Well, I finally got a JS. I shouldn't say finally, I had a JS2000 for a couple of weeks a few years ago but more on that later.
I was in Sam Ash and came across what I thought was a new JS, from where I was standing it looked new but had a $999 price tag on it. I asked the guy to take it down. I actually thought it might be new since I saw a new Jem go for $1350 at Guitar Center a month earlier and they may have been blowing this one out.
When he did I noticed it was used (2005) but after looking at realized that it was near perfect except for a 1/4" ding on the back side of the middle curve and that it was setup horribly, someone had thrown 10's on it but never adjusted the bridge for the heavier guage. surprising it still played decent though and the tones I heard were incredible. there is not a scratch on this thing, no pick scratches, no other dings, no nothing. It had been sitting there since 7/14/08.
We got to haggling and I got them down to $850 and a setup (free) to take care of high trem issue. Come to find out, the guy that does the setups does not work for the store, but rents space out of the back which meant it was pro setup. I waited around for 1 1/2 hours for him to finish but when he did, OMG it was amazing. They cleaned it, reset the bridge for 10's (i would have liked 9's but he was almost done befoire I noticed the 10's were still on), set the intonation and made it one of the best guitars I have ever played.
I have had a JS2000 but at the time it was too much guitar for me. I actually thought I would never own another JS because like some previous posters, everytime I would pick one up at any of the chain stores, they were terribly setup amd just could not get used to the neck. I have since bought a strat which gave me a better taste of a different neck, much bigger than the Wizard necks I'm used. I'm really glad I tried them again.
I just can't believe how good this guitar plays and sounds. Nothing like my RG's. Incredible feel, it is making me a better player if that makes sense, much easier to play. Tone wise, this thing does it all. It seems a bit middy but that is not a bad thing as I have grown to like more of the mids instead of scooping them back.
All in all, I think I got a steal for a basically new guitar. I've included a couple of P*rn pics
Sorry for the wind!!! It's a long one I know.
