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

[decreebass]

Born 8lbs, 8oz... Pics first:

Ordered it yesterday, got it today - free one-day shipping to Hawaii. Dylan @ Sweetwater knows how take care of a brotha! The last few pics were from the site.

It's a fantastic instrument. I can't believe how balanced the sound is; great pups. great feel, beautiful rosewood fretboard (and I usually can't stand rosewood). This thing is gorgeous in RL. (that's real life, for those of you in Rio Linda). The neck is very flat, but still beefy. Harmonics are super easy to find - it came strung with 9s. The piezo is beautiful. For what it's worth, my first thoughts were, "Yea, I guess this is almost Carvin quality..." I think it's gonna take more time with it to let it grow on me, but I think I'm in love. I can't believe how fast this thing is. Also got the Peterson Stroboplus HD and tuned it to sweeten a 7-string; M-azing.

Here are the specs:
Specification Detail
Left-/Right-handed Right-handed
Body Material Basswood with mahogany tone block
Top Material Maple
Body Finish Polyurethane
Color Platinum Silver
Neck Material Mahogany, Bolt-on
Neck Shape JP
Scale Length 25.5"
Fingerboard Material Rosewood, 17" radius
Fingerboard Inlay Custom JP13 inlay
Number of Frets 24 medium jumbo
Nut Width 1.87"
Bridge/Tailpiece Custom John Petrucci Music Man Piezo floating tremolo
Tuners Schaller M6-IND locking tuners with pearl buttons
Number of Pickups 2
Neck Pickup DiMarzio Illuminator humbucker
Middle Pickup No middle pickup
Bridge Pickup DiMarzio Illuminator humbucker
Controls 3 x volume (2 x push/pull), 3-way pickup selector, 3-way magnetic pickup selector
Case Included Hardshell case included
Manufacturer Part Number 670-PS-22-00

 

[Dawn of the Shred]

Congrats and hngd!

 

[Ironbird]

Dude, that silver finish is TO DIE FOR.

 

[GXPO]

Ohm nom. Beautiful...

 

[decreebass]

Yea, when I first opened the case, my jaw dropped; it really is a great finish. No pics can REALLY do it justice, but I spent like ten minutes with it close to my face just going over its curves. What incredible craftsmanship... Now I'm gonna start feeling guilty for not playing my Carvin(s) more (anymore?!?).

the one thing my Carvin DC747 has over my JP13 is that in the neck position, the humbucker can be split. This isn't possible with the JP - the coil splitting it does is combine one coil from each Illuminator in the middle position. I love the sound of a SC neck pup; Luckily, the JP still has the bold, chewy neck tone even with the hbucker.

 

[shanike]

oh god...
I hate everything about this model...
but WANTZ!!!
does it make sense? absolutely...

 

[JPMike]

The 7 string version looks amazing!! Ok, I want one!!

 

[LolloBlaskhyrt]

Congrats!

 

[Cowboyfromhell]

Daaamn looks amazing love the music man 7s congrats !

 

[LORD S810]

Wow That's a beauty!

 

[bouVIP]

Beautiful shiny silver guitar!
HNGD!

 

[ratm2020]

Congratz man! How does the active boost sound?

 

[Repsak]

Puuurddy!

 

[Seanthesheep]

wait JPs are pretty much carvin quality?

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

SICK!

Tell us more about the Illuminators. How do they stack up against other pickups you've tried? Especially CrunchLab/Liquifire if you've had experience with those. How do you like the boost feature?

 

[Konfyouzd]

I wish I had more hands so I could give that four thumbs UP!

 

[decreebass]

Congratz man! How does the active boost sound?

I haven't played too much with the active boost; but it's basically like having a tubescreamer in your guitar - as far as it's effect on a drive channel. I know you can adjust it with a little screwdriver in the back, but I didn't mess around with that at all. Nor did I mess with the mag/piezo balance (or piezo EQ)

It's really hard to express how much I like the Illuminator pups; In the bridge it gets powerful and mean without having the shrill nasal quality of some bridge pups; it's still fat without being boomy. In the neck position, it has the openness and vocal/singing quality you'd expect; when doing fast funs, even without significant palm-muting, you still get the beautiful chewy little 'schk' sound between notes. It's a joy to do fast funs and sweeps; even for me and I'm not that great at either.

Another thing about the pups is that they're incredibly balaced across the strings; I don't feel like I have to play the higher strings or upper register harder to be heard; every note is very present and articulate; I get the same consitently beautiful response from the low open B palm-muted all the way to the highest E bent a full step to F#; I don't really have a lot to compare the pups to, but they're defintely hotter and more articulate than Carvin's stock passives. Compared to the CrunchLab, which I have in my DC135's bridge position, I think the Illuminator (in the bridge position) is a bit beefier; maybe a little clearer? I dunno it's hard to find words to describe the almost ineffable qualities of nuances in sound.

This thing has sustain for days, too. It's no wonder JP is so keen on slow solos letting the beauty of each note bloom with a little vibrato. This thing is definitley a music machine.

As far as my comparison to Carvin guitars, there are aspects of the JP that far exceed Carvin (electronic configuration, for instance) but overall, Carvin builds so well and with such attention to detail, I can't imagine how they could improve on their craftsmanship - other than perhaps allowing aftermarket parts to be included in the build such as Dimarzio pups, evertune bridge, etc etc. With that in mind - and as my standard - the JP lives up to that quality. I'll probably make another post comparing certain details (with pics) like fret ends, neck joint, electronic compartment, nut construction, paint, etc., but I've got no complaints as far as quality of either brands. Bottom line, the JP is an incedible, incredible instrument and I'm sitting here with a raging semi just thinking about it; but Carvins are just as good: Different, to be sure, but just as good. I do think I'll be favoring my JP

 

[Daniel Realpe]

wow, that's sexy! *drools*

 

[MetalBuddah]

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!

 

[Jonathan20022]

Good stuff dude! Glad you're keen on it! If anyone's wondering what these pups sound like, JP had a feature in Guitar World regarding them.'