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What do you guys think about SX bass guitars (rondo)


SpectralJulian

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I have an SX Jbass that I paid $125 shipped from them about 2 years ago. Works great.

 

Probably wouldn't trust it to gig with on the road, but dependable for home recordings and the occasional jam. Plays nice, sounds good, great deal.

 

For the record, the bass feels about 3x more solid than any SX guitar I've played...

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I have a SPJ-62, its a pretty badass little bass
:thu:

 

 

I've got an SJB-62. Yeah...it's been good enough where I haven't GASed for another bass...it does what it's supposed to do. Heavy bodies, great necks, good tuners, acceptable pickups...

 

I'm beginning to think their basses are generally better than their guitars (I've got a Les Paul and a Strat from them too), but that might just be because I'm better versed in guitars than basses. For $100 you really can't go wrong with any of their stuff, and Rondo are very good people to work with in my experience.

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I bought an SX strat, I put a warmoth neck on it, but it wasn't a horrible guitar as is. It needed a setup, and the frets were really un-polished, if you bent a note it would make this weird scrapping noise. That being said, most of those problems wouldn't even matter for a bass, it's definatley bang for the buck.

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I've had a P/J version of the SX for a couple of years and it's a great little back up bass ... PU's are a little noisy and probably just need proper shielding - you can't go wrong with these. Plenty of people mod them cause they are so good. Put it this way - they are miles better than any Mex Fender Bass!

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I bought my fiancee a short scale fretless J-Bass and it has held up very well, no warping or broken parts or anything. Needs a new nut and the electronics are total {censored} (tuners included), but that's all really easy to replace (although I will just be bypassing it and going pickups->volume->jack, most likely). www.guitarfetish.com + www.rondomusic.net = a hell of a guitar or bass for not much money.

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What can anyone tell me about their strats? I'm seriously considering buying one. Or would I be better off getting a squier, or saving up and getting a MIM Fender?

 

 

this seems like a route to sucess to me, buy the SX, and when you can, replace the neck. they have nicer bodies than squiers or MIM fenders, which are all basswood/agathis/poplar. The SX bodies are ash, and alder, and if you like the finish, you're all set. A $140 SX + a $150 warmoth neck beats the pants off a MIM any day.

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this seems like a route to sucess to me, buy the SX, and when you can, replace the neck. they have nicer bodies than squiers or MIM fenders, which are all basswood/agathis/poplar. The SX bodies are ash, and alder, and if you like the finish, you're all set. A $140 SX + a $150 warmoth neck beats the pants off a MIM any day.

 

Unless the neck warps on you, you won't even have to replace it. My recent purchase of an SX stop-tail strat (project guitar, also for my fiancee - and I wonder why I'm so broke...) surprised me with the straightness of the neck and with how well laid, polished, crowned, and planed the jumbo frets are. It plays great. The nut's total {censored}, but a nut replacement is a lot less expensive than a new neck. Buy new tuners, too, because SX tuners (though in my opinion better than, say, Squier tuners) leave a lot to be desired.

 

You'll need new pickups and a full bout of electronics, as well... MIM Fenders have way better electronics and pickups than SX guitars, and they have better tuners and a better nut as well (unless you get lucky with the nut of an SX, anyway). I wouldn't say there's no reason to go with a MIM Fender, as a MIM Fender is a serviceable guitar from the moment you buy it until you decide you want to improve it, whereas a SX is just a beater when you buy it but can be made to shine through an intensive refurbishing with aftermarket parts. The end product, well, the SX with a Warmoth neck and replaced hardware and electronics/pickups is going to be right up there with a Fender MIM with replaced hardware and electronics/pickups for slightly less money, and it'll have an extra fret that the MIM won't, so if you're a long-term thinker you might be better off with the SX.

 

Of course, this doesn't take into account headstock brand thinkers. :) I love my MIM Fender strat and the work that I've done to it has made it into a great guitar. I've replaced nearly everything except the body and the neck, and it's just a joy to play and gets me all the sounds I need and want. I expect that I will be able to say much the same of the SX when I am done upgrading it, but only time will tell.

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Their good basses. I've got one like the green pick above but in vintage white. I swapped out the bridge for a higher mass one and swapped out the crappy pots for some high quality ones. While in there I also added a series parallel switch. Great bass, I had no issues gigging with it weekly for about a year.

 

Just make those small changes and it's a pretty good bass. Stock it's a good bass. The bass forum here recommends them all the time if that help your decision at all.

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i have the SX SJB-62CT. i use it to gig with. i still cannot believe they sell these basses for $140. it's probaby the best instrument purchase i've ever made.

 

 

I have the same one and agree. I've had it for about 2 years with no problems. Way better than any Squire I tried at the time and maybe I got a good one but it also feels better built than any of the Mexican Fenders I tried also. It's my example of how the Chinese are going to destroy us all. If they can build a bass like that for $140 just imagine the nuclear missles they'll be building soon.

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My sister has the SX Jazz copy. It's a great bass -- for the money, I haven't played anything better. The neck is great (although a little heavy) and it sounds like a jazz should. Hers needed a little setting up out of the box, but Rondo's guitars usually need attention. The input jack is terrible, however...I've had to solder it four times since she's had it (about a year).

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My sister has the SX Jazz copy. It's a great bass -- for the money, I haven't played anything better. The neck is great (although a little heavy) and it sounds like a jazz should. Hers needed a little setting up out of the box, but Rondo's guitars usually need attention. The input jack is terrible, however...I've had to solder it four times since she's had it (about a year).

 

If you've soldered it 4 times is it the jacks fault?:p

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