NGD! - EBMM JP13 7 *Mega Pic-Heavy*

[decreebass]

Finally we see one of these out in the wild Beautiful instrument. I really hope I can get to try one out one day. Glad to see that the new JP pickups are good as well!

I do feel fortunate to have one of these before everyone and their grandmother has them. I suspect this will be the least popular JP model ever, so 50 years from now, if I still have it, it'll be a colelctor's item Of ocurse, I'll have Alzheimers by then so I won't know or care, but somebody will!

@Jonathan20022 - thanks for posting that; I think someone over at the Carvin forums just posted the same thing Great video.

So yea, as you can see, the pups are similar to the CL/LF, but just... more, and clearer and more present. The neck pup doesn't have as much of that scooped sound, but it has plenty; you still know it's the neck pup.

 

[Muzakman]

I tried it out yesterday and it's just amazing.. it plays even better than the JP13 6! I'm really happy for you and a bit jealous.. so HNGD and I hope you bust a nut.. on the guitar..

 

[Estock]

I really dig the silver. They play like butta! Congrats!

 

[eventuate]

Congrats man, I've been toying with the idea of buying some variety of JP7 for awhile, and this may be the one I get! I'm looking to order it within the next month so we will see...

 

[decreebass]

Congrats man, I've been toying with the idea of buying some variety of JP7 for awhile, and this may be the one I get! I'm looking to order it within the next month so we will see...

Only one left at sweetwater; mine's twin

You won't be disappointed.

 

[Jonathan20022]

Only one left at sweetwater; mine's twin

You won't be disappointed.

For sure, how do you like it compared to your Carvin?

 

[Spamspam]

The JP's are great guitars. I agree, though, that they are 'almost' Carvin quality. If Carvin offered a bolt neck 7, I wouldn't want a JP so bad, lol. But they don't, so I do....
Happy NGD bradah 8)

 

[decreebass]

For sure, how do you like it compared to your Carvin?

Well, the action is a little higher and the sound has more of an almost hollow(?) sound; but with more bite and more balls; could also have to do with the new strings, so don't quote me on that... The JP has more sustain, though the Carvins' sustain is also pretty good - just not AS good.

The build quality on both are phenomenal; I have no complaints and I could not imagine how either could be better.

My only complaints with the JP so far are that (1) the mono output is in a bad place to play classically if you use a straight plug - it jabs into your right leg and puts stress on the plug & jack, but is solved pretty easily with an angled plug. (2) The knobs offer no resistance; I prefer a little thickness to my knobs, I don't like them like a combination lock - fast; I like them to feel like they're trying to swim through molasses. Also, because of this 'looseness' and the fact that they're stacked knobs, my volume knob has a few degrees of 'give' at the top of its range; that is, I can move it slightly one way or the other without actually changing the wiper's position - it has wiggle room. Not a lot, but enough to make me wonder a little. (3) The JP's toggle switches are not in perfectly predictable angles; that is, to switch from bridge to neck pup I have to flip the toggle at a somewhat oblique angle; and since the toggle is pretty small, it's not always the angle I choose at first, so there's a little bit more resistance to changing pups than there should be. (4) I'm not really sure what the hell I'm gonna use the coil tap for. It's not a very useful coil tap; it doesn't make bridge into a SC when you're in the bridge position and/or the neck into a SC when you're in the neck position: what it does is when you're in the center position (both hbuckers) it splits each hbucker and combines the inner coils. It still sounds decent, but I would have preferred a more traditional coil splitting option. (5) I find I keep accidentally dragging the high E string off the fretboard if I'm not careful when doing fast runs or sweeps. (6) No tools for setups or maintenance were included.

As you can see, these are really nit-picky things. And that's good. I have similar ultra-specific and microscopic complaints about Carvin.

Both guitars are very, very good. If it wasn't for the name, the neck, the sustain, and the pups (piezo included), there would really be no reason to get a JP over a DC (or whatever Carvin model you like). But this guitar has a lot of features Carvin doesn't offer, so it was a good investment in my opinion. As far as quality goes though, I could not have gone wrong either way.

Hard to say which is "better." I do think I'll be playing my JP more; at least over the next couple months until the newness wears off and I pick up the Carvin out of curiosity...

 

[Jonathan20022]

I hear you on the mono output thing, I had to buy an Angled Cable to use it since I play all my leads and more intricate parts in classical position. And it's good that you're nit picky, you know what you want and you shouldn't settle for less!

Also the coil splitting thing can be changed by a professional technician if you want to, I don't mind it so much on my JP's but it's a slight rewiring job that doesn't take too long to put into place!

And on the topic of Action, both of my JP's are currently set at the lowest action I can get without any fretbuzz. Low and High Respectively (1.6mm/1.3mm), which is fairly low I didn't need to shim the neck or anything but that's just me haha.

 

[Spamspam]

I agree with a lot of that, Decree. I LOVE the neck shape, the pups, the piezo, and the 'chambered acoustic' sound of the JP.
I highly dislike the finished neck, the controls layout, and the lack of options on everything. It also seems as though the action can't be dropped as low as I like, without shimming the neck, which I find highly annoying.
If they gave the option of a tung oiled neck, fretboard of choice, changed the control layout to be less awkward, gave more wood and finish options, and fixed the high action issues, I would give it a nearly perfect score. And if they did all that, while charging about 1/2 of what they currently charge, I would just call it a Carvin, lol.
But I would still love to have one, simply because it's the best "readily available" bolt neck 7 on the market, IMO. Very solidly built, feels like 'quality' when you pick it up, and sounds fantastic. My son has a JPX, and it is a joy to play. Just not perfect.

 

[JLocrian]

I agree with a lot of that, Decree. I LOVE the neck shape, the pups, the piezo, and the 'chambered acoustic' sound of the JP.
I highly dislike the finished neck, the controls layout, and the lack of options on everything. It also seems as though the action can't be dropped as low as I like, without shimming the neck, which I find highly annoying.
If they gave the option of a tung oiled neck, fretboard of choice, changed the control layout to be less awkward, gave more wood and finish options, and fixed the high action issues, I would give it a nearly perfect score. And if they did all that, while charging about 1/2 of what they currently charge, I would just call it a Carvin, lol.
But I would still love to have one, simply because it's the best "readily available" bolt neck 7 on the market, IMO. Very solidly built, feels like 'quality' when you pick it up, and sounds fantastic. My son has a JPX, and it is a joy to play. Just not perfect.

He's delirious guys, don't listen to him My JPX7 runs circles around his carvin

 

[fortisursus]

Sweet. I have a Jackson DK-1 in the same color. Looks really cool when in the light. One day i'll get a JP-7!

 

[decreebass]

If they gave the option of a tung oiled neck, fretboard of choice, changed the control layout to be less awkward, gave more wood and finish options, and fixed the high action issues, I would give it a nearly perfect score. And if they did all that, while charging about 1/2 of what they currently charge, I would just call it a Carvin, lol.

lol too true - very well put

To be honest, I'm actually getting used to the higher action; it's not high in a bad way, just higher than I'm used to with my Carvin. The important thing, IMO, is that I still get phenomenal sustain, on any note. Sometimes the higher action seems to choke off notes early, but my JP kicks butt in that department.

 

[Hollowway]

That's cool. Not epic pink Carvin cool, but cool.

 

[decreebass]

That's cool. Not epic pink Carvin cool, but cool.

That's what my friend Rikki said; I showed my JP13 to her and she said, "It's pretty, but I like your pink one better."

 

[ImNotAhab]

I thought all the JP liner could be set up for super low action without shiming and all that jazz???

 

[decreebass]

I thought all the JP liner could be set up for super low action without shiming and all that jazz???

I'm sure I could lower the action a bit; but again, they didn't throw in any tools in the case and I don't have guitar tech tools... Honestly I'd be more concerned about possibly damaging the guitar by trying to remove the neck and shimming it. The action is low, but not SUPER-DUPER just-off-the-fret low; IMO it's not worth bothering with right now. But I suspect you're right; why would a company like EMBB make a guitar that needed to be shimmed to play well?

 

[decreebass]

I agree with a lot of that, Decree. I LOVE...the 'chambered acoustic' sound of the JP.

FYI I don't think the 13 has a chambered body; I'm not sure off hand which models do (JP6 & JPX I think...), but this one isn't very loud acoustically.

 

[Spamspam]

Decree, the only JP I've ever played is JLocrians JPX, which is a wonderful guitar. It has the chambered body, and is really loud acoustically. The action is significantly higher than any of my Carvins.
As for it running circles around my Carvins.. (I'm talking to you, JLocrian). LOL. Both amazing guitars, both better than the other in very significant ways. The key is figuring out which aspects are more important to you as a player.
Don't get me wrong, I love the JP series, but because of the shortcomings I mentioned, if Carvin ever makes a bolt neck 7, I would just buy the Carvin instead, with the options that are important to me. If they don't, I'll end up with a JP at some point, lol. Because they are remarkable guitars.

 

[eventuate]

Only one left at sweetwater; mine's twin

You won't be disappointed.

Haha yeah, I absolutely love my JP6, it just needs a 7 string sibling!

I'm stuck between a JP13 and a JPX (that's the chambered one guys hehe). The chambering, and 5 way switch have me set on the JPX. But then the built in boost seems really cool on the JP13.

Plus I love both the barolo and silver finishes so that makes it harder to decide hahaha.