NGD and mini review

[greatmutah]

I've been GASing for an Ernie Ball Music Man guitar. Unfortunately i haven't exactly had the funds to warrant purchasing one, so at a friend's advice I actually went and checked out one of the JP50s from Sterling. I sat at Guitar Center playing this thing for the better part of an hour. I couldn't put it down. In fact, the only time I did put it down was when I asked the sales guy to ring it up. It's one of the new satin black ones that they started doing with the blacked out hardware to boot. This thing looks like sex. I kinda balked when they didn't have the red/purple pearl (another black guitar?) finish but I said {censored} it, this thing looks too nice. Now that I've had some in depth play time with this thing, I can kinda review it as I see no one really has yet.

 

Now bear in mind that I have had an actually Ernie Ball Music Man guitar before. I used to have a red 1995 Silhouette. It was an HSS guitar, pearloid pickguard that was aging and greening, with an all 22 fret maple neck. I traded it to a friend for my Rhoads V, and it has since gone on to other pastures. I liked the guitar but didn't know crap about modding the electronics at the time so I never did anything with it and I always wanted a V anyway, so it was a good trade for me. Anyway, I know how a proper US made Music Man feels in plays so I kept that in mind with this thing.

 

This one came right off the shelf, floor model, fresh out the box actually. When I got it home, I only had to make some minor adjustments to the action and intonation. The setup from the factory was very well done for the most part, and I only had to take care of a couple minor things to get it where I wanted it. The beauty of these guitars and all Music Man/Sterling guitars is the fact that one can easily adjust the truss rod on the fly because the nut for the truss rod is exposed at the heel of the neck. Just pop in an allen wrench, or any small metal rod, make your adjustments, retune and you're good to go. Simple. I always love that feature and I'm glad to have it back. No blemishes in the finish, everything looks fantastic.

 

Playability is amazing. While this isn't a US model, it feels pretty damn close. The neck is super comfortable to play, and the larger frets make bending and shredding a dream. Most 25.5" scale guitars I run .009s on, but this came with .010s and I can't say it bothers me. It actually feels fantastic to play (I know a lot here like heavier strings. I am not one such person), and one the right hand side of things, the bridge doesn't ever get in the way, and the forearm contour cut into the body (like all the US JPs) is a wonder. So comfortable to play all around. I thought this would sate my GAS but now I want a US model to go with this one. It made it worse!

 

Furthermore, I can say the bridge is one of the finest points on the guitar. The locking tuners actually do a damn fine job and even though this is a standard V-trem type guitar, it's routed further underneath to float so you can dive, pull up, and do those awesome flutters Mr. Petrucci likes to do himself. I've had a blast with the trem on this thing. I am having a ball doing every sort of whammy bar trick I've ever wanted to do, and meanwhile, the guitar's tuning stability has held up! I hear the trem on the US ones are even better!

 

So sounds. I wasn't expecting much out of the pickups to be absolutely honest. I was pleasantly surprised. They're fairly hot pups in there. The bridge pickup has some raunch to it and I've actually used the tone control to tame it a bit here and there. The neck pickup is fairly smooth and takes to overdrive very, very well. I really can't gripe with the overall sounds these pickups are capable of. While they may not sound as good as the actual DiMarzios used on the US models, they get the job done very well, and are more than serviceable. If they start to piss me off I'll just buy a Crunch Lab and Liquifire and do the job myself. So far they haven't disappointed. I've been running the guitar through my Rectos and 6505+ and I've just been having a blast with it. Loud, clear, aggressive sounding pickups for an aggressive guitar. Perfect? No, definitely could be improved upon, but a lot of bang for the buck.

 

Overall, while not a US made Music Man, this thing has exceeded my expectations for an import guitar. If you're planning on picking one up, they have my recommendation, but just like anything, make sure you play it for awhile before you make a decision. For $500, you could do a lot worse. A whole lot worse. I'd give it a 9, with price definitely a big factor in the rating. There's guitars that cost twice this much that don't deliver like this one did for me.

[greatmutah]

And now for obligatory pics! Sorry about the quality all I have is my blackberry at the moment.

[Alecto]

Happy New Guitar Day! Thanks for the detailed and well-thought-out review.

[Slave2TheAudio]

Nice! Hope you dig it! HNGD!

(.Y.)

[greatmutah]

I do very much thanks

[Brian Krashpad]

Congrats!

 

(o)(o)

[wedgehed II]

[Woody_in_MN]

HNGD Glad you like it. I have a OLP Axis and an pretty impressed with it. 2 paws and a tail up from Lamb Chop.

[Ralph onion]

Thanks for the great review. HNGD.

[ExiledCrow]

The store where I take my lessons has/had a OLP Axis that played damn well, especially for the price!

[Vinchester]

Thanks for the review! That's a very nice guitar indeed

[humbuckerstrat]

Awesome guitar, congrats.

[greatmutah]

Thanks much guys. I've had some extensive play time with this thing now and all I can say is that it's growing on me even more than it already had. Just truly amazed at how well it plays more than anything. It's been getting some time with my Rectifiers and sounds fantastic.