End of an era, no more SX in US.

[Chocol8]

See Kurt's announcement quoted below.

https://www.rondomusic.com/Logistics.html

November 14, 2023: The end of an Era ? No more SX Guitars at Rondo Music!!

Unfortunately, you have read that headline correctly. Rondo Music will be phasing out most SX guitar models in 2024. We will continue to offer parts and warranty support so long as SX is willing to supply us, but as far as new models and re-stocking, that will come to an end for most models. We will continue to sell a limited number of models that still have good customer demand such as the Lap Steel guitars. We want to thank you for over 30 years of sales support for this brand. It was a great ride while it lasted. I know many of you have been with us for a long time buying SX and I thought you deserved a full explanation.

Why this decision? Well, there are many reasons. The first is pricing. For those of you who have been with us from the beginning or even are recently as 5 to 7 years ago, you will remember that most SX models sold in the $89 to $129 price range, with almost no models exceeding $199. Considering the quality, the value was incredible. Today, most SX models would be priced in the $250 range and up to be profitable. The models you see on our site priced below that today are selling at a loss or below what we would need to cover our minimum profit to pay the rent and keep the lights on. In some cases, not all of the costs increase comes directly from SX. The cost of importing an SX guitar as recently as 2012 was about $5. During the pandemic, and with the additional 25% tariff and extremely high shipping rates, the cost to import a single acoustic guitar approached $75. The second big issue is selection. Over the years SX has dramatically cut back on their inventory, in some cases, cutting very popular s models such as their Ukes, Resonators, Classical Guitars, Rack Case, Banjos, Guitar Cases and the list goes on. As the selection dwindled so did the ability for Rondo to order a full container of SX products which is what needs to be done to keep the shipping costs down. That goes along with the next problem, the increase in Minimum Order Quantity or MOQ. Rondo is always receiving interesting and, in some cases, downright strange request for guitars: fretless, odd shapes, left-handed multi scale etc. Back in the day, SX would be quite open minded to relatively small order batches so we could satisfy these important customer input and suggestions. No longer - and SX has increased the minimum order quantity for special models. The China factor also plays a role with many customers now avoiding products from China. Rondo itself (I myself) does not escape some of the blame. Our web site as not look as current and up to date as it appeared back in 2005, and I imagine that deters some people. However SX sales on other sites such as Reverb, eBay, and Amazon that have modernized and are up to date have also dropped off. Finally, Payment Terms. When most established stores buy product, they are given payment terms. Just like a typical person may have 20 or 30 days to pay their credit card, most vendors give retailers time to sell at least part of their order to pay for a shipment. With orders coming from China, the time between placing the order and receiving the goods is typically 4-5 months. Please also consider a typical container could easily hold between 500 and 1000 SX guitars. The dollar amount tied up is substantial. In the past SX gave us 60-day payment terms to at least inspect the product and make a few sales before the amount was due in full. That is no longer the case and containers must be paid for when they leave the factory which is typically 45+ days before we see them. This creates a fairly large financial strain. SX is currently the only factory we buy from that has this pre-payment requirement. It’s the combination of all of these factors that have led us to dramatically cut back on the SX products we will be stocking going forward.

How much longer will you be stocking SX? We will stock guitars until they sell out. No additional models are expected in 2023. We will continue stocking some models like the SX Lap Steel through at least 2024.

Will anyone else start selling SX if Rondo drops the line? Unknown – Maybe, but I would doubt it for the same reasons that I listed above.

What about my warranty? Rondo Music will continue to warrant SX products so long as SX continues to supply us with warranty replacement parts. As of today, we have a good supply of the most common warranty items.

Can I reach SX directly? The parent company for SX is Team International. Their direct web site is www.sx-guitar.com/ The last time I looked it was about 4-5 years out of date (with several discontinued models). They typically have referred customer questions right back to us and we will continue to support our past customers.

Will Rondo be replacing SX with another brand? That is unknown at this time. We are still hoping there may be some last-minute solution, but this is starting to look unlikely and why we have released this statement. The import market is quite challenging now with the mood of the country moving to towards more locally sourced products.

Will Rondo be blowing out SX or having any major sales? Many of the SX guitars have already been discounted/reduced and all are selling at a pace such that we expect to be sold out of most all models by year-end. Rondo’s standard 30-day price guarantee will apply; meaning if you purchase and item and the price drops within 30 days of your purchase, you are eligible for a refund of the difference. I realize this all might just sound like a bunch of excuses, and maybe it is, but the net result is the same.

Thank you all again for being great customers theses past 30 years! I will continue to post updates as well as any other common customer questions on this page

[mickey]

Damned shame!

[Chocol8]

It seems like a small player like Rondo simply can't compete in the low price import market anymore. An SX at $250 and up is more than the Agile 2000's used to be! Seems like he is going to just have the $500 and up models, and probably sell a lot less of them.

[tobijohn]

It seems like a small player like Rondo simply can't compete in the low price import market anymore. An SX at $250 and up is more than the Agile 2000's used to be! Seems like he is going to just have the $500 and up models, and probably sell a lot less of them.

I think most of his business and profit now comes from those guitars that @mickey loves so much, extended range, and a market Agile seems to dominate. The ratio of those currently on the Rondo site to the six string models is pretty lopsided...

[Chocol8]

Yep, and most of those are $600 and up with only the B stocks dropping below $500.

[tobijohn]

Yep, and most of those are $600 and up with only the B stocks dropping below $500.

Yes, all things considered, there just isn't enough profit to make selling anything priced less than that worth the effort. It takes the same amount of time to process the order and ship a +$500 guitar as it does a $200 guitar, and a multiple of the latter has to be sold to equal the profit made on the former. Add in keeping the site updated and dealing with returns, it just isn't worth it...

[toomanycats]

Can some of the members who have been around longer than me help clarify some things.

Wasn't SX formerly known as ESSEX, which was sold by Rondo from the earliest days of their online retail business?

I had thought that SX was, like Agile, a house brand of Rondo music. Is this not the case?

Are Douglas and Hadean Rondo house brands?


As far as Rondo finding a replacement for SX, how about Firefly or Harley Benton?

[mickey]

Can some of the members who have been around longer than me help clarify some things.

Wasn't SX formerly known as ESSEX, which was sold by Rondo from the earliest days of their online retail business?

I had thought that SX was, like Agile, a house brand of Rondo music. Is this not the case?

Are Douglas and Hadean Rondo house brands?


As far as Rondo finding a replacement for SX, how about Firefly or Harley Benton?

I believe SX was previously called ESSEX but have no personal experience with it. They are built by Team International which was originally an Australian company.
SX is not & never has been a Rondo brand. They are sold world wide. Rondo just has the US franchise for SX.
Douglas was a Rondo house brand for guitars made by Saein, but Saein went belly up.
I think Hadean is a Rondo house brand but have no proof one way or another. Hadean appeared about the time Saein went belly up.
My impression is that Hadean is lower build quality than Douglas was. But, again, I have no proof.

[dabbler]

Can some of the members who have been around longer than me help clarify some things.

Wasn't SX formerly known as ESSEX, which was sold by Rondo from the earliest days of their online retail business?

I had thought that SX was, like Agile, a house brand of Rondo music. Is this not the case?

Are Douglas and Hadean Rondo house brands?


As far as Rondo finding a replacement for SX, how about Firefly or Harley Benton?

I agree with Mickey's answers.

Also, I have no experience with Firefly, but Harley Benton is a great value!

[tonebender]

Seems one can boil it all down to the advance payment requirement.

[tobijohn]

Viet Nam and Indonesia seem to be siphoning off a goodly amount of production from China. Harley Bentons are now Indonesian as well as a couple other well-known names that at the moment, I can't remember. The Indonesian HBs I have are of a better build quality than their previous Chinese versions, and equal or better to any SX guitar I've bought.

I'm sure Kurt has explored alternate sources. There were a couple small runs of Vietnamese Agiles a few years back but that was it. I've got a couple of them, and their build quality was equal to past and subsequent South Korean Agiles.

I can only assume that for whatever reasons, southeast Asia sources don't work for Kurt either, otherwise he'd already be there...

[BatUtilityBelt]

Yeah, sad. We've entered a different global market that is more direct than requiring regional distributors for many verticals and it sure looks like guitars are in that category. If so, it will heavily affect the big names too, just not as soon as the smaller shops.

[Chocol8]

Seems one can boil it all down to the advance payment requirement.

The MOC and import costs are also huge. MOC's are how Gibson, Marshall, Fender and others really killed the mom and pop retail stores. The local shop I got my first guitar from almost 40 years ago is still in business and I talk to the (same) owner periodically. He has often had to drop brands because they want him to buy at least 200 amps or something like that. Even if he sells that many in a year, he can't pay for them all upfront and physically store them, along with all the guitars and other stuff. He would have to add a warehouse and that would make his overhead too high for the volume of a local shop.

[Partscaster]

Glad i stocked up over those years. Get your Liquids while you can.

The Callisto LTD seems like a good deal for 149$...but I already butchered one of my Callisto STD + models to accept p90's.

[tobijohn]

If anyone picks up the USA distributorship, the prices are going to be higher. Maybe it will pull up the used SX market, but I doubt it. Other than the Liquid, and the maple capped Callistos, just about every other type or style can be gotten at a lower price from someone else. At these lower price points, Harley Benton has a decent lefty selection and there's almost everything a right-handed player could possibly want...

[doc-knapp]

Sad to see them go. The only inevitable thing in life is change...
Speaking of change, TJ, go take a look at Tonocracy. You're gonna like it.

[mickey]

If anyone picks up the USA distributorship, the prices are going to be higher. Maybe it will pull up the used SX market, but I doubt it. Other than the Liquid, and the maple capped Callistos, just about every other type or style can be gotten at a lower price from someone else. At these lower price points, Harley Benton has a decent lefty selection and there's almost everything a right-handed player could possibly want...

Nor this one! The SX is quite unique in the price class!

[tobijohn]

If anyone picks up the USA distributorship, the prices are going to be higher. Maybe it will pull up the used SX market, but I doubt it. Other than the Liquid, and the maple capped Callistos, just about every other type or style can be gotten at a lower price from someone else. At these lower price points, Harley Benton has a decent lefty selection and there's almost everything a right-handed player could possibly want...

Nor this one! The SX is quite unique in the price class!


SX-TVJ03.JPG

SX-TVJ04.JPG

While there are currently no options like that for lefties (but I'll bet that SX hasn't been available for a decade at least), they do have a bunch for right-handed players:

https://www.thomannmusic.com/jazz_guita ... ilter=true

[LightWingStudios]

BUMMER!

[mickey]

While there are currently no options like that for lefties (but I'll bet that SX hasn't been available for a decade at least), they do have a bunch for right-handed players:

https://www.thomannmusic.com/jazz_guita ... ilter=true

Those have always looked (to me) a lot more like Douglas than SX guitars.
(Not to mention priced a lot more like Douglas!)

[andrewsrea]

Viet Nam and Indonesia seem to be siphoning off a goodly amount of production from China.

My thoughts exactly. If you follow the Asian guitar production life cycle. Japan had its 'fantastic value' reign from1973 to approximately 1988. Then it was Korea, which went from mid 1980's to approximately 2010. China came in somewhere around 2000, so its logical that this is the era where their production shrinks. About 20 to 25 years and their quality rises, then their production costs rise and some other country with a lower standard of living comes along and siphons off the business. Especially as they hit their quality curve. And judging by the 2023 line of PRS SE, Indonesia is hitting it's stride.

[andrewsrea]

Nor this one! The SX is quite unique in the price class!

SX-TVJ04.JPG

That guitar makes me wish I was a lefty!

[mickey]

Nor this one! The SX is quite unique in the price class!

SX-TVJ04.JPG

That guitar makes me wish I was a lefty!

There ought to be a lot more rightys than leftys out there! I know I watched Rondo for over a year waiting for leftys to appear after I first saw righty's there!

[tonebender]

I am just shocked that the explanation on the website had more than 10 words in it. I did not think Kurt had a paragraph in him.

[tobijohn]

I am just shocked that the explanation on the website had more than 10 words in it. I did not think Kurt had a paragraph in him.

"Still waters run deep..."