PDA

View Full Version : Bought a bass - SX SJB-57



Robert
March 25th, 2006, 03:25 PM
I broke down and ordered one of these from Rondo Music - http://www.rondomusic.net/sjb57.html

The color is a 3 tone sunburst. I figured it would be worth it, even considering paying the shipping and duty. Everyone seems to think they are way better than Squiers and other "cheap" basses, so what the heck, let's get one and find out, I'm thinking!

And now the "Brown Truck Waiting Game" begins...

tot_Ou_tard
March 25th, 2006, 04:37 PM
Coool, Robert.

Pretty soon you'll be a one man band.

Slap that bass!

duhvoodooman
March 25th, 2006, 05:16 PM
...Everyone seems to think they are way better than Squiers and other "cheap" basses, so what the heck, let's get one and find out, I'm thinking!
It's the only way to know for sure! At that price, why not!?! Assume we'll be seeing/hearing some clips posted! :R

marnold
March 25th, 2006, 06:16 PM
Sweet! Let us know what you think!

Robert
March 25th, 2006, 11:07 PM
Yep guys, I'll let you know all about it!

SuperSwede
March 26th, 2006, 01:50 AM
Looking forward to some sweet jazz bass grooves Robert... :)

Katastrophe
March 26th, 2006, 07:22 AM
Congrats, Robert! I've never ordered a guitar through the mail, but I would imagine the waiting part sucks quite a bit... Give us a review when it comes in!

r_a_smith3530
March 27th, 2006, 02:00 PM
Congrats Robert. I'll be waiting to hear your impression. I'm GAS'n for one of their toofless Jazz basses (hmm, how to break it to the wife!), but I sure wish they offered them in that Lake Placid Blue!

Yeah, I know about that "Brown Truck Waiting Game" thang, having just gone through that with my G&L.

Robert
April 7th, 2006, 12:30 PM
It's here! I'm sitting here playing it for a few minutes on my lunch break. Wow, it's really nice! The neck is awesome! Smooth and shiny maple, mmmm!

Robert
April 7th, 2006, 02:55 PM
To quote McDonalds...

I'm lovin it!

What a great little inexpensive bass. It sounds really good through my audio interface. The pickups must be good in this thing. I will have to learn more about basses now... I'll try and record something over the weekend, for your listening pleasure.

Spudman
April 7th, 2006, 04:48 PM
Good to hear that it is a good one. Now you are going to become Mr. Slappopfunkmiester. BTW no matter what anyone says it is perfectly ok to play bass with a pick. Stu Hamm, Geddy Lee, Jonas Reingold, Chris Squire all use picks sometimes.

Robert
April 7th, 2006, 05:43 PM
I play with them fingers tho... sounds much betta!

Although now they are sore... need to build up that skin'n flesh!

r_a_smith3530
April 7th, 2006, 11:41 PM
Cool! OK Robert, now you've got to get a bass amp. Check out the Ibanez SoundWave amps. The price was reasonable and the sound was decent, at least that was the case with my old 35 watt practice amp. I'd still have that little amp today were it not that I wanted a real "gigging" amp, and 35 watts is just a bit weak for that.

The SoundWave amps come in 20, 35, 65, and 100 watt versions. With the exception of the 20, they all feature tilt-back design. Most allow incorporation of a CD player into the mix, and I believe they mostly all have headphone jacks.

http://www.ibanez.com/accessories/series.asp?i=15&l=2

Hartke also had some decent, reasonably priced amps as well. Of course, if you start looking at the used market, your choices expand exponentially. I've recently found a couple of older 100 watt Peavey's in the $100 - $150 range. The deals are out there if you have some patience and the cash to jump on the right amp when it comes along.

Keep your eyes open at the local music and pawn shops and watch Craigslist as well. Hey, enjoy the bottom end!

r_a_smith3530
April 7th, 2006, 11:45 PM
BTW no matter what anyone says it is perfectly ok to play bass with a pick. Stu Hamm, Geddy Lee, Jonas Reingold, Chris Squire all use picks sometimes.

Operative word there Spud is "sometimes." Real bass players pluck them big old strings with their "finners!" That way they can feel all that soul drippin' off that bad boy. :D

Robert
April 8th, 2006, 06:04 AM
Thanks Rob! Those Ibanez look nice. I'd want a light amp if possible. Do you know anything about the Behringers - http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHBX600 or the 30w version. I would probably only play small gigs, and not often either, do you think a 30w would be enough?

Robert
April 8th, 2006, 07:07 AM
I recorded a quick jam last night - check it out at http://www.dolphinstreet.com/guitars/sx_sjb57_electric_bass

What do you think? Excuse the weird drum fills.... I was just messing around.

warren0728
April 8th, 2006, 07:52 AM
hey robert....i had a hard time hearing the bass lines...the drums were ahem "a little" overpowering. :) Maybe you could remix and crank up the bass track a liktle. What i did hear of the bass sounded good and as usual the guitar stuff was great.

ww

marnold
April 8th, 2006, 08:19 AM
Good to hear that it is a good one. Now you are going to become Mr. Slappopfunkmiester. BTW no matter what anyone says it is perfectly ok to play bass with a pick. Stu Hamm, Geddy Lee, Jonas Reingold, Chris Squire all use picks sometimes.
If Geddy Lee does use a pick, he must do it sparingly. Anyway, I would still encourage Robert to use his fingers. I started out playing bass with a pick because that's what I was familiar with. After getting Rudy Sarzo's instructional cassette back in the day, I switched to my fingers and never looked back. Why? Muting is much easier. You can switch between various techniques quickly and easily. I used to drop my pick all of the time--no problem anymore :) Also, I had a p-bass which is pretty bright for a bass already. Playing with a pick makes it even brighter. That was suboptimal from a tone perspective.

I don't know what I'd do if I went back to bass now since I lost my first three fingertips on my right hand in an accident. My index finger would work OK, but I lost so much length off my middle finger that it's hard to play. I'd still probably figure out a way one way or another.

Katastrophe
April 8th, 2006, 06:03 PM
Awesome, Robert! I like the way the bass sounded from what I could hear. Sounds like you made a great buy!

r_a_smith3530
April 8th, 2006, 06:41 PM
Thanks Rob! Those Ibanez look nice. I'd want a light amp if possible. Do you know anything about the Behringers - http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHBX600 or the 30w version. I would probably only play small gigs, and not often either, do you think a 30w would be enough?

Robert, the rough rule of thumb is that the bass amp should be double the guitar amp, and then some if you have a drummer who likes to get loud! My guitarist is playing through a Peavey Delta Blues 210 (30 watt), and he can damn near drown out my 100 watt Peavey practice amp.

Justaguyin_nc
May 21st, 2006, 09:08 AM
Nice looking and sounding SX Robert Congrats... thump on my brother!

Questions: Are you playing on the strings it came with and how well is that 3 tone finish and is the neck raw or tinted? Pictures look sweet

Justaguyin_nc
May 22nd, 2006, 12:32 PM
Well you did it to me again Robert..:) GAS... I been wanting a cheap Bass, seeing I had an old RMS cheapy bass amp here anyways which is never used... But I hadn't a clue on which one... With the Suggestion of the Squier 51 which was one heck of a winner... I went with your advice and enthusiasm over the sjb-57... at this price why not!! Ofcourse they are out of the 3-tone so... Trying the Vintage Yellow out..

Robert
May 22nd, 2006, 01:28 PM
Cool Justa, it's a great bass for the money, no doubt. I use the strings it came with, they sound awesome. Bright and snappy.

The neck is tinted and has a layer of shiny lacquer - not like the '51 which doesn't have that shiny surface.

Look forward to hearing your review once you get it!

Justaguyin_nc
May 23rd, 2006, 11:35 PM
Robert, To make you smile even more.... Buying this guitar through the Website saved you around $50.00.... Seems RondoMusic sells these on Ebay at $159.95 plus $25.00 shipping http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7415970220&fromMakeTrack=true Pictures there shows the Yellow Vintage I am suppose to recieve thursday... That $119.00 at the Home page plus under $20.00 shipping... sure makes a difference... :)

Robert
May 25th, 2006, 03:20 PM
Is it there yet Justa?! Is the wait killin ya?

See my website for a new picture of my jazz bass -
http://www.dolphinstreet.com/guitars/sx_sjb57_electric_bass

Scroll down to see the next Pastorious in training!

Justaguyin_nc
May 25th, 2006, 04:03 PM
Got mine delivered fedex a few hours ago.... First Impressions: Man you could kill someone with this thing it's so huge..:) And heavy compared to guitars.. It's actually the first time I ever even held a Bass guitar... I think the head on it is way huge..makes my strats head look like a baby guitar... Ok, how was the quality? well.. I have come to the conclusion that Vintage Yellow means a Minty Green.. slightly lighter then the color you would find in those ande's mints... But this time I keep the Minty Green Vintage Yellow guitar and try to find a black pickguard for it... At this price what the heck... The Action was kinda high and the neck was slightly bowed... little turn of all screws, trussrod and the intonation is set pretty darn good.. The Pots are scratchy... very scratchy.. but the tone pot actually works on mine , which I read in other reviews that they didn't... The neck which looks one piece and very solid has some sort of tint applied under the glossy finish which isn't half bad from a distance...Up close you can see the applied stain lines with some not actually being there.. The frets are low and they do not over hang the neck which feels pretty good.. you got a good handfull of neck here also..but comfy...I do have some finish sanding near the third fret which I cannot figure out what they had been trying to do but the scaring does not bother me nor does it bother the fingers as I slide past it.. just not perfect... The strings on here came wrapped and seem descent.. tuners seem tight and work for me with no machine marks... The bridge does seem thin but the screws for the saddles all seem tight and useable..The sustain is there even though it's not thru-body design.. Sound wise? Less sound then I thought at first.. looking at the Pickups I raised them and angled them a bit... thru the fender-champ's 12 inch I can get a pretty good thumping going as well as thru a cheapy 10inch RMS bass amp... playing the neck(middle) pickup I can make some nice low clear runs up and down the neck so I guess muddy is not an issue... I like the tone turned back and just finger pick this bigboy... On the Bridge Pickup it has a bit more power and also pretty clear to these ears.. Together cancels any humm.. Probably less output pickups then on the more expensive models but usuable for getting some Bass Backings into the computer.. I assume this will start me from square one again playing guitar but heck I was only at square 2 2 1/2 anways..:) I think I will enjoy this if it does not break my leg resting on it in front of this computer..darn its heavy to me.. Oh the Humm... not as bad as I thought it would be.. in front of computer and all.. very usable guitar to me at this point..... going to hang it on the wall with the squier_51 and hope the screws hold..lol

Tim
May 25th, 2006, 04:06 PM
Robert,

Fantastic sound there! It really sounded good. The tune was very jazzy. Looks like you maybe giving bass lesson on the Dolphin Street. Nice catch and enjoy.

Justa,

Your next with a demo of your new ax.

Robert
May 25th, 2006, 04:27 PM
Heh, thanks Tim! That was a very rough jam... but what the heck.

Justa, it's a bass - of course it's heavy! Haha! Looks like I got the perfect one - I didn't need to do any adjustments at all! Intonation great, neck, action, all of it perfect.

It takes a while to get used to the large neck, but it is very comfy to play for a bass, I'd say.

Enjoy your precious...

Tone2TheBone
May 26th, 2006, 12:15 AM
Jazz basses are sweet. Love the necks on them and the pickups. Much more tonal options than a P. My Squire jazz bass rules. *toasts his brewski*

Justaguyin_nc
May 26th, 2006, 08:47 AM
Tim.. that's gonna be awhile... didn't realize I gotta learn all new fingerings for the chords and beef up to hold this.. heh

Robert.. I swear I already got a bruise on my leg from just resting this monster on it for a day..lol.. I know now one person you don't want to mess with in a group is the Bass player.. if he can carry one of these all nite he can take care of himself.. hmm.. then again..he might be the one worn out... Im enjoying this.. just thumping out tv themes like Andy Griffith, peter gunn.. etc etc... gotta be worth the $120.00 in giggles and bruises

Justaguyin_nc
May 27th, 2006, 09:16 AM
Robert,

Looks like you maybe giving bass lesson on the Dolphin Street.


Hmmm, Renman Bass Lessons... I see that as a positive in the future.. :)

I think I bruised my Bass... I keep Slapping it.. don't get the sound I want yet but it's learning who the boss is..I think... This thing keeps bruising my leg I am gonna POP it next!!

On a more positive note...I just ordered a few books from Amazon to help me along and Still think this is well worth the $120...$137 shipped..

Justaguyin_nc
May 27th, 2006, 08:15 PM
I think I need to get a pedal to go with this thing... umm... well.. the guitars got them.. why not the bass to?

Although I am enjoying stock thru the Cyber-Champ..as I piddle and paddle..

Justaguyin_nc
May 30th, 2006, 12:51 PM
I have to update my opinion on the color of my SX.. I said it was Minty Green.. well, in the house, in every room, it is minty green... But... I took it outside to show a friend and when the light hit it..it was as Vintage Yellow as you could ask for....I never realized how much lighting in the house could change the color... I thought it was just me.. but it been verified with much younger eyes... this thing changes color inside to mint green.. other then that.. ordered a black pickguard to go on it... and still learning and loving it.. will keep me content for a long while I believe and fill the need... although I do like to look at others..:) I do need to find something to remove the scratchyness in the pots though or replace them....

Katastrophe
May 30th, 2006, 01:20 PM
Justa -

Have you sent an email to Kurt at Rondo about your pots? He may send you some replacements. It wouldn't hurt to ask, anyway. I emailed him about some model info and got a really quick response.

Justaguyin_nc
May 30th, 2006, 05:37 PM
Justa -

Have you sent an email to Kurt at Rondo about your pots? He may send you some replacements. It wouldn't hurt to ask, anyway. I emailed him about some model info and got a really quick response.


Well, With your suggestion I did just that... Kurt has already gotten back to me and sounds like I am getting new pots.. thanks for the suggestion.. Thats pretty good service on a $120 Item...

Rondo got my vote...

Katastrophe
May 30th, 2006, 09:33 PM
That's awesome, man. Glad they got back with you so fast. Good customer service is hard to come by these days...

r_a_smith3530
June 20th, 2006, 11:44 PM
I heard that Kurt's service was way above board. That's cool! If you go back in this post near the beginning, I mentioned that if Rondo came out with a "toofless" version of the Jazz in either ash or Lake Placid Blue, that I would pull the trigger. I also mentioned that to Kurt in an email. Well, he came through (it's even got a blue headstock!) and tomorrow, I will join the Rondo/SX Jazz bass brigade as I'm ordering the SJB-62MG/FL/LPB.

r_a_smith3530
June 21st, 2006, 12:22 AM
I think I need to get a pedal to go with this thing... umm... well.. the guitars got them.. why not the bass to?

You are so, sooo right here Justaguy...

If you want to step into the big leagues, the Tech21 Sans Amp Bass DI stomp box seriously rocks. I didn't realize just how hairy this peddle really was until I plugged my Les Paul into my bass amp the other day! The downside is that this serious pedal goes for equally serious bucks. GC, Sam Ash, and MF are all getting around $189 for them.

Now, if you want something also quite tasty for the bass, at a much lower entrance fee, then look into the Russian Big Muff Pi. While it may be an OK guitar pedal, it is a wicked bass pedal!

Justaguyin_nc
August 4th, 2006, 12:45 PM
Thanks for the pedal tips R_A...I found http://buzzfox.com/ and got to hear the PI.. nice.. good site for finding sounds of pedals before you buy them..

I finally got my (backorder at sweetwater.com) $19.00 fender b/w/b pickguard for the SX.. it needed a little carving to go around the neck and pickup on the back side .. and some cutting around the electronics plate.. just slightly.. but I got it on there.. 4 screw holes lined up the others I just pushed through with a deep breath... I like it alot with vintage yellow and black guard now.. I took the electronics off to put on the guard.. there was plastic around the input switch.. I left it there.. why it's there I have no clue.. was pretty clean under the hood other than that.. Does the pickguard make me sound any better? OFCOURSE.. heh..

:DR

r_a_smith3530
August 15th, 2006, 09:05 PM
Hey, Justaguy, while I was changing my pickguard (I also replaced all my pots with CTS units and the jack with a SwitchCraft), I painted the control cavity (and the pickup cavities) with shielding paint. Between that, and grounding the heck out of everything, there is no discernable hum anymore. I consider this money well spent!

marnold
August 16th, 2006, 08:35 AM
Hey, Justaguy, while I was changing my pickguard (I also replaced all my pots with CTS units and the jack with a SwitchCraft), I painted the control cavity (and the pickup cavities) with shielding paint. Between that, and grounding the heck out of everything, there is no discernable hum anymore. I consider this money well spent!

Since I (eventually) will be ripping all of the electronics out of my Charvel, this would seem to be a good thing to do. Where do you get this paint from? Are there instructions on teh Intarweb for its use?