29 posts
On the way home from Gatlinburg, we stopped at Willcutt in Lexington KY. What a place! Over 500 PRS guitars in stock. I looked at a few, but didn't go to buy a PRS. Here is what I got. Holy crap what an incredible guitar!!!! Ball Family Reserve JP12
http://www.music-man.com/instruments/guitars/jp12.html
j/k Howie, that is awesome. And a BFR at that! Would love to grab one of those one day.
LOL! I had to beat you to ONE of these, since you got the mini rec first!
yeah, this thing is drool worthy.
Noice! I've always liked Music Man's. :)
The only way this could be better is if it was a regular series JP. I always have preferred the natural neck of the regular series (the one I grudgingly sold a couple years ago was was a Standard JP6 in Pearl Redburst) over the BFR.
But seriously, nice axe Howie! Stop by the store and I'll hook you up with the Mini-Recto. Let you keep up with Paul. ;-)
nice! 20" radius?! wow, so flat... almost concave! ;)
ironsheep — Apr 10, 2013nice! 20" radius?! wow, so flat... almost concave! ;)
Hmm... Didn't notice that. Ok Howie, it's official, I won't be stealing your guitar. I can't stand that type or radius! My Axis was something like 14" heh...
I read up on these and played the JP, JPX, JP2 and JP6. I was wondering if it might be "too" flat. It's not. This thing is like driving a race car. As soon as I put my hand around the neck I was in love. I think there is more noticeable difference at the other end of the scale. The difference on older strat type guitars between 7.5 to 9.5 or whatever, is HUGE. The difference between the 14, 17 and 20 all feel very small.
Chris, I like the feel of a natural neck satin finish better as well. But for whatever reason, this neck is not "sticky" like some gloss necks can be. And the Mini is next. gotta sell a couple small amps to make it look good for the wife since she's been so liberal with the guitar buying the last couple years. ;)
DreamTheaterRules — Apr 10, 2013I read up on these and played the JP, JPX, JP2 and JP6. I was wondering if it might be "too" flat. It's not. This thing is like driving a race car. As soon as I put my hand around the neck I was in love. I think there is more noticeable difference at the other end of the scale. The difference on older strat type guitars between 7.5 to 9.5 or whatever, is HUGE. The difference between the 14, 17 and 20 all feel very small.
Chris, I like the feel of a natural neck satin finish better as well. But for whatever reason, this neck is not "sticky" like some gloss necks can be. And the Mini is next. gotta sell a couple small amps to make it look good for the wife since she's been so liberal with the guitar buying the last couple years. ;)
Because it's not nitro, it's poly... nitro gets sticky, poly not so much.
DreamTheaterRules — Apr 10, 2013I read up on these and played the JP, JPX, JP2 and JP6. I was wondering if it might be "too" flat. It's not. This thing is like driving a race car. As soon as I put my hand around the neck I was in love. I think there is more noticeable difference at the other end of the scale. The difference on older strat type guitars between 7.5 to 9.5 or whatever, is HUGE. The difference between the 14, 17 and 20 all feel very small.
Chris, I like the feel of a natural neck satin finish better as well. But for whatever reason, this neck is not "sticky" like some gloss necks can be. And the Mini is next. gotta sell a couple small amps to make it look good for the wife since she's been so liberal with the guitar buying the last couple years. ;)
We do have layaway... ;)
LOL, I have the money now! I just need to sell a couple little amps to make it look like I got the money for this one by selling stuff. It's in the gear scratch fund now though... If you know what I mean... ;)
DreamTheaterRules — Apr 11, 2013do you take trades? ;D
LOL, no way I'm getting rid of the Budda! I thought about it, til I turned it on again. It ain't going nowhere, as they say down where Hookbender is from.
I'm going to sell the Class 5, Special 6 and High Octane.
I tried the acoustic output last night, into regular guitar amps. Not specific acoustic channels or whatever, just into my Special 6 and my Tweaker. Really sounds pretty good. Definitely usable. The cool thing is, they have bass, treble and output trim knobs on the back of the guitar so you can balance the output with the pickups and shape the tone as needed. But they are on the outside of the guitar, which is very nice.
The in between setting where it plays through both the pickups and the acoustic output is nice too. Run through a regular amp, and a dedicated acoustic amp (like my Acoustasonic JR) or direct acoustic pedal it would be really cool.
This is just more coolness on an awesome guitar!
This is one of the best instruments I have ever played. You guys need to check out the Ernie Ball Music Man guitars. Killer stuff. The music store that has my Tokais for sale has a JP model without the acoustic output and it's like $1495. KILLER guitar for that price!!!!!
ERNIE BALL BITCHES! ;D (20" Ebony fretboards with stainless steel frets RULE!!!!)
oh, SS frets? hmm, maybe you can shed some light on this for me...
I've been really interested in SS frets for the obvious reason that they don't wear as fast. but... do they still wear? I mean, are the frets harder than the strings? that is, barring dirt acting as an abrasive, would they wear at all? if I kept them scrupulously clean, the grind and polish would be a thing of the past?
I've never really had a sense of just how much they would improve longevity... I guess I'll have to try them someday to really know... but your observations would be appreciated!
I've heard that they don't wear. Then I heard that they do VERY slowly. One article on Stew-Mac said that for most people they would last forever. So, it could be years before I'd even be able to comment and tell you. I know several people who have been using them for a while (Dale is one) and said that after 5 years even, no wear.
I can say that this is an incredible guitar, with a fantastic neck. I can't say enough about how killer this guitar is.
I've found that they don't wear if you don't play 'em too... :(
(My customs all have SS frets.)
I give this guitar huge points for originality. Everywhere I look it's pretty different from anything else. Original-ish shape, massive friggin frets (what are those, ultra-hyper-jumbo?), two three-way switches? 1 out of 4 pickups with a bar polepiece. 15" radius, which is unusual too, between 14 and 16. Trem I've never seen... etc. I like originality. But you gotta tell me, what is up with those knobs? They look like giant Fender amp jewels... Are they knurled? Metal? Plastic? I'm not sure what knobs a guitar like that should have, but those throw me a little.
thanks for the SS info!
might try them next refret... hopefully a LONG time from now. :)
Charger, the knobs have a little rubberish strip that allows you to get a good grip with minimal effort. I remember (on mine) that they are plastic. They are actually quite comfortable.
The trem they put on these work REALLY well. You can wank on it all you want and it does a very good job of staying in tune. You'd swear it's a Floyd.
I am not sure if metal or plastic knobs. I thought I read they were metal but they could be plastic. I'll have to look closer.
Re: the rest, Medium Jumbo frets. The two switches are- One is the traditional 3 way pickup selector. The other is a 3 way that selects magnetic pickups, piezo pickups, or both on a 3 way toggle. (Note dual output jacks which allow piezo to be routed to a designated "acoustic" channel/pedal/amp) There is also a pull coil tap on the tone control, and three knobs are Volume for magnectics, tone for magnetics/coil tap, and volume for piezo. On the back of the guitar there are small trim pots for volume, bass and treble for the piezo so you can fine tune that to whatever you are plugging that output into. The second jack works as a stereo output which allows you to either use a traditional guitar chord and switch between piezo, magnetic or both pickups, OR you can use a TRS cable and then split them and run the piezo and magnetics to dedicated channels that way without using two guitar cables. It also has a compensated nut, ebony fingerboard (on Ball Family Reserve models only)
It's light, has great balance, feels fantastic, and plays like a dream. I have now played about 10 of these and this is my favorite.
There is also something I can't explain.... I wouldn't think it would be a "Breaking In" thing but it really seems even better now than when I got it! As my hand continues to bother me, this thin neck is a dream. As of now, this is the best guitar I have ever had my hands on. Simply incredible instrument. The guy at Willcutt said as much. He was in his 60s and they sell a TON of high end instruments. He said "this may be the best guitar we sell." I told him I had 3 PRS's and he said "I have five of them. But this will be my next guitar. I think PRS and Music Man are the two best instruments made today and this is the best one Music Man makes." This guy was their guitar tech. The guy who does all the guitar setup. Had autographed pictures of him with all kinds of different celebs and thank you notes from them for work on their guitars. (From Ricky Scaggs to Jeff Beck!) He kept stopping and playing it while he went over it before delivery. He kept stopping and pointing out things. "Look at how they do this" or "look at how perfectly this fits" and just gushed over the guitar. Even Amy commented about the way he looked at it and talked about it.
I haven't played everything, but this is the best I've ever played if you are a rocker.