "made in USA" is all fine, but 99% of the electronical parts are coming out of China, so you can comment all you want, but unless you trow out all your electrical stuff, you're probably supporting it...

I would say your observation is limited to what you had been told. I have been to China, coincidently Turkey, Romania, Greece and most of the Western Europe. For some places I stayed 4-5 days and for some I practically lived there. For example in Turkey, blue collar class would easily buy a pair of Nikes or special order a Fender Custom Shop bass. They can support their hobbies, given (I believe) not as much as American people, but still they do OK. On the other hand, I noticed people originated from the eastern regions of the country often immigrate to western regions to work at hotels, restaurants (Tipping is not considered to be the part of the income and is not customary, so these jobs are pretty much the lowest paying jobs), gardening, sanitation or any other demanding jobs; not unlike Mexican immigration in US.

They have relatively high purchasing power when thinking global, which I think should be the basis of the discussion. Workers in China make at most 100 bucks a month, so a typical person would have to save at least 24 months to buy a MIA Fender (Maybe lease it???). They do not have job security, forced (or willingly) to wear uniforms and work in relatively unsafe environments. This is not China's fault, if you can call it that, it basicly how the things should be. If and when China would pay attention, then some other place would carry the flag.