I have fender custom shop pickups in my tele and the bridge pickup was microphonic to the point where I could hear the drummer through it! I ended up getting it wax potted, which cost me £15 at a local pickup builder and now its fine. If this happens to you, save yourself the hassle and just get it potted...
@jamesmarkham7489 that's true, I mean this in the case of unwanted noise! I tried to accept it for a while, but artists I played with did not appreciate it, haha!
You could try "Wax Potting" the Pickups, which would cost almost nothing, and make for a very interesting follow-up video. Wax Potting seems to be a very common fix for microphonic Pickups.
What’s funny is that the Bursts were known for having microphonic pickups because of the lack of potting. And according to connoisseurs that’s a feature not a bug because of the openness of the sound. So not sure if it’s really a problem unless there is a lot of feedback.
I think there's a difference between intentionally unpotted pickups for authenticity vs very budget eastern pickups. According to Monty's pickups, if a pickup is constructed well, they don't need potting to avoid microphonics -if it's constructed well without loose parts etc
Happily, my JS-400 has no pickup issues. Used in practice and live. You mentioned Eart. I bought the basic SSS strat style out of curiousity. My example is really well made. I don't use single coils often for gigging so I did put some Dimarzio rail pickups in it. That did double the price of the guitar but I use it live as well. Just bought a Soloking from Andertons for $300 that I'm taking to practice this weekend. That's where issues pop up if there are any because I don't get that kind of volume at home. It's got SS frets and plays well. Had a little fret sprout but I'm in the states so it may not have left England that way. Easy fix though. Otherwise it's built well and plays good. Pickups are pretty dark sounding though. May not be for everyone.
@@johnnathancordy They're honestly very different guitars subjectively. The Eart needed new pickups. The Jet is probably the most traditional. The Soloking is best for me out of the box. Dual humbuckers and SS frets. I deck/block the trem on everything so I can't give an opinion there. The Jet has a pretty normal C shape neck. The Eart is compond on the back as well as the fretboard. It's rounded C toward the headstock but thins to a D toward the body. The Soloking is a D shape but thicker than you'd think on a shredder style guitar. I do need to address the side dots on the Soloking. Black on roasted maple is almost invisible. I ordered glow paint to fix that. The Eart didn't need any fret work. The SC didn't sound as good as my Fender or Musicman Cutlass. But the guitar was $215. I've only had the Soloking a week and a half so I'm still in the evaluation stage.
@@johnnathancordy Did a quick video with the guitars. Pressed for time so it was down and dirty with my phone and little editing. th-cam.com/video/GRHc4KWudyA/w-d-xo.html
Oh, just seen this a minute after commenting on your other video about this one. Great video, and I stand by my words: they sell these guitars for 200 euros because they are worth 200 euros - if not less. These pickups are probably those sold for 5-10 euros each. Cheers, man. Keep up with the great and straight-forward content.
The only guitar I’ve ever had this happen on was another budget guitar. A Harley Benton. They sent me out a new bridge pickup and I swapped it myself. It’s been fine ever since (about three years now).
I had an Ibanez Roadstar II in the 80's had that problem with all 3 pickups. Any time distortion was added all you got was screeching feedback, It was particularly sad because clean these were some of the best sounding single coils I've come across.
If you pay five bob for a guitar, what do you expect. Re Tele's and microphonic pickups. If you're unlucky you can get that from expensive Teles too. Fixes. 1) Replace the bridge pickup springs with rubber/silicone tubing. Fishtank pump tubing works well for this. If that doesn't fix it 2) Wax dip the pickup. 3) Buy some decent 'affordable' pickups. My first goto would be IronGear pickups.
Ceramic magnets having nothing to do with microphonics, except they are more likely be used in cheap pickups. Something has to be vibrating. Usually the coils and sometimes a Tele bridge base plate.
@@davidyelland908 I'm aware that it's not the magnets, it's the shielding/potting, but the same pickup when unpotted will squeal alot less with weaker magnets than stronger. That was what I was trying to say. My Curtis Novak Tele pickups are unpotted, but they're also vintage spec, so they aren't nearly as hot as the ceramics I replaced and squeal a lot less. A pickup's total output has more to do with microphonics than anything when dealing with unpotted pickups. Magnet strength seems to have as much to do with total output as much as number of winds. In the end it's the sum of the whole, not individual parts. I think we're saying the same thing, but the way I communicated it may have not been as clear as it was in my head hahaha.
Yep, we are prety much saying the same thing. Remember that some compositions of Alnico are much stronger than others. On a broader note, we are victim of the “no potting is vintage correct” trend. I can’t be the only one with an R9 that had pickups pitted so that I could use a bit of gain.
Microphonic pups are where the actual pickup acts like a microphone rather than a magnetic pickup. This occurs with any magnet type. The main culprit is poor (wax) potting of the coil which allows it to vibrate causing uncontrolled squealing feedback. Immersing the coil into wax holds the coil tight and prevents the vibration. I had a set of vintage Ibanez super80s (HB) which get potted with epoxy resin so they should never go microphonic but as they had with some early versions (so I'm told) they didn't leave.the coils in long enough for the epoxy to seep properly in, worrying about burning components later versions of the epoxy potted pups they worried less and I have since replaced them with a reissue. Those are vintage paf a like pups with a ceramic magnet used in 70s Japanese made ibanezs. I really like the sound they have in 2 if my vintage Ibanez guitars. Not all ceramic pups are bad - just the bad ones ;). They're often cheaper to source but you can get good ceramic mags for pups and notice the shitty sounding ceramic humbuckers Ive had have all been overwound with 15kOhm DCR and the nicer one have been around 7-8kOhm DCR 42 gauge I think. (Humbuckers of course, don't know the specifics of single coils) I digress. Now they use wax potting and it just seems your pups weren't wax potted properly. Some Seymour Duncan humbuckers are intentionally not potted to have more clarity (Seth lover maybe) but they will sqeal like a pig on heat if loaded with gain. But I've never loaded a pig in heat with gain so what do I know.
Ceramic pickups are generally hotter as the ceramic magnets produce a stronger magnetic field. This is probably why they feed back easier. It's possible that wax potting it could help, but I just put better pickups in my 3 Jet guitars. I'm curious to try some of their Gibson copies, but they're a little more expensive than the Teles and Strats. You should try one of their HSS strats if you get a chance. I like mine better than the two Jet Teles I have. I've found the maple fingerboards are a little more reponsive on those than the rosewood also.
Just by listening I believe that I detect a 'peakiness' in the upper mid response of ceramics compared to metal magnets. One of my Strat clones has ceramics. They're not too bad actually and I have not yey swapped them out, though I probably will eventually. I'm not anti-ceramics per se, but they HAVE TO sound good if they are to stay. I have an LP clone with ceramic P90s and it sounds sweet; probably from the extra windings.
The butterscotch black guard JT350 has very good alnicos and string through, worth the bump up in price. Bootstrap pickups hands down has the best deals on the best affordable handwound Tele sets in the US, lots of voicing options.
I found the neck pickup to be so dark it was almost unusable on mine, and the intonation was particularly bad so new electronics and intonated saddles were a must for me but I bought it with intention of modding so I wasn't disappointed. On mine the nut slots were cut a touch high but set up from the factory was pretty good. Would love to see a video on the eart headless if you can get your hands on one
Had the same problems with a Squier Classic Vibe 50s Tele bought from Fender . Nut was a joke and the neck pickup like mud . Contacted them and got nut fixed locally at their expense but they wouldn’t help with the pickup “ What do you expect from a £300 Squier ? Pickup isn’t faulty ! “
As many folks here are saying, microphonic pickups are common with imported guitars that otherwise might have great build quality. Easy enough to swap them out for some cheap high-quality alnico ones though.
Had the same bridge pickup problem on my JET JS400 GOLD. The reason why the pickup is microphonic is not related to magnet type, the problem is the wax potted process, on cheap guitars is not well done, fortunately it's really cheap to fix this issue.
Yes. I experienced microphonics on a jet 350 I bought earlier this year, but only at around 110dB. I returned it and bought a much more expensive, juicy and lighter Ultra Luxe tele instead. Best thing I've done recently.
Same here! But instead of returning the guitar, I replaced all the electronics (affordable but great pickups by Tonerider), and now microphonic pickups aren't an issue, and the guitar itself feels great, with great neck, frets, nut, intonation, tuning stability... It's a keeper!
I have a same JET JT 300 pink telecaster. Mine is 3.25kg only. But I tried 3 JET JS 400 stratocasters yesterday, and none of them weighed the same. I think in this price range there is normal. I changed the bridge pu to fender usa and compensated saddles and it I got a very good instrument with low price.
I put some alnico v's in from Vanson - the bridge pickup was reading really hot (like 14ohms!). Changed the electronics and bridge while I was at it. Cost about £120 on top of the £160 guitar but well worth it still.
I imagine that most of the Jet guitars would be for beginners and might never be gigged. On the other hand, I like to watch my Fender snob friends when I bring a cheap guitar to a gig and it sounds far better than they expect.
Jet guitars have some quality issues,i have 3 jet guitars and now the js700 mbk one..but for me with this guitar if i bend the Gstring on the 4 or second fret it slips out of the bone nut(i ordered a string retainer,hope it helps).. i also have the JET Guitars JS-700 RD H the red with the single humbucker here is the glossy paint letting loose on the freboard after 3 weeks..They can be nice guitars..
Hi John, have you seen the brand new harley benton st modern plus guitars? I received mine today and no joke the neck is on par with ibanez az prestige guitars. Its incredible I'd love to watch you review it. I'm sure HB would collaborate if you reach out! Edit: after just 4 days Position 5 has no Output anymore it seems the electronics are damaged. I will have to send it back. Super diappointed about it.
My experience with HB ...it's hit or miss. Sharp frets, they can be rather heavy, pickups are never that great....I bought the Keith Richards Tribute TE53-KR ("micawber") and the frets were horrible, pickups were just "ok" (Tesla) and the thing weighed 10lbs !!!! I also bought the ST62 Vintage White Strat copy...better weight (just under 7lbs) but still frets were sharp...better pickups (Roswell alnico 5) . About the only thing I like about the two HB guitars I bought was the 12" radius caramelized maple necks....and it stays in tune fairly well. Truly you get what you pay for, IF you're lucky. Sooo glad I sold the Keith Richards Tribute...at a loss but I never played it so. I'm so turned off with guitars over 7lbs...that's just a personal preference.
@@snowbloodx What comes to mind re: affordable well made guitars is "Sire"...who offer rolled fret board edges, a rosewood fretboard and a bone nut at even at their least expensive models such as S3 or T3 for $399 USD...however for $640 their T7 or S7 models you get not only rolled fret board edges but also a roasted maple neck, locking tuners, and a bone nut... So yes you can get lots of good features for not a lot of money these days.... Also what comes to mind is Ibanez, Music Man Sterling, Yamaha, and now PRS...all over really decent guitars for $500 or less. Recently got the new PRS SE CE 24 standard satin...push pull/split coil, mahogany body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, 10" radius and super resonant. Sounds and plays great for $499 !
@@worthmoremusic Position 5 has no Output anymore after just 4 days. I'm sending it back to Thomann and never buy HB again..Super disappointed about it! The neck is a dream and now this!
@@snowbloodx I hear you. HB/Thomann's affordable pricing is temping...and in general the finishes, and necks are great but for me, and many, that's not enough to make the purchase. I will say in their favor that my experience with Thomann regarding their customer service and email correspondence was good...very attentive. Rather than send a 10lb T shape guitar back to Germany from the U.S. I took it to a music shop for a full set up, and file a neck full of sharp frets and they did reimburse me 3/4 of what I laid out. My 2nd HB purchase was via their U.S. "Reverb" distribution..which offers free shipping but inventory is limited. All n all, I too am done with HB. I would rather spend a bit more and deal with a U.S. retailer such as Sweetwater who at least list the weights which as I get older has become an important factor.
The PU's are probably not potted. Or in plain English having the coils dipped in wax to prevent the wire from moving and causing the squeals. The magnets are not part of the problem. There are many Korean made PU's that clone even using American wire that can be easily $50 a pair or cheaper. As Larry DiMarzio says. Great PU's are nothing but science. Use a good design and the right parts and they consistently all sound great. The parts are neither exotic or expensive. I figure about tops $20.00 USD a PU covers 99% of what is on offer. On the other end of the scale one can the super cheapie PU's for $7 each retail.
I'm always surprised people don't recognize material needs labor to make them work. Cheap guitars are made cheap by using low wages and omitting certain tasks that take time, or saving on time spend on certain tasks (like QC). Partly you have to spend that time yourself after your purchase.
Thank you for the review Jonathan. I’ve heard nothing but great things about Jet guitars. In you opinion, if I upgraded the parts on this guitar, would it be just as good as a 1 or $2000 guitar?
Why have "essential upgrades" for a cheap guitar? You may as well just buy a decent guitar from a place that opens the boxes, checks the guitar, does a setup before it ships - and then you don't have to fuck about trying to fix a crap one and then later discover that it's more crap than you thought in the middle of a gig. Sure, if you want a project, buy a guitar in pieces, build it, mess around with the pickups, spend more time taking it apart and putting it back together trying to fix problems, buy some tools, sit watching youtube videos. But if your primary objective for buying a guitar is to sit and play it buy one that works when it arrives at the door - however much more that costs initially is worth it compared with the fucking around trying to save a couple of hundred quid (and you probably won't save any money with the cheap guitar because you'll either spend a load of time and money trying to fix it or buying another guitar) Lastly saying "About the weight of a good les paul" is like saying "About the weight of 2 unicorns" - they're both mythical.
Definitely worth bearing in mind - I doubt you'd know about microphonic pickups on any guitar until the gig though right? Unlikely to be playing at volumes that will expose it - and presumably that's not a thing that even a box-checking store is going to pick up?
@@doctoribanez Unlikely because the retail parts for guitars cost a lot more than the guitar with those parts. Which is ironic when you see youtubers and commentors waffling about how a guitar has £100 pickups on it as though that's what the guitar manufacturer paid for them. It's like trying to build a car from parts vs buying the car. If you do that, a small family car would cost more than a Ferrari. If you're substantially changing the spec you're throwing money away. Secondly, and I'll accept anyone buying HB this is unlikely to apply, most intelligent people can earn more than a guitar tech, so it makes little sense them spending hours buying and fixing a broken guitar when they could buy a better, working guitar and earn more doing their day job. Either way you're not getting a bargain. Finding a way of saving £2 that takes hours doesn't make sense if you can earn £200 an hour. Most of the time you're better using whatever nous and time you have to earn money rather than trying to save it, especially with false bargains - it's fairly evident that, unless Thomann sell guitars at a loss you're not saving money buying from them. What you end up with cost less than you paid for it. HB doesn't change that because it's a cheaper brand.
The neck on my Jet tele is so nice, it’s practically worth the price of the guitar. I swapped in some pickups and locking tuners and upgraded the wiring and it’s a very nice sounding and playing guitar. For me with teles, the key thing is whether I bond with the neck. As always, the best guitars are the ones that make you want to pick them up and play them
If the body and neck are good, which it seems they are, and it cost anything less than about a ton and a half to buy new, it's a good buy. It's easy enough to throw some better pickups and hardware on something like this and end up with a very good guitar for about three hundred quid all-in. Thanks to a global market and CNC cutting, the days where people have a genuine reason get snobby about having a Fender or Gibson logo on the end of their guitar are rapidly fading in the rear view mirror. Any half-decent budget guitar like this will be cut and shaped just as well as any Fender or Gibson ever was or could be, so with the benefit of some decent setting up, as far as the bones of the guitar are concerned, there will be pretty much no difference, except to your bank balance. Then it's upgrading the pick ups and the hardware which will seal the deal although if I thought the pickups sounded acceptable, I'd be inclined to try waxing them to see if that solved the microphonic tendencies. If waxing the pots doesn't do the trick, I'd recommend either Vanson or Warman pickups for anyone looking to add some decent sound to something like this without breaking the bank. If you then throw some Gotoh or Kluson tuners on it, you're pretty much there. The electrics and the bridge could possibly benefit from an upgrade too, but the electrics will probably last at least a little while before you need to concern yourself with tarting those up, unless you are gigging it, where reliability is something you want to be sure of and so would be a wise move. Same with the bridge; whilst the bridge it comes with might not be super-duper quality, it too will get you by, but a better quality one would doubtless improve matters. We are very lucky these days; when I started playing guitar, cheap copy guitars were still more costly than this Jet, and whilst they could be upgraded with parts to make them a bit better, they were never going to be as good as the more expensive guitars of which they were copies. The one advantage they did offer, was to make most guitar players familiar with tweaking, improving and fixing stuff.
Jet guitars are way better, hands down. I've tested the Squier Sonics. They all feel rather cheap by comparison. I was really disappointed by the Sonics. They have some cool colors but that's really it. They feel like toys. The Jet guitars on the other hand feel like good mid-range instruments even though they are basically in the same price range as the Sonics.
@@amaansovannayak The Affinity Squiers are fine. I'd still prefer the Jet guitars, though. The features are overall just better while also sharing typical Fender specs like the modern C shape neck and the 9,5 inch radius fretboard. The Squier Classic Vibe guitars are actually really good. But they are also a bit more expensive.
By the 19th century, pink ribbons or decorations were worn by young boys in England, as boys were considered small men at the time. Queen Victoria’s portrayal with her son Prince Arthur wearing white and pink further solidified pink’s association with masculinity. Funny how time changes things.
When you use amps and analog pedals, your tones are SO much better than your digital modelers. Digital convenience is one thing, truly beautiful tones are a very different thing. Just saying . . .
I don’t see how fixed bridges don’t stay in tune if you stretch the strings….a floating non locking tremolo is a different beast with different physics.
I guess any guitar with points of friction can have tuning instability - a poorly cut nut for instance (very common in cheap guitars) would be a culprit?
Purchase rules, if your a starter not knowing if you keep up with playing ..buy, if serious player but not gigging buy mid price, if serious musician making your living with guitar buy mid+ price…now the caveat…no money by cheap and enjoy….lots of money go F off.
I have fender custom shop pickups in my tele and the bridge pickup was microphonic to the point where I could hear the drummer through it! I ended up getting it wax potted, which cost me £15 at a local pickup builder and now its fine. If this happens to you, save yourself the hassle and just get it potted...
Some folks do prefer unpotted since that is the vintage spec.
@jamesmarkham7489 that's true, I mean this in the case of unwanted noise! I tried to accept it for a while, but artists I played with did not appreciate it, haha!
You could try "Wax Potting" the Pickups, which would cost almost nothing, and make for a very interesting follow-up video.
Wax Potting seems to be a very common fix for microphonic Pickups.
What’s funny is that the Bursts were known for having microphonic pickups because of the lack of potting. And according to connoisseurs that’s a feature not a bug because of the openness of the sound. So not sure if it’s really a problem unless there is a lot of feedback.
I think there's a difference between intentionally unpotted pickups for authenticity vs very budget eastern pickups. According to Monty's pickups, if a pickup is constructed well, they don't need potting to avoid microphonics -if it's constructed well without loose parts etc
Wow, incredible speed lick in the live opening scene!!
yeah, chops!!!
Happily, my JS-400 has no pickup issues. Used in practice and live. You mentioned Eart. I bought the basic SSS strat style out of curiousity. My example is really well made. I don't use single coils often for gigging so I did put some Dimarzio rail pickups in it. That did double the price of the guitar but I use it live as well. Just bought a Soloking from Andertons for $300 that I'm taking to practice this weekend. That's where issues pop up if there are any because I don't get that kind of volume at home. It's got SS frets and plays well. Had a little fret sprout but I'm in the states so it may not have left England that way. Easy fix though. Otherwise it's built well and plays good. Pickups are pretty dark sounding though. May not be for everyone.
So of the 3 which would you say comes out on top Mike?
@@johnnathancordy They're honestly very different guitars subjectively. The Eart needed new pickups. The Jet is probably the most traditional. The Soloking is best for me out of the box. Dual humbuckers and SS frets. I deck/block the trem on everything so I can't give an opinion there. The Jet has a pretty normal C shape neck. The Eart is compond on the back as well as the fretboard. It's rounded C toward the headstock but thins to a D toward the body. The Soloking is a D shape but thicker than you'd think on a shredder style guitar. I do need to address the side dots on the Soloking. Black on roasted maple is almost invisible. I ordered glow paint to fix that. The Eart didn't need any fret work. The SC didn't sound as good as my Fender or Musicman Cutlass. But the guitar was $215. I've only had the Soloking a week and a half so I'm still in the evaluation stage.
@@johnnathancordy Did a quick video with the guitars. Pressed for time so it was down and dirty with my phone and little editing. th-cam.com/video/GRHc4KWudyA/w-d-xo.html
Oh, just seen this a minute after commenting on your other video about this one. Great video, and I stand by my words: they sell these guitars for 200 euros because they are worth 200 euros - if not less. These pickups are probably those sold for 5-10 euros each. Cheers, man. Keep up with the great and straight-forward content.
The only guitar I’ve ever had this happen on was another budget guitar. A Harley Benton. They sent me out a new bridge pickup and I swapped it myself. It’s been fine ever since (about three years now).
It WAS the T3.. Replaced the pickup height springs with rubber tubing, and it mitigates it for the most part in the one I have. :)
I had an Ibanez Roadstar II in the 80's had that problem with all 3 pickups. Any time distortion was added all you got was screeching feedback, It was particularly sad because clean these were some of the best sounding single coils I've come across.
If you pay five bob for a guitar, what do you expect.
Re Tele's and microphonic pickups.
If you're unlucky you can get that from expensive Teles too.
Fixes.
1) Replace the bridge pickup springs with rubber/silicone tubing.
Fishtank pump tubing works well for this.
If that doesn't fix it
2) Wax dip the pickup.
3) Buy some decent 'affordable' pickups.
My first goto would be IronGear pickups.
Ceramic magnets having nothing to do with microphonics, except they are more likely be used in cheap pickups. Something has to be vibrating. Usually the coils and sometimes a Tele bridge base plate.
Ceramic magnets are hotter than alnico. If the pickup isn't wax potted, the hotter magnets will be microphonic.
True, but it is not the magnets themselves that become microphonic. Wax potting is an easy an inexpensive cure.
@@davidyelland908 I'm aware that it's not the magnets, it's the shielding/potting, but the same pickup when unpotted will squeal alot less with weaker magnets than stronger. That was what I was trying to say. My Curtis Novak Tele pickups are unpotted, but they're also vintage spec, so they aren't nearly as hot as the ceramics I replaced and squeal a lot less. A pickup's total output has more to do with microphonics than anything when dealing with unpotted pickups. Magnet strength seems to have as much to do with total output as much as number of winds. In the end it's the sum of the whole, not individual parts. I think we're saying the same thing, but the way I communicated it may have not been as clear as it was in my head hahaha.
Yep, we are prety much saying the same thing. Remember that some compositions of Alnico are much stronger than others.
On a broader note, we are victim of the “no potting is vintage correct” trend. I can’t be the only one with an R9 that had pickups pitted so that I could use a bit of gain.
Microphonic pups are where the actual pickup acts like a microphone rather than a magnetic pickup. This occurs with any magnet type.
The main culprit is poor (wax) potting of the coil which allows it to vibrate causing uncontrolled squealing feedback. Immersing the coil into wax holds the coil tight and prevents the vibration.
I had a set of vintage Ibanez super80s (HB) which get potted with epoxy resin so they should never go microphonic but as they had with some early versions (so I'm told) they didn't leave.the coils in long enough for the epoxy to seep properly in, worrying about burning components later versions of the epoxy potted pups they worried less and I have since replaced them with a reissue. Those are vintage paf a like pups with a ceramic magnet used in 70s Japanese made ibanezs. I really like the sound they have in 2 if my vintage Ibanez guitars. Not all ceramic pups are bad - just the bad ones ;). They're often cheaper to source but you can get good ceramic mags for pups and notice the shitty sounding ceramic humbuckers Ive had have all been overwound with 15kOhm DCR and the nicer one have been around 7-8kOhm DCR 42 gauge I think. (Humbuckers of course, don't know the specifics of single coils)
I digress. Now they use wax potting and it just seems your pups weren't wax potted properly. Some Seymour Duncan humbuckers are intentionally not potted to have more clarity (Seth lover maybe) but they will sqeal like a pig on heat if loaded with gain. But I've never loaded a pig in heat with gain so what do I know.
Ceramic pickups are generally hotter as the ceramic magnets produce a stronger magnetic field. This is probably why they feed back easier. It's possible that wax potting it could help, but I just put better pickups in my 3 Jet guitars. I'm curious to try some of their Gibson copies, but they're a little more expensive than the Teles and Strats. You should try one of their HSS strats if you get a chance. I like mine better than the two Jet Teles I have. I've found the maple fingerboards are a little more reponsive on those than the rosewood also.
Just by listening I believe that I detect a 'peakiness' in the upper mid response of ceramics compared to metal magnets.
One of my Strat clones has ceramics.
They're not too bad actually and I have not yey swapped them out, though I probably will eventually.
I'm not anti-ceramics per se, but they HAVE TO sound good if they are to stay.
I have an LP clone with ceramic P90s and it sounds sweet; probably from the extra windings.
The butterscotch black guard JT350 has very good alnicos and string through, worth the bump up in price.
Bootstrap pickups hands down has the best deals on the best affordable handwound Tele sets in the US, lots of voicing options.
I found the neck pickup to be so dark it was almost unusable on mine, and the intonation was particularly bad so new electronics and intonated saddles were a must for me but I bought it with intention of modding so I wasn't disappointed. On mine the nut slots were cut a touch high but set up from the factory was pretty good. Would love to see a video on the eart headless if you can get your hands on one
Had the same problems with a Squier Classic Vibe 50s Tele bought from Fender . Nut was a joke and the neck pickup like mud . Contacted them and got nut fixed locally at their expense but they wouldn’t help with the pickup “ What do you expect from a £300 Squier ? Pickup isn’t faulty ! “
As many folks here are saying, microphonic pickups are common with imported guitars that otherwise might have great build quality. Easy enough to swap them out for some cheap high-quality alnico ones though.
Had the same bridge pickup problem on my JET JS400 GOLD.
The reason why the pickup is microphonic is not related to magnet type, the problem is the wax potted process, on cheap guitars is not well done, fortunately it's really cheap to fix this issue.
Yes. I experienced microphonics on a jet 350 I bought earlier this year, but only at around 110dB. I returned it and bought a much more expensive, juicy and lighter Ultra Luxe tele instead. Best thing I've done recently.
Same here! But instead of returning the guitar, I replaced all the electronics (affordable but great pickups by Tonerider), and now microphonic pickups aren't an issue, and the guitar itself feels great, with great neck, frets, nut, intonation, tuning stability... It's a keeper!
I have a same JET JT 300 pink telecaster. Mine is 3.25kg only. But I tried 3 JET JS 400 stratocasters yesterday, and none of them weighed the same. I think in this price range there is normal. I changed the bridge pu to fender usa and compensated saddles and it I got a very good instrument with low price.
I put some alnico v's in from Vanson - the bridge pickup was reading really hot (like 14ohms!). Changed the electronics and bridge while I was at it. Cost about £120 on top of the £160 guitar but well worth it still.
I imagine that most of the Jet guitars would be for beginners and might never be gigged. On the other hand, I like to watch my Fender snob friends when I bring a cheap guitar to a gig and it sounds far better than they expect.
Jet guitars have some quality issues,i have 3 jet guitars and now the js700 mbk one..but for me with this guitar if i bend the Gstring on the 4 or second fret it slips out of the bone nut(i ordered a string retainer,hope it helps).. i also have the JET Guitars JS-700 RD H the red with the single humbucker here is the glossy paint letting loose on the freboard after 3 weeks..They can be nice guitars..
Hi John, have you seen the brand new harley benton st modern plus guitars? I received mine today and no joke the neck is on par with ibanez az prestige guitars. Its incredible I'd love to watch you review it. I'm sure HB would collaborate if you reach out!
Edit: after just 4 days Position 5 has no Output anymore it seems the electronics are damaged. I will have to send it back. Super diappointed about it.
It is in the works (hopefully)
My experience with HB ...it's hit or miss. Sharp frets, they can be rather heavy, pickups are never that great....I bought the Keith Richards Tribute TE53-KR ("micawber") and the frets were horrible, pickups were just "ok" (Tesla) and the thing weighed 10lbs !!!! I also bought the ST62 Vintage White Strat copy...better weight (just under 7lbs) but still frets were sharp...better pickups (Roswell alnico 5) . About the only thing I like about the two HB guitars I bought was the 12" radius caramelized maple necks....and it stays in tune fairly well. Truly you get what you pay for, IF you're lucky. Sooo glad I sold the Keith Richards Tribute...at a loss but I never played it so. I'm so turned off with guitars over 7lbs...that's just a personal preference.
@@snowbloodx What comes to mind re: affordable well made guitars is "Sire"...who offer rolled fret board edges, a rosewood fretboard and a bone nut at even at their least expensive models such as S3 or T3 for $399 USD...however for $640 their T7 or S7 models you get not only rolled fret board edges but also a roasted maple neck, locking tuners, and a bone nut... So yes you can get lots of good features for not a lot of money these days.... Also what comes to mind is Ibanez, Music Man Sterling, Yamaha, and now PRS...all over really decent guitars for $500 or less. Recently got the new PRS SE CE 24 standard satin...push pull/split coil, mahogany body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, 10" radius and super resonant. Sounds and plays great for $499 !
@@worthmoremusic Position 5 has no Output anymore after just 4 days. I'm sending it back to Thomann and never buy HB again..Super disappointed about it! The neck is a dream and now this!
@@snowbloodx I hear you. HB/Thomann's affordable pricing is temping...and in general the finishes, and necks are great but for me, and many, that's not enough to make the purchase. I will say in their favor that my experience with Thomann regarding their customer service and email correspondence was good...very attentive. Rather than send a 10lb T shape guitar back to Germany from the U.S. I took it to a music shop for a full set up, and file a neck full of sharp frets and they did reimburse me 3/4 of what I laid out. My 2nd HB purchase was via their U.S. "Reverb" distribution..which offers free shipping but inventory is limited. All n all, I too am done with HB. I would rather spend a bit more and deal with a U.S. retailer such as Sweetwater who at least list the weights which as I get older has become an important factor.
So basically like all the pickups in well made budget Chinese's guitars.
Would be interested to hear if others have had similar experience with the lowest end ceramic magnets!
So it's about feedback, the term we often hear when talking about semi-acousitc guitars?
The PU's are probably not potted. Or in plain English having the coils dipped in wax to prevent the wire from moving and causing the squeals. The magnets are not part of the problem. There are many Korean made PU's that clone even using American wire that can be easily $50 a pair or cheaper. As Larry DiMarzio says. Great PU's are nothing but science. Use a good design and the right parts and they consistently all sound great. The parts are neither exotic or expensive. I figure about tops $20.00 USD a PU covers 99% of what is on offer. On the other end of the scale one can the super cheapie PU's for $7 each retail.
I'm always surprised people don't recognize material needs labor to make them work. Cheap guitars are made cheap by using low wages and omitting certain tasks that take time, or saving on time spend on certain tasks (like QC). Partly you have to spend that time yourself after your purchase.
Thank you for the review Jonathan. I’ve heard nothing but great things about Jet guitars. In you opinion, if I upgraded the parts on this guitar, would it be just as good as a 1 or $2000 guitar?
I made the same mistake when I first found his channel, but it is John (Nathan is middle name) 🙂
3:19 pulled out a what?
I believe he said, "Twat-o-caster"!
OT: which radio transmitter did you use in that live?
Oh it's a NUX B2 I think?
Thank you! Any issue on stage with that?
Why have "essential upgrades" for a cheap guitar? You may as well just buy a decent guitar from a place that opens the boxes, checks the guitar, does a setup before it ships - and then you don't have to fuck about trying to fix a crap one and then later discover that it's more crap than you thought in the middle of a gig. Sure, if you want a project, buy a guitar in pieces, build it, mess around with the pickups, spend more time taking it apart and putting it back together trying to fix problems, buy some tools, sit watching youtube videos. But if your primary objective for buying a guitar is to sit and play it buy one that works when it arrives at the door - however much more that costs initially is worth it compared with the fucking around trying to save a couple of hundred quid (and you probably won't save any money with the cheap guitar because you'll either spend a load of time and money trying to fix it or buying another guitar)
Lastly saying "About the weight of a good les paul" is like saying "About the weight of 2 unicorns" - they're both mythical.
Definitely worth bearing in mind - I doubt you'd know about microphonic pickups on any guitar until the gig though right? Unlikely to be playing at volumes that will expose it - and presumably that's not a thing that even a box-checking store is going to pick up?
By JNC’s definition none of the guitars in the Beauty of the Burst are “good”.
I love working on my guitars and installing my favorite stuff. You end up with great playing guitars at a way better price
@@doctoribanez Unlikely because the retail parts for guitars cost a lot more than the guitar with those parts. Which is ironic when you see youtubers and commentors waffling about how a guitar has £100 pickups on it as though that's what the guitar manufacturer paid for them.
It's like trying to build a car from parts vs buying the car. If you do that, a small family car would cost more than a Ferrari.
If you're substantially changing the spec you're throwing money away.
Secondly, and I'll accept anyone buying HB this is unlikely to apply, most intelligent people can earn more than a guitar tech, so it makes little sense them spending hours buying and fixing a broken guitar when they could buy a better, working guitar and earn more doing their day job.
Either way you're not getting a bargain. Finding a way of saving £2 that takes hours doesn't make sense if you can earn £200 an hour. Most of the time you're better using whatever nous and time you have to earn money rather than trying to save it, especially with false bargains - it's fairly evident that, unless Thomann sell guitars at a loss you're not saving money buying from them. What you end up with cost less than you paid for it. HB doesn't change that because it's a cheaper brand.
The neck on my Jet tele is so nice, it’s practically worth the price of the guitar. I swapped in some pickups and locking tuners and upgraded the wiring and it’s a very nice sounding and playing guitar. For me with teles, the key thing is whether I bond with the neck.
As always, the best guitars are the ones that make you want to pick them up and play them
I’ve had ceramic single coils that did this same noise
If the body and neck are good, which it seems they are, and it cost anything less than about a ton and a half to buy new, it's a good buy. It's easy enough to throw some better pickups and hardware on something like this and end up with a very good guitar for about three hundred quid all-in. Thanks to a global market and CNC cutting, the days where people have a genuine reason get snobby about having a Fender or Gibson logo on the end of their guitar are rapidly fading in the rear view mirror.
Any half-decent budget guitar like this will be cut and shaped just as well as any Fender or Gibson ever was or could be, so with the benefit of some decent setting up, as far as the bones of the guitar are concerned, there will be pretty much no difference, except to your bank balance. Then it's upgrading the pick ups and the hardware which will seal the deal although if I thought the pickups sounded acceptable, I'd be inclined to try waxing them to see if that solved the microphonic tendencies.
If waxing the pots doesn't do the trick, I'd recommend either Vanson or Warman pickups for anyone looking to add some decent sound to something like this without breaking the bank. If you then throw some Gotoh or Kluson tuners on it, you're pretty much there. The electrics and the bridge could possibly benefit from an upgrade too, but the electrics will probably last at least a little while before you need to concern yourself with tarting those up, unless you are gigging it, where reliability is something you want to be sure of and so would be a wise move. Same with the bridge; whilst the bridge it comes with might not be super-duper quality, it too will get you by, but a better quality one would doubtless improve matters.
We are very lucky these days; when I started playing guitar, cheap copy guitars were still more costly than this Jet, and whilst they could be upgraded with parts to make them a bit better, they were never going to be as good as the more expensive guitars of which they were copies. The one advantage they did offer, was to make most guitar players familiar with tweaking, improving and fixing stuff.
If you were to compare it with a fender telecaster from the sonic series, what's your take on that?
Jet guitars are way better, hands down. I've tested the Squier Sonics. They all feel rather cheap by comparison. I was really disappointed by the Sonics. They have some cool colors but that's really it. They feel like toys. The Jet guitars on the other hand feel like good mid-range instruments even though they are basically in the same price range as the Sonics.
@@CosmoThecat-n8b and how does the affinity series compare?
@@amaansovannayak The Affinity Squiers are fine. I'd still prefer the Jet guitars, though. The features are overall just better while also sharing typical Fender specs like the modern C shape neck and the 9,5 inch radius fretboard. The Squier Classic Vibe guitars are actually really good. But they are also a bit more expensive.
As my dad always used to say..."you get what you pay for...IF you're lucky".
What are you doing to me?? Now you have me shopping for Eart guitars when I don't need another guitar 😂
Get a telecaster with a Paulownia body and youll have a 4-5 pound weight guitar. Its what i did for my very own twatacaster
Good shout!
By the 19th century, pink ribbons or decorations were worn by young boys in England, as boys were considered small men at the time. Queen Victoria’s portrayal with her son Prince Arthur wearing white and pink further solidified pink’s association with masculinity. Funny how time changes things.
Wax potting helps
heck for a guitar that costs about as much as a set of pickups, I'll take it
When you use amps and analog pedals, your tones are SO much better than your digital modelers. Digital convenience is one thing, truly beautiful tones are a very different thing. Just saying . . .
I don’t see how fixed bridges don’t stay in tune if you stretch the strings….a floating non locking tremolo is a different beast with different physics.
I guess any guitar with points of friction can have tuning instability - a poorly cut nut for instance (very common in cheap guitars) would be a culprit?
Purchase rules, if your a starter not knowing if you keep up with playing ..buy, if serious player but not gigging buy mid price, if serious musician making your living with guitar buy mid+ price…now the caveat…no money by cheap and enjoy….lots of money go F off.
You get what you pay for.