Jet JS 400 set up
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- Опубліковано 11 вер 2024
- I had seen and read several glowing reviews about the Jet range of guitars - in particular the JS models so was interested in seeing one. So much so that a few weeks ago I was considering buying one (JS-100) just to see what the hype was about. But I exercised self-control and, like some kind of cosmic reward, the Universe sent me Trevor, a old customer, with his brand new JS-400 to set up direct from the retailer.
I'll give you my take up-front. This guitar looks great, feels great, plays pretty well and - to my ears - sounds good too. At under £200 it's definitely in the zone to compete with Squier Affinity and Harley Benton guitars. This guitar also had one of the best necks I've encountered on any guitar at any price point. What makes ME call it 'best'? The fact that under load i.e. under compression with a full string loading it has the fewest 'hills and valleys' along its length than almost any other guitar I've set up. What does this translate into? Less 'fret slap' than any other; less choke-out on bends... even less individual high or low frets. That IS stand-out special. What I don't know is whether this is a one-off or whether all Jet necks share these qualities. And I also don't know what makes this neck this way. I wondered if it had something to do with the roasting process? And if it did, might this be a quality shared by all roasted necks? I have no idea how or even if roasting the wood might result in a decrease in its tendency to 'bunch' under compression (resulting in a series of 'hills and valleys' across the length of the neck) but my interest is piqued to find out.
But on the down side, this superb neck and the general superb look and playability was spoiled by three main issues. The first would be a complete downer for an inexperienced guitarist right out of the box: a faulty jack socket. Talk about a quick way to spoil someone's vibe. Cheap part, slack quality testing. The jack socket also resists upgrading because the tunnel is slightly too small to comfortably fit better quality replacements. Grrrr!!!
The second was a slightly thicker (front-to-back) nut. The nut itself is a well-made bone nut which is good; BUT the excess thickness means that a standard nut designed for a Fender will rattle around and tilt forward. The replacement Tusq PQ-5000-00 nut that's a drop-in for Fender Strats was too thin and unusably loose - leaving me with no choice other than replacing the original nut, replacing with a fatter Chinese cheap bone alternative (no real point) or hand-making my own custom Tusq nut to fit. So I had to do the latter which turns into an hour-long diversion. Jet, if you'd care to re-tool your production line to cut nut slots to Fender dimensions you would make the Jet more effortlessly upgradable.
The third flaw was the 'chop and go' approach to the fret ends. End-bevelled, left razor sharp. Move on and out the door. This is NOT a 'stylish appointment' it's lazy and stupid. When you bevel your frets you get a sharp edge where the bevelling file cuts at 90º to the fret's length. If you don't bother to file this to round it off it's going to look sharp.... but it will also feel sharp.
A final small grouse is that the basic neck / body geometry leaves MY target low playing action with the E string saddles decked on the tremolo base plate. There's no leeway there for the extra bit of reduction I would need to pre-set this bridge prior to floating the tremolo. A slight raise in the basic height of the fingerboard at that end (either via the depth of the pocket, the thickness of the heel or even the angle of the pocket) would be preferable so that we weren't at rock bottom and only just reaching my target low action.
If Jet could:
• test the jack more effectively before shipping!
• add 2mm to the diameter of the jack tunnel to allow upgrades
• reduce the front-to-back thickness of the nut to match the Fender (and thereby Tusq) standard for easy upgrade / replacement
• round off the fret ends and polish them before shipping
• push up the heel at the neck/body joint slightly
and if
• all Jet necks were as un-bumpy as this one
then I would say this could beat the competition by miles.
I won't criticize, you've given my skillset a level up. Be back to watch the rest. We're in hell in California but I make the best of it. Glad ypu talk about the issue's of the guitar's and some polite-ticks.
It's always risky to share any real views - but it shouldn't be. That's a massive part of the problem we're facing! In my world, we unconditionally respect each other's right to hold a view... and for the sake of all our futures we should value our shared humanity above and beyond any opinions we hold. But there's the problem: a growing number of people love their own viewpoints more than they care about other people.
The drilled holes at 10:35 are actually markings and guides for the technicians installing the claw to avoid guessing and make the installation of claw faster.
I think you're right.. but it only sets the location in one dimension ie. side to side. Someone still has to judge how high / low to set the screws.
@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitarson my specimen the holes are not full depth so the screws go at the bottom of that groove.
Excellent explanation on the frets. I've found many of the China budget (Strat/Teles) have pre-cut rounded S/S frets. However, the rounded ends being pre-cut don't make it to the edge of the fretboard. This really effects accuracy as a player, high "E" is the worst. Anyways... great review on the frets. Cheers!!
Yes. You either stop short with your semi-hemispherical frets or you go to the edge and end up protruding so that players don't like the feel.. There's nothing wrong with the 20-30% bevelled fret with some careful rounding off, I say! :)
I'm surprised about the comment about the sharp fret edges. My JS-400 has very smooth rounded edges on the frets. It's really an incredible neck for the price. I agree on the nut thickness. I bought a TUSQ nut without realizing that it would be too thin. So I left the original bone nut.
They weren't terrible but they definitely bevelled them at a nice angle and then pretty much left them without much (or any) rounding / softening of those edges. I'm being fussy; overall it's a great neck - and as I showed in the fret levelling, very few ups / downs compared to other regular maple necks.
The characteristic of Proportional Representation that politicians moan about the most is that it would force them to form coalitions i.e. work collaboratively with other parties. Sounds like a major bonus of PR to me.
I agree with you on that. Unless we shift to that way of doing things we're doomed!
Considering one of those as I actually like working on guitars. It seems like all the issues are fixable and if you are willing to put the time in, you could wind up with a real nice guitar for a decent price. Would love to see what results you get if you wind up buying one for yourself. Well done on an honest assessment! Was not expecting the nut slot and neck pocket issues. Fixable but a bit of a bummer that makes me second guess my decision to purchase one for sure. At least if I do, I know what to look out for.
Thanks McB... I think the nut thing was the only really annoying thing - as it ends up forcing a custom nut making session. Hell, if it's a Strat style guitar, why not make the slot accommodating to the best / most common replacement nuts out there? Grrr. The original nut wasn't bad but if you're in the habit of upgrading to Tusq and then the factory decision about the slot width on this guitar prevents you doing that... well, it's just an unnecessary difficulty.
Both my Jet Strats needed neck shims to get the saddles off the deck to float the trems. I think it's fairly constant, the guitar is built to deck the trems.
Anything that comes out of the factory close to one extreme or the other isn't ideal in my book. The basic geometry should cope with any tremolo configuration and low action choice... i.e. without needing shims.
shouldnt forget to put some tape over the pickups to keep metal shards from the frets you grinded out of the magnets. i like this guitar...
Now that's an intetesting thought. The reason I don't usually put tape over the pickups is this: fret metal is NOT attracted to magnets. I know this because many people had the same though as you; so I decided to put it to the test :) I already was sure it wasn't magnetic but I wanted to experiment to be sure. 'Nickel silver' wire was not attracted at all to my powerful 1" neodymium magnet. The only fret wire that BARELY moved when the magnet was almost touching (showing the presence of at least some ferrous material) was EVO gold wire. An believe me, that was almost touching before it showed any sign of attraction. Stainless steel was, like 'nickel silver' completely unattracted to magnets.
So in day-to-day work there are no frets that are magnetic (they don't make EVO gold any more anyway!) so no dust will be attracted to the pickup magnets. I hope that eases your worries and updates your knowledge base a little.
Please tell me the brand of the new locking tuners
@@MIGUELANGELMAS-n6e These are unbranded locking tuners with 19:1 gear ratio - from UK guitar parts seller ‘Vanson’
Hi Sam how do we order the golden banana pack please?
Hi Michael - drop me an email samdeeks@gmail.com - many thanks
What are the 3 nuts on the levelling beam telling you?
And how low are you setting the action?
I level frets with the guitar fully strung with some relief in the neck. This requires a levelling beam curved to the same basic curve of the neck... the brass nuts are 3 'sample points' of the neck's curve. I adjust the curve of the levelling beam until all 3 brass nuts touch it equally which means that my beam mimics the curve of the neck minus the 'bunching' effect that the longitudinal compression has on the actual neck. The application of the beam's 'perfect' curve onto the neck's 'imperfect curve' (with its frets sitting on numerous high and low points) allows me to 'smooth' out that curve. This reduces or removes altogether any buzzing, rattling or choking.
My eBook '5 Steps to Guitar Set Up Heaven' (£24.99 direct from me via PayPal to 'samdeeks@gmail.com') shows this process in detail. I also sell a Golden Banana Pack which includes pre-prepared beam with all the little bits required to get started - including some live Zoom Q&A sessions with me.
Hope that helps!
@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars do you have the link to the Golden Banana pack?
@@Piccyman1 It's here
facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1019904893472319&set=pcb.1019908863471922
Three levels (scroll back and forth to see them on that post)
Do you know the values of the unmarked pots in these?
Still a Squier killer, no doubt.
Just about... I think this thing looks great and IF (as it seems) that this roasted maple neck is generally this good on all of them, then it's better than Squier.
My JS400 beats my 2006 MIM strat in everyway possible period. Just to mention I have built guitars, so I obviously know my way around how to set them up, all I had to do with the JS400 was change the strings and polish the frets.
@@sd4beatsmoreHB guitar brands are good also and Vintage G brands ,Ive got Vintage Strats brands and I ve ordered JS 400 🖤🖤🖤
@@niclasboman4996 Yes they are, I hope you enjoy your JS 400 as much as I like mine
@@sd4beatsmore Im gonna upgraded with better humbucking bridge pups and look over the tunings and fixed better connections bridge and neck pups .
I dont liked middle pickups on strats and dont used it either 👎🏻
Seems like you’re paying for a great neck and getting a free guitar with it.
May be Tusq model 5010-00 Nut Slotted?
Good suggestion but nope. Luckily I've got the Tusq catalogue on my computer desktop so I can double-check! 5010 is same thickness as the 5000 that I had i.e. 3.3mm. The slot is something like 3.4 or 3.5mm (I forget now)...It's amazing how such a tiny amount leaves the nut horribly loose and prone to tilting forward.
Politics and polarity.
@@ericcrawford9827 Should have been an episode of Blackadder :)
@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars Or Five Go Mad in Dorset
i have a 400 like this flawless,and a 450 b stock which had the nut wrongly cut on high E ,and some frets to level,overall great moddable guitars,pickups nothing special
Interesting. Always going to be some small issues here and there. I think Jet could put most of the ones I picked out right at the factory..
Sam, we in the U.S. have the Electoral College. It's fucking absurd. It was established by wealthy land owners 237 years ago. Millions, literally millions of people can vote for the candidate who loses the election. Obviously, you're in the same boat we are. The rubes where I live could give the world Trump again.
That's the thing I couldn't remember - thank you! These arcane voting systems... really need cleaning up! Cracks me up that Trump fans continue to call him 'President Trump' throughout this whole Biden administration when his title should be 'Mr Trump'.
@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars Actually, his title should be convicted felon.
JS400 is complete junk. Best to pay extra £20 and get a Harley Benton SC custom iii. Vastly superior guitar.
So first of all, your premise is incorrect: the JS400 retails at £169 and the HB Custom III at £289. That's £120 difference in price, not £20.
Secondly, they're completely different styles of guitar so not really comparable. Thirdly, there's very little wrong with the JS400 and its roasted maple neck is very good.
So complete junk it isn't - especially since it's £120 cheaper than the one you recommend.
Having said that, the HB is a ton of guitar for the money too.
@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars Incorrect- the blue JS400 retails at £199.00. You can buy a "version" for £169 but the blue one in your video is £199.
Its not worth £199.00 and you cannot show me a supplier selling this Blue model for the price you mentioned.
Harley Benton SC Custom ii model - currently sells for £180 B-stock or £222.00 new.
(However, the SC Custom iii is £238 b-stock and £255.00 new.)
The Harley Benton is vastly superior to the JET JS400. As for them being comparable - they are basic electric guitars - do the same job.