Check out this SX bass I found from Rondo music

Roguetitan

Roguetitan

New member
SX SJB-75 LTD NAT
I was browsing around the Rondo website in the bass section when i stumbled across this Beautiful Jazz copy that screamed to me buy me, I'm yours! so I did:D
it has several nice features and upgrades from the other Bass guitars in the SX jazz line which really caught my eye. and the price was right. $195.00 shipped to my door. It is not often I buy guitars, well because I make them but for some reason I was really atracted to this bass.
worst case senario is once it is delivered, play it and don't fall in love with it and send it back:)
SX.jpg

sjb75ltdna5.jpg

it apears to have arguably, a one piece ash body... no biggie if not but a big + if it is.
I really dig the cream block inlays and matched binding and the white pick guard pulls it all together.
kind of reminds me of a natural Geddy Lee
I also liked the tuners and high mass bridge!
the ad says upgraded electronics, we will see about that i suppose.
I am not too concerned about the electronics as long as it has a good action and plays well I can put some killer Vintage Jazz pups and 500K pots in her.

oh and will definately have to change out those junk strings with some good D'Addarios right off the bat.
 
Man What is going on with all of these threads?
Are the mods deleting posts or what?:confused:
I am no longer getting E mail notifications aether since they moved to another server:confused:
 
tha Bass came today and is going back tomorrow:mad:
the neck relief is right and has a pretty high action (higher than I like) and is getting a lot of fret buzz and the bridge was installed crooked.

I will give it one more try but if the next one is no better I will demand a refund:(
 
Roguetitan said:
tha Bass came today and is going back tomorrow:mad:
the neck relief is right and has a pretty high action (higher than I like) and is getting a lot of fret buzz and the bridge was installed crooked.

I will give it one more try but if the next one is no better I will demand a refund:(
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Yes, definitely try it once more - an occasional "lemon" is possible, but by no means the norm - Kurt will eat all the shipping charges and hopefully the next one is a "gem"!

btw, if you order with a case, I think they take the instrument out of its box to pack it in the case and so possibly they can inspect it then. i'm not sure, but i think i remember hearing that.

rootin' for ya.
 
Gear_Junky said:
Yes, definitely try it once more - an occasional "lemon" is possible, but by no means the norm - Kurt will eat all the shipping charges and hopefully the next one is a "gem"!

btw, if you order with a case, I think they take the instrument out of its box to pack it in the case and so possibly they can inspect it then. i'm not sure, but i think i remember hearing that.

rootin' for ya.
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I am willing to give Rondo the benefit of the doubt

I could be wrong about this but it looks like this bass has already been shipped once. The box was in pretty bad shape and had several different kinds of tape to seal and reseal it so it appears that it has already been shipped and returned once before and someone in their shipping department just tried to pawn it off on me in hopes I did not know anything about guitars.
IDK I could be wrong but that is just how it appears to me and this sort of thing does happen all the time.

But Ya, as long as Rondo makes good by replacing this POS with a good playable bass I will be happy.
UPS is scheduled to pick up the bass but Rondo informed me when I was submitting the return form that it could take up to 10 days for UPS to come get the package. which I am not too happy about that:(
I already have way too many cases and need another one like I need a hole in the head. hopefully Rondo music will inspect the bass anyway now they know I am not going to accept just any thing they send me.
Stay tuned for the continuing Saga of Rondo and the unhappy bass player.:D
 
Bummer. I, and some people I e-know, have done quite well with SX basses. I have a PJ that I just goosed with a Badass II and a set of Bartos, it is now a monster.
 
I know several folks with them and have played theirs.
Really nice playing Basses.
Well worth the money.
 
Not to feed the Rondo fanboi-ism, but I'm sitting here with a Texan T-7 in my lap right now that I've actually been quite impressed with for the price, easily on par with any Mexican tele I've ever played, plus the added bonus of the seventh string (which Fender won't touch with a ten foot pole). It showed up with what felt like a bare maple neck, but five or six coats of tung oil and the thing feels great. :cool: That was my only real complaint, the thing's been a blast otherwise.
 
I also got a disappointing bass from Rondo a while back, and while they offered to make good on it, the time delays for the return (after a longish wait for initial shipping), and the overall quality of the bass, were enough for me to just sell it locally at about a 25% loss, just to get the whole experience behind me.
I have seen raves by others about the instruments, and the customer service certainly didn't fight the idea of an exchange, but it just left a bad taste in my mouth....YMMV, FWIW.
 
DrewPeterson7 said:
Not to feed the Rondo fanboi-ism, but I'm sitting here with a Texan T-7 in my lap right now that I've actually been quite impressed with for the price, easily on par with any Mexican tele I've ever played, plus the added bonus of the seventh string (which Fender won't touch with a ten foot pole). It showed up with what felt like a bare maple neck, but five or six coats of tung oil and the thing feels great. :cool: That was my only real complaint, the thing's been a blast otherwise.
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you have to use something on maple to seal it in order to keep it from turning green. for some reason handling un finished maple will do that to it it.Tung oil kind of has a natural look and feel that is preferred by most people who like maple but to leave maple bare is not very smart unless you like green maple:D
ya the neck on this bass has a high gloss poly finish as well as the neck which I was not overly extatic about (would have much rather had a tung oil finish on the neck) but the clear Poly certanly brings out the beauty of the neck and is certanly well protected however the neck will more than likely have a dull matte finish after I sand it with some 800 grit to make it super smooth and fast, you know how clear finishes tend to have traction to them which can slow down your fretting hand, it does me any way. the glossy fret board looks pretty sweet though.

whyseye said:
I also got a disappointing bass from Rondo a while back, and while they offered to make good on it, the time delays for the return (after a longish wait for initial shipping), and the overall quality of the bass, were enough for me to just sell it locally at about a 25% loss, just to get the whole experience behind me.
I have seen raves by others about the instruments, and the customer service certainly didn't fight the idea of an exchange, but it just left a bad taste in my mouth....YMMV, FWIW.
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Ya it will be close to 2 weeks before I get a replacement for this first Bass they sent me but I am willing to give Rondo the benefit of the doubt.
besides it is not like I don't have anything around here to play.
I am pretty sure they will check the next one out pretty good to make sure it is up to par before sending it out.
but If this one is no better I will return it for my full purchase price. it is a little hard to swallow eating 25% when I can get all my money back.
I guess some people aren't as patient as I am:cool:
 
well the replacement came today

and I have had time to look it over and play it a bit and my reviews on this bass is somewhat less than stellar:(
this one did not have near as bad of fret buzz as the last one did and while the relief on the neck is right it still has some buzz to it when fretting around the fifth fret. the action is much higher than I like and the saddles on the bridge are bottomed out so there is no adjusting them any lower than they already are so the only way to lower the action is to shim the neck which is a cardinal sin to me thus is not an option in my book.
the neck pocket has a gap big enough that I can put 3 business cards between the body and the neck and the router job on the bridge pickup is awful, I mean really sloppy work. I do my routing freehand and my work is much better than this.
The center line of the bridge was not in line with the center line of the neck because the G string is over much farther than the E string at the 20th fret.

it also looks like someone took a claw hammer to the 20th fret because it is beat all to shit and the poly urethane finish is cracked all around the fret.

in a nutshell I am not at all happy with this purchase
you would think that they would at least examine the bass they was going to send me since I already sent one back that way they would have seen the shitty work of whoever assembled this bass but they made no effort to look the bass over before it was sent out so I am sending this one back for a full refund of my money.

if you are looking to purchase an SX bass from Rondo Buyer Beware because the quality is hit or miss and in my case they missed twice.
 
Subtract the part about the claw hammer at the 20th fret, insert "The first fret was so low at the E string that it's impossible to play a low F" and you'd describe my '57 style foto-flame P-bass from SX and Rondo music.

This is why I always, always enter the "SX & Rondo music" discussions and say "NOT for a 1st bass!" These are not good choices for a beginner!

These are great basses for modifications and tinkering! I've got 3 different necks for my SX P-bass (fretless P, fretted P, and fretted J) while the bridge and electronics are whatever I've slapped together. I have played more gigs with my SX P bass from Rondo than on any other instrument I own. I like it.

But it's not for someone looking for a 1st bass, in my opinion.

Regarding your instrument... If you have a router, you could sink the bridge into the body instead of shim the neck. It's probably not a great idea, but it's an idea. You could re-center the bridge while you're at it.

I recommend using #0000 steel wool on the back of that neck. I think the finishing process at the SX plant involves dipping the entire instrument in a vat of sticky urethane (no, not really). #0000 will get it feeling slick and smooth. Sandpaper might also work, but I think the sandpaper will remove far more material.
 
RejectionNinja said:
Subtract the part about the claw hammer at the 20th fret, insert "The first fret was so low at the E string that it's impossible to play a low F" and you'd describe my '57 style foto-flame P-bass from SX and Rondo music.

This is why I always, always enter the "SX & Rondo music" discussions and say "NOT for a 1st bass!" These are not good choices for a beginner!

These are great basses for modifications and tinkering! I've got 3 different necks for my SX P-bass (fretless P, fretted P, and fretted J) while the bridge and electronics are whatever I've slapped together. I have played more gigs with my SX P bass from Rondo than on any other instrument I own. I like it.

But it's not for someone looking for a 1st bass, in my opinion.

Regarding your instrument... If you have a router, you could sink the bridge into the body instead of shim the neck. It's probably not a great idea, but it's an idea. You could re-center the bridge while you're at it.

I recommend using #0000 steel wool on the back of that neck. I think the finishing process at the SX plant involves dipping the entire instrument in a vat of sticky urethane (no, not really). #0000 will get it feeling slick and smooth. Sandpaper might also work, but I think the sandpaper will remove far more material.
Click to expand...

Screw that! I bought the bass to play right out of the box minus doing a little expected set up work not to have to completely redo the whole bass
I build bass guitars and am currently building a Jazz bass right now
while browsing through the Rondo website I saw this bass and it looked good so I bought it but it did not work out so it is going back.
 
Eh, yeah. If you wanted a bass to play right out of the box, send it back. I'd never go to SX with that object in mind. You can get some great half-finished project instruments, but I think that's where the SX product line peaks.
 
RejectionNinja said:
Regarding your instrument... If you have a router, you could sink the bridge into the body instead of shim the neck. It's probably not a great idea, but it's an idea. You could re-center the bridge while you're at it.
Click to expand...
LMAO
that is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard!
It would be more likely that the neck would get shimmed before mutilating the body:rolleyes:
 
Well, that's a shame, Roguetitan. Too bad it wouldn't work out for you.

The cheap Xaviere Strat clone that I bought last year was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination - some high frets and a neck that for some reason can't get quite enough relief - but with a little attention it was playable.

The stuff you describe - both of those basses have issues with basic component alignment and it sounds like their production setup is very very loose. You could probably get a good one if you had the patience, but how much time are you going to dedicate to firewood from Korea?
 
Zaphod B said:
The stuff you describe - both of those basses have issues with basic component alignment and it sounds like their production setup is very very loose. You could probably get a good one if you had the patience, but how much time are you going to dedicate to firewood from Korea?
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Zaph
LMAO:D
Ya all of the problems with both bass guitars was/is fixable but I see absolutely no reason why I should have to fix something that is supposed to be a finished product.
I mean what is the use in the manufacturer polishing the frets if once upon arrival to the purchaser they have to do a fret leveling and crown job and to replace the bridge in order to get the action right as soon as it is pulled out of the box.:confused:
this is definitely one of those cases of you can't judge a book by its cover.

it would be a good beginner bass for someone who has never played a bass guitar to learn on but once you have had the opportunity to play something that has a good setup you would be ready to move up.

Meh, Maybe the third time would have been a charm but my patience is wearing thin besides all the parts for my yellow bass I am building should be here this coming friday and I know it will be a good player because I have already fitted the neck and bridge and strung her up and she plays like buttah!:cool:
 
If you build basses why wouldn't you just do a quick fret level and be done with it? I don't understand paying under $200 and expecting perfection?
 
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