Jet Guitars is a new budget-friendly brand that boasts incredible specs for the money they’re asking. But how good can a sub 300€ instrument actually be?
Disclaimer: This guitar was provided to me by Tampereen Musiikki, and I get to keep it as compensation for my work. However, the store has no say in the things I say in the video/post.
Specifications
- Made in China
- Gold hardware
- Basswood body
- Gloss finish
- Bolt-on neck joint
- Neck joint is rounded up
- Roasted Canadian Maple neck and fingerboard
- Modern C neck profile
- 25.5″ inch scale length (Fender)
- Bone nut
- Fretboard radius 9.5″
- HSS pickup configuration
- Ceramic pickups
- Master volume & master tone
- 5-way pickup switch
- Medium frets (I think)
- Standard non-locking tuners
- Two-point floating tremolo
What Is JET Guitars JS-400 HSS Black Gold?
The JET Guitars JS-400 HSS Black Gold is a budget-friendly ‘strat’ type guitar. For the money, these Chinese-made instruments have incredibly good specifications, and the build quality is also well beyond your typical 300€ S-type on the market.
First Impressions
A good friend of mine has used a JET guitar for a while now, and I had briefly played it many months ago. But the place where I really got to explore these instruments was at Helsinki Tonefest 2024. The guys from Tampereen Musiikki and my friends kept handing me more and more of these guitars, and when I was handed this black one, I stopped.
All the JET guitars I’ve tried have ranged from good to great, but somehow this was the one that made me stop. Firstly, it had very strong Mateus Asato vibes looks-wise. Second, I like black guitars. Third, it had an HSS pickup configuration, which would make it even more versatile. And lastly, it was also decently set up and quite lightweight as well.
I did briefly play it through a modeler available at the trade show, but I couldn’t wait to get to my studio, swap some new strings on it, and start recording.
How Does The Jet JS-400 Sound?
I don’t know the brand of these pickups, nor do I know any specs about them besides them being ceramic. Tone-wise, I would describe them as ‘vintage hot,’ which is right up my alley. So, we’re off to a good start here.
Playing through a Friedman IR-X preamp pedal, I was able to get all of the shades of clean, broken-up, and blues tones with ease. This wasn’t a huge surprise though, as this is something you would probably expect from an HSS strat.
With a lot of HSS guitars, the bridge humbucker can often be described as “neutral” or “bland,” but not with this one. The ‘vintage hot’ characteristics of the pickup lend themselves great for anything from AC/DC style tones all the way to hair metal and beyond.
I like all of my guitar tones with a bit of grit, and this guitar surely delivers. Everything I’ve grown to expect tone-wise from a budget-friendly guitar wasn’t there: no muddy sounding humbuckers, lifeless single coil tones, or even sounds that are fine, but uninspiring. In a blind sound test, you would never be able to tell we’re talking about a sub-300€ instrument here.
What I Like And What Could Be Improved
The folks at Tampereen Musiikki have been pushing these instruments a lot as of late, and for good reason: these guitars are good. And not just good, but they are redefining what you can expect from a sub-300€ guitar. The build quality, the specs, the fretwork, and the overall ‘solidness’ of the guitar is beyond anything I’ve grown to expect from an instrument in this price range.
When swapping the strings, I took an opportunity to look under the pickguard, and I was again surprised: the pickup cavities and the wiring are incredibly neatly done.
Now, obviously, the guitar isn’t flawless. With my guitar, the tremolo had trouble returning to pitch under the studio lights. A couple of dive bombs and tuning up the instrument again seemed to do the trick, but it’s something I will monitor as I keep using the guitar in my studio.
The medium-sized frets feel decent, but I could see them wearing out quickly if you play a lot. I might have to swap the nut at some point as well. But all that feels like it’s worth the trouble, because the guitar itself is so good and inspiring.
If you want to get your own JET guitar and live in the EU, Tampereen Musiikki can ship you the instrument for a flat fee of 30€. You can find an email address on their contact page here:
►►Get Your JET Guitar From Tampereen Musiikki: https://www.tampereenmusiikki.fi/fin/sivu/yhteystiedot
►►Get Your JET Guitar From Reverb (affiliate): https://tidd.ly/3z2B4C4
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