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Essex SX-SJB-QMD Reviews  4 / 5 based on 1 reviewsI bought my beautiful Essex 6 months ago from Rondo for $140 after having sold my great old 1973 Fender Precision (w/ Jazz neck) five years earlier thinking I would give up the music scene after 30 years of playing bass? Three years ago I jumped back in on a borrowed Fender Jazz bass playing progressive church music and needed my own instrument eventually.
It's beautiful photo-quilt finish with gold hardware knocked me out from the first but the real surprise is in the exquisite playablility and tone!! The pickups are hotter than any Fender Jazz I ever played and the neck action is awesome!! The new Phoenix Jazz club band, "Dark Horse" I am now playing with jokes with me about "flames shooting off my fingertips" when I play it! The full bass bottom and the sweet highs are incredible. What an axe!!
There is some latent resonance of the "E" string when playing the other strings. Some subtle palm muting is sometimes necessary to keep this hot canary from singing when you don't want her to?!
Really excellent for any price! The painted finish is flawless and the bridge and key hardware is identical to Fender quality. The action was too low initially for my playing style but a professional bridge setup corrected that! The only real negative was a slight twist in the head stock noticed at the music store during their bridge adjustment which may eventually require a little fret dressing to correct since truss rod adjustment couldn't remove it all?!
Admittedly I want to add a Rickenbacker to my arsenal in the next few weeks but I'll definitely still continue to play and love the Essex. It's inexpensive but don't let that fool you! The sound and feel is "hair trigger" action with hot funk ability all the way to cool, sweet jazz stylings. \"Dark Horse\" Phoenix Jazz bass player rated this unit on 2004-02-05.
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