Previously, I built a JA-kit guitar, which does not seem to be available anymore. This guitar played well and sounded good, but to my later regret I sold it after some time as I found I played other guitars more.
When the new line of colors for the JA model was introduced, I was immediately tempted to get one. The positive (though paid) reviews convinced me to go for it. This guitar is different from the kit mainly in that the body is considerably heavier; the pickups come in a jazzmaster package; and the neck is a caramelized maple rather than plain maple.
The paint on the body is striking, but not perfect. Along the edges, there appears to be some light scuffing, probably from a hasty polishing job. The neck overall looks good, but there are also some smudges along the binding. This may be some residue from staining applied to the fretboard. It did not come off, neither with water nor rubbing alcohol.
Regarding the playability, I found that out of the box, the action was somewhat high, and the pickups extend above the body quite far, which looks a bit odd. This can of course be remedied, and as one of the video reviewers remarked, it is likely that not all guitars come out of the box with a perfect setup at this price point. The neck has a comfortable shape, feels smooth and there were no sharp edges on the frets. The frets are polished nicely. The tuners feel smooth and the guitar stays in tune well. The pickup selector switch feels more sturdy than on other Harley Benton guitars I have (had).
Now, what intruigued me most about this guitar was the pickups. Since the kit guitar and some early Harley Benton JA models had P90's, I wondered (as did some of the video reviewers) if these Roswell JM pickups are just P90's in a larger package. However, I believe they are different. The specifications on the Roswell website are different in terms of output and dimensions, where the JM neck (N) model is wired to 6.6kOhm and has an output of '160', and the bridge (B) model is wired to 11.7kOhm and has an output of '270',. Both the bridge and neck are 14.5mm high. In contrast, a Roswell P90-N is wired to 7.1kOhm with output '220' and the P90-B is wired to 10.2kOhm and has output '240'. The P90's are 17.3mm high; 21.3mm if you include the pole screws. Clearly, the package and output are different. For reference, original Fender Jazzmaster pickups are wired to 6.8kOhm and are approximately 15mm high. I have never played a Fender Jazzmaster, so I cannot compare the sound, but what I can say is that this particular guitar sounds phenomenal. I only have a humble Fender Frontman 10G amplifier, but the tone I get is crisp, clear, and has plenty of bite and mids. There is however quite a bit of hum, so I reckon it will pay off to apply shielding to the cavity. Some of the hum disappears when touching the strings, so some better grounding may also be benificial.
Overall, this is a beautiful instrument which sounds great and inspires to play.
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