Jay Turser guitars - what's the scoop.

[Bruceman]

Are they too cheap - or kinda ok - or what.
Some of them don't look too bad...
Like this one for $100 dollars....Would you pay $100 for this?

[musicofanatic5]

Originally Posted by Bruceman

Are they too cheap - or kinda ok - or what.
Some of them don't look too bad...
Like this one for $100 dollars....Would you pay $100 for this?

In the words of a popular teevee dog/puppet/insult comic "For me to poop on!"

I know a professional blues player who plays 'em and swears they're great. He's also nuts, so...

Maybe you should ask someone else.

[bc-cosmo]

We have a bunch of them around the house. My elder son's V knockoff is a nice piece of mahogany, big fat neck, decent frets and good sounding pickups for under $300. Mind you, I've played a few that ain't so good...but generally speaking, cheap and good for what they are. YMMV of course.

[Bruceman]

Originally Posted by musicofanatic5

In the words of a popular teevee dog/puppet/insult comic "For me to poop on!"

I know a professional blues player who plays 'em and swears they're great. He's also nuts, so...

Maybe you should ask someone else.

hahaha.....ok. I'll ask someone else.

[Macaroni]

A friend of mine got the semi hollow model for $200! It's a beautiful guitar, didn't look or feel cheap. I was very surprised. Nice neck too - very playable. The pickups were weak, but that can be changed. Definitely not shoddy and a classy looking piece - insane for that price.

http://www.jayturser.com/jt-134-qmt.php

[Will Chen]

It all depends. I've played quite a few Jay Turser's and some I've been fairly impressed with. Their Tele knockoffs are surprisingly good.

[germs]

IMO, it all depends on the model. Prices will tank on the used market, so take that into consideration, it's probably giggable as is, but will benefit from a few upgrades.

Generally the higher the model, the better the guitar, like with anything.

[Bruceman]

For $100 it sounds like it's worth the drive if the guy calls me back. Thanks all.

[bdegrande]

I own one of their resonators. Looked beautiful, sounded pretty good, and started falling apart about a month after I bought it new.

[karma1]

I bought one of their Les Paul goldtop copies used off Craig's List for $80 to use as a beater/backup and it's a surprisingly decent guitar for the money. I liked it more than I expected to so I decided to upgrade it with some parts I had laying around: Duncan Jazz/neck, Gibson 500T/bridge, and Sperzel locking tuners. Now it sounds amazing and I like the way it plays and it's light weight. Although I have other much more expensive guitars, I enjoy playing this one and have gigged with it a number of times. I think Tursers are an excellent value and they have some very nice looking models available.

[Bruceman]

Jut got in. What a nice guitar. Especially for $179 ebay dollars. Well made. Plays very nice. I never heard of Jay Turser until a month ago. I've just been an old dyed in the wool Gibson guy. But I gotta tell ya. I'm impressed. I've had this experiment idea in my head for a 12 string but I wanted to try it without spending too much money. I was going to build one outa some pieces but damn, this just saved me a ton of time AND money.

Anyone else got one of these?

[SUBmariner]

I have a pair of JT-45s - the SG Jr. copy. Once I pulled the microphonic stock pickups and put decent stuff in there (Kent Armstrong in one, Fralin in the other), they were and are gig-ready. No hesitation.

[kludge]

I recently got and then returned a Jay Turser Les Paul copy (JT-220, I think). It was actually an EXTREMELY nice guitar - very well put together and handsome. Very clean cherryburst finish, nice details like the fingerboard binding covered the fret ends (like a real Gibson, and unlike many copies). Factory setup was pretty good. Pickups didn't sound too bad but were very microphonic (but hey, we all have PAFs in our junk drawer). Pretty light, too, for a LP (chambered?). Personally, I think it was a full step up in quality from most Epiphone Les Pauls.

I returned it not for any fault of the guitar, but simply because I don't find Gibsons comfortable to play neck-wise, and I felt the money was better saved for another Tele.

I certainly wouldn't hesitate to buy another Jay Turser, if the one I got is indication of their overall quality.

[stormin1155]

I have a JT-200 (LP copy) that I bought on a whim (because it was light and pretty). I put Bill Lawrence X-500 pickups in it because I wanted something different than just another PAF type sound. The guitar itself is really suprisingly good quality. It has a set mahogany neck (most LP copies are maple), chambered mahogany body topped off by a real 5/8" piece of maple... curly maple vaneer over that of course. I'd put it up against most Epi LPs. I bought mine new, but you can find them used real cheap.

[Guitarworks]

A local mom & pop shop here had a used Turser Cutlass, which is a singlecut/2 humbucker/stop tailpiece solidbody. It sounded and felt surprisingly good. The action was easy and it was light & comfortable to play. It was trimmed out with some nice features as well - abalone binding and inlays, highly-figured flame cap and gold hardware. A fun little plinker for $200.