Yep..the new SX headstock

Looks very much like the Fernandes headstock.
Luckily here in Argentina SX still carries the Fender style headstock.

fer3.jpg
 
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The last time I checked, they were MIK.

No, SX has always been a brand made by a Chinese company called Team International. It's the Agile and I think maybe Douglas instruments at Rondo that are MIK, I'm not sure what the parent manufacturer for those are.

My guess is that when current stock is depleted, they will be - doesn't make sense to keep lots of different headstock shapes in the mix on the production line.

I'm sure the new shape is intended to replace the previous one in US distribution. How soon it starts appearing on the website will depend on when (and if) Kurt started ordering them - there's no guarantee his existing stock will sell out before the new batch arrives or if he'll hold off on an order until it does. Remember, he's the distributor, not the manufacturer.

Team International must have different headstock shapes on their production line, because the boat-paddle headstock design the Ursa has had for the last few years is a US-only thing; if you look at websites for SX distributors in other countries, they still have the Fender shape. I assume they had to drop it in the states owing to threats of lawsuits.
 
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Very glad to see Rondo (hopefully) abandoning the Ursa headstock.

It is a bit funny to see the Ursa referred to as the "old" headstock. It was only around for a few years. The earliest SX's (they were labeled "Essex" or "Jack and Daniel" back then) I remember seeing on TB (early 2000s I think) had a "swoosh" headstock that was just a slightly thicker version of what they now seem to be returning to.

Those new tuners look nice. I doubt that functionally they're much different than other cheap die-cast-metal-body open gear tuners, but they're certainly classier looking. They do give a visual approximation of the nicer Fender tuners.

As for whether SX is an acceptable Fender clone, that's a tough one. I'd say it's an acceptable Squire clone. I've owned 4 and my observation was that if as long as the Bass+fret leveling seems like a good bargain to you vs the price of a comparable Squire then go for it.
 
I remember seeing on TB (early 2000s I think) had a "swoosh" headstock that was just a slightly thicker version of what they now seem to be returning to.
Yeah, I mentioned that earlier, I have a couple with these older headstocks downstairs. "What comes around goes around."
 
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As for whether SX is an acceptable Fender clone, that's a tough one. I'd say it's an acceptable Squire clone. I've owned 4 and my observation was that if as long as the Bass+fret leveling seems like a good bargain to you vs the price of a comparable Squire then go for it.

One thing about the SX Andromeda I noted was the frets were leveled well right out of the box. If the new Ursa with its higher price is an adoption of all the Andromeda improvements, not just the headstock, it may be well worth choosing over a Squier, particularly now that Squiers' prices are up too.
 
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