NGD: Jet JS-300 Strat

joetele

Well, after initially expecting to wait 25 weeks (what it said when I ordered it!), I got an email on Friday to say my order was being shipped! Arrived Monday, but haven't had a chance to open until today. 



Firstly, the bad: 

• The strings it came with are awful - thin, loose, scratchy, and sound terrible. So they'll be replaced with some D'Addario XL pretty soon. 
• The bridge saddle screws aren't good - all skewed and generally a state - so I'll pick up some new saddles and screws at some point. 
• The tuners feel a bit cheap but they work. 
• There's a tiny ding on the headstock but nothing major,
• There's a bit of excess plastic under the neck plate but again, nothing major. 

HOWEVER - these things aren't terrible, I've got some spare tuners I can use. 

The Good: 

• It looks bloody lovely - the neck and the seafoam green, and although they're a bit cheap, I like the aged plastic knobs.
• The neck is lovely - really nice colour and really well finished, no rough edges. 
• The frets are good - no real sharp ends and the fretwork is decent. 
• The volume and tone pots seem really good considering the price - decent range of taper on them. 
• The nut is cut fairly well for the price - probably plastic but works fine. 
• The neck pocket is nicely cut and seems well fit. 
• The pickups are great - typical strat tones but they don't feel weak or thin - and with a bit of gain they're lovely. Plenty of clarity and attack without being shrill or icepicky. And the tone knobs work really well to balance them out when required. 

OK, my verdict? 

Absolutely great for the price - I paid around £125 I think, and compared to almost everything else at that price, it's fantastic - I'd say the Squier Bullet Mustang I have probably had better parts overall, but the neck was plain and rough in places, the nut needed replacing and the pickups, while fun, weren't great by comparison. The fit and finish are as good as any £200+ Squier Affinity I've tried. 

With the Mustang I replaced the nut and tuners, and then later the pickups, but with the Jet Strat I'll probably replace the tuners and the bridge saddles (possibly the bridge itself too). 

I haven't checked underneath the hood to inspect the pots or wiring yet - probably cheap stuff but I'll find out. Easily replaced if needs be. The trem block at the back looks fine. 

Once I get some better strings on it with a bit of setting up, I think it'll make a great guitar. In time, with some better tuners and bridge parts, I think it'll be a lovely player. 

To get a Strat with a lovely roasted maple neck, aged plastic and seafoam green for less than £130 is a pretty sweet deal. I don't envisage spending more than £70 on further parts at all either. 

WBT2079

No need to unscrew to check under the hood. You can see what it’s like here…

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165204882438?hash=item2676fa7406:g:5wsAAOSw6A1hoh0n

I swapped mine out for my existing set up (Texas blues pups). I wanted just wanted the Roasted maple neck and surf green body. As you say at the price it is you can’t go wrong.

joetele

WBT2079 said:

No need to unscrew to check under the hood. You can see what it’s like here…

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165204882438?hash=item2676fa7406:g:5wsAAOSw6A1hoh0n

I swapped mine out for my existing set up (Texas blues pups). I wanted just wanted the Roasted maple neck and surf green body. As you say at the price it is you can’t go wrong.

Goodness, those pots are quite small! But still work quite well considering. Not bad wiring either. My main concerns are the bridge and tuners really 

flyingv

HNGD! For the money you surely can’t go wrong - enjoy!

joetele

flyingv said:

HNGD! For the money you surely can’t go wrong - enjoy!

Cheers! After a quick play with the truss rod and intonation, it's getting there - but I'm changing the strings tonight to stretch out the new ones and see if the tuners need replacing too, and have a new bridge/trem on the way. But the pickups and neck are amazing

bertie

couple or three of those saddle grub screws look decidedly pissed -  that'd be something Id want to check
not sure new tuners will bring anything to the party - unless they're overtly "loose" or dodgy -  any tuning issues "tends" to be a poorly cut nut on cheaper guitars. 

As with the thread on "doer - uppers"  you can only invest so much before it becomes "impractical"    stick to your original budget

joetele

bertie said:

couple or three of those saddle grub screws look decidedly pissed -  that'd be something Id want to check
not sure new tuners will bring anything to the party - unless they're overtly "loose" or dodgy -  any tuning issues "tends" to be a poorly cut nut on cheaper guitars. 

As with the thread on "doer - uppers"  you can only invest so much before it becomes "impractical"    stick to your original budget

Yeah the saddle screws are definitely pissed and have been adjusted, but some of the threads have clearly worn out, hence me buying a new bridge.  The nut is cut perfectly fine - surprisingly so. I think the main tuning culprit at the moment is the awful strings, but they're going tonight. 

Definitely not investing too much - a Wilkinson bridge at trade price from my friend, new strings and I think we'll be fine. 

bertie

@joetele ;  - sounds like a plan............. dont rush into tuners just yet    -  get that bridge nice and stable 

THR1LLHAU5

Nice! I've had my eye on the HSS ones as a bit of a budget "Nick Johnston"... 

damodai

I just got a seafoam green one deliverd this morning , have'nt found any major issues but couple of tuners are a bit loose. 
As others have said it's hard to believe its 150 quid delivered . 
    

flyingv

Just ordered a pink one

joetele

damodai said:

I just got a seafoam green one deliverd this morning , have'nt found any major issues but couple of tuners are a bit loose. 
As others have said it's hard to believe its 150 quid delivered . 
    

Yeah, I'm liking it more and more each day, really enjoying playing on it. When the new bridge arrives I'll change the strings to better ones but apart from that it's great. Can't believe how nice the pickups are. 

Sunshine82

Hey @joetele, mind saying who you ordered from? Most places saying 25 weeks still, glad you were pleasantly surprised! Are you in the UK? Ta 

joetele

@Sunshine82  ;Yeah I'm in the UK, ordered from Bax expecting it to be 25 weeks, but got a dispatch email the next week

Smellyfingers

If you'd said it was a £2000 custom Fender, I wouldn't have disbelieved you.

But, then, I'm an idiot.

bertie

Smellyfingers said:

If you'd said it was a £2000 custom Fender, I wouldn't have disbelieved you.

But, then, I'm an idiot.

well after looking at the bridge,   one of those statements is correct

joetele

bertie said:

Smellyfingers said:

If you'd said it was a £2000 custom Fender, I wouldn't have disbelieved you.

But, then, I'm an idiot.

well after looking at the bridge,   one of those statements is correct

Bridge is being replaced hahaha

flyingv

Hey @Sunshine82 ;
I just got the Pink JS -400 from merchant city guitars… I emailed them on Wednesday and they said they were expecting new stock end of Jan / mid  Feb? I got an email back the next day, to say they had an unexpected delivery of ten guitars’ two of which being the pink ones! Anyway ordered one, getting delivered today!  

Sunshine82

flyingv said:

Hey @Sunshine82 ;
I just got the Pink JS -400 from merchant city guitars… I emailed them on Wednesday and they said they were expecting new stock end of Jan / mid  Feb? I got an email back the next day, to say they had an unexpected delivery of ten guitars’ two of which being the pink ones! Anyway ordered one, getting delivered today!  

Amazing timing! I’m after a Sea Foam Green, talked to them after seeing your comment but sadly not as lucky as you were! 

Sunshine82

Cheers! @joetele ;

flyingv

So it arrived as promised! Very playable straight out of the box - buzz free’  low action , no sharp fret ends, frets will need a polish, intonation spot on!  Even stays in tune’ish after plenty of dive bombing   Very impressed for £179 delivered   
knobs / switch tip / pup covers look  horribly cheap, but they’re easily changed.. 
Haven’t plugged it in as yet, so can’t comment on pickups?  But they’re something I’ll possibly replace with better anyway?? Overall - well pleased
https://i.imgur.com/7B0Yjwy.jpg https://i.imgur.com/eIF3qUK.jpg https://i.imgur.com/aHamywm.jpg https://i.imgur.com/mP3HPp4.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Pjh8hCh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/4Bqrn5O.jpg