This £169 Guitar Is Fantastic! - Jet JS-400 

I just received mine in Surf Green. I bought it as a mod platform, but it really didn’t need anything. I put on locking tuners and changed the bridge saddles. It plays better than anything I’ve ever owned (Gibson, Ibanez, Kramer). New guitarist have it much easier than I did in the early 80’s. Hard to buy a truly bad one these days.

I've got a JS-400 and after playing my coworkers MIM strat, I honestly think the JET feels and plays nicer. These guitars are seriously underrated.

Got a seafoam green Jet 400 HSS last week and blown away by the quality. 5 out of 6 strings intonated, great frets and incredible neck. Very happy with the sound as well. Just dod a string change and good to go.

I’ve had a js300 for around a year and it’s easily as good as my Mexican Strat, and the neck felt a good as my USA Fender. They’re incredible for the money and fantastic platforms to build on/mod.

Your software is amazing. Every guitar that is ever played on this channel and every amp sounds exactly the same every time.

If they had guitars like these when I was a beginner it would be great. The guitar I started off with as a beginner was unplayable and it’s a miracle that I stuck with it. So I got a job and got an American standard at the time. But when I was 14 they didn’t have good beginner guitars. It wasn’t that long ago either.

This with a set of fender noiseless pickups is so good. Might be my favorite guitar I’ve ever played.

Hey guys ! Lee: I like Suhrs too, but I played a few and never really bonded with them. So, I built my own: Fender alder body+parts, USACG roasted maple neck with SS jumbo frets, Hipshot griplock tuners and HSS pickguard fitted with 2 single Michael Landau Suhr pickups and one SSV+ in the bridge. Rock on !

With a good player and a good amp, any pedal or guitar sounds great

Great vid there are some incredible budget guitars around. I bought an Ibanez GIO GRG170DX 14 years ago still plays and sounds superb, much better than more expensive models I have. That's a great guitar for the money.

I bought one of these Gem JS-400's just over a year ago for £129 after seeing it demo'd on Dave Simpsons channel and I thought it might make a good modding platform. I couldn't believe how good it felt in the hand, the neck just feels wonderful, perfect fretwork and a rolled neck and it's a joy to play... go figure.? I thought the pots were a little cheap & ineffective and I wasn't a fan of the tuners but the trem was really accurate and stable. So what did I do? First of all I changed the tuners and fitted a set of Gotoh Locking tuners (I've used these before) Then I changed the pots and switches and improved the shielding with some copper tape. (BIG IMPROVEMENT in tone and usability) I was going to change the pups and I purchased a set of Tonerider Fat 50's to do this, but so far I like the tone of the originals and I may, or may not bother. LOVE this guitar... now I'm thinking of buying their telecaster. I use Neural dsp plug ins and they're bloody amazing.

It's "The Player" who makes the guitar. :)

Nice video- enjoyed watching. Cracking s-type with sensible mods. Really good value BUT to throw in a little curve ball, the Fazley Phynica fsst720 is essentially exactly the same guitar (made in the same factory) but currently around half the price of a JS400. (Fazley model has more of a Suhr shaped head stock.) Worth a look.

I'm not a fan of strat shaped guitars, but... these jet guitar are pretty sweet. I particularly like js-400 in vintage yellow white version. Need to get one.

7:56 Back in 1977 when I was 15 years old the music store basically had Fender and Gibson with a few Hondo and Teisco sprinkled in! My first real new guitar was a 1974 Fender Mustang, I eventually traded up to a 1977 Les Paul Deluxe. It is amazing the quality and selection of guitars available these days.

I’ve seen rave reviews on these, but my experience was all but great. Bought the JS-400 with the rosewood board, and it had some problems. The frets where extremely gritty, the tuners were extremely flimsy and rattley, and the trem system just wouldn’t stay in tune as the knife edges were pretty flat. I fixed it all, but I needed to change the bridge and the tuners, and sand/polish the frets. Now it’s pretty nice.

I love my Jet JS-400. I did also have a JS-300, but the difference is quite noticeable. The JS-300 is more traditional (square heel, front mounted jack socket, 3 controls, 3 single coils). I like the rounded heel, bridge humbucker, 2 controls and side jack socket of the JS-400. I believe Hal Leonard, the sheet music company are behind Jet.

Sounds just as the s guitar should. Very nice. Looks lovely too

Yep, I can also attest those are pretty awesome. Had the seafoam green for a while, amazing for the price, closer to a Fender MIM than to Squier Affinity. I'd just note that it does feel more super-stratty rather than just stratty if that's a concern. Didn't require any sort of attention, although the nut could have been cut a little bit lower. No tuning issues however with everything stock, solid sounds too. Great for modding, although just for satisfying personal taste and not out of necessity ;)

I put this on and bought one before you even started the video you know when something in life is for you in life, and that guitar is for me🙏 Thankyou

"A guitar snob has been converted" - Awesome sentence and a great pleasure for me, cause I´m a fan of partcasters and other "cheap" stuff!!😅😅😅

Just bought this guitar in seafoam green. $199 US. Worth taking a chance. Looks fantastic. Thanks for the video!

Took a chance on Amazon. Got my Js-400 Sunburst today and I'm over the moon. Flawless beauty, plays like a dream right out the box (store does a setup before shipping). I'm not fussy about mods etc, I play just for me :)

Recently got a Jet Js300 when Bax music had them reduced,I had heard great things about them but I was still sceptical what it would be like at this price point.Well I am amazed how good it is and just love playing it.

I have one, same model. Absolutely love it as a modding platform to have some fun with. There are unfortunately some things I don’t like about it starting with the neck it feels a little soft . My ring keeps causing dings on the back of the neck, which none of my other guitars get… I’ve lightly grazed the surface of the roasted maple treatment, unfortunately, it scrapes off easily. making me think this is more of a coating than an actual roasting process. The tuners aren’t as bad as people think they are . The two point trem system needs better saddles the block is big but it feels like Chinese pot metal. And the humbucker pick up is way too hot for my liking . But the neck and middle pick up are perfect. wiring is a bit cheap. The five way switch is cheap and the volume and tone pots are cheap. All that can easily be replaced with brand new parts for under $100. To be quite honest, this is a perfect beginner guitar, because right out of the box it plays well and you don’t have to fight it to get good tones out of it. It’s also a great guitar if you’re thinking of building a Super Stratocaster on a budget. This guitar is around $200 at the moment and it honestly needs about $200 worth of parts so a total of $400 to get it to sound and play like a guitar well worth over $1000 which is really not bad. I’m happy.

Cheap guitars doesn't mean bad guitars nowadays indeed. Some are c... but, just look to the the brand new 25th anniversary Harley Benton range of guitars ... they are just amazing, I just received the Strat HSS version of it, killer guitar for the price with ALL you can expect from a high end guitar (and I have some) : Locking tuners, roasted maple neck, two points synchronized deluxe tremolo system, stainless steel frets, push / pull coil tap, american alder body, matching headstock color, and ... a luxury gig bag that Fender doesn't even offer on a 5 times more expensive guitar ... and all this for 298 euros ... what is justifying buying more expensive guitars, out of wanting to having a specific brand name ? hard to find a good reason ...

What bridge, pickup, and tuners did you upgrade to?? Please give details!!

I got jet 400 , feels and sounds as good as any strat. very happy.

That neck pup sounded amazing. Ceramic pups always get hate so I've always stayed away from them. Been looking to buy a new strat, think I will buy one of these. I'm a tele guy but miss having a strat as I played them for years. Some bang for your buck there with the Jet, especially with the effort they put into the necks. Fender should up there efforts with the player series, took me a while to get use to my player series tele, the neck edges felt really sharp and uncomfortable in the hand compared to my FGN which was £100 cheaper.

Yep bought one last year! fantastic guitar, changed the pickups, they were a bit harsh for what I wanted, spot on now, quality!!

I have one js 400 as well, I am super satisfied with it. I sold some of my other guitars because this guitar just absolutely beats them all in playibility.

They are awesome guitars for the money. I have the Jet js300 in sea foam green left handed and I can honestly say it's got a better neck than my Fender player series strat. Since I've had it I've played it more than my Fender. I'm thinking of getting the JS400 for the humbucker and the 2 point floating trem. Sounds great chaps. Thanks for sharing guys 🎸🎸👍👍

I've got two Jet guitars the basic Strat and the slightly more expensive tele. I changed the pups on the strat to texas hot rods and it plays great and now sounds excellent. The tele I had to do nothing to and it's wondeful. If you like guitars buy one, or two or three...

I got one partly on the strength of this video, and I’m really enjoying playing it as an alternative to my US Highway One. The “excuse” was to have a humbucker at the bridge, but they really are surprisingly different in both feel and tone, while quality wise being in the same ball-park. The stock pickups sound just as good as these ones, and although I’m going to change the humbucker for a Rolling Mill, it’s not at all necessary. The tuners were pretty poor I do have to say, but I always fit Planet Waves locking ones anyway which were a direct swap using the same screw hole. As others have said, with build quality this high, it’s a great platform for upgrades, but, apart from the tuners on mine, it really does cut it out of the box.

Great video fellas. Having bought a Tele type at the full price of £165, I bought the JS300, listed by guitarguitar as used with a missing trem arm the thing is spotless. I paid a whopping £99 😂😂😂 ,Update I got a JS400 yesterday. So 3 great guitars for less than £450 total.

I got the JS400 from the first batch, replaced the single coils with Iron Gear pups for personal preference, stock are ok, but an experienced player will probably do a pup swap with most instruments, stock Humbucker is fine for me, neck is superb, as good as guitars I've spent thousands on, only niggle was the trem springs, after a few months, cheap fix, had this over a year, no other issues and it has been gigged and played a lot, honestly, these are great, like any guitar, get it setup, tuners are ok, not had any issues, but at this price easy mod to upgrade to locking tuners, these might be inexpensive but they are not cheap guitars. I have expensive guitars, but use this one quite often, would I buy another expensive Fender strat, probably not, this does that Job, for beer money, its crazy.

This is absolutely true. I have the same guitar Lefties. A green One. It is very good.

I just found a T style 300 series at a small music store on a visit to my hometown and I’m returning this weekend to get one in a color I can handle. The only one they had was pink, and I can’t do pink. I haven’t bought a “cheap” guitar in at least 20 years,but I feel like I would be stupid not to buy one of these for $200! It plays better than a lot of $500+ guitars! I’m not sure about the pups and electronics but for $200 who cares? It played excellent. Literally excellent. I would have bought it right then had it been any color except pink. Come to think of it….. I just might buy a few?

I was looking at getting one of these, think you have made that choice for me. 🤙🏻

I’ve seen nothing but good reviews about these guitars ,

Ha! They're by Westfield, my first acoustic guitar was a Westfield back in 1995.

Dude you are something else, your touch and tone is beautiful 😮I’ve never heard you sound bad 😅 I’d love o hear you live do you have any videos😊?……lefuj ☮️❤️✨

I have that exact same Guitar and Love it! The neck is to die for................................ It is by far the one with the most tuning stability out of all my Guitars (incl. Ibanez and PRS SEs), very impressive. I changed the Pickups once to some Dimarzio/Wilkinsons i had laying around, just to put the Stock ones back in, they are quite good! I added some 30 EUR Locking Tuners and changed the Trem (although its fine as is) to a Wilkinson one i had just laying around. Great Guitar............................and NOT only for the price - puts more expensive ones to shame!

I love watching Lee’s gear. He’s so practical. Paul, would be nice to know what you’re running your guitar through as you always have amazing tones regardless of the axe used

This is the third review I’ve seen that gives a great review on this guitar, bone nut, roasted maple fretboard, and great frets by the look of it. I would probably change the pickups to alnico, but what a price for such quality 👍

I have to the say that guitar sounds and looks like a custom shop. Seriously👍🎸you can always change the pups if you want really impressive

Love the guitar, love the tone and Eric Ten Hag is an amazing guitar player.

The js400 looks the business! Cheesy logo but otherwise seems to be very good for the money! Thanks for sharing!

I got something out of this vid, I just ordered one 👍 beautiful looking, well made guitar apparently going from my research after watching this 😜 I have only bought 2 expensive guitars (for my budget ), a Fender strat player series ltd edition in ferrari yellow (£700 plus extra £140 for the fender hard case) and a Gretsch 5230T (£459 plus another £139 for a Gretsch case)..all my other budget 6 guitars are 4 Harley Benton's (D-120 acoustic, ST-20, Fusion-II and a DC-450 vintage), last 2 are a donner TC-100 and and Eastcoast st1 and love them all 😍 (all stored in HB gig bags) Thx for this brill review. you sold the JS-400 on me, your fault the wife is going to give me her 'really you bought another guitar' rolling her eyes🤣 errr, i didnt get those eyes when i bought her a new motorcycle 🤔😂 new sub for you guys..loved the vid 😍🤘🤘

Being the bridge pickup is bitey and bright it works well in the quack position with the middle without doing the split thing

These guitars look almost identical to the Schecter S type guitars wonder if they are made in same factory? Korea I think?

Looking forward to seeing this. I bought this guitar last year and love it. I did change the Humbucker to an Alegree P90 though.

Btw great to see Lee on the channel!!! Also did Lee just buy it blind online or try it in store first when he got the jet guitar

Dave Simpson persuaded me to buy one a few months ago. I'm never off it.

I can confirm, as I own one, that these guitars are awesome (non just for the price). I own a S300, as well, same thought.

nice playing

At the beginning, you play a theme that comes up from time to time in other videos. It would be nice to do a quick tutorial to share the theme, chords etc. Happy with my JS-400 too !

It seems the Bridge is also changed on Lee's Guitar? What Bridge is it?

Did you change the humbucker pick up? Ive never seenJet's with black and white humbuckers. Thanks.

I mentioned about a year ago that it might be a good video if you got a cheap guitar to see how good you could make it.

Hey, great reviews. I just got one of these today but I'm finding the bridge pickup a little bit harsh. I was wondering what you swapped it out for?

What locking tunners were put ?>

Excellent! Good avenue for new videos! Best Regards and Best Wishes!

I’ve just ordered a special edition JS300 - purple with pearloid pick guard

Another Britt, doing a guitar review with all sorts of his own merch in the description! Yet no link to the guitar, is this some kind of trend over there?

Was just looking at these yesterday but there were no reviews on the site. They sell in Canada out of British Columbia.

The snob has left the building… good on you Lee.

Fantastic video, do you remember the Humbucker put in the bridge, is it a Dimarzio Paf 59, thank you.

Amazing what you can get for your money these days. When I was a teenager in the mid 70's we'd go to Woolworths to look at the Jedson guitars..and nobody had a real Gibson or Fender. People I knew aspired to Shaftesbury Les Paul's (early japanese copies) and for the price you paid for them now you could get a PRS SE or some other high quality guitar which are much better.

Awesome video thanks! I've also recently picked up a JS 400 and am upgrading it like Lee. I'm looking for a new trem and noticed Lee has also upgraded his. Does anyone happen to know which one Lee has used here / which ones might fit the JS 400?

Cool video. I really want a JET, but I can’t justify paying more than the asking in shipping. We need to find a way to get these to the States without all the costs

What was the Bridge pickup replaced with? 7

Great guitars 👍

Amazing playing as usual ! Can you tell me what the new trem and tuners are ?

Is this the first time that you've actually met Lee in the flesh?

Of all the Asian budget brand guitars I've bought (knowing some degree of rehabilitation would be required) this one is the only one that needed a set-up only out of the box. At spec, .012 neck relief and 4/64ths string height, all there was to do was play it. It's worth saying: Everybody else, Firefly, Squiers (including plenty of CVs,) all the other poorly named Chinese vendors will send you an instrument the needs fret and nut work, an heroic set-up, pickups on either side of mediocre, and the cheapest of them will have finish blems or weird tiger stripe wallpaper under the 1/4" clear poly and all sorts of whatever. Not this one. Change the trem to gig. Swap electrics and wire to your taste if you want to but you don't have to. Hope Jet can keep it up.

That looks very similar to the Sire S7... I suspect they've come out the same factory (I also think the make Cort there too - but don't quote me on that.)

Hello. Could you tell us the brand and model of bridge pickup replacement please? Thank you.

Khm....Jet Guitars are from SLOVENIA, not Slovakia. Great video, cheers guys.

3:46... One of the Best "Panorama" 😅😅😅

I'm digging Lee's hair.

I just bought a jet 350 Telecaster Custom £299.50. It’s absolutely amazing for the money, like a top of the range Fender in terms of sonics and playability. Cheap Chinese labour obviously keeps the price down.

When He says "bonkers", I listen. This is a great sounding HSS strat, period. $199.00...."bonkers plus"!!

I have a question, the guitar colour looks like in the photos of JET web?

I want one of these. (Available in the states?) I doubt it, nothing this good ever is. I really like this 2 knob setup rather than the standard 3. I've always felt crowded on a Strat because of the placement of the top volume knob. LOL, I sink the middle pickup too.

I'm wanting to get one but I don't like really bright white it looks bright snow white in the picture in site but it looks nice and a off white in your video are all not made the same colour are some abit off white ?

It is made in the same factory where Fazley guitars are (Bax house brand) same specs, same everything but they're 20-30% cheaper

I’ve been about and I have no idea how they can make one this good for 169?

Shame we didnt hear the neck pick up with distortion, hoping to hear the Hendrix SRV sound.

Whats the bridge been changed to? It doesnt look like the original that comes standard.

A little bit of a snob ???? dude you are the king of snobs

Have you changed the tremolo from floating to decked?

very cool lee. im looking for one now lol

just bought js400 yesterday same color lefty ..love it so much really good guitar for the price.. do you replace all the pickup (HSS) or just the bridge and do you change the trem with gotoh 510ts ? thanks

that guitar sounds great, i don't know how they make it for that money. Fender should be worried.

could you try to remove the guitars plastic volume cap? i really want to change them to a different color but i don't know if it's possible.

Wow sounds great, nice playing ! Do you know if fender pick guard fits the jet ?

Does it have a slightly thinner body? Can't tell from the video. If so moding the trem may be a problem for the protuding block.

Can I set up 1st string action at 1 mm. without choking when bending.

Just bought one of these and it’s such an amazing guitar! What amp are you using?