My experience with MJT custom bodies - pros, cons, overall thoughts.
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- Опубліковано 13 жов 2024
- It's only appropriate that after yesterdays video talking about relic'd guitars we follow it up with a brand called Mark Jenny Aged Finishes (MJT) who offer alternatives in this area for people who wish to build custom guitars. I talk about the pricing, wait time, competition, pros and cons of the Taos Turquoise double bound tele body I commissioned from them.
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Would have been great to see the guitar you're talking about
MJT also does what they call CLOSET CLEAN. This, by their description, is like a guitar played a lot but taken good care of for a long time. And old well taken care of paint job. I have yet to see. So far, Payton is good about communication. Looking forward to getting a unique type body for my Strat. Your remarks encouraging.
I think I got one in the clean condition
Already had a mjt tele body I got off of eBay. Built a beautiful tele. Best checking I’ve ever seen on a guitar. I’m now ordering a full build minus electronics. Hoping it’s as good as my first build. Doing a jazzmaster in black with a 5a flamed and roasted neck. I live in missouri, so I can actually drive down to mjt to pick it up. I’m going to order it as closet clean and let it relic as I play it.
Does your MJT age quickly in your hands as well? I was aware that they have relicing service, but I figured the guitar would age like any nitro guitar out there no?
@@lcglazermy mjt’s body seems to age faster than my fender vintera worn 50’s lacquer tele. I got my Jazzmaster as mild of a relic as I could for the body. Just has checking. I’m adding most of the relic’ing on my own.
I have. MJT neck and is absolutely perfect.
I ordered an ultra light roasted alder tremolo strat body. It was over 600$ though, but I'd happily pay it again as I'd rank it far over any Fender custom shop I've ever seen. I got to choose the exact color (I actually had color over sunburst over sealer), amount of relic, wear, checking etc. Not a single day since I got it have I regretted that purchase.
Does your MJT age quickly in your hands as well? I was aware that they have relicing service, but I figured the guitar would age like any nitro guitar out there no?
My mjt VTT I had built was mediocre feeling, great looking, and great sounding. Communication was on point, and in a timely manner also.
Your first point Johnny is why I didn't have much issue parting ways with it. It looked great, sounded great, but didn't have an inspiring feeling so I sold it and bought a regular old MIJ telecaster that easily covers this base for significantly less and a finish that won't age like milk on a summer day.
@@AudiomoMusic when you say wasn’t inspiring, was that the body or the neck? Part of me thinks the most inspiring part of a guitar is the neck and as long as the body shape isn’t cumbersome or super heavy, the body prob isn’t a big part of the equation. Maybe I’m way off on this though -P
3 MJT T-styles with Musikraft fat necks, SS frets. All 3 above Fender teles. Its all about what YOU like.
Completely agree, all about what each individual player wants and prefers
I just finished a build with an alder MJT Standard VTS (Strat) in copper light relic. The entire process was excellent, and I loved supporting a small business located in my childhood home of Carthage, MO. Turnaround was two months. If that's too long to wait for you, don't get a custom nitro finish body. Look into what it takes to prep and finish a body with nitrocellulose - it's not a thing you want rushed. Mark and his crew are great folks and have their craft honed to an art. And their prices are extremely reasonable. This was my first body I've bought from them, but I doubt it'll be my last.
hows the paint holding up? Is it bare wood yet haha?
Their communication and eagerness to please has been good with me. What I will say is the first body I ordered not only reeked of ntiro to the point of stinking up my whole house (had it for 3 weeks before returning it and the smell never faded), but the bigger issue was the paint was just flaking off from touching it or moving it around. It was a bare body, not a built guitar so I never even played it. But everywhere it sat in the house it left flakes of paint all over and it would flake off all over my hands just from touching it.
The second body I have now which I bought second hand has a much stronger finish by comparison. I haven't played it enough to see how it wears, but I tested the finish with my fingernail and a pick it doesn't seem ridiculously fragile although I could get my nail under it and scrape some away if I wanted to. My Fender Roadworn almost feels like it has clear over the worn spots, if you dig at it with a finger nail it doesn't budge.
Yes, the paint is SUPER thin and on a hot day some of the paint peeled off when I left it on a pleather ottoman in a air conditioned house! I think this is something a lot of people who purchase from them prefer, they want a guitar that will rapidly relic and when they do a finish this thin and susceptible to wear it works for them. I really appreciated their communication and I get who they are trying to appeal for but I also want something that isn't as ridiculously fragile as you stated.
I get that MJT sells aged guitars but I don't get why most people would want a guitar that flakes off like autumn leaves. Imagine someone ordering a closet clean or mild relic and not a heavy relic. Don't matter because in a matter of months it will be a heavy relic. Cant they put a coating over it like Ryan said so the guitar holds up at least like other nitro guitars?
I love my three MJT VTT Guitars.
The quality of it was great, I just didn't want the guitar to rapid fire age but I understand some people dig that
Hello. I had a similar experience with MJT. They are super nice and very responsive at MJT. It was weeks in between contacts, but they were doing their thing and updated me when there was anything new to disclose. I think it took 3 months but I had a nice Jaguar build. I chose no relicing but the finish is pretty fragile and it wears on its own pretty fast. I’m happy with my MJT for the price, but I don’t think I’d get another one. I’d want something with a more robust finish.
i was hoping you'd show the mjt body!.. have you ordered warmoth before?.. if so how would you compare them?
Warmoths are poly finished and will not age like these. For this kind of color finish i greatly prefer that to something like the MJT that wont just age, but age at an insanely fast rate. I made a video in detail about the body and build let me find it ill link you if you want to see more of it
ua-cam.com/video/qenl9zsIEb8/v-deo.html
@@AudiomoMusic cool thx man!
I have a mij body from the 90s and neck made by hand by a Japanese fella thats now in his 80s anyways took half a year to make but was well worth it the neck & body is outta this world i dont need to do anything but just play it super clear, spanky and can handle heavy music like nothing definitely a keeper for life i was almost going to spend 6k for a fender custom telecaster neck orginal or a custom shop guitar before i bought my mij guitar but guess i wont have to anymore😅
Wish you can see it & hear her sing 😢
MJT not MIJ lol
I’ve had to Mjt Guitars a jazz telecaster and a John Mayer style fender Strat they’re amazing I specked out a Strat with fender custom shop and did not want to get it however a friend of mine did I wander of gone with Mjt and we had both guitar side-by-side and my guitar was a fraction of the price and 10 times better I’ve had professional artists play my Mjt strat an offer me crazy amount of money for it knowing that I can’t get the exact same one again I’ve been reluctant always to sell it
Great video !! And my friend has had a few mjt based guitars & there pretty nice !!
They are good people that put in honest work, it really frustrates me to see people on the internet slamming them even if they are the minority so I wanted to give my honest take on them.
Nice to the point video here. I had an ice blue metallic nitro MTJ telecaster body. My experience with MJT wasn't bad. It was a great body and I ended up beating it to shit. I sold it and broke even with it, which was nice given how much it aged. Although it was well made to begin with, I preferred my fender road worn nitro finish more and kept that tele instead. I only ever really go with Warmoth now for bodies. They communicate well and always do a fantastic job, even if their products have poly finishes.
Isn't it interesting the fact that you can beat up guitar bodies these days and make a profit so long as they were "intended" to be relic'd from the factory? If I do another partscaster it will definitely be a warmoth.
MJT not only does "Aged Finishes" bodies. They will custom make anything you want. FYI.
This was ordered to have zero wear and arrived as such, however it was losing paint to bare wood within a month of playing at home. I gigged a thin skin jazzmaster coast to coast for a decade and that sort of wear took at least a few years to even start where my right arm rested on the body. They just age way too quickly for my taste but I realize many want and seek that out.
I don’t understand heavy relicing from the get go on thin nitro guitars when they rapidly age by themselves 😅 Even the Fender EJ age really quickly. I love a worn look but many of the MJT people seem to like basically already have 40% of the paint removed I don’t get that. MJT makes nice stuff though, 2 point drilled, 6 screw drilled, lots of weight options, proper contours for the Strat bodies and a variety of colors and aging, great for building a partscaster in my opinion.
I agree the stuff is really nice for sure. I have gigged my thin skin 65 Jazzmaster for over a decade - indoors, outdoors, on the ocean, coast to coast and that thing held up better retaining the paint with all that usage than the MJT body did within a month of just playing at home. I know a lot of people want that super worn out look but I wasn't ready to have half the paint gone within a year especially on taos turquoise haha
@@AudiomoMusic It seems like a fine line between having the paint relic'd and having defective paint process. I mean there is ways to spray nitro, relic it and have the existing nitro wear at a reasonable rate. I think it comes down to the thinner, using heat and cold for the checking and other processes meant to relic it that are actually ruining the reliability.
7380 Ferry Square
663 Beer Extensions
I ordered the Custom Body and Neck(Musikraft) VTL package back in May 26th… almost 7 months in and still not shipped. Be prepared to be patient with these guys, you can get frustrated at times
Jeez 7 months, what did they tell you for a time frame initially?
Yeah that’s crazt
583 Norma Walk
The problem i have with relic'ing is you never really know who actually has good painting skills. I mean if you can glass a body with nitro and make it perfect, there lies the skill. Making nitro look like garbage...well.....i wouldn't say there is no skill involved, but its a lot easier making something look like garbage than making it look perfect. I'm looking for a nitro bass body and although i have high end sprayers (Iwata, Sata jet and Devillbiss) its usually just easier and possibly cheaper to have someone else do it. But yea, looking for a very clean nitro job with no previous relic'ing and i'm not sure who is reputable doing that.
I actually fully agree with you and have had the same problem. I don't want aging at all on a custom build. The only place that appears to consistently do a great job from what I've seen is guitar mill, but boy do they charge you for it.
482 Shania Port
9066 Cali River
Their body edge radius on their Jazzmasters and Jaguars (and most of their Strats) is just wrong. Too flat sided (not enough of a radius) and every build I’ve done with an MJT body has just felt like a slab… Bland, “off” feeling, and uninspiring. Their relic jobs look really great but their actual body shapes and contours feel and look kinda cheap to me.
I gotta agree, the Strats are blocky as well,
I also had a neck pocket not to fender spec.
It’s was too shallow.
I have used guitar mill ever sense , the body’s and finish are stellar.
Lewis Carol Martin Anthony Williams Richard
my dad owns MJT
That's cool man, he does some good work
@@AudiomoMusic yeah it’s really cool seeing the whole process from cutting to ageing to shipping!
Your Dad rocks. I'm sure he's also proud of you. Hope to get one.
98309 Shanahan Summit
My double-bound ash Tele body with no relic took 11 months in 2020-2021. It came out fine, super lightweight but the finish has fingerprints underneath. Not a big deal since it's on the back and I've already beat the shit out of it, but definitely not showroom quality.
Thats pretty much spot on with how I feel about it as well - not perfection but these are made to relic and wear fast on their own so I also dont think thats a big deal. What color did you go with?
@@AudiomoMusic Black! It's a John 5 inspired double-humbucker🤘
They dont have a poly option, I guess. 😢😮
😂
Nitro is great when they actually do it right. Thin skin nitro Jazzmaster took years of gigging for paint to come all the way off to where as this thing was doing it in a month using it at home. I understand the relic fad is all the rage still but the speed was comical on this.
I ordered a body and neck from them, it took 11 months and the relic job on the body was terrible. The neck was ok but they did not do what I asked them at all. Would never order from them ever again.
Totally unacceptable and unfortunately I'd heard many similar stories from people in the last 4-5 months.
@@AudiomoMusic It was devastating as I had sent them a 30 year old strat, to refinish and they ruined it. Now I have to get it refinished again... ' (
yeah that makes it infinitely worse. I would be demanding a full refund and then some at that point - you didn't trust them with a from scratch build you trusted them with a guitar that needed new life.
@@AudiomoMusic They refused. Said I would have to pay to have everything re-done.
Yeah that's when I'm filing a dispute with my CC company.
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