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.
Comments
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.
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
just because you do, doesn't mean you should.
Definitely not investing too much - a Wilkinson bridge at trade price from my friend, new strings and I think we'll be fine.
just because you do, doesn't mean you should.
As others have said it's hard to believe its 150 quid delivered .
But, then, I'm an idiot.
just because you do, doesn't mean you should.
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!
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