Jay Turser

[keNz]

^ $120 for that for a blem that nobody will likely see? Great deal!

[Will Chen]

Google says that the JT-50 is their SG copy. Can you verify the model number, cuz I'd really like to get my hands on one of those Tele copies.

 

Jay Turser JTLT Custom-Dlx.

[HOMER308]

Beat me to it! Here's a link you can use:

 

http://www.jayturser.com/jt-lt-series.php

 

 

Jay Turser JTLT Custom-Dlx.

 

[RUExp?]

I had this model which I gave to my nephew after I got my Gibson SG Firebrand.

Plays like a dream.

 

 

[Hard Truth]

I bought their SG clone with P90s new for $200. I like it. I changed the tuning gears because the originals lacked precision. It sounds cooler than my Agile LP clone with P90s.

[twofoolsaminute]

 

Love it.

[A_Gitarman]

Jay Turser JTLT Custom-Dlx.

 

Yeah, that's what I meant...

 

All of my Tursers were under $200, btw.

 

Here's a couple more pics of the JT_LT

 

before adding the GFS lil puncher XL:

 

before any mods:

[slodge]

 

Mine is satin also. I may be parting with it soon to fund some other gear that I want. Someone local is interested.

 

 

If the local deal falls through...

[HanSolo]

Since we're talking Tursers

 

If that wasn't a lefty, I'd buy it. I wanted one of those natural tops and by the time I decided, the supply had dried up. Nice guitar. Those were definitely JT's finest hour for LP copies. I bought the Xaviere natural and didn't like anything but it's pickups. If I saw a righty like yours, I'd hit it.

[tlbonehead]

I'll play along... My Tursers are great little guitars JT-50 Deluxe (with GFS 'lil puncher XL' & Dream-180 & a 5-way super switch):

Nice "Tele"! I just put that same XL in my Xaviere Tele copy. I put a mini switch right between the vol and tone holes. How does the 180 sound split in that guitar?

[tlbonehead]

I have the JT-RES in red. Defanitely different - piezzo pickup on a resonator installed in a solid body plus a mini-humbucker on the bridge. Like it a lot. Tuners, neck, etc. are on par with mid-grade Chinese productions. Great for some country pickin'. This is a stock photo -

I can't tell you how many times I've been outbid on one of those! Can you get any kind of resonator tones with it electrically?

[Chairborne]

Tursers. We rock 'em. Squeally microphonic pups had to go, the rest of the git is pretty nice.

 

 

 

[dcindc]

before any mods:

 

That's the one I had. They're beautiful in person. REALLY pretty.

 

I wanted a JT 200 pro DC LP copy but kept getting outbid. I'd liek to see a pic of one of those. They are NLA now, as far as I know.

[ItchyFingers]

. I would have followed more closely if I had the slightest idea it would go so inexpensive.

 

Actually the 134DC is somewhere between a 335 and an LP, kinda like Gibbo's 339 that just came out recently. Turser was ahead of the curve! Mine's from '02 iirc, decent guitar, the frets are way too big for me though, fretting a chord or even a single note too hard bends it right out of tune.

 

[ten56gibby]

HOLY CRAP I knew I recognized that JT-RES!!!! Muse's video for "Plug In Baby"

 

[YOUTUBE]65Gh0U0wkBs[/YOUTUBE]

[HanSolo]

. I would have followed more closely if I had the slightest idea it would go so inexpensive.

 

I had a JT-134QMT and played it for a while. It was very small for a semi-hollow, just slightly larger than an LP and I sold it after a couple months. It played pretty nice after a pro-setup. Out of the box the action was high and the briodge fuly lowered. My guy did some neck adjustment magic on it and dropped the action low with the bridge still mid-height. I swapped the jazz tailpiece for a trapeze and played it a while. It just looked like a "jazz-box jr." to me and wasn't what I wanted. Honestly, I didn't know it was that small when I bought it off ebay.

 

[tlbonehead]

Looks almost the same size as my Stadium.

[boonestunes]

I've got this one too... dig it.

 

would love to put a better Piezo pickup in there though.....

 

I have the JT-RES in red. Defanitely different - piezzo pickup on a resonator installed in a solid body plus a mini-humbucker on the bridge. Like it a lot. Tuners, neck, etc. are on par with mid-grade Chinese productions. Great for some country pickin'. This is a stock photo -

[boonestunes]

the piezo really sounds like an acoustic guitar on mine. since it's picking up vibrations from the saddle and not the sound of the resonator. I've thought about installing a piezo + mic system in mine to get that resonator sound, but the control cavity is tiny and it would probably require some routing and some kind of preamp on it.....

 

any suggestions?

 

 

I can't tell you how many times I've been outbid on one of those! Can you get any kind of resonator tones with it electrically?

 

[A-20]

 

the piezo really sounds like an acoustic guitar on mine. since it's picking up vibrations from the saddle and not the sound of the resonator. I've thought about installing a piezo + mic system in mine to get that resonator sound, but the control cavity is tiny and it would probably require some routing and some kind of preamp on it..... any suggestions?

 

 

For a better resonator sound I pick the strings very close to the bridge and eq carefully. Am able to get a pretty good reso sound. Played closer to the neck it is a moderately acceptable acoustic type sound. Both useful - no Taylor guitar sounds and the depth of the reso isn't there, but still very useful. Great for pickin' and grinnin'.

Mine plays real nice too.

[Karma1]

A couple years ago I was in the market for an inexpensive backup/beater guitar and I wound up buying a used Turser Les Paul goldtop copy off Craig's List for $80. It was a surprisingly good guitar in stock condition, but I had some parts laying around from other guitars that I swapped in:

 

Duncan Jazz/neck - w/series-parallel switching

Gibson 500T/bridge

new pots

Sperzel locking tuners

 

Now it sounds and plays really great and I've actually gigged with it as my main guitar a number of times. I love how light weight it is, and sometimes find myself reaching for it instead of my Gibson Les Paul (although there is no comparison in overall quality). But all in all, I'm very impressed with Jay Turser guitars - a great value for the money.

[istlota]

I own a couple of Jay Tursers so far --- a JT-300 and a JT-270f. I keep an eye out at pawn shops for good deals on them..

Jay Tursers have a bad rep among tone deaf rockers who think the amount of money they paid for their Fender or Gibson or Martin defines how good a musican they are. Nevertheless, some JTs are made well enough to justify investing enough money into them to turn them into great guitars. I buy them with the goal of investing a few hundred more in locking Sperzels, Kinmans, roller nuts, and perhaps a Wilkinson tremelo to turn them into great guitars. When I am done, they look and play better than guitars selling for twice what I put into them.

Even if you find one that is in perfect condition, if you can't talk the seller into seling it for less than $200, walk away. The good thing about them is that their resale value is so low that you can always find another used one cheap. The bad thing about them is that their resale value is so low that you can forget about selling it for what you paid for it later unless you got it at a cheap used price.

With the exception of at least one model I know of that sold with a Wilkinson tremelo bridge, Jay Tursers go out of tune after you wiggle the whammy. If you buy a model which does not have a tremelo bridge, like my JT-270f, this is a non-issue. But, if you buy a unit that does have a tremelo bridge, and you plan on using it, note that chances are good the whammy bar will be missing when you try it out. So be aware that even if you bought a replacement whammy bar [good luck findiing one that fits] those cheap tremelo bridges suck.

It is rare to find any guitar, used or new, that is already set up well. Even the setups that Guitar Center does on guitars they sell new are typically less than the best. Guitar techs have one level of quality they use for setups on guitars that a  store just sold and a higher level for customers who pay the extra $50 to get the job done right. The first thing I always do after buying a used Jay Turser is pay the $50 to have a good tech set it up the right way with low action.

If the harmonics are off, and the bridge saddles are already tweaked all the way in one direction or the other, walk away.

Check the neck carefully for fret buzzing between the 12trh and 18th frets. This is a common problem with these guitars unless the action has been set high to hide it. A good luthier can dress the frets for about $75 to eliminate all fret buzzing, even with low action, if the neck is straight. But if the neck ain't straight, walk away.

 

[Radar-Love]

 

Depending on the year and model, a Turser can be a pretty solid guitar.  Many of their deluxe "strat" and "tele" models are on par with the deluxe Squier models.  Since 2009, they've used Tusq nuts.  

After first accidentally running across (then buying) a freakishly lightweight black Turser JT-300 back around 2003 or 2004, I began checking out used Tursers, looking for the best examples of what I originally found and eventually came up with a couple more older Turser JT-300s over the years that are freakishly light in weight -- like 5 pounds light -- that have a unique acoustic-guitar-like tone that is cross-pollinated with the Strat tone.  The current JT-300 models are nothing like this.  The three I have are very loud acoustically.  They are essentially like an acoustic guitar with a tremolo.  

Also bought an obscure Turser model called a Branson a while back as new-old-stock.  They only made the Branson for one year (2004).  It's a odd Fender Lead II clone with a carved top, oxblood red finish, and two slanted single coil pickups (like a Fender Lead II) that have "Phantom Coil" noise cancellation.  

Over the years, I've also picked up very nice Tursers on occasion during close-out sales or found used-but-like new Tursers that played absolutely excellent:  A black 55 Precision Bass clone, Hofner Beatle Bass clone, blond Tele Custom, and a paisley Tele.  

In more recent times, I picked up a couple of nice recent-model Tursers in 2010, 2011, and 2012 for dirt cheap at Guitar Center close-out sales:  A Goldtop LP and white SG Custom, both of which are on-par with Epiphones as far as build quality, but cost well under $200 each -- no-brainer there for backup guitars!  

Also picked up a 7/8 scale "strat" model in 2011 that must've been a short-lived model.  It's a very nicely trimmed out dark purple glossy finish Strat with a tremolo and a 24-inch scale.  All the hardware is normal Strat, but the body is very slightly downsized and it has a 24-inch scale neck.  This one is not like the 3/4 scale version which has a 22.5-inch scale.  

Finally, there's a new "mustang" model Jay Turser recently came out with that looks interesting...

http://www.jayturser.com/products/electrics/jt-mg.php

 

 

 

[AJ6stringsting]

They make pretty good guitars, especially the ones I've tried. I'm posting on Quick reply and I'm going to back track to have a laugh at some of the gear snobs sniveling at these nice guitars ..... that's if they expressed their "Cork Sniffing/ gear Snob" attitudes .... LOL