Another SX Bass Coming to The Fret

[r_a_smith3530]

Well, I just got off the phone with Rondo, and a new SX SJB-62MG/FL/LPB is on its way.

I've wanted a "toofless" bass for some time now, but I didn't want to shed a lot of money for one. I had looked at the SX line at Rondo's, but at the time, they didn't have a color I liked. I sent an email off to Kurt saying that if they ever came out with one in either natural ash or Lake Placid Blue, that I would buy one. He replied, telling me to keep checking back at their web site.

Now comes the wait for the Big Brown Truck...

Oh yeah, I had it shipped to my friend's shop, as he wanted to see what the quality was like, right out of the box. We will then look to see if there is anything we want to change right away. From what you guys have mentioned, that may not be much. I would like a pearlized pickguard, and we will most likely copper shield it completely. My plan is to go with CTS pots on it too.

Now to find some custom, hot sh*t wiring scheme for it!

[Katastrophe]

Congrats on the toofless, man! I look forward to an excellent review from ya when it comes in!

Also, glad you're back posting again!

[r_a_smith3530]

Well, it arrived today. As mentioned previously, I had it shipped to my friend's shop, so we could really examine it "under the microscope"! First, let me tell you, it is friggin' gorgeous! The Lake Placid Blue finish is flawless, and the vintage tint on the neck really makes it a stand out. I could not find one bubble, one flake, or anything in the way of issues with the paintwork. This bass looks nicer than any Squier that I have ever held and puts to shame most Mexican Fenders as well. Hell, I'd stack the finish up with most American Fenders, it is that nice. Needless to say, I'm impressed. The fingerboard was quite a surprise. As I said, it's a "toofless" bass, lined with side fret dots. Everything is smooth as silk, just as it is supposed to be.

Ok, that was the finish. Now, mind you, I didn't have a whole lot of time with her, as I got to my friend's shop about 30 minutes before closing time, and his significant other was working on him to go. We did check out the mechanicals, and even got a chance to plug it in; for a short time at least. So, I'll say this for the mechanicals. I can see on this bass where they spent the money and where they cut the corners in order to meet the price point.

Here's where we're at. It's a fretless, and SX did the right thing, stringing it with flatwound D'Addario XL Chromes. That's a good thing, and probably the single most costly hardware expenditure on the bass. The pickups don't sound all that bad surprisingly, but it was difficult to get a really good appraisal, as the pots are absolute garbage. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. If something has to be bad, let it be something that costs less than $5.00 each to replace! The neck volume pot was just scratchy as can be, and neither volume pot seemed to do much until they were half way open. That's better than can be said for the tone pot, as it has zero resistance, and that's about the effect that the pot has on the bass' tone too! CTS pots and a Switchcraft jack are already on the upgrade list, along with full copper shielding. Also on the "endangered list" is the bridge, soon to be home to a Quan Badass II. The standard bridge doesn't look all that sturdy, and I like Quan's anyway. With a new bridge and electronics, we're going to see what the stock pickups have to offer. The tuners will stay for now as well, unless they prove to be a problem. The nut appears to be well cut, so that won't be messed with either. Two days after ordering the bass, I ordered a pearlized pickguard, and it will be installed while everything's apart. It sets the blue finish off really nicely.

Well, to sum up, for under $150.00, including shipping, this baby is a steal, and I would recommend this bass to anyone, especially someone looking for an inexpensive instrument that they can grow with. If you are looking for a fun project, this is it! With the Quan bridge, and the other changes, I should be well under $300.00. You can't go too wrong with that!

[tremoloman***]

Well, it arrived today. As mentioned previously, I had it shipped to my friend's shop, so we could really examine it "under the microscope"! First, let me tell you, it is friggin' gorgeous! The Lake Placid Blue finish is flawless, and the vintage tint on the neck really makes it a stand out. I could not find one bubble, one flake, or anything in the way of issues with the paintwork. This bass looks nicer than any Squier that I have ever held and puts to shame most Mexican Fenders as well. Hell, I'd stack the finish up with most American Fenders, it is that nice. Needless to say, I'm impressed. The fingerboard was quite a surprise. As I said, it's a "toofless" bass, lined with side fret dots. Everything is smooth as silk, just as it is supposed to be.

Nice pickup! (how's that for a bad pun?) Thank you for posting such a great and in-depth review.

Check out my review of the SX SST 57 under "Reviews"... I said the same exact thing about its quality in comparison to Squiers. Smart men think alike!

Got any pics of her? I'd love to see some! I'm sold on SXs for sure! For the price of a night out you can have a really sweet guitar or bass that will bring years worth of fun and enjoyment.

[Tone2TheBone]

Rob I bet that fretless plays like butter...especially with the silky flats. Congrats and thanks for the review.

[Robert****]

Nice review Rob, I can tell you I am very happy with my SX jazz bass - sweet thing!

[Justaguyin_nc]

Hey Rob, a note to Kurt and he will send you replacement pots..offered them to me.. I declined though.. figured if and when it bothers me that much I will be like you and get the top of the line pots and switch... Rondo is a pretty neat company with some nice products for one heck of a steal price!!

[r_a_smith3530]

Here's a pic of the SX fretless jazz bass...

[sunvalleylaw]

Here's a pic of the SX fretless jazz bass...

I know nothing re: basses and am curious. I presume there is an equivalent fretted value bass in the SX line or similar?

[Spudman***]

So RA...
What is the neck like on that? How is the width and thickness compared to other basses?
I'm looking for something fairly narrow. I'm finding it a little difficult to play the basses I have because the necks are pretty big.

[Robert****]

A bit blurry that pic, but I bet it's fun to play. Fretless bass are insanely hard to play well though, at least for me.

Is it front heavy like my fretted jazz bass, like if you sit down and play it, it wants to dip the neck into the floor?

Mine is sturdy and big, not exactly easy to play if you have small fingers, but I like it. It's a bass for grown-up men! Haha!

[r_a_smith3530]

A bit blurry that pic, but I bet it's fun to play. Fretless bass are insanely hard to play well though, at least for me.

Is it front heavy like my fretted jazz bass, like if you sit down and play it, it wants to dip the neck into the floor?

Mine is sturdy and big, not exactly easy to play if you have small fingers, but I like it. It's a bass for grown-up men! Haha!

Sorry about the pic quality, I had limited time to shoot them all before I had to go meet someone.

As I mentioned in another post, I didn't find the change to fretless all that bad, but that could be accountable to two things. First, both of my fretless basses are lined. Also, I've always strove to have consistent finger placement in relation to the fret, so I already had the span down pretty close for a 34" scale.

As for the bass being front-heavy, yes, it is, and from what I've heard, that is pretty much a nature-of-the-beast for jazz basses. Mine, as yours, is no slouch either, unless compared with my Mahogany G&L. I believe that it, and Peavey's T40 were a couple of the heaviest bass guitars ever built.

[LowEndWonder]

Don't put a Bad *** on an SX! Your better off upgrading to the Fender American Bridge! The BA will raise your action even with the saddles all the way down! Save some money and do your SX a favor, just go with a American Fender Bridge! It will keep the playability of you SX at Maximum enjoyment. BA's Fit but they don't agree with SX's.

[r_a_smith3530]

Don't put a Bad *** on an SX! Your better off upgrading to the Fender American Bridge! The BA will raise your action even with the saddles all the way down! Save some money and do your SX a favor, just go with a American Fender Bridge! It will keep the playability of you SX at Maximum enjoyment. BA's Fit but they don't agree with SX's.

I beg to differ. I'm the one who started this thread, and my fretless jazz clone SX bass is comfortably wearing a Quan Badass II nickel bridge. I had no problems with high action. I'm wondering if your particular bass may have had the neck pocket routed too deeply. That would cause the symptom you describe.

Just for the record, my SX jazz clone is a fretless, so a higher action would affect me to a greater degree than someone with a fretted neck. That said, my "E" string currently sits slightly less than 3/32nds of an inch above the fingerboard, as measured with a machinist's scale. For a fretted Jazz Bass, Fender recommends a clearance of anywhere from 6/64ths to 7/64ths of an inch. My other strings are set accordingly. I have no issues with excessive action height needless to say, nor do I have any buzzing problems throughout the neck's range, on any string.

Prior to buying my SX, I had read a number of reviews where people had switched out the cheap stamped bridge that originally came on these basses for a Quan without having any problems. From those reviews and from my own firsthand experience, I am going to have to assume that your bass suffers a defect, and as I mentioned above, the most likely culprit would be that the neck is sitting too deep in the pocket. This would be caused by the pocket being routed incorrectly, or possibly the neck's heel being too thin, although I would guess the pocket to be more likely. As a workaround, you could always try shimming the neck with a skim from some plywood, but the real fix would be to send the bass back for a replacement body. You might talk to Curt at Rondo regarding this. He's a pretty decent guy.

[LowEndWonder]

Naa. I don't even have that bass anymore.
I love the current fretless I have though. The SJB 62- CT.
Im keeping it stock. I ain't sinking no cash into it. It's fine the way it is.
Im a firm believer of " If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

[r_a_smith3530]

Naa. I don't even have that bass anymore.
I love the current fretless I have though. The SJB 62- CT.
Im keeping it stock. I ain't sinking no cash into it. It's fine the way it is.
Im a firm believer of " If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

Me, I'm a tinkerer, a hacker by trade. Whether it be cars, motorcycles, guitars, computers, or even my cell phone, I love to personalize. Although I could probably have gotten away with just changing the electronics out, the bass has been made so much nicer with the bridge replacement. I get tons more sustain, and with the original bridge, there was just a tad of 'tinny' sound to it. That is gone. Solid as a rock!

BTW, it appears that the SJB 62 CT is not in Rondo's current lineup, I had to search for it. Nice looking. I'm wondering if that bridge cover would fit a Quan bridge? I may just have to pick up a set of those covers from Rondo.

I do have one question though. I never got the point of having a 'thumb' rest below the "G" string. Does it get much use on yours?

[LowEndWonder]

From several other SX players I heard from, the cover won't fit over a BadAss. I took my bottom cover off. I like to play over the bridge pup and besides with the cover on, it leaves you very little room to play.
It does look sharp with both covers though.

[pie_man_25]

[QUOTE=r_a_smith3530]Here's where we're at. It's a fretless, and SX did the right thing, stringing it with flatwound D'Addario XL Chromes. That's a good thing, and probably the single most costly hardware expenditure on the bass.QUOTE]

wow, I have those on my not fretless fender, those are so far the best strings I've ever used, and long lasting too, they're also the most expensive, I'm thinking of replacing them with some roundwounds though, just a brighter tone, does anybody have opinions on d'addario roundwounds? anyways, nice find smith, sounds like you're gonna be having fun!

[r_a_smith3530]

From several other SX players I heard from, the cover won't fit over a BadAss. I took my bottom cover off. I like to play over the bridge pup and besides with the cover on, it leaves you very little room to play.
It does look sharp with both covers though.

Thanks for the reply. Hmm, they aren't too expensive, maybe I'll pick one up and try 'cause they sure look sweet!

Here's where we're at. It's a fretless, and SX did the right thing, stringing it with flatwound D'Addario XL Chromes. That's a good thing, and probably the single most costly hardware expenditure on the bass.

wow, I have those on my not fretless fender, those are so far the best strings I've ever used, and long lasting too, they're also the most expensive, I'm thinking of replacing them with some roundwounds though, just a brighter tone, does anybody have opinions on d'addario roundwounds? anyways, nice find smith, sounds like you're gonna be having fun!

I found the D'Addario XL Chromes flats to be very reasonable, roughly $30.00 or so at Sam Ash or GC. For expensive, try Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Flats. The last set I bought cost me about $45.00. I hear that LaBella's aren't cheap either.

As for roundwounds on a fretless, I'm against the idea, because your string is going to be digging into the fingerboard itself, since there is no fret to take the abuse. Yes, I know Jaco went that route, but I'm guessing that he could afford to have his fingerboard planed periodically. Either thator he just didn't care. I do!

That said, I've used the D'Addario XL rounds on a fretted bass, and they were nice. My favorite in that category though are the DR Extra Life Black Beauties that I have on my Schecter. These are some really nice strings, the fastest roundwounds I've ever used, and sweet sounding to boot!