The funny thing is how rarely a Rondo instrument (SX, Brice, Douglas) comes up s/h on Craig’s list or ebay. From what I read on fora, those who buy them as a starter or a backup tend to keep them; maybe upgrading the parts. There are a couple of bassists on Yootoob (Coopy is my fave) who get them in pawnstores, stick in a Chinese dirt-cheap preamp and maybe a beefier bridge (tbf, the US Fenders have awful tin bridges) and really make them fly. Just type “modified SX” into Youtube’s search.
I’ve long kept them in mind but the shipping to Blighty makes it less worthwhile. Back in the noughties, I think they had a Korean place make them but it’s now China. Proper woods and the CNC routers should make it a minor setup at most and, I’ve read, Kurt at Rondo has refunded some right gripers who really should have given a bit of slack for the price.
Their Tele guitars are also easy candidates for a headstock mod if it bothered enough.