What is it?
Regular readers will know that we seldom feature cheapo copycat electric guitars here. While it’s true that top boutique makers whose instruments we do cover commonly base their own ranges on these same designs, they almost always bring some new aspect to the table.
This can be build quality that larger lower-end manufacturers just can’t match, bespoke or custom pickups and hardware, or sometimes the facility for the buyer to spec the instrument directly with the builder.
So why are we looking at this pair of Jets? Who even is Jet Guitars? And what have these models got that’s made us change our minds? Well, we last caught up with Jet when we evaluated the JS-800.
To recap, the brand was born in 2020 and is a wholly family-owned concern, the brainchild of Slovenian instrument designer Primož Virant, and the guitars themselves are built by his company’s partner factory in China.
The two models you see before you are clearly inspired by designs that came out of Fullerton, California, in the ’50s and ’60s – their ‘T’ and ‘J’ prefixes removing any doubt. But with the JT retailing at just £359 and the JJ a staggering £285, they fall squarely in the ‘cheap as chips’ category, but straight out of the box you’d be hard pressed to tell.
First off, the JT. With its smooth-as-silk metallic black body neatly top-bound in cream, bright chrome hardware and what looks like a tinted maple neck topped by a rosewood fingerboard, first impressions are excellent. That neck, however, is not stained but genuine roasted Canadian maple.
The guitar’s poplar body is also torrefied, and the ’board hewn from genuine rosewood. On instruments at this price point, while heat-treated timbers are not exactly unheard of, all the same it’s an impressive feat that should ensure neck stability, and is also likely a contributory factor in both guitars’ very reasonable weights.
The pickups are specifically designed for each Jet model, not OEM items bought off the shelf
The pickups are specifically designed for each Jet model, not OEM items bought off the shelf. So on the JT we find twin Alnico humbuckers, the bridge unit splittable via a push-pull switch on the single tone control. Master volume and three-way selector complete a simple but versatile control setup.
Tuners are locking units with knurled thumbscrews on the back, and the truss rod on both guitars is accessible via a hex-key access point behind the artificial bone nut. There’s no neckplate on the JT; instead, the four screws holding the two components together sit in individual metal ferrules.
The body has also been sculpted back with a dressed-away heel for upper-fret access, while a belly cut means the guitar’s body tucks neatly into your own.
The JJ, like its sibling, also features roasted timbers – again, poplar for the body and a maple neck – this time with a glued-on roasted maple fingerboard featuring an overhang for the last of its 22 medium jumbo frets.
Here, the pickups are cream P-90s that look great against the tortoise-style pickguard. Controls are again simple: master volume and tone with cream knobs, and a three-way toggle switch mounted on the lower horn.
Tuners here, though, are non-locking, which is a trifle odd given that this model is vibrato-equipped while the JT is not. The vibrato bridge itself is a two-point floating system with a push-in arm.
Specs
Jet Guitars JT-350 BKM H
- PRICE: $349/£359/€313
- ORIGIN: China
- TYPE: Single-cut solidbody electric
- BODY: Top bound roasted poplar with belly cut
- NECK: 1-piece roasted Canadian maple
- SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5")
- NUT/WIDTH: Artificial bone (polymer fibre)/42mm
- FINGERBOARD: Rosewood with pearl dot inlays, 9.5” (241mm) radius
- FRETS: 22, medium jumbo
- HARDWARE: T-style 6-saddle bridge and pickup housing, T-style control plate, 4x countersunk neck screws, locking tuners, knurled volume and tone knobs, all chrome
- STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 54mm
- ELECTRICS: Specially designed Alnico humbucking pickups with chrome covers, master volume and tone plus 3-way pickup selector. Bridge pickup splittable via push-pull pot on tone control
- WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.44/7.9
- RANGE OPTIONS: JT-350: T ‘Deluxe’ style with S+H Alnico pickups, roasted maple neck, rosewood ’board ( £329-£475). Elite JT-30: quarter-sawn roasted maple neck and ’board, alder body, Alnico pickups (£669)
- LEFT-HANDERS: No
- FINISHES: Metallic Black (as reviewed) and Vintage Burst
Jet Guitars JJ-300 P90 SFG
- PRICE: $349/£285/€305
- ORIGIN: China
- TYPE: Offset solidbody electric
- BODY: Roasted poplar
- NECK: Roasted Canadian maple
- SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5")
- NUT/WIDTH: Artificial bone (polymer fibre)/42mm
- FINGERBOARD: Roasted Canadian maple, 9.5” (241mm) radius
- FRETS: 22, medium jumbo
- HARDWARE: 2-post floating vibrato, non-locking tuners
- STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 55mm
- ELECTRICS: 2x P-90 pickups, master volume and tone controls, 3-way toggle selector
- WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.41/7.51
- RANGE OPTIONS: JJ-350 - HH, roasted maple neck, available in Black or Green, £319. JJ-350 Baritone - 27” scale, H+P90, roasted maple neck, rosewood ’board, Moonburst finish, £429
- LEFT-HANDERS: No
- FINISHES: Sea Foam Green (as reviewed), Black and White
- CONTACT: Jet Guitars
Playability and sounds
What so impressed on removing both guitars from their cardboard boxes (no gigbags at this price) was how well set up and perfectly in tune they were.
Strung with slinky 0.009-gauge strings, the medium jumbo frets and 241mm (9.5-inch) fingerboard radius on both guitars lends a smooth and pliable feel on their modern C-profile necks.
What’s more (and, again, at this price point it’s uncommon), the edges of the JT’s rosewood and the JJ’s maple ’boards have been rolled for superior fretting-hand comfort.
Both instruments are a joy to play, with no hint of their budget price in evidence; their necks accommodate bends and vibrato with no choking or buzzing to be heard.
With its two-point floating vibrato bridge set for musical wobbles and light note dipping, a few waggles of the push-in arm and a yank or two at the strings had our JJ playing perfectly in tune. The system works smoothly and makes for an intuitive addition to the instrument’s appeal.
Save for the JT’s rosewood fingerboard, the two guitars feature the identical timber combo of roasted poplar body and similarly heat-treated maple neck. Of course, they look radically different and Jet has ensured they sound distinct from each other, too.
Through a Mark I Reissue Mesa/Boogie combo, the green guitar’s P-90s deliver exactly the tones one would expect: fat and a tad gnarly but also chiming and articulate, due in part to their single-coil construction but broad physical footprint.
Backing off the guitar’s volume, the single‑coil nature comes to the fore, whereas cranking the wick on both amp and guitar pushes things more into humbucker territory. The neck unit is warm but not mushy, the bridge exudes a dark and snarling growl when pushed, but both pickups on is where the more jangly, funky tones reside.
While an initial glance tells us the JT-350 is a twin-humbucking guitar, pull out the tone control and the bridge pickup is split to provide brighter tones.
As such, it offers a markedly different sonic palette to that of its sibling. Bolt-on humbucking instruments are usually lighter and brighter-toned than their glued-on cousins.
So, here, we encounter clarity and separation when played clean, with overdrive tones that are neither mushy nor flabby – but articulate and focused.
Pull the tone pot and the bridge pickup’s voice becomes more ‘classic T’ than Tele Deluxe in nature. Indeed, there’s a plethora of fine sounds to explore on the guitar’s simple but versatile layout.
Verdict
Verdict: ★★★★½
This duo from Jet Guitars has surpassed every expectation. From the obvious style that Primož Virant has imbued in his instruments (given that beneath their skin lie designs from elsewhere), to their materials, quality of construction, super necks and playability, they were a revelation.
Had we been told the guitars cost £600, £800 or even £1,000 we would have had no reason to doubt it
Sure, the pickups aren’t what you’d get in instruments from Anderson, Eggle, Schecter or other ‘boutique’ makers, but they offer a range of classy tones that suit each instrument well. And, as Jet itself says, these guitars are eminently pimpable.
More than anything else, though, the overall quality on display here took us totally by surprise. Had we been told the guitars cost £600, £800 or even £1,000 we would have had no reason to doubt it.
Guitar World verdict: So should you be after a new guitar with a bit of a ‘T’ or ‘J’ vibe, offering sirloin steak quality for chicken nuggets price, then take it from this veteran Guitarist reviewer that Jet’s JT and JJ models should be very high on your list.
