SX brand knockoff Fender Jazz Bass

[bonzxylophone]

I doubt I'll find much of an answer here, but I'm in search of a cheap bass guitar, although that's probably a bad thing. I do have a cheaper guitar though just a Peavey Predator from like 1999 and I record all my guitar tracks with it no problem.

I'm in dire need of a bass, currently I'm having to borrow my friend's Aria bass and I just want something I could keep all the time. So I found some website called RondoMusic.net and they sell some "SX" line of knockoff guitars. They have a Fender Jazz bass knockoff for $119.00. I've read reviews on harmony central and for the price people seem rather satisfied with this "SX" line of equiptment.

If any of you bass gurus know anything about a pretty good affordable Bass for less than $140 either used or new I would really like some advice on it. Less than $140 because I'm just really broke.

"the cheap knockoff bass"
http://www.rondomusic.net/sjb62mglpb.html

 

[Hard2Hear]

Ive never played one, but I have looked at this one more than once or twice. It's modeled after one of my favorite Jazzes from the 70's.
http://www.rondomusic.net/sjb75.html

It sure looks good anyways! I've heard that all of Rondo's stuff is really good for the money..

H2H

 

[Garry Sharp]

All I know is that the SX range gets rave reviews (for the price) on the talkbass forum. And they are a picky lot of gearheads over there Nevertheless, you mustn't buy it without trying it or ensuring a return policy. I have heard some perfectly decent bass tracks made with Squiers and the like - the playing is a thousand times more important than the gear, IMHO.

 

[Idgeit]

Here in Ireland, SX is a big brand strangely. Its really low-budget stuff. I got a Cheep SX drum kit, and Alot of people i knew had SX guitars & basses. If you want something to get started on i'd say go for something like that, pretty solid for the price. But as they always say, you get what you pay for.
Heres a few cheep basses.

http://www.thomann.de/index.html?pa...benton_hbp90bk_shortscale_ebass_prodinfo.html
http://www.thomann.de/index.html?pa...w6_harley_benton_hbp120bk_ebass_prodinfo.html

my brother got this as his first bass, pretty good for the price.

http://www.thomann.de/index.html?pa...w6_harley_benton_hbb200bk_ebass_prodinfo.html

Hope this helps

- Idgeit

 

[lbanks]

I had one, a 4 string Jazz. Pretty good, just as good or better than the Squier P-Bass I owned.

 

[Imaduck]

I must say, the one Hard posted looks very nice, I'm tempted to get one myself. Even if the pickups suck, it'd be worth it if the body construction is decent enough.

Anyway, my suggestion for anyone looking for a cheap guitar is pawn shops. I don't think you'll ever find a deal for a new guitar that'll even touch what you could get for that money in a pawn shop (in low price ranges, of course). Anyway, I'd just take a look around at your local shops if there are some good ones.

 

[geet73]

Supposedly, if you upgrade the bridges, you have a really nice bass.

For the money anyway. People seem to rave about the Agile Les Paul copies too.

 

[Clive Hugh]

I'm always sus when I hear of something new and cheap and supposedly good. My immediate thought is that it is made in China by political prisoners.
Just a thought.

 

[bonzxylophone]

Thanks guys, I think I'll go with that cheap bass, I like the blue color it goes with my music project's color scheme, and I'll only get it if there's a solid return policy of which I'll research more. I think I'll linger around some random pawn shops in the days before I get paid to see if there's any good values there.

 

[EdWonbass]

A buddy of mine from TalkBass had a SX frettless jazz bass and it played pretty good. I thought the neck felt pretty good. You could always upgrade the pickups down the road.

 

[WERNER 1]

Well I've got one of there Agile LP's (AL 3000 honey burst) and I'm totaly happy with it!!! Probably the best bang for the buck out there!!!

As you can see by my collection pic below, it's standing in pretty tall company.

Rick

 

[EdWonbass]

Well I've got one of there Agile LP's (AL 3000 honey burst) and I'm totaly happy with it!!! Probably the best bang for the buck out there!!!

As you can see by my collection pic below, it's standing in pretty tall company.

Rick

Hey Rick, that guitar is sweet looking. What is the street price of one of those bad boys?

 

[WERNER 1]

Here ya go!

http://www.rondomusic.net/al3000prest.html

I don't know how they're doing things now, but when I bought mine there was such a demand for them that the incoming shipments were already sold out to "Pre - orders" !

I originally wanted the Cherry sunburst, but the were all spoken for (About 4 months in advance! ) They just happend to get one of the Heritage sunburst in as a sample (it wasn't an option they carried at that time , and it was called a honey burst back then.).......I wasn't sure about the color, but when I got the thing...WOW! the pics on the site don't do it justice!

Rick

 

[WERNER 1]

I just noticed that they changed their head stocks.........mine is more like a true gibson headstock

 

[EdWonbass]

I just checked out the price and the features and all I can say is wow!
When I saw your guitar I thought it couldn't be real wood but it says on the website that it is real wood on top and not a photo. I like the fact that they use decent tuners and two choices for the nut material. Not bad.
How does it play?

 

[WERNER 1]

Sweet!

I'm running 10's on it (Dean Markley Blue Steels), and I only did a small amount of tweeking when I got it.

1. Straightend the neck a bit......a little too much bow in it for me.

2. Polished the fretts up a bit more, but they are better than most in their stock form.

3. filed down the nut slots just a bit.....again, it was probably fine for most people, but I like mine to have very low action, especially on a LP.

The biggest surprise for me was the pickups, I was dead set on swapping them out once I got the guitar (Duncan's of course), but Kurt convinced me to give them a chance once before I swapped them.......needless to say, the stock ones are still in there.

here's another pic:

The ONLY thing I can see on here that I'd consider changing out is the chrome pickup covers, they are....well almost a little worn looking if you will.

Oh, yeah, the jack plate is plastic cream color, so I changed it out to a chrome metal one.

Rick

 

[hixmix]

After reading here, checking out the Rondo site and the Talkbass forum, I've just about convinced myself to order the SJB-75c. It looks really cool and woudn't look too shabby hanging in between my Hofner and American Deluxe P Bass. For $183.00 delivered, how could I go wrong?

I read SX also did a great Hofner knockoff but they must've stopped production.

Thanks for the lead.

 

[Tadpui]

I have a 5-string SX Jazz copy and its a pretty good bass for what it cost. The pickups are actually OK, its the tuners and the bridge that are pretty bad. Still, replace those and you still have a pretty darned good bass for less than $250. The fret work is a little sloppy in that they're uneven and buzz no matter how much/little bow is in the neck. But it sounds great.

 

[notCardio]

Anyone ever returned anything to Rondo?

Yeah, they're relatively cheap, but if I'm gonna drop $500 on a guitar I haven't played or even seen in person, I wanna make sure I can return it without a bunch of hassle, even if it's just because I don't like it.

 

[jeffree]

Bonz, I'm in a similar situation. I'm a studio guitarist (non-bass) with a home studio and am looking for a cheap bass to add some backing tracks. I've played a some cheapies at my local shops--not the SX, but the Yamaha, Ibanex, and others. I'm no bassist, but as a guitarist, I actually liked the entry-level Yamaha ($170) a lot and will be picking one up this summer.

J.