GraphTec Legion reporting in! Nearly always will replace the string trees. Nut wise I am still hesitant unless the original is really bad. But have not yet cut my teeth (pun intended) enough to have the confidence. Otherwise it is rather a question of 'what has issues needing attention', seeing as I only have a small budget. F.i. on the Jet JT 350 I recently got I switched the barrels because the spacing on the originals were not symmetric. Yeah, that is my OCD kicking in.
Hi, I have a Fazley Classic series FLT 218 it cost £77. When I received it I changed the pickups, bridge and machine heads to Wilkinson brand parts. The guitar cost £77 , the Wilkinson parts cost about the same. I changed the strings to Ernie Ball 9s. I didn't have too much to do setting it up and minor touch up of fret ends It has a synthetic nut. It now sounds great and looks good. I have played in one or two bands but now having reached 72 years of age I no longer play in public but I do play every day well almost every day. I like making up tunes and try to keep up with the latest stuff. I really like your channel, Keep up the great work.
Thank ya very much mate - hugely appreciated 😃🙏 The Fazley stuff is also really good - I've tried out a few. £77 though!?! It's crazy what you can get for so little these days. And with a couple of mods and some TLC (like you did to yours) you can end up with something pretty special 😎👍
That's cool mate - we all have our preferences 😀👍 Annoyingly... I failed massively for the recording clips on this one. For both guitars I recorded the signals too hot and had a lot of clipping - especially on the distorted tones. Unfortunately I'd already returned the Fender, before getting round to editing the vid. 🙈 Lessons learned 🫤
@@MattZildjian Apologies again - My bad. But You're not the first to prefer the sound of the Fender here, especially the Humbucker. I've since had the humbucker rewired and it sounds even better (to me) now 😀👍 I also went a bit bonkers and had stainless steel frets installed in the Jet too 😂🙈 th-cam.com/video/Z7B5nk0Gnw8/w-d-xo.html
@@stevecassidyguitar Aha. See my comment above, That explains it lol. The Jet clipped and distorted more possibly. Maybe there's a wood resonance thing going on as well tho. Fender defo sounded better.
I feel there may have been a wee bit of bias here 🤣🤣 fair play though, the jet guitars are fantastic and the mods you've done make it a real gigging guitar 👍
Cheers mate! Hope you're enjoying your Jet 😀👍 I ended up taking it a bit too far with the mods on this one: th-cam.com/video/Z7B5nk0Gnw8/w-d-xo.html 😂🙈
Got a Jet JS 400 Sunburst vintage look one for Christmas - happy man!! Changing the strings for lighter ones until my playing gets better. Changing the jack plug socket. Agree about polishing the frets mind!
Nice one mate! 😎👍 The JS400 has been my number one recommendation Guitar for the past couple of years now - they're not absolutely perfect stock - but sooo much potential, even with just a couple of very minor upgrades, like changing the string tree etc 👍
Okay, about that upper fret access: No, it isn't totally necessary, but it's cool when you realize that you just hit something that would have been hard to reach on a guitar with the big block but wasn't when you did it on the one you're playing. Granted, if I think I have time for it, I'll just go on and reach (I'm used to it.), but I can only imagine how many times I might have gone for something unexpectedly magical, but decided against because I wasn't sure I could get around the big, thick neck block! Remember that set-through necks are a thing for a reason!
Agreed 👍 there's nothing wrong with the Fender player nut or Tuners. But (imo) not as good as the Vanson (JIN-HO) locking tuners or Graphtech Tusq XL nut . Think I've had 3 Fender player Strats - I know em quite well 😃👍
I'm enjoying the channel and your sense of humor :) I've been considering a Jet JT-350 as it seems to be a good quality budget tele that's reasonably true to the original.
Thank ya kindly mate 😃🙏 I got a good look at the JT350 today at the Jet Guitars Booth at Birmingham guitar show - looks classy 😎👌 2 options too... SS or HS with coil split 😃👍
Thank ya kindly mate! 😀🙏 I've recently took it even further.... I got Stainless Steel frets installed on it!! 😂🙈 Vid to follow.... (In about a month tho 😬)
Amazing video as always! I find that changing tuners helps a lot with guitar stability and intonation. I really like the hipshot locking tuners with universal mounting plate but they are pretty hard to get in the UK. I'll try the vansons one some time :)
Hey Steve, back again! Great video. I want to say that I like both guitars for different reasons. I'm a modder at heart but the more modded guitars I have the more I appreciate a well made stock version. I typically buy a guitar for my "Primo Cheapos" mainly as a neck and body and then I see the stock form as mainly parts to help the build. I don't have to worry too much as I know the neck and body fit. I usually start buy replacing all of the pickups and electronics. I typically do GFS, Seymour Duncans, and Filtertrons as my "go-to" pickups. I upgrade the tuners (I buy Jin-Ho branded ones that look identical to your Vansons(sp?) tuners you use) and I also put in Tusq string trees. I also put in Dunlop strap locks as well. Depending on the type of guitar I may replace the bridge (still figuring out what I like for S types) and maybe the pickguard. For Teles and T styles I like to add a Bigsby or a Bigsby like (GFS X-Trem) on them and I found Gotoh makes a fantastic traditional style Tele bridge wity the back scalloped for that. I will probably try a Dusenberg Les Trem on the next T style build. Final thoughts, putting up a modded guitar next to a more expensive stock guitar is a bit of a Fool's Errand. I would say 99% of the time I will take my modeed guitar over a stock Fender. It has the feel I like and the sound I like and overall that helps to project more confidence as a player. I started out on Fenders, lost lots if money modding and reluctantly selling them. To me a budget guitar modded to the hilt is more of an investment in happiness than a stock main brand guitar. At the end of the day we are making an emotional purchase and it is essentially an "investment in happiness" overall. 😎👍✨💙
Mate! I couldn't have said it better myself - excellent comment 😎👌 Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience 👍 I'm currently on the train to Birmingham and the WiFi keeps dropping out. Apologies for this brief response 😬
Amazing, Your 'fruity' shirt against the black couch background made it look as though you had no arms beneath the elbow and when your hands came into view they appeared to be freely floating in the room. Full points for visual special effects.
I bought a jet js400 in seafoam green...was the relic version. Wanted a tom delonge strat.. got pearloid pickgaurd.. vintage tuners... Invader pickup ..rewired it with full size pot. Neck is sublime.... Polished frets... It's absolutely amazing .. I had chance to play the fender equivalent and the jet wipes the floor with it at a 1/4 of the price with the mods... No brainer....so I can appreciate this video entirely... Jet is the good out of the box..little set up.. but when you mod them they're killer....
Very nice, well done Steve! Love the humor and of course a modded Jet! By the way, i'm really digging the neck on HB ST-62! The difference to the 9,5 inch radius on the Jets is not huge and because it feels so good to play, it inspires some great licks!🎸🤘🏼🎸
If it was the Vansons - They're quite hard to find now (Under that brand name). But you can get the same unit (It's a korean made "JIN-HO" locking tuner) under different brand names. Just look out for the "JIN HO" Stamp on the underside. The Wilkinson ones are also JIN-HO - same stuff 😀👍
yeah you got me really thinking about doing something like this! I have an Ibanez Blazer stratocaster (Japanese from '82, the BL470, absolute killer guitar) which has of course a different shape headstock from the fender stratocasters, but I actually really like that shape. I also really like the jet headstock shape (logo not perse so much, but it also doesn't bother me), there's something really funky about that shape! The roasted maple neck sounds awesome to me! Also, if after mods you're still looking at half of the price of a fender player series (I would have the mods done by my local guitar store too) I really see no reason not to do it (except maybe for possibilities in pickguard and body finishes). Thanks for your down to earth and honest review!
Thank you mate! I know the Blazers very well - Awesome Guitars! 😎👌 I have heard of some people managing to fit 3rd party "Fender" pickguards to their Jets, with some filling and re-drilling of holes, but I've not tried it myself, couldn't guarantee they'd fit. Anyway I have no regrets - this modded Jet has been my no.1 gigiing guitar for almost a year now 😎👌
@@stevecassidyguitar that's great man, like I said, I'm really considering it since the price is ridiculous. Unfortunately there is only 1 shop in the Netherlands where could try a Fazley (which basically is a Jet), and just getting it online without having tried it, doesn't feel right. I also meant to say the headstock looks funky, not funny (typo). Something about it reminds me of an Elvis Presley haircut, very cool
@@jospoortman9915 The current line up of Fazley's are not the same as the Jets anymore unfortunately. It was only the Fazley Phynica series (now discontinued 😭) that were made in the Jet Factory, to the same specs by the same team. But the current Fazleys are in a different factory now, different specs, different team (and not quite as good 😬... yet).
Great comparison! Thanks! 👍 Have you also changed the pots (mini) and the switch (electronic) on your Jet? When I tried it on a Jet JS-300 I had to reassemble the old potentiometers because the cavity in the body did not allow the normal potentiometers to be fitted but only the mini ones ... (the space was too narrow) On a JS-450 instead, I changed the bridge (Gotoh 510), tuners (Gotoh SGS510Z-A07 MG-T) and pickups (Tonerider The Overwound set) and the final result was a gorgeous guitar!
Thank ya mate! 😃Your 450 sounds killer! 😃👍 It's still the original switch on this one. But both pots have been changed to full size push/pull for the bridge coil split and neck pup on/off. My tech did it though. He didn't mention anything about additional routing. But there could have been 🤷♂️😬
I've modded a cheap Squier Sonic strat, bought new online. I did a complete fret job, nut, pickups, pick guard, volume pot change, the total cost ended up to be 436 USD. All new parts. The bridge and keys were ok, no need to change them, yet.
Awesome mate - sounds killer. Great effort 😎👌 With the Sonics having slightly thinner bodies, I'll bet it's nice and lightweight too - ideal for gigging 😃👌
Hey, Steve! I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but it seems like your mic is distorting a lot when you're playing the guitars. Maybe it could be some compression that happens in TH-cam, but I suggest you look into that and see if you can record guitars less hot. The sound is clearly distorted when you play, especially with overdrive.
Nope - Nothing to dow ith TH-cam Audio compressions - It was completely my fault. I failed miserably recording the signals too hot to my fone and had loads of clipping. Lessons learned. But I did record loads of clips on that same day that took me several hours and multiple takes so I just kept them as/is. My bad 🙈
@@stevecassidyguitar Sh*t happens. We learn as you go along, and I've seen other of your videos (as you might have noticed) on which the sound was fine. Also, my Jet JS-300 actually came today! I was surprised when the DHL guy rang the bell. Lucky I was working from home haha! I changed the strings to an 11-50 set, and it's actually very playable with no other setup done. I might try to lower the strings slightly and check the intonation, but I will most likely keep the guitar. It sounds different from my Shijie STE, the pickups on the Jet actually sound more like classic Strat pickups. But the neck is noticably thicker on the Shijie and that guitar is also heavier, not in Les Paul territory, but close. I think I really like the thicker neck of the Shijie, but the Jet isn't uncomfortable at all.
@@nedim_guitar Nice one mate! HNGD! 🥳 Yeah In in hindsight I kinda wrote off the Jet single coils a bit too hastily. Had that "Ceramic = inferior" mindset 🙈 But they're actually quite decent 😎👍 Still not a fan of the Humbucker on the JS400 tho 😜
Some great middle pickup tones there Steve, you should defo use it more often! I don’t mind changing stuff out if there is one or two aspects of an otherwise great guitar that don’t suit me (like the bridge pickup on my Squier Jazzmaster), but I haven’t yet bought a guitar planning to mod it.
Thank ya pal 😃🙏 It's not that I don't like that middle pickup.... It's more that I feel there is less opportunities to use it 🤔 but that more of a me thing 😜 Have fun with your future mod projects mate 😃👍
Great sense of humour pal! My best most useable Strat is a Squier Contemporary, that I have modded a fair bit. Have had new plastics made for it by my luthier, new humbucker in the bridge. Original trem and non locking tuners work perfectly so have left them alone. Guitar weighs about 6.5 pounds, plays beautifully out of the box. Neck and jumbo frets are perfect. I have also modded the electrics so ai can split the Humbucker with a micro switch, which I prefer. Quick and easy at gigs. No pull up ghastliness on the tone control..yuck! I have owned a Deluxe USA Strat. Beautiful, but too heavy to gig, and a Suhr Classic. Suhr was light and fantastic in every way, but the price? No way is it 11 times better than my customised Squier. So….there you have it.😊
Cheers mate! 😃🙏I've been gassing for the Squier Contemporary strat in Skyburst for quite a while now 😎👍 (It's hard to justify another strat tho 😂🙈) 6.5lbs! Is a perfect weight for gigging! 😃👌 Great upgrade choices too mate - I'd go the same route😎👍
Cheers mate! I'm really happy with it. It's since had some more changes... I've had Stainless Steel frets installed! 🙈😂 I might have the update vid about it out tomorrow if I can get it edited in time 👍 If not - it will likely be next week
Great review Steve I just purchased a Jet .......Fender needs to get their act together with some of their models and prices they charge and yes the Jet I ordered is lake placid blue ! 😎
Thank ya kindly mate! 😀🙏 Congrats on your new Jet purchase 😀👍 and HNGD when it arrives! 🥳🎈 You ordered the "correct" model AND colour 😎👌 Just a wee tip to set your expectations... as soon as you get it, bin the stock strings immediately (they're garbage and will ruin your first impresions) while you've got the strings off, polish up the frets (5min job) new strings on (I prefer 9-42 I think they come with 10-46 but put on whatever you like) and enjoy strat heaven! 😀👍
I'd say the 300 would be the best choice as it's a bit more traditional. You can even find a special edition JS300 in like a Dakota Red ish colour. Very Hank Marvin - esque 😎👍
Would be nice if Jet would do a premium option that we could buy ready made with all the better parts already in there. I saw their comment on this on one of your other videos and can't wait to see what they bring out this year. I want a strat style guitar to add to the collection but I'm holding off to see what Jet come out with before I make my final decision and purchase. Looking at the 300 series as i want all single coil pickups.
Same here mate - I'm keen to see what else they release too 😃Currently on my way back from the Birmingham Guitar show and managed to get over to the Jet booth for a chat 😃👍 They have plans for new models but didn't share much more than that. I suggested a thinline Tele 😁🤞
I have a sunburst body and i would like cream pick guard instead of white it defo looks better, is it possible to spray it another colour (spray meant for plastic of course) ?
What guitar body is it you've got mate? (Make/model) Ya might be able to pick one up that fits for around £15. Depending on if it's compatible. I have heard of people spraying pickguards before, but I have no experience with it soz 😬
@@bighes100 You might get lucky if ya search for a "cream strat 11 hole pickguard" - If it's amazon make sure you can return it, just in case it doesn't line up 👍
Hi Steve ! I am from Canada, Québec City , I recently bought a Jet 450, I upgraded with two Tex-mex single coils and a GFS Dream180 humbucker! I now want to change the potentiometer! What do you recommend to me? 250k or 500k! And for the potentiometer and resistor? How can I find a connection diagram for this assembly!
Hello to ya mate! 😀👍 Congrats on the JS 450 and the mods 😁👍 I'm not 100% wat the pots are as my tech supplied them - I was after push/push but got push/pull. I'm also considering upgrading the wiring/electronics in mine again - So I'm in the same boat as you mate. Apologies I couldn't be more help - I'm a soldering nightmare, so I have a tech do it all 🙈 Good luck with the project! As for wiring diagrams - there's modders groups on facebook with loadsa cool wiring diagrams and then there's places like the Seymour Duncan forums etc 👍
I'm a serial modder. I have spent hours justifying buying a new guitar to the wife, arguing how it it is slightly different to the 23 others and then modding them so they all sound and play exactly the same!!!! 🤣🤣🤣
What I don't like about my Jet. The fret ends. Can't see the dots very well against the toasted neck, especially at a gig Machine heads - replaced Rest is very good to spot on.
Good point about the dot markers 👍 The issue here is the inconsistency in the different shades of roasted maple Jet have put out. I have a pupil who has the exact same Jet as the one in this vid and his neck is waaaay darker than mine. Very difficult to see the dots on his. But mines is fine - for me 👍
I will send you an email Steve when I get some proper time, send you a few pics. I went for the vintage yellow, proper nicotine yellow lol, back to the 70s job. I like it in 80% of light conditions. It's the best Strat I have but it doesn't sound as good as my Harley Benton P90 Les Paul.@@stevecassidyguitar
I wished you would buy the JS400 with the purple flame just so I could see the matching hat and glasses for that vid. I have a player series tele and the same Jet as yours in lake placid blue. I find that the Jet neck is not as chunky as the player series neck. Was suppose to be modding my Jet this month but the tumble dryer decided to pack in, so no mods until next month 😢😢😢
@@stevecassidyguitar I really think you should buy it mate or you think Jet guitars would send you one to do a review on. You are a great ambassador of JET guitars. Seen you put the old gladiator vid up again of the the most beautiful Jet ever. Brings me right back to my early teenage years, hell of a lot of toilet roll used back then lol
@@derekjohnson5720 Would love Jet to send me one - not got my hopes up tho 😬 Will see them tomorrow as they have a booth at Birmingham guitar show 😁 😂🤣😂🤣😂 At the gladiators reminiscing 🤣
@@stevecassidyguitar hopefully you get to see the jet jt 600. I'm dying to see a vid of that. Well have a fab day tomorrow pal and I look forward to seeing your coverage of Birmingham.
I've never did it yet - I really want to try it. Does having the neck and middle pickups bypass the tone circuit have much effect on their sound? I worry they might end up too bright - I've heard that could be the case, but I'm not smart enough to know if that's true🤷♂️
Fender locking staggered tuners are my go to. Love staggered tuners so you can get rid of the damn string tree altogether! Must admit I’m not a roasted fan but that jet does sound good. Cool video!
Can't argue with that mate - I love the Fender staggered lockers too. Although I preferred them when they were about £60 😜 I actually have a couple of spare sets here, but the reason I've not put them on the Jets etc... is they have the 2 pin fittings. I like an easy drop in replacement as I'm great at ruining guitars as soon as the drill comes out! 😂
@@stevecassidyguitar yeah I hate that about the fender tuners. Those two pins are annoying and I wouldn’t take a drill to a roasted neck either. I can see why people like them, the grain is really nice and it pops a bit more because of the roasting. Yeah, I bought them all the time when they were cheaper. You used to be able to find them on eBay used all the time for cheap now that’s all over with lol. Gotta love the drop and play through! Cheers!
I had my tech do the install but... It's almost a drop in replacement, except for you need to file away a wee bit of space for the trem barrel housing to move freely. Just out of the trem block cavity - about 1-2 mm. I had to do the same thing when putting the Gotoh in my Fender partscaster too. Hop[e that helps 😀👍 Trem I used was the Gotoh 510T-FE1-CR 10.8mm string spacing. Not 100% sure the string spacing is the same - but I have zero issues with alignment Re the fretboard edges, over thpole piecesand at the nut. Hope that helps 😀👍
Great video! I'm thinking about doing same upgrades to mine. Does the gotoh trem was a direct fit or do you have to make a modification to the holes to fit in?
Thank ya kindly mate. 😀🙏 I had my tech install it, but have been asked this one before... The post holes should be aligned the same as the gotoh 👍 but you will need to file around 1-2mm out from the trem block cavity to allow clearance for the gotoh trem barrel to move. I had to do the same thing on my Fender strat, it's a common thing with the gotoh. A quick easy job too if you have a good file 👍
Thanks Steve, great review, entertaining as ever - what's the finish on the fretboards like ?, fender MIMs were finishing maple fretboards by simply spraying over everything, frets and all - which eventually flakes off the frets and chips off the fretboard - very poor. Time to buy shares in Jet. ✈
Thank you mate 😃🙏 I'm struggling to remember if the Fender had a glossy finish on the fretboard or not (I wish I mentioned it in the vid 🙈) I think it does have the gloss on. The Jet is satin and feels more raw. That's my preference as glossy feet boards can sometimes be a bit sticky
I did a breakdown of all the costs and particular parts here: th-cam.com/video/ihd-k_8NLX0/w-d-xo.html I saved quite a bit buy buying some used parts and I had some vouchers off for the guitar too. To save you watching the vid it was around £325 all in at that point. But... It gets worse... I've since had Stainless steel frets installed in it 😂🙈 th-cam.com/video/Z7B5nk0Gnw8/w-d-xo.html So now we're at around £615 The inevitable question is - was it worth it? To me - YES! It's a player and a keeper and my no 1 gigging guitar. I have no plans to sell it ever.
Nice one, Great video. Im based in Ireland ☘️and also own a couple of jet guitars a Strat and tele style, which I have slightly modified. I find them fantastic value for the money.
Throwing my two cents in here, depending on the artist and the contract, sometimes they CANNOT play another brand or model in public if they have a contract with a major brand. It's also an open secret that many musicians play cheap gear in the studios. Unless you have a camera and put up footage, you will never know if they are playing budget or top shelf gear. I will point out main artists like Jack Black from the White Stripes (National) and Rick Miller (Danelectro) from Southern Culture on the Skids played old budget brand guitars when they were at the absolute bottom of their resale value and nobody else was playing them. These were their main guitars! You also see "student models" aka "cheap shit" 💩👍✨played by major players like Harmony Bobcats that Annie Clark aka St. Vincent had as her main guitar. Keep in mind even Jimmy Page played a Danelectro in Led Zeppelin.🤔
Nice one Steve ; both sound great in your hands as honestly the answer for me is it all depends on the neck. Back in the day i'd say grab a Fender and use that as a mod platform, but they are almost £700 these days new! If Jet do a better neck for you at a cheaper price then rock on dude! -Gabe
Hey man! Spittin facts as always! I got my new strat for mod platform and i want to swap pickups.I will use some custom shop fat 50s but i wanted a rail on the bridge, any recommendations?
Thanks mate! 😃🙏 And nice one... I like the fat 50's too 😎👍 For the rails - it depends how much you wanna invest of course. John Robson recommends the Artec rails which always sounds good on his demos. That would be the least expensive option. I put an Iron Gear Jailhouse Rails ii in a partscaster and I like that too. A wee bit pricier tho. Then you're probably into Seymour Duncan territory. Apparently the Artec is quite close to the SD hot rails. I have a hot rails in my Charvel, but it's a bit hot for me. I'm curious if I'd prefer the cool rails. Apologies that wasn't much help 😂 It really depends what kind of sound you're after
to be honest im not looking for something too hot. Hot rails is too hot for my taste here , thought id ask but ill check iron gear rails too! Thanks Steve@@stevecassidyguitar
I don't believe I've tried that mate. I have a "no load delta" tone pot on my US strat (I think that's what it's called anyway) but can't say I've tried the TBX. Officially on the radar now - cheers 😃👍
I don't believe I've tried that mate. I have a "no load delta" tone pot on my US strat (I think that's what it's called anyway) but can't say I've tried the TBX. Officially on the radar now - cheers 😃👍
The Fender sounds a little darker but there's not a lot in it. Another consideration is "out of the box" playability. Fender will struggle on this one due to Fender's proclivity for shipping guitars with fret ends that could grate cheese.
Very good point mate 👍 The Jets could do with a string change and a wee fret polish out the box, but yeah.... I've had my hands on a few too many Fenders with the sharp fret ends the past 2-3 years 😬
Very good point mate 👍 The Jets could do with a string change and a wee fret polish out the box, but yeah.... I've had my hands on a few too many Fenders with the sharp fret ends the past 2-3 years 😬
Both those guitars sounded great , but the jet coming in at basically half the price definitely seems the winner all round, I’ve only modded one guitar, bought a 💩 jaxville Strat style thing and it sounded proper garbage, so I bought a prewired pick guard with hot rail pickups in ( perfect fit too) and changed the trem block for a Wilkinson , total mod was just over 50 quid but the guitar is now usable and sounds pretty decent (it would sound better with an actual guitarist playing it) definitely worth doing it though and it didn’t take long to do, ( under an hour, which I found disappointing 😂) anyway,, I’m waffling 😂,, great video mate 👍👍🤠🎸
Cheers mate! 😃🙏 And good on ya with your Jaxville mods 😃👍 I remember seeing Jaxville Strats. They had some cool graphic finishes iirc 🤔 Like a smokey blue/black one and even a Sunburst relic type one. Definitely worth a couple of upgrades 😎👌
I argue the headstock question: if you Play in a limited space, a smaller headstock prevents, that you accidentally hit a wall, furniture or the cymbal. I struggle with each doorframe of a Train or the underground, when travelling with a gigbag. That's why the silversky for me has the best headstock of a strat-shaped object. I already converted my harley Benton ja Kit into a 3l 3r headstock configuration. I might butcher another headstock, because i have found the strat-shaped-object of my liking.
I totally agree Re the PRS headstock being more functional too - I think it's a better design for the string break angle too. But I prefer the classic look of the Fender Could always go headless 😜
The bridge pup sounds a good deal better on the fender. Positions 4&5 are very traditional and soft on the fender, but the modded jet has more bite and sounds a lot funkier in the same positions. Would have liked to hear more cleaner tones, maybe some wah too 🔥 that said, you again convinced me to get a jet as a modding platform, though I'll probably get even nicer pups like suhr or lollar
Thanks for the feedback mate! 😃👍 I've actually just been thinking the past few days, I might change the bridge pick up. I do love it as/is, but this is my main gigging guitar and I feel like a little bit more bite for solos n stuff. If I wasn't gigging it I'd just leave it as/is. Hope your mod project goes great! 😃👍
@@stevecassidyguitar Thanks mate! I think it's awesome that this is your main gigging guitar and definitely an encouragement to do the same. The Seymour Duncan "Pearly Gates" is great for a little more bite in the bridge, I recommend trying though it's a good deal pricier. Have one on my PRS SE and it's great for solos and everything funky too. Not the best for cleans but who wants that from the bridge pup anyways haha
@@ekisoderqvist I've heard great things about the Pearly Gates 😃👍 I'd considered putting them in my Harley Benton Fusion after Jonathan Koh put them in his - sounded great! 😎👌 The reason I like the GFS is that I do like the cleans 🙈 love the sound coil split with the middle pickup clean 😃
@@stevecassidyguitar Have to agree, split bridge together with the middle pickup is an important clean tone. I wouldn't choose the pearly gates for that either, there split tone on that could be better, at least alone it's way too sharp. But as a crunchy lead tone humbucker it works like a dream. 😃
Bought a Jet js-400 with rosewood board and Firefly ffst. The jet is great and after changing pickups to ones i had laying around (SD 59 & 2 hand wound Rose Pickups) sounds, plays and feels amazing ( no scratchy frets ). The firefly hhhmmmm I am parting out! The specs of Firefly were slightly better as were pickups but construction was not up to the Jet. Might pick up a Jet tele and make it nashville style!
Very interesting!!!! I've been very curious to try out a firefly for a while - heard great things, but they're hard to get in the UK. Good to know the Jet is up there with the quality in comparison - cheers 😎👍
@@stevecassidyguitar Just ordered a Jet jt-300 in pink with rosewood board for $236 all in to match my fantastic is-400 in pink 👍🏻 Firefly was disappointing when I started to mod it. Sloppy routing, locking tuners with quite a bit of play, would have needed fret level and neck had a back bow that could be taken out with truss rod but could not get an action I liked without some buzzing. Shame as has a roasted mahogany body. Could have been a nice guitar with more careful manufacturing and quality control. Others have had good experiences with firefly perhaps I was unlucky. Hopefully I can get some money back by selling the parts. Am sticking with Jet though quite like to try a budget Japanese Bacchus 🤔 Also have a Donnor dst400 which is not bad and got very cheap with discount code 👍🏻 Great video I can see you put a lot of work into them.
@@mikeyjhn Thank ya mate 🙏 The roasted mahogany body is an EART spec too. I wonder if Firefly is possibly same factory 🤔 If it is - I completely get i👍 I have experienced EART guitars.
tad biased review 😂 but glad you love your Jet. I have a Harley Benton SC-550ii and i had the nut changed, Locking tuners added and replaced the pick ups for the Slash AFD ones. My guitar tutor says if I played/bought a Les Paul now i maybe slightly disappointed as the HB sounds like a beast, so why am I still looking our for a decently priced Les Paul 60s in Bourbon burst??? Id probably be better off buying another HB and modding that. Agree with what you say about re-sale value - id struggle to get back what I paid for the HB and mods (around £500 all in) as there seems to be no re-sale value at all in them going by Reverb and Ebay. But if you mod a guitar exactly how you want it then theres no need to sell it.
Ha 😆 yes mate it is 💯 biased 😂👌 But yeah.... That's the thing with Gas - the beast must be fed! 🙈 You'll probably never know if your HB is better until ya have both 😜 Bourbon burst sounds very classy btw 😁👍 and yeah.... For me, I try to mod the guitars into keepers 👍 Always a good idea to keep hold of the original parts to put back to stock if you wanna sell it and not lose too much
Fair you gave the headstock point to Fender. You should give another point to Jet for the positioning of the output jack. I hate how it's placed on traditional Strats. If I ever design a guitar it will be hidden somewhere in the back close to the strap pins. Tbh there is one Fender line of products I prefer over better or similar specced half priced guitars and that are the MiM Player Pluses. For me that's where you get the 'genuine' Fender feeling without blowing the bank. Qualitywise they are not better or worse, the just feel very fenderish but modern. For me the 'ultimate' (bang for the buck) Strat one can get is a MiM Charvel. And they also have the Fender headstock, which is a big win. Of course you have to like the, and the tradiotional Strat layout and only version without a Floyd comes with the Dinky body, which is kind of weird. Btw. I'm positive I can send you the 'neck documentation' in the next few days, I finally started... I also began with my next project, which includes reshaping of another neck... I fell like if I get that skill close to perfect I can buy whatever budget guitar I want and just make it fit. Next step really would be to build a guitar from scratch. I'd love to.
Sounds like a great plan with the neck carving crash course! Good on ya mate. 😃👍 As for the Jack sockets... I Have a Charvel DK22 that has the perfect Jack socket location on the back - I think you'd like it 😁👌 If I was ever to buy another Fender, it would be a used Elite series strat (discontinued) One of the best series Fender ever made imo 😎👌
I get ya 😎👍 I like the traditional look too. If I wanted it all - I could add a boat jack plate to the JS400 in the traditional position and fill the side hole. Would look messy to do the opposite with the 300 though 😅 I have the 300 too - Class Guitars! Great choice mate 😎👌
It's crazy that not too long ago the Mexican strat was the gold standard for affordable gigging guitars. How times have changed. If I was in the market for a strat unless Jet comes out with some crazy new colors I might still spring for the Fender. Granted it would be off of the used market. Strats tend not to stay in my collection long so the added resale value is a plus to me. If I was doing a mod project the Jet would be appealing if I didn't pick up a totally acceptable Aria strat neck and body for £25. I want to do something weird with it - on/off/phase switches for every pickup and something dumber with the pickup choice 3 P90's or minihum +two single coils right next togther like the Squier contemporary
Oooft!!! £25!?!? 🤯 Nice! Still not as cheap as a Spyder pig tho 😜 Yes please to new Jet colours! And I've also been keen on the Squier contemporary pickup configuration 👍 Really fancied the Sky burst Squier strat 😁
I was very close to buying a Jet 600. Good sound and quality. Hesitated because of the name. Will buy a Yamaha or Ibanez, no mods. If the instrument works then why waste time and money changing it?
I, like you, believe that the less sliding resistance on a string the better. Eg. resistance of the string sliding on the nut. You like graph tech and I think it is better than plastic and some bone. Why don't you like a zero fret? With polished metal like stainless how can you get less resistance? Not to mention ease of adjustment. Just sayin.
Very good point mate 👍 I don't dislike zero frets. But not had much experience with them as they're not too common on production models these days. But I'm definitely not against en 😃👍
Sorry prematurely sent the first reply. You can buy a zero fret retrofit for many guitars from zero glide. I'm not associated with them but I use their product. It is nondestructive and fits in the nut slot with some minor adjustments (not to the guitar). If you don't like it just take it out and put the nut back in. It comes with special fret wires of different heights. Once you have installed the main part you just loosen the strings and slide one out and the other in until you like the string height. For me that is one higher fret than the one that buzzes. So much easier, more accurate, and more functional than cutting nuts. If you've cut guitar nuts you know how many you can screw up before you get an acceptable one. I haven't seen this topic covered by other electric guitar reviewers. I thought it might give you a unique and easy topic to cover that others aren't.
@@jvberk3518 Wow mate! Thanks for this - I was not aware of this product. Just had a look on the website and it looks very impressive. I'd love to try one out! 😃👍 My only issue is they one have a Bone option. Unfortunately I don't use bone for ethical reasons. But ... I think I might contact the company and ask if they'd consider making an alternative material in future. Thanks again mate for pointing me in the direction of this 😎👌
@@stevecassidyguitar The parent company is gold tone instruments. They make other guitar gizmos. The bone is just used as a holder of the Fret and guides the string. The string rests on the Fret. So they might be able to make that out of anything that is firm. I'm sure they're using CNC. Also, they ship nickel frets. But I understand you can get stainless steel. Let me know what you find out. I share your ethics just not your commitment. I would gladly switch to another substance.
That's a novel idea Steve, to mod an affordable guitar like the Jet 😂 with the roasted neck! My question is, how is the guitar body? I returned a Jet Js400 because the body was not impressive at all and was flawed. My Squiers have much better bodies and fit and finish also and that includes Affinity strats. I played a fender 2023 USA Professional and a 2020 Player strat and the player was leaps above the USA model, go figure! Im not sure how you do it Mr colored glasses lol (joke)Your videos are always AMAZING mate! The Jet sounded muddy compared to the fender which is weird as the pups are the same, maybe the difference was the humbucker? I'm interested in your opinion on this issue.
Good question mate! This was my 2nd JS400 in LPB, I had to return the first one as it had lacquer cracks at the neck pocket 😬 But other than that.... I prefer the contours of the Jet body - mainly the neck heel joint 👌 What was the flaw with body of yours? And.... To be totally honest.... I made an error with the audio recording of the guitars on this vid 😬 Most of the playing parts were clipping 🙈 I recorded these at the same time as the stock Jet Vs player a couple of months ago. Lessons learned. Interestingly, I did like the sound of the Fender Humbucker more in the recording than I did in the room 🤔🤷♂️
@@stevecassidyguitar there was a small chunk of wood missing near the big horn on the outside of the body and they just painted over it instead of dropping some wood filler and sanding it first so it was quite the eye sore. The neck on the Jet was flawless however. Enjoyed your video as usual! Cheers! 🤘
@@dragan4658 Thank ya mate 😃🙏 But .. that's not too great to hear about your Jet. They should have at least gave you a big B stock discount on that one 👎
@@stevecassidyguitar you're right the gesture would have been nice but I most likely would have said no. They didn't even offer to send out another one. Furthermore the guy even said it's not like it's an expensive guitar so there will be issues as its a budget guitar. That's a lot of crock lol. Don't advertise B stock as A grade. It was a no hassle return and refund however and they paid return shipping which was commendable.
The “resale” value is graded incorrectly. If the £700 Fender is resold for £500 and the £320-ish Jet is resold for £200, then the Fender loses you £80 more than the Fender.
Great to see the Jet has won, which when compared to an overpriced Fender was not too difficult. I am now Fender free, hurray good riddance to all those baseball bat necks that made my hands ache. The big question is, will i buy a Jet, err no, not until they offer at least a 12" radius slim neck. For now my Harley Benton Fusion 2 does all i need and it came with locking tuners, no upgrades required well perhaps the pickups someday. Hope you are keeping well Steve.
The Fender just seems so old and outdated compared to the Jet guitar. I've never owned or even tried an american build Strat. But I love my Jet JS-450.... And my Squier Strats 👍😬
It seems the more old and outdated a Fender model is - the more they sell 😆 I am lucky enough to have a USA Fender strat, but it barely gets played these days 😬 Partly because I need to change the faulty switch 🙈 but more because I'm playing the Jet all the time 😁 The JS450 is a class axe mate - I'd have kept mine if it was lighter
I have not long had a Jet 400 and to be honest, my Fender American Stratocaster hasn't seen the light of day since. Such a great guitar for a ridiculous price
@@darrenhamilton5859 Pretty much the exact same story here mate! Crazy times 🤯 I just got home from a gig tonight, took 3 guitars as I'm reviewing 2 of them. The Jet, an Ibanez AZes, and a Squier Sonic HSS strat. The Jet smoked em all - night and day 😎👌
To me, the most important part of a Strat is the neck. Everything else can be replaced, but if the neck isn't great, the guitar isn't great IMO. So I'm very surprised that you think the Jet neck is as good as (and maybe slightly better) than the Fender. If that's the case, I see no reason to buy a Fender.
Agreed! Not just a strat, but any guitar for me - it's all about the neck 😀👍 I think it's very unlikely (never say never) that i'd ever buy another NEW fender.
Cheers for the feedback mate! 😀👍 I failed miserably at the recording of both guitars on this one. I had the signal too hot, so was getting a lot of clipping that couldn't be fixed. 🙈 On the day I recorded it, I did 5 Guitars, (for future comparisons) doing 10 different wee licks/dittys (1 for each pickup position, clean and dirty - some had split coils) and I never get any of them done in one take 😂🙈 So it was easy over 100 takes and too much work to re-record. Lessons learned 😅👍 Although I did just record some guitars with the levels too low yesterday 😂🙈
It's all subjective innit? But to be totally honest... I had a huge fail in recording the audio for this one 😬 I recorded both guitar signals too hot, and ended up with clipping on all the sound samples 🙈 So it wasn't an ideal comparison in the first place, My bad - lessons learned 😅👍
Usually ya can find me sitting on the fence for most issues. But not this... I agree with ya😁👍 I always find it amusing when you see some of these high end Ibanezezez for example that have like 9 different woods - coz tone 🙈 "Oh yeah... I can really hear that 1cm strip of Purple heart" 😜
I wonder if you use Alder or Ash on a Gibson SG .........Aren't you gonna get a less warm sound ? I'm sure Mahogany brings something to the tone , as it does on accoustic guitars maybe not as much but still recognizable ....More sustain too ...
@@sirzembla4512 It's the debate that can last a lifetime 😜 I'm not saying either of us are right or wrong... But I would like to see what you suggested put to the test... Say.. an All Mahogany Vs an All Alder (bodied) SG - everything else the same, pickups etc - then hear a blind test - see if we can tell the difference. Would be interesting. 😀👍 On acoustic Guitars - I agree, I think it does make a big difference to the tone. In terms of the sustain of an SG vs say.. a strat, i'd expect other factors to also contribute to the sustain; the shorter scale length, string tension, Set neck construction, TOM bridge etc... But what do I know? I'm just a guy guessing on the internets 😂🤷♂
@@stevecassidyguitar Of course a test would be necessary , well it's a million views here one lol ...... I don't know why i forgot the set neck construction , which always adds sustain , thank you .... Maybe i'm wrong but i think an all Mahogany and an all Basswood SG with all the same electronics etc would sound really different , of course it must be tested , i think a Basswood Sg would sound almost like a Lespaul with P90s .... Anyway this could be a 5 millions views videos here on TH-cam ,hhhhhhhm ...... Of course , i'm not sure , i don't know why it seems logical to me ....
This is the experience I had with the PRS Silver Sky SE. Not so much the Fender player, but I do think they're overpriced. But to be fair... I'm an old man and I like to complain about the prices of all kinds of stuff 😜👍
Ya know... I completely failed at the audio recordings in this vid 😬 I had quite a bit of clipping especially on the gain tones 🙈 (Lessons learned). But, when I was editing this - I did like the Fender humbucker a lot more in the recording than I did in the room. It's all subjective, but I'd probably have to agree with you based on this recording. Cheers mate 😀👍
Great vid. The Fender sounds better, more noticeably in the bridge humbucker. Also it sounded like it had more clarity in the singles, not sure why. Be interesting to hear the Jet with all Fender pickups. Jet value for money though as the diff is not much.
Cheers mate! 😀🙏 I did make a huge error when recording the audio for this vid 😬 I had the signal coming in a bit too hot on both guitars, so there was quite a bit of clipping, especially on the distorted tones. Unfortunately I'd already returned the Fender by the time I got round to editing the vid 🙈 Lessons learned. But there are other differences that could be at play too, I never upgraded the wiring on the Jet, like the actual wires, then there's the tolerance of the pot values too. I've since upgraded it even further, improving the bridge pick up wiring and adding... stainless Steel frets! 🤣🙈 th-cam.com/video/Z7B5nk0Gnw8/w-d-xo.html
@@stevecassidyguitar 😂 hmmmm ……ok……..but I’m watching you! 😂 love your channel mate. You’ve actually inspired me to buy a Jet JS400 in lake placid blue. Have you seen the British Racing Green ones on Listers guitars? Looks cool
@danielblackvideo Cheers mate! 😃🙏 Yes indeed... I keep tabs on all the Jet limited colours too. The BRG is very smart indeed 😎👌 I'm really gassing for the new JS600 in purple 😍
@@vs_830 Of course 👍 I'm first to admit, I had a bit of a disaster with the recordings here 🙈 Recorded both guitars signals too hot and got clipping. My bad, mistakes made, lessons learned 🙈 But, just to clarify... are you saying no matter what pickups you put in the Jet, it's impossible to acheive a balanced sound and tone yeah?
@@stevecassidyguitar no matter - good pickup do not "improve" the sound it can detect more sound details produced by the instrument good and bad ones like microphone picks singer's voice but not improving it
You really want a lot of views? Raise the question, does body material effect the sound of the guitar? I can almost certainly say, it doesn't and I can even show the test done. Take everything away but the pickups, strings bridge and nut and it'll sound the same. Play back the sounds of with and without and your views will hit the roof 😂 me 🤔 thinks. The ranman!
@@ranman58635 That's the very one I seen mate 😃👍 Soz - tried to add more detail before, but I'm currently on the train to Birmingham and WiFi keeps dropping out
What's your favourite guitar mods? Let me know! 🫳⌨️⬇️
I think a lot of the tone is derived from that shirt...its amazing!
@@GraemeCampbellMusic😂👍Tone shirts now available from my new Reverb store 😁👍
I've stuck a Dimarzio Tone Zone and Air Norton in my HB fusion 3 and it sounds the nuts now mate!
@@markdoolan3424 oooft!! Nice one mate - exquisite choice sir 👍
Sounds like a beast! 😁
GraphTec Legion reporting in! Nearly always will replace the string trees. Nut wise I am still hesitant unless the original is really bad. But have not yet cut my teeth (pun intended) enough to have the confidence. Otherwise it is rather a question of 'what has issues needing attention', seeing as I only have a small budget. F.i. on the Jet JT 350 I recently got I switched the barrels because the spacing on the originals were not symmetric. Yeah, that is my OCD kicking in.
Hi, I have a Fazley Classic series FLT 218 it cost £77. When I received it I changed the pickups, bridge and machine heads to Wilkinson brand parts. The guitar cost £77 , the Wilkinson parts cost about the same. I changed the strings to Ernie Ball 9s. I didn't have too much to do setting it up and minor touch up of fret ends It has a synthetic nut. It now sounds great and looks good. I have played in one or two bands but now having reached 72 years of age I no longer play in public but I do play every day well almost every day. I like making up tunes and try to keep up with the latest stuff. I really like your channel, Keep up the great work.
Thank ya very much mate - hugely appreciated 😃🙏
The Fazley stuff is also really good - I've tried out a few.
£77 though!?! It's crazy what you can get for so little these days. And with a couple of mods and some TLC (like you did to yours) you can end up with something pretty special 😎👍
wanted to love the Jet but in every audio comparison I thought the fender sounded far better!
That's cool mate - we all have our preferences 😀👍
Annoyingly... I failed massively for the recording clips on this one. For both guitars I recorded the signals too hot and had a lot of clipping - especially on the distorted tones.
Unfortunately I'd already returned the Fender, before getting round to editing the vid. 🙈
Lessons learned 🫤
@stevecassidyguitar Ah I think this is what I'm hearing!
@@MattZildjian Apologies again - My bad. But You're not the first to prefer the sound of the Fender here, especially the Humbucker. I've since had the humbucker rewired and it sounds even better (to me) now 😀👍
I also went a bit bonkers and had stainless steel frets installed in the Jet too 😂🙈
th-cam.com/video/Z7B5nk0Gnw8/w-d-xo.html
@@stevecassidyguitar Aha. See my comment above, That explains it lol. The Jet clipped and distorted more possibly. Maybe there's a wood resonance thing going on as well tho. Fender defo sounded better.
@@darwinbeagle9394 🙏
I feel there may have been a wee bit of bias here 🤣🤣 fair play though, the jet guitars are fantastic and the mods you've done make it a real gigging guitar 👍
Well yeah.... I practically specced it "almost" exactly how I wanted it, so 💯 biased! 😂🤣👌
A lot of people under-estimate the significance of the string tree, just like you've pointed out.
Cheers mate 😃👍
Your input is hugely reassuring and appreciated 👌
Please do continue to keep me right 🙏
Hope you're doing well 🙏
@@stevecassidyguitar The "funny" thing is that I actually happen to be not feeling well. LOL.
@@GuitarQuackery sorry to hear that mate - hope you're feeling better soon 🙏
Excuse me, did you just justify me paying £10 for an American string tree for £9.99 for my classic vibe?
@@CosmicBrain21 I'm not sure 🤷♂️
Possibly 😬
Was it a good decision? If you're happy then yes I did 😃👍
If you're not then.... Nope it wuznae me 🙈
Never have seen this episode..... now i wanna thank you to upgrade my Jet! Keep on doing the good work mate! 😊
Cheers mate! Hope you're enjoying your Jet 😀👍
I ended up taking it a bit too far with the mods on this one:
th-cam.com/video/Z7B5nk0Gnw8/w-d-xo.html
😂🙈
Great comparison. It’s true that middle pickups don’t get enough love. You should use it more! 😎👍🏻
Thank ya Marsha! 😃🙏
I know - I've been neglecting it for years 🙈
Got a Jet JS 400 Sunburst vintage look one for Christmas - happy man!!
Changing the strings for lighter ones until my playing gets better.
Changing the jack plug socket.
Agree about polishing the frets mind!
Nice one mate! 😎👍 The JS400 has been my number one recommendation Guitar for the past couple of years now - they're not absolutely perfect stock - but sooo much potential, even with just a couple of very minor upgrades, like changing the string tree etc 👍
Okay, about that upper fret access: No, it isn't totally necessary, but it's cool when you realize that you just hit something that would have been hard to reach on a guitar with the big block but wasn't when you did it on the one you're playing. Granted, if I think I have time for it, I'll just go on and reach (I'm used to it.), but I can only imagine how many times I might have gone for something unexpectedly magical, but decided against because I wasn't sure I could get around the big, thick neck block! Remember that set-through necks are a thing for a reason!
Totally agreed, I've got used to the neck heel contours now, and anytime i go back to "traditional" strats, I do take less risks - You're spot on! 😂👍
I have no problen with the Fender Player nut or tuners. I think you need to play one.
Agreed 👍 there's nothing wrong with the Fender player nut or Tuners. But (imo) not as good as the Vanson (JIN-HO) locking tuners or Graphtech Tusq XL nut . Think I've had 3 Fender player Strats - I know em quite well 😃👍
fender tuners, especially vintage split, are some of the best stock knobs on any guitar.
@@richardclark. Good point - Vintage splits - the original lockers 😃👍
I like em 👍
But personally I prefer staggered locking tuners 😁
I'm enjoying the channel and your sense of humor :) I've been considering a Jet JT-350 as it seems to be a good quality budget tele that's reasonably true to the original.
Thank ya kindly mate 😃🙏
I got a good look at the JT350 today at the Jet Guitars Booth at Birmingham guitar show - looks classy 😎👌
2 options too... SS or HS with coil split 😃👍
an awesome video, nice marriage/ you & the Jet 400 ;) (my Fiesta Red Jet 400 will soon have all the same mods, so tyvm! :)
Thank ya kindly mate! 😀🙏
I've recently took it even further....
I got Stainless Steel frets installed on it!! 😂🙈
Vid to follow.... (In about a month tho 😬)
Terrific and fun vid, The JET sounded much better in my opinion and looks incredible, that neck wow !! 👍🎸😆
Thank ya kindly mate - I'm still over the moon with this one 😃
And still a couple of mods left to do 🙈
That Fender, designed by bean counters, never had a chance. Good on them for providing really good bodies and necks if one is a modder.
I only wish I possessed the skills and patience to do all the .nods myself. Then I'd save loads more! 😂
I love modding or refinishing inexpensive guitars, but I find it very difficult to do the same with more pricey guitars.
Enjoyed the video.
Cheers mate! 😀🙏
I totally agree, If I was spending £800 and up, I'd be hoping I like at least 90% of the specs as/is 👍
Thanks!
Aww mate!! 😃
Thank you so much for your generosity! 😃🙏
Hugely appreciated 🙏
All the very best to ya mate 👊
Amazing video as always! I find that changing tuners helps a lot with guitar stability and intonation. I really like the hipshot locking tuners with universal mounting plate but they are pretty hard to get in the UK. I'll try the vansons one some time :)
Thank ya kindly mate 😃🙏.
I'm sure I've got a set of unused hipshot lockers ready to go on a project - cheers for the heads-up and reminder 👍👍
Hey Steve, back again! Great video. I want to say that I like both guitars for different reasons. I'm a modder at heart but the more modded guitars I have the more I appreciate a well made stock version.
I typically buy a guitar for my "Primo Cheapos" mainly as a neck and body and then I see the stock form as mainly parts to help the build. I don't have to worry too much as I know the neck and body fit. I usually start buy replacing all of the pickups and electronics. I typically do GFS, Seymour Duncans, and Filtertrons as my "go-to" pickups. I upgrade the tuners (I buy Jin-Ho branded ones that look identical to your Vansons(sp?) tuners you use) and I also put in Tusq string trees. I also put in Dunlop strap locks as well.
Depending on the type of guitar I may replace the bridge (still figuring out what I like for S types) and maybe the pickguard.
For Teles and T styles I like to add a Bigsby or a Bigsby like (GFS X-Trem) on them and I found Gotoh makes a fantastic traditional style Tele bridge wity the back scalloped for that. I will probably try a Dusenberg Les Trem on the next T style build.
Final thoughts, putting up a modded guitar next to a more expensive stock guitar is a bit of a Fool's Errand. I would say 99% of the time I will take my modeed guitar over a stock Fender. It has the feel I like and the sound I like and overall that helps to project more confidence as a player. I started out on Fenders, lost lots if money modding and reluctantly selling them. To me a budget guitar modded to the hilt is more of an investment in happiness than a stock main brand guitar. At the end of the day we are making an emotional purchase and it is essentially an "investment in happiness" overall. 😎👍✨💙
Mate! I couldn't have said it better myself - excellent comment 😎👌
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience 👍
I'm currently on the train to Birmingham and the WiFi keeps dropping out. Apologies for this brief response 😬
@@stevecassidyguitar
Safe travels my friend! I am looking forward to what you post from that show! Cheers from sunny Arizona🏜️👍✨
Amazing, Your 'fruity' shirt against the black couch background made it look as though you had no arms beneath the elbow and when your hands came into view they appeared to be freely floating in the room. Full points for visual special effects.
Thank ya mate! I wishi could say it was an intentional magic show 🙈
Who needs a green screen 😜
Cheers mate 😁👍
I bought a jet js400 in seafoam green...was the relic version. Wanted a tom delonge strat.. got pearloid pickgaurd.. vintage tuners... Invader pickup ..rewired it with full size pot. Neck is sublime.... Polished frets... It's absolutely amazing .. I had chance to play the fender equivalent and the jet wipes the floor with it at a 1/4 of the price with the mods... No brainer....so I can appreciate this video entirely... Jet is the good out of the box..little set up.. but when you mod them they're killer....
Couldn't agree more mate 😃👍
Sounds like a great project mate - well done sir 😎👌
Mods for the win! 😁👍
Very nice, well done Steve! Love the humor and of course a modded Jet! By the way, i'm really digging the neck on HB ST-62! The difference to the 9,5 inch radius on the Jets is not huge and because it feels so good to play, it inspires some great licks!🎸🤘🏼🎸
Thank ya kindly mate! 😃🙏
But stop giving me HB Gas!!!! 😂
Glad your project worked out mate 😎👌
@@stevecassidyguitar😂 ....oh, and it is 6 pounds 8.9 ozs.....(or bang on 3 kgs)😃
@@gearViewmirror Wow! Perfect for gigging! 👹🙈
That tuner tip was my number one question. Thankyou
If it was the Vansons - They're quite hard to find now (Under that brand name). But you can get the same unit (It's a korean made "JIN-HO" locking tuner) under different brand names. Just look out for the "JIN HO" Stamp on the underside. The Wilkinson ones are also JIN-HO - same stuff 😀👍
@@stevecassidyguitar actually found them on amazon. thx
@@stevecassidyguitar just received and replaced the tuners. OMGgoodness what a difference. Also feeling pleased I did the job by myself. Thankyou
@@jasonbuhagiar2997 Great stuff mate! Glad to hear it - enjoy! 😃🙏
yeah you got me really thinking about doing something like this! I have an Ibanez Blazer stratocaster (Japanese from '82, the BL470, absolute killer guitar) which has of course a different shape headstock from the fender stratocasters, but I actually really like that shape. I also really like the jet headstock shape (logo not perse so much, but it also doesn't bother me), there's something really funky about that shape! The roasted maple neck sounds awesome to me! Also, if after mods you're still looking at half of the price of a fender player series (I would have the mods done by my local guitar store too) I really see no reason not to do it (except maybe for possibilities in pickguard and body finishes).
Thanks for your down to earth and honest review!
Thank you mate! I know the Blazers very well - Awesome Guitars! 😎👌
I have heard of some people managing to fit 3rd party "Fender" pickguards to their Jets, with some filling and re-drilling of holes, but I've not tried it myself, couldn't guarantee they'd fit.
Anyway I have no regrets - this modded Jet has been my no.1 gigiing guitar for almost a year now 😎👌
@@stevecassidyguitar that's great man, like I said, I'm really considering it since the price is ridiculous. Unfortunately there is only 1 shop in the Netherlands where could try a Fazley (which basically is a Jet), and just getting it online without having tried it, doesn't feel right. I also meant to say the headstock looks funky, not funny (typo). Something about it reminds me of an Elvis Presley haircut, very cool
@@jospoortman9915 The current line up of Fazley's are not the same as the Jets anymore unfortunately. It was only the Fazley Phynica series (now discontinued 😭) that were made in the Jet Factory, to the same specs by the same team.
But the current Fazleys are in a different factory now, different specs, different team (and not quite as good 😬... yet).
Great comparison! Thanks! 👍
Have you also changed the pots (mini) and the switch (electronic) on your Jet?
When I tried it on a Jet JS-300 I had to reassemble the old potentiometers because the cavity in the body did not allow the normal potentiometers to be fitted but only the mini ones ... (the space was too narrow)
On a JS-450 instead, I changed the bridge (Gotoh 510), tuners (Gotoh SGS510Z-A07 MG-T) and pickups (Tonerider The Overwound set) and the final result was a gorgeous guitar!
Thank ya mate! 😃Your 450 sounds killer! 😃👍
It's still the original switch on this one. But both pots have been changed to full size push/pull for the bridge coil split and neck pup on/off. My tech did it though. He didn't mention anything about additional routing. But there could have been 🤷♂️😬
Always quality comparisons covering things that actually matter. I currently don't have a traditional strat type guitar. Shame on me. Cheers Steve.
Thank ya kindly mate! 😃🙏
No S type!?!? 🤯
Did I just hear your GAS get switched on? 😜
I've modded a cheap Squier Sonic strat, bought new online. I did a complete fret job, nut, pickups, pick guard, volume pot change, the total cost ended up to be 436 USD. All new parts. The bridge and keys were ok, no need to change them, yet.
Awesome mate - sounds killer. Great effort 😎👌
With the Sonics having slightly thinner bodies, I'll bet it's nice and lightweight too - ideal for gigging 😃👌
Hey, Steve! I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but it seems like your mic is distorting a lot when you're playing the guitars. Maybe it could be some compression that happens in TH-cam, but I suggest you look into that and see if you can record guitars less hot. The sound is clearly distorted when you play, especially with overdrive.
Nope - Nothing to dow ith TH-cam Audio compressions - It was completely my fault. I failed miserably recording the signals too hot to my fone and had loads of clipping. Lessons learned. But I did record loads of clips on that same day that took me several hours and multiple takes so I just kept them as/is. My bad 🙈
@@stevecassidyguitar Sh*t happens. We learn as you go along, and I've seen other of your videos (as you might have noticed) on which the sound was fine.
Also, my Jet JS-300 actually came today! I was surprised when the DHL guy rang the bell. Lucky I was working from home haha! I changed the strings to an 11-50 set, and it's actually very playable with no other setup done. I might try to lower the strings slightly and check the intonation, but I will most likely keep the guitar. It sounds different from my Shijie STE, the pickups on the Jet actually sound more like classic Strat pickups. But the neck is noticably thicker on the Shijie and that guitar is also heavier, not in Les Paul territory, but close. I think I really like the thicker neck of the Shijie, but the Jet isn't uncomfortable at all.
@@nedim_guitar Nice one mate! HNGD! 🥳 Yeah In in hindsight I kinda wrote off the Jet single coils a bit too hastily. Had that "Ceramic = inferior" mindset 🙈 But they're actually quite decent 😎👍
Still not a fan of the Humbucker on the JS400 tho 😜
My pre modded JS300 with Fender pups and Grover tuners that I bought on Reverb is arriving today!
Sounds awesome mate! That will be killer 😎👌
HNGD 🥳
Some great middle pickup tones there Steve, you should defo use it more often! I don’t mind changing stuff out if there is one or two aspects of an otherwise great guitar that don’t suit me (like the bridge pickup on my Squier Jazzmaster), but I haven’t yet bought a guitar planning to mod it.
Thank ya pal 😃🙏
It's not that I don't like that middle pickup.... It's more that I feel there is less opportunities to use it 🤔 but that more of a me thing 😜
Have fun with your future mod projects mate 😃👍
Great sense of humour pal! My best most useable Strat is a Squier Contemporary, that I have modded a fair bit. Have had new plastics made for it by my luthier, new humbucker in the bridge. Original trem and non locking tuners work perfectly so have left them alone. Guitar weighs about 6.5 pounds, plays beautifully out of the box. Neck and jumbo frets are perfect. I have also modded the electrics so ai can split the Humbucker with a micro switch, which I prefer. Quick and easy at gigs. No pull up ghastliness on the tone control..yuck! I have owned a Deluxe USA Strat. Beautiful, but too heavy to gig, and a Suhr Classic. Suhr was light and fantastic in every way, but the price? No way is it 11 times better than my customised Squier. So….there you have it.😊
Cheers mate! 😃🙏I've been gassing for the Squier Contemporary strat in Skyburst for quite a while now 😎👍
(It's hard to justify another strat tho 😂🙈)
6.5lbs! Is a perfect weight for gigging! 😃👌
Great upgrade choices too mate - I'd go the same route😎👍
I have a js 500 ebony and fitted lolar humbuckers what do you think
I think it sounds like that's a beast of a Guitar mate! Nice one! 😀👍
Man that jet really sounds great now. I thought it sounded good before the mod, but it really sounds good now
Cheers mate! I'm really happy with it.
It's since had some more changes... I've had Stainless Steel frets installed! 🙈😂
I might have the update vid about it out tomorrow if I can get it edited in time 👍
If not - it will likely be next week
Great review Steve I just purchased a Jet .......Fender needs to get their act together with some of their models and prices they charge and yes the Jet I ordered is lake placid blue ! 😎
Thank ya kindly mate! 😀🙏 Congrats on your new Jet purchase 😀👍 and HNGD when it arrives! 🥳🎈
You ordered the "correct" model AND colour 😎👌
Just a wee tip to set your expectations... as soon as you get it, bin the stock strings immediately (they're garbage and will ruin your first impresions) while you've got the strings off, polish up the frets (5min job) new strings on (I prefer 9-42 I think they come with 10-46 but put on whatever you like) and enjoy strat heaven! 😀👍
Great video, love this mate. I have just tidied the fretwork on my JS-450. Gonna upgrade the pickups but value for money its a no brainer.
Thank ya mate 😃👍
Looking forward to your Jet vid! 😁🙏🙏🙏
Hi - Which would you recommend, the 400 or 300 to play music from the 50's /60's on like The Beatles, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry etc....
I'd say the 300 would be the best choice as it's a bit more traditional. You can even find a special edition JS300 in like a Dakota Red ish colour. Very Hank Marvin - esque 😎👍
@@stevecassidyguitar Excellent, thanks Steve, much appreciated.
I wonder how the Jet compares with the Fender American pro mk1
That's a good point, it actually could be closer in specs too with the rounded fretboard edges, and bone nut 🤔
Would be nice if Jet would do a premium option that we could buy ready made with all the better parts already in there. I saw their comment on this on one of your other videos and can't wait to see what they bring out this year. I want a strat style guitar to add to the collection but I'm holding off to see what Jet come out with before I make my final decision and purchase. Looking at the 300 series as i want all single coil pickups.
Same here mate - I'm keen to see what else they release too 😃Currently on my way back from the Birmingham Guitar show and managed to get over to the Jet booth for a chat 😃👍
They have plans for new models but didn't share much more than that.
I suggested a thinline Tele 😁🤞
I have a sunburst body and i would like cream pick guard instead of white it defo looks better, is it possible to spray it another colour (spray meant for plastic of course) ?
What guitar body is it you've got mate? (Make/model) Ya might be able to pick one up that fits for around £15. Depending on if it's compatible. I have heard of people spraying pickguards before, but I have no experience with it soz 😬
@@stevecassidyguitar it's just a budget strat (RockJam) for learning, so i haven't got a clue what guard might fit. Hence i might try a spray lol
@@bighes100 You might get lucky if ya search for a "cream strat 11 hole pickguard" - If it's amazon make sure you can return it, just in case it doesn't line up 👍
Hi Steve ! I am from Canada, Québec City ,
I recently bought a Jet 450, I upgraded with two Tex-mex single coils and a GFS Dream180 humbucker! I now want to change the potentiometer!
What do you recommend to me?
250k or 500k! And for the potentiometer and resistor?
How can I find a connection diagram for this assembly!
Hello to ya mate! 😀👍
Congrats on the JS 450 and the mods 😁👍
I'm not 100% wat the pots are as my tech supplied them - I was after push/push but got push/pull.
I'm also considering upgrading the wiring/electronics in mine again - So I'm in the same boat as you mate.
Apologies I couldn't be more help - I'm a soldering nightmare, so I have a tech do it all 🙈
Good luck with the project!
As for wiring diagrams - there's modders groups on facebook with loadsa cool wiring diagrams and then there's places like the Seymour Duncan forums etc 👍
Mercis d’avoir pris le temps de me répondre! je suis un grand fan de tes chroniques 👍🎸
Merci beaucoup d'avoir pris le temps de commenter mon ami 🙏 Bonne chance à toi 😀
Love it! Have you tried the Fray Bentos mod? 🤔🤔🤔
😆👍 You'll have to educate me on that one ....? 😆
I'm a serial modder. I have spent hours justifying buying a new guitar to the wife, arguing how it it is slightly different to the 23 others and then modding them so they all sound and play exactly the same!!!! 🤣🤣🤣
Ha! 😂👍
I hear ya... I've been guilty of the exact same thing 🙈
Trying purposely to have more variety now tho 😁
So for variety, try a different wifey....
@@jamesonpace726 😂
Welcome to the sickness! I am running into that issue too. That said the same pickup will sound slightly different in different guitars.
@@gringogreen4719 It's a disease! 🙈👍
What I don't like about my Jet.
The fret ends.
Can't see the dots very well against the toasted neck, especially at a gig
Machine heads - replaced
Rest is very good to spot on.
Good point about the dot markers 👍
The issue here is the inconsistency in the different shades of roasted maple Jet have put out. I have a pupil who has the exact same Jet as the one in this vid and his neck is waaaay darker than mine. Very difficult to see the dots on his. But mines is fine - for me 👍
I will send you an email Steve when I get some proper time, send you a few pics. I went for the vintage yellow, proper nicotine yellow lol, back to the 70s job. I like it in 80% of light conditions. It's the best Strat I have but it doesn't sound as good as my Harley Benton P90 Les Paul.@@stevecassidyguitar
@@Ogma3bandcamp Sounds very interesting! 😃👍
I wished you would buy the JS400 with the purple flame just so I could see the matching hat and glasses for that vid. I have a player series tele and the same Jet as yours in lake placid blue. I find that the Jet neck is not as chunky as the player series neck. Was suppose to be modding my Jet this month but the tumble dryer decided to pack in, so no mods until next month 😢😢😢
Nightmare mate! 😬 Tumble dryers just don't give a hoot about our Gas eh?
Speaking of which.... I'm still gassin for the Purple Jet 👹
@@stevecassidyguitar I really think you should buy it mate or you think Jet guitars would send you one to do a review on. You are a great ambassador of JET guitars. Seen you put the old gladiator vid up again of the the most beautiful Jet ever. Brings me right back to my early teenage years, hell of a lot of toilet roll used back then lol
@@derekjohnson5720 Would love Jet to send me one - not got my hopes up tho 😬 Will see them tomorrow as they have a booth at Birmingham guitar show 😁
😂🤣😂🤣😂 At the gladiators reminiscing 🤣
@@stevecassidyguitar hopefully you get to see the jet jt 600. I'm dying to see a vid of that. Well have a fab day tomorrow pal and I look forward to seeing your coverage of Birmingham.
@@derekjohnson5720 Oh yeah... The JT600 looks proper classy 😎👌
Cheers mate 😃
Will try and film some stuff 👍
I like dedicating the tone control to the bridge..
I've never did it yet - I really want to try it. Does having the neck and middle pickups bypass the tone circuit have much effect on their sound? I worry they might end up too bright - I've heard that could be the case, but I'm not smart enough to know if that's true🤷♂️
Absolutely fantastic have a wonderful weekend Steve ❤❤❤❤❤❤😅😊😊😊😊😊😊
Thank ya so much mate! 😃🙏
Same to you - all the best 👍
Fender locking staggered tuners are my go to. Love staggered tuners so you can get rid of the damn string tree altogether! Must admit I’m not a roasted fan but that jet does sound good. Cool video!
Can't argue with that mate - I love the Fender staggered lockers too. Although I preferred them when they were about £60 😜
I actually have a couple of spare sets here, but the reason I've not put them on the Jets etc... is they have the 2 pin fittings. I like an easy drop in replacement as I'm great at ruining guitars as soon as the drill comes out! 😂
@@stevecassidyguitar yeah I hate that about the fender tuners. Those two pins are annoying and I wouldn’t take a drill to a roasted neck either. I can see why people like them, the grain is really nice and it pops a bit more because of the roasting. Yeah, I bought them all the time when they were cheaper. You used to be able to find them on eBay used all the time for cheap now that’s all over with lol. Gotta love the drop and play through! Cheers!
Hi, could you tell me if the gotoh bridge was a drop in replacement? Was it the same string spacing? Thanks!!
I had my tech do the install but... It's almost a drop in replacement, except for you need to file away a wee bit of space for the trem barrel housing to move freely. Just out of the trem block cavity - about 1-2 mm.
I had to do the same thing when putting the Gotoh in my Fender partscaster too.
Hop[e that helps 😀👍
Trem I used was the Gotoh 510T-FE1-CR 10.8mm string spacing.
Not 100% sure the string spacing is the same - but I have zero issues with alignment Re the fretboard edges, over thpole piecesand at the nut.
Hope that helps 😀👍
@@stevecassidyguitar great, it helps, thanks for your response, very nice video
@@germanlungwitz528 Thank ya mate! 😀🙏
Great video! I'm thinking about doing same upgrades to mine. Does the gotoh trem was a direct fit or do you have to make a modification to the holes to fit in?
Thank ya kindly mate. 😀🙏 I had my tech install it, but have been asked this one before... The post holes should be aligned the same as the gotoh 👍 but you will need to file around 1-2mm out from the trem block cavity to allow clearance for the gotoh trem barrel to move. I had to do the same thing on my Fender strat, it's a common thing with the gotoh. A quick easy job too if you have a good file 👍
@@stevecassidyguitar that help me alot man! I really appreciate it! Thanks!
@@zinhosalaverry8294 No worries mate - Good luck! 😀👍
Thanks Steve, great review, entertaining as ever - what's the finish on the fretboards like ?, fender MIMs were finishing maple fretboards by simply spraying over everything, frets and all - which eventually flakes off the frets and chips off the fretboard - very poor. Time to buy shares in Jet. ✈
Thank you mate 😃🙏
I'm struggling to remember if the Fender had a glossy finish on the fretboard or not (I wish I mentioned it in the vid 🙈) I think it does have the gloss on. The Jet is satin and feels more raw. That's my preference as glossy feet boards can sometimes be a bit sticky
But what was the retail of this Jet 400? Plus all the mods? Total?
I did a breakdown of all the costs and particular parts here:
th-cam.com/video/ihd-k_8NLX0/w-d-xo.html
I saved quite a bit buy buying some used parts and I had some vouchers off for the guitar too.
To save you watching the vid it was around £325 all in at that point.
But... It gets worse... I've since had Stainless steel frets installed in it 😂🙈
th-cam.com/video/Z7B5nk0Gnw8/w-d-xo.html
So now we're at around £615
The inevitable question is - was it worth it?
To me - YES!
It's a player and a keeper and my no 1 gigging guitar. I have no plans to sell it ever.
Nice one, Great video. Im based in Ireland ☘️and also own a couple of jet guitars a Strat and tele style, which I have slightly modified. I find them fantastic value for the money.
Thank ya mate! 🙏 Hullo to you in Ireland😃
Glad ya like your Jets.... Without mods they're great .. with mods they're awesome! 😎👌
Tuners, Tone / Volume pots and there on par with any so called high end guitar. ☘️
Uh-huh, that's why soo many professional guitarists are seen rocking a Jet on stage, in vids & elsewhere. I love me a Jet, have 2, jes sayin....
Yup.... I don't see that changing anytime soon 😆👌
News! Clapton jumps ship to Jet Guitars! 🤯
😜
Throwing my two cents in here, depending on the artist and the contract, sometimes they CANNOT play another brand or model in public if they have a contract with a major brand.
It's also an open secret that many musicians play cheap gear in the studios. Unless you have a camera and put up footage, you will never know if they are playing budget or top shelf gear.
I will point out main artists like Jack Black from the White Stripes (National) and Rick Miller (Danelectro) from Southern Culture on the Skids played old budget brand guitars when they were at the absolute bottom of their resale value and nobody else was playing them. These were their main guitars!
You also see "student models" aka "cheap shit" 💩👍✨played by major players like Harmony Bobcats that Annie Clark aka St. Vincent had as her main guitar. Keep in mind even Jimmy Page played a Danelectro in Led Zeppelin.🤔
Was that stock footage of Flock of Seagals at the end of the neck joint bit? 😜
Well spotted mate!🤓👌
One of ny favourite Guitarists of all time 😁👌
Nice one Steve ; both sound great in your hands as honestly the answer for me is it all depends on the neck.
Back in the day i'd say grab a Fender and use that as a mod platform, but they are almost £700 these days new!
If Jet do a better neck for you at a cheaper price then rock on dude!
-Gabe
Thank ya mate 😀🙏
You'll need to give a Jet a try if you've not already - impressive stuff for the price (imo)
@@stevecassidyguitar I have tried them before as they are superb for the cashola!
@@GabrielNacu Nice!😀👌
I’ve found I prefer buying a cheaper guitar and modding it to my likes.
This is a great video !
Thank ya kindly mate! 😃🙏
Me too - I love modding a cheap guitar that has "good bones" 😎👍
Hey man! Spittin facts as always! I got my new strat for mod platform and i want to swap pickups.I will use some custom shop fat 50s but i wanted a rail on the bridge, any recommendations?
Thanks mate! 😃🙏 And nice one... I like the fat 50's too 😎👍
For the rails - it depends how much you wanna invest of course. John Robson recommends the Artec rails which always sounds good on his demos. That would be the least expensive option. I put an Iron Gear Jailhouse Rails ii in a partscaster and I like that too. A wee bit pricier tho. Then you're probably into Seymour Duncan territory. Apparently the Artec is quite close to the SD hot rails. I have a hot rails in my Charvel, but it's a bit hot for me.
I'm curious if I'd prefer the cool rails.
Apologies that wasn't much help 😂
It really depends what kind of sound you're after
to be honest im not looking for something too hot. Hot rails is too hot for my taste here , thought id ask but ill check iron gear rails too! Thanks Steve@@stevecassidyguitar
I really like the jet, hey what about the TBX fender tone control? is it worth it?
I don't believe I've tried that mate. I have a "no load delta" tone pot on my US strat (I think that's what it's called anyway) but can't say I've tried the TBX.
Officially on the radar now - cheers 😃👍
I don't believe I've tried that mate. I have a "no load delta" tone pot on my US strat (I think that's what it's called anyway) but can't say I've tried the TBX.
Officially on the radar now - cheers 😃👍
The Fender sounds a little darker but there's not a lot in it. Another consideration is "out of the box" playability. Fender will struggle on this one due to Fender's proclivity for shipping guitars with fret ends that could grate cheese.
Very good point mate 👍
The Jets could do with a string change and a wee fret polish out the box, but yeah.... I've had my hands on a few too many Fenders with the sharp fret ends the past 2-3 years 😬
Very good point mate 👍
The Jets could do with a string change and a wee fret polish out the box, but yeah.... I've had my hands on a few too many Fenders with the sharp fret ends the past 2-3 years 😬
Both those guitars sounded great , but the jet coming in at basically half the price definitely seems the winner all round, I’ve only modded one guitar, bought a 💩 jaxville Strat style thing and it sounded proper garbage, so I bought a prewired pick guard with hot rail pickups in ( perfect fit too) and changed the trem block for a Wilkinson , total mod was just over 50 quid but the guitar is now usable and sounds pretty decent (it would sound better with an actual guitarist playing it) definitely worth doing it though and it didn’t take long to do, ( under an hour, which I found disappointing 😂) anyway,, I’m waffling 😂,, great video mate 👍👍🤠🎸
Cheers mate! 😃🙏
And good on ya with your Jaxville mods 😃👍
I remember seeing Jaxville Strats. They had some cool graphic finishes iirc 🤔 Like a smokey blue/black one and even a Sunburst relic type one. Definitely worth a couple of upgrades 😎👌
I argue the headstock question: if you Play in a limited space, a smaller headstock prevents, that you accidentally hit a wall, furniture or the cymbal. I struggle with each doorframe of a Train or the underground, when travelling with a gigbag. That's why the silversky for me has the best headstock of a strat-shaped object.
I already converted my harley Benton ja Kit into a 3l 3r headstock configuration. I might butcher another headstock, because i have found the strat-shaped-object of my liking.
I totally agree Re the PRS headstock being more functional too - I think it's a better design for the string break angle too. But I prefer the classic look of the Fender
Could always go headless 😜
Headless guitars address this issue 😊
Jet necks are as fine as wine
I'm a big fan of the necks too 😁👍
The bridge pup sounds a good deal better on the fender. Positions 4&5 are very traditional and soft on the fender, but the modded jet has more bite and sounds a lot funkier in the same positions. Would have liked to hear more cleaner tones, maybe some wah too 🔥 that said, you again convinced me to get a jet as a modding platform, though I'll probably get even nicer pups like suhr or lollar
Thanks for the feedback mate! 😃👍 I've actually just been thinking the past few days, I might change the bridge pick up. I do love it as/is, but this is my main gigging guitar and I feel like a little bit more bite for solos n stuff. If I wasn't gigging it I'd just leave it as/is.
Hope your mod project goes great! 😃👍
@@stevecassidyguitar Thanks mate! I think it's awesome that this is your main gigging guitar and definitely an encouragement to do the same. The Seymour Duncan "Pearly Gates" is great for a little more bite in the bridge, I recommend trying though it's a good deal pricier. Have one on my PRS SE and it's great for solos and everything funky too. Not the best for cleans but who wants that from the bridge pup anyways haha
@@ekisoderqvist I've heard great things about the Pearly Gates 😃👍 I'd considered putting them in my Harley Benton Fusion after Jonathan Koh put them in his - sounded great! 😎👌
The reason I like the GFS is that I do like the cleans 🙈 love the sound coil split with the middle pickup clean 😃
@@stevecassidyguitar Have to agree, split bridge together with the middle pickup is an important clean tone. I wouldn't choose the pearly gates for that either, there split tone on that could be better, at least alone it's way too sharp. But as a crunchy lead tone humbucker it works like a dream. 😃
@@ekisoderqvist Ah great info mate - cheers 😀👍 Maybe I'll swerve the PG for this one 👍
Bought a Jet js-400 with rosewood board and Firefly ffst. The jet is great and after changing pickups to ones i had laying around (SD 59 & 2 hand wound Rose Pickups) sounds, plays and feels amazing ( no scratchy frets ). The firefly hhhmmmm I am parting out! The specs of Firefly were slightly better as were pickups but construction was not up to the Jet. Might pick up a Jet tele and make it nashville style!
Very interesting!!!! I've been very curious to try out a firefly for a while - heard great things, but they're hard to get in the UK.
Good to know the Jet is up there with the quality in comparison - cheers 😎👍
@@stevecassidyguitar Just ordered a Jet jt-300 in pink with rosewood board for $236 all in to match my fantastic is-400 in pink 👍🏻 Firefly was disappointing when I started to mod it. Sloppy routing, locking tuners with quite a bit of play, would have needed fret level and neck had a back bow that could be taken out with truss rod but could not get an action I liked without some buzzing. Shame as has a roasted mahogany body. Could have been a nice guitar with more careful manufacturing and quality control. Others have had good experiences with firefly perhaps I was unlucky. Hopefully I can get some money back by selling the parts. Am sticking with Jet though quite like to try a budget Japanese Bacchus 🤔 Also have a Donnor dst400 which is not bad and got very cheap with discount code 👍🏻 Great video I can see you put a lot of work into them.
@@mikeyjhn Thank ya mate 🙏
The roasted mahogany body is an EART spec too. I wonder if Firefly is possibly same factory 🤔
If it is - I completely get i👍 I have experienced EART guitars.
tad biased review 😂 but glad you love your Jet. I have a Harley Benton SC-550ii and i had the nut changed, Locking tuners added and replaced the pick ups for the Slash AFD ones. My guitar tutor says if I played/bought a Les Paul now i maybe slightly disappointed as the HB sounds like a beast, so why am I still looking our for a decently priced Les Paul 60s in Bourbon burst??? Id probably be better off buying another HB and modding that. Agree with what you say about re-sale value - id struggle to get back what I paid for the HB and mods (around £500 all in) as there seems to be no re-sale value at all in them going by Reverb and Ebay. But if you mod a guitar exactly how you want it then theres no need to sell it.
Ha 😆 yes mate it is 💯 biased 😂👌
But yeah.... That's the thing with Gas - the beast must be fed! 🙈
You'll probably never know if your HB is better until ya have both 😜 Bourbon burst sounds very classy btw 😁👍
and yeah.... For me, I try to mod the guitars into keepers 👍 Always a good idea to keep hold of the original parts to put back to stock if you wanna sell it and not lose too much
i must have missed the end of the video where you trade or sell them? Fender gets 29 points and Jet negative 2.
Yeah that sounds about right 😂👍
Fair you gave the headstock point to Fender.
You should give another point to Jet for the positioning of the output jack. I hate how it's placed on traditional Strats. If I ever design a guitar it will be hidden somewhere in the back close to the strap pins.
Tbh there is one Fender line of products I prefer over better or similar specced half priced guitars and that are the MiM Player Pluses. For me that's where you get the 'genuine' Fender feeling without blowing the bank. Qualitywise they are not better or worse, the just feel very fenderish but modern.
For me the 'ultimate' (bang for the buck) Strat one can get is a MiM Charvel. And they also have the Fender headstock, which is a big win. Of course you have to like the, and the tradiotional Strat layout and only version without a Floyd comes with the Dinky body, which is kind of weird.
Btw. I'm positive I can send you the 'neck documentation' in the next few days, I finally started... I also began with my next project, which includes reshaping of another neck... I fell like if I get that skill close to perfect I can buy whatever budget guitar I want and just make it fit. Next step really would be to build a guitar from scratch. I'd love to.
Sounds like a great plan with the neck carving crash course! Good on ya mate. 😃👍
As for the Jack sockets... I Have a Charvel DK22 that has the perfect Jack socket location on the back - I think you'd like it 😁👌
If I was ever to buy another Fender, it would be a used Elite series strat (discontinued) One of the best series Fender ever made imo 😎👌
@@stevecassidyguitarThe DK22 is a master piece.
Btw. I finally mailed you the 'story.'
That Alder also may be 5 pieces or more if it were an American.
With this one being a solid colour.... We'll never know 🤔
Could be tho 🤷♂️😅
The only reason i got js300 over js400 is the side jack. It’s just not a strat for me :)
I get ya 😎👍 I like the traditional look too.
If I wanted it all - I could add a boat jack plate to the JS400 in the traditional position and fill the side hole.
Would look messy to do the opposite with the 300 though 😅
I have the 300 too - Class Guitars! Great choice mate 😎👌
It's crazy that not too long ago the Mexican strat was the gold standard for affordable gigging guitars. How times have changed.
If I was in the market for a strat unless Jet comes out with some crazy new colors I might still spring for the Fender. Granted it would be off of the used market. Strats tend not to stay in my collection long so the added resale value is a plus to me.
If I was doing a mod project the Jet would be appealing if I didn't pick up a totally acceptable Aria strat neck and body for £25. I want to do something weird with it - on/off/phase switches for every pickup and something dumber with the pickup choice 3 P90's or minihum +two single coils right next togther like the Squier contemporary
Oooft!!! £25!?!? 🤯 Nice!
Still not as cheap as a Spyder pig tho 😜
Yes please to new Jet colours!
And I've also been keen on the Squier contemporary pickup configuration 👍
Really fancied the Sky burst Squier strat 😁
I must be getting old as it seems like yesterday they were like £450-500!
@@markdoolan3424 I know right!? 🤯
I must be getting old too 😐
@@stevecassidyguitar The aria came with all the other parts too but they're not really worth salvaging
@@clairbeeguitar ach well.... Stil ... l £25 🥳👌
The affiliate link goes to a diff product btw
Cheers mate! Fixed 😅👍
I think I've got the wrong link In a few more vids - I'll need to fix them too.
Thanks again 🍻
I was very close to buying a Jet 600. Good sound and quality. Hesitated because of the name. Will buy a Yamaha or Ibanez, no mods. If the instrument works then why waste time and money changing it?
It's not a waste of either time or money - to me. The mods were just a matter of preference. You can't go wrong with Ibanez or Yamaha though 😎👍
@@stevecassidyguitar Your Jet sounds fantastic and it is good platform for modding.
@@MarkErikEE Thank ya kindly mate 😃🙏
That was the main reason for the mods - plays great too. Tis my no.1 gigging guitar too 😃👍
I, like you, believe that the less sliding resistance on a string the better. Eg. resistance of the string sliding on the nut. You like graph tech and I think it is better than plastic and some bone. Why don't you like a zero fret? With polished metal like stainless how can you get less resistance? Not to mention ease of adjustment. Just sayin.
Very good point mate 👍
I don't dislike zero frets. But not had much experience with them as they're not too common on production models these days. But I'm definitely not against en 😃👍
@@stevecassidyguitar
I use them and like them for several reasons. They are nondestructive and fit into the
Sorry prematurely sent the first reply. You can buy a zero fret retrofit for many guitars from zero glide. I'm not associated with them but I use their product. It is nondestructive and fits in the nut slot with some minor adjustments (not to the guitar). If you don't like it just take it out and put the nut back in. It comes with special fret wires of different heights. Once you have installed the main part you just loosen the strings and slide one out and the other in until you like the string height. For me that is one higher fret than the one that buzzes. So much easier, more accurate, and more functional than cutting nuts. If you've cut guitar nuts you know how many you can screw up before you get an acceptable one. I haven't seen this topic covered by other electric guitar reviewers. I thought it might give you a unique and easy topic to cover that others aren't.
@@jvberk3518 Wow mate! Thanks for this - I was not aware of this product. Just had a look on the website and it looks very impressive. I'd love to try one out! 😃👍
My only issue is they one have a Bone option. Unfortunately I don't use bone for ethical reasons.
But ... I think I might contact the company and ask if they'd consider making an alternative material in future.
Thanks again mate for pointing me in the direction of this 😎👌
@@stevecassidyguitar
The parent company is gold tone instruments. They make other guitar gizmos. The bone is just used as a holder of the Fret and guides the string. The string rests on the Fret. So they might be able to make that out of anything that is firm. I'm sure they're using CNC. Also, they ship nickel frets. But I understand you can get stainless steel. Let me know what you find out. I share your ethics just not your commitment. I would gladly switch to another substance.
That's a novel idea Steve, to mod an affordable guitar like the Jet 😂 with the roasted neck! My question is, how is the guitar body? I returned a Jet Js400 because the body was not impressive at all and was flawed. My Squiers have much better bodies and fit and finish also and that includes Affinity strats. I played a fender 2023 USA Professional and a 2020 Player strat and the player was leaps above the USA model, go figure! Im not sure how you do it Mr colored glasses lol (joke)Your videos are always AMAZING mate! The Jet sounded muddy compared to the fender which is weird as the pups are the same, maybe the difference was the humbucker? I'm interested in your opinion on this issue.
Good question mate! This was my 2nd JS400 in LPB, I had to return the first one as it had lacquer cracks at the neck pocket 😬
But other than that.... I prefer the contours of the Jet body - mainly the neck heel joint 👌 What was the flaw with body of yours?
And.... To be totally honest.... I made an error with the audio recording of the guitars on this vid 😬 Most of the playing parts were clipping 🙈
I recorded these at the same time as the stock Jet Vs player a couple of months ago. Lessons learned.
Interestingly, I did like the sound of the Fender Humbucker more in the recording than I did in the room 🤔🤷♂️
@@stevecassidyguitar there was a small chunk of wood missing near the big horn on the outside of the body and they just painted over it instead of dropping some wood filler and sanding it first so it was quite the eye sore. The neck on the Jet was flawless however. Enjoyed your video as usual! Cheers! 🤘
@@dragan4658 Thank ya mate 😃🙏
But .. that's not too great to hear about your Jet. They should have at least gave you a big B stock discount on that one 👎
@@stevecassidyguitar you're right the gesture would have been nice but I most likely would have said no. They didn't even offer to send out another one. Furthermore the guy even said it's not like it's an expensive guitar so there will be issues as its a budget guitar. That's a lot of crock lol. Don't advertise B stock as A grade. It was a no hassle return and refund however and they paid return shipping which was commendable.
@@dragan4658 ok last question.... Where did you buy It from? Just out of curiosity
The “resale” value is graded incorrectly.
If the £700 Fender is resold for £500 and the £320-ish Jet is resold for £200, then the Fender loses you £80 more than the Fender.
Yup - That would be correct going by the prices you suggested. I think ya mean Fender loses £80 more than the Jet, but I got ya 👍
Great to see the Jet has won, which when compared to an overpriced Fender was not too difficult.
I am now Fender free, hurray good riddance to all those baseball bat necks that made my hands ache.
The big question is, will i buy a Jet, err no, not until they offer at least a 12" radius slim neck.
For now my Harley Benton Fusion 2 does all i need and it came with locking tuners, no upgrades required
well perhaps the pickups someday.
Hope you are keeping well Steve.
Congrats on your successful Fender purge! 😃👍
All good here thanks - currently on the train to BirmingNAMM 😜
Hope you're all good 😃🙏
Enjoy the train ride and don't spen too much at the show.
@@stevecassidyguitar
@@Barbarapape Cheers Barbara! 😃👍
I've gave myself a budget of ZERO. So we'll see how that goes 😁🤞
You can't get much less than Zero!
I am sure something will tempt you, even it is only some edible picks
with no strings attached!@@stevecassidyguitar
The Fender just seems so old and outdated compared to the Jet guitar. I've never owned or even tried an american build Strat. But I love my Jet JS-450.... And my Squier Strats 👍😬
It seems the more old and outdated a Fender model is - the more they sell 😆
I am lucky enough to have a USA Fender strat, but it barely gets played these days 😬 Partly because I need to change the faulty switch 🙈 but more because I'm playing the Jet all the time 😁
The JS450 is a class axe mate - I'd have kept mine if it was lighter
@@stevecassidyguitar my JS450 Weighs 3,3 kg, or 7,2 pounds. It kind of hits the sweet spot.
Have fun at the guitar show! 🤘
I have not long had a Jet 400 and to be honest, my Fender American Stratocaster hasn't seen the light of day since. Such a great guitar for a ridiculous price
@@darrenhamilton5859 Pretty much the exact same story here mate! Crazy times 🤯
I just got home from a gig tonight, took 3 guitars as I'm reviewing 2 of them. The Jet, an Ibanez AZes, and a Squier Sonic HSS strat. The Jet smoked em all - night and day 😎👌
5:55 How big are Steven Segal's hands?? How big is he? That Strat looks like a toy hahaha!
He's way bigger than he was in the 80's anyway 😂
you are a real pro. ❤❤
Thank you so much! 😃🙏
It doesn't feel like that to me though 😂🙈👍
To me, the most important part of a Strat is the neck. Everything else can be replaced, but if the neck isn't great, the guitar isn't great IMO. So I'm very surprised that you think the Jet neck is as good as (and maybe slightly better) than the Fender. If that's the case, I see no reason to buy a Fender.
Agreed! Not just a strat, but any guitar for me - it's all about the neck 😀👍
I think it's very unlikely (never say never) that i'd ever buy another NEW fender.
good videos brother, but the tone when you play sounds saturated and annoying a lot! correct that and your videos will be better
Cheers for the feedback mate! 😀👍
I failed miserably at the recording of both guitars on this one. I had the signal too hot, so was getting a lot of clipping that couldn't be fixed. 🙈
On the day I recorded it, I did 5 Guitars, (for future comparisons) doing 10 different wee licks/dittys (1 for each pickup position, clean and dirty - some had split coils) and I never get any of them done in one take 😂🙈
So it was easy over 100 takes and too much work to re-record.
Lessons learned 😅👍
Although I did just record some guitars with the levels too low yesterday 😂🙈
The fender sounds better
It's all subjective innit? But to be totally honest... I had a huge fail in recording the audio for this one 😬
I recorded both guitar signals too hot, and ended up with clipping on all the sound samples 🙈 So it wasn't an ideal comparison in the first place, My bad - lessons learned 😅👍
I prefer the original Jet Pickguard
You're wrong!!! 🧐
Nah! 😜 It's all good mate - different strokes for different folks 😎👍
Segal 😂😂😂
Massively under rated blues legend 🤡👍
Tone wood only matters when comparing acoustic instruments. Electric is a signal chain from pickup to speaker. The wood doesn’t matter at all.
Usually ya can find me sitting on the fence for most issues. But not this...
I agree with ya😁👍
I always find it amusing when you see some of these high end Ibanezezez for example that have like 9 different woods - coz tone 🙈
"Oh yeah... I can really hear that 1cm strip of Purple heart" 😜
I wonder if you use Alder or Ash on a Gibson SG .........Aren't you gonna get a less warm sound ? I'm sure Mahogany brings something to the tone , as it does on accoustic guitars maybe not as much but still recognizable ....More sustain too ...
@@sirzembla4512 It's the debate that can last a lifetime 😜 I'm not saying either of us are right or wrong... But I would like to see what you suggested put to the test...
Say.. an All Mahogany Vs an All Alder (bodied) SG - everything else the same, pickups etc - then hear a blind test - see if we can tell the difference. Would be interesting. 😀👍
On acoustic Guitars - I agree, I think it does make a big difference to the tone.
In terms of the sustain of an SG vs say.. a strat, i'd expect other factors to also contribute to the sustain; the shorter scale length, string tension, Set neck construction, TOM bridge etc...
But what do I know? I'm just a guy guessing on the internets 😂🤷♂
@@stevecassidyguitar Of course a test would be necessary , well it's a million views here one lol ......
I don't know why i forgot the set neck construction , which always adds sustain , thank you ....
Maybe i'm wrong but i think an all Mahogany and an all Basswood SG with all the same electronics etc would sound really different , of course it must be tested , i think a Basswood Sg would sound almost like a Lespaul with P90s ....
Anyway this could be a 5 millions views videos here on TH-cam ,hhhhhhhm ......
Of course , i'm not sure , i don't know why it seems logical to me ....
@@sirzembla4512 You might be right 🤷♂It's fun to speculate either way - I do it all the time 😂👍
Almost anything is better than a player stratocaster, had one briefly & couldn’t get rid of it fast enough, what a lifeless dead guitar
This is the experience I had with the PRS Silver Sky SE. Not so much the Fender player, but I do think they're overpriced. But to be fair... I'm an old man and I like to complain about the prices of all kinds of stuff 😜👍
Fender Humbucker was far superior to the GFS.
Ya know... I completely failed at the audio recordings in this vid 😬 I had quite a bit of clipping especially on the gain tones 🙈 (Lessons learned). But, when I was editing this - I did like the Fender humbucker a lot more in the recording than I did in the room.
It's all subjective, but I'd probably have to agree with you based on this recording.
Cheers mate 😀👍
Great vid. The Fender sounds better, more noticeably in the bridge humbucker. Also it sounded like it had more clarity in the singles, not sure why. Be interesting to hear the Jet with all Fender pickups. Jet value for money though as the diff is not much.
Cheers mate! 😀🙏
I did make a huge error when recording the audio for this vid 😬 I had the signal coming in a bit too hot on both guitars, so there was quite a bit of clipping, especially on the distorted tones.
Unfortunately I'd already returned the Fender by the time I got round to editing the vid 🙈
Lessons learned.
But there are other differences that could be at play too, I never upgraded the wiring on the Jet, like the actual wires, then there's the tolerance of the pot values too.
I've since upgraded it even further, improving the bridge pick up wiring and adding... stainless Steel frets! 🤣🙈
th-cam.com/video/Z7B5nk0Gnw8/w-d-xo.html
16:42 you look like you have no hands
Sorry about that mate 😬 I totally do have hands though - I promise! 🙏
@@stevecassidyguitar 😂 hmmmm ……ok……..but I’m watching you! 😂 love your channel mate. You’ve actually inspired me to buy a Jet JS400 in lake placid blue. Have you seen the British Racing Green ones on Listers guitars? Looks cool
@danielblackvideo Cheers mate! 😃🙏
Yes indeed... I keep tabs on all the Jet limited colours too. The BRG is very smart indeed 😎👌
I'm really gassing for the new JS600 in purple 😍
@@stevecassidyguitar very cool indeed. Looks like something Prince would have played! I wanna see hands in the next video…., hands I tell you! 😂
@danielblackvideo I can't guarantee anything mate soz 😂👍
fender=balance jet=whatevere you want except balance
Ok... are you talking physical balance as in neck/dive etc? or balance of sound? or something else? 🤔
@@stevecassidyguitar sound and tone of course😁
@@vs_830 Of course 👍
I'm first to admit, I had a bit of a disaster with the recordings here 🙈 Recorded both guitars signals too hot and got clipping. My bad, mistakes made, lessons learned 🙈
But, just to clarify... are you saying no matter what pickups you put in the Jet, it's impossible to acheive a balanced sound and tone yeah?
@@stevecassidyguitar no matter - good pickup do not "improve" the sound it can detect more sound details produced by the instrument good and bad ones like microphone picks singer's voice but not improving it
You really want a lot of views? Raise the question, does body material effect the sound of the guitar? I can almost certainly say, it doesn't and I can even show the test done. Take everything away but the pickups, strings bridge and nut and it'll sound the same. Play back the sounds of with and without and your views will hit the roof 😂 me 🤔 thinks. The ranman!
Great shout mate. I agree - I'm not sold on tonewood.
Seen a YT vid of a guy testing a pickup in various different ways - sounded the same to me 🤷♂️
@@stevecassidyguitar , look for the one that is strapped to two tables, 😆 cheers mate!
@@ranman58635 That's the very one I seen mate 😃👍
Soz - tried to add more detail before, but I'm currently on the train to Birmingham and WiFi keeps dropping out
@@stevecassidyguitar ah, cool, I hear ya, safe travels. Do you wear the glasses off camera?
@@ranman58635 Nah.... But I'll be in full "character" this weekend 🥸😂