Sterling JP60 review

[bryanarzaga]

i decided to get one after testing one in gc and seeing the metallic black finish quality, memorial day discount was added in but whatever..

things i like about it is the weight, the body resonates very well, neck shape is small but its comfy, frets are bigger (6100 sized) compared to the jp50 (i do like that all black jp50 ill probably get one to tinker around)..the locking tuners, stainless steel saddles, thick steel trem block, longer trem spring route(very important) and full floating non locking trem.

comes with a padded gig bag, tools, stickers etc..

its really hard to get a good photo of this finish





out of the box it was supposed to be 'setup' from orange county ca, that doesnt mean its done completely right..intonation was way off for some strings..(not slighlty but way off), thats not an issue..

frets, no buzzing but had some ruggedness to some of the crowns..had to burnish those off. the sides are not beveled at 45 degrees like most imports are done, its around 60-65 so if you like to round it off like a some of the j.custom or suhr frets its doable with what you have here..

the nut, its cut for 9-42's, so if you drop in 10-45's, so string gauges 26,36,45 (d,a,e) need to be reslotted a bit to accommodate that

pickups, sound good clean but not much sensitivity compared to like dragonfire screamers..but you could tweak the poles to change the response a bit..doesnt do metal

other that those here's what you need to watch out for..

here's the bridge intonated and what not, check the high e saddle..





its too close to the pivot..but its the right location where the note rings true..all is good if you just do trem flutters/simple vibrators and whammy up on the trem..

but when you do dive bombs..



the pivot pushes the saddle back..

causing the screw to pop-out.. and one of the screw threads getting caught with the hole(the your out of tune)..or when it doesnt get stuck there it causes a 'kink' sound,

[bryanarzaga]

i sent this to sterling support and am waiting for some thing..a 9GAG response is ok too LOL

but between this, a gary kramer crusader deluxe or a rasmus m100/s100(yeah im putting the 900$ rasmus in this), it falls short..

[jupe123]

nice review. i was actually looking at that guitar for awhile but seeing as how it has a couple of flaws, i guess i can scratch it off my list of to get 

[Gunslinger]

Didn't see that coming. This is a high-end guitar right? Shouldn't it be properly setup right out of the box (or shop)? For $900, you're not getting your money's worth. That high E string saddle.. Pfft..

Inbox full sir bryanarzaga. Trying to send you a PM.

[bryanarzaga]

nice review. i was actually looking at that guitar for awhile but seeing as how it has a couple of flaws, i guess i can scratch it off my list of to get 

yep, anyway to help

its either they would make the pivot post smaller, or stupid fix to grind it

but the proper fix is to move just a few mm closer so that when intonating you would be moving the saddles away from the bridge pickup..

Didn't see that coming. This is a high-end guitar right? Shouldn't it be properly setup right out of the box (or shop)? For $900, you're not getting your money's worth. That high E string saddle.. Pfft..

Inbox full sir bryanarzaga. Trying to send you a PM.

its not a high end guitar..its a 545$ (well i paid a 100$ less) but this is a functionality design issue, the $900 rasmus or $500 gary kramer crusader doesnt have these issues.. and also the 225$ full floating schecter vintage series(which has the same trem style but not the stainless steel saddles)

[Gunslinger]

I see. 'Coz I tried searching for other reviews, said they paid $850 for it. Guess it's not high-end. So what are your plans for fixing the pivot post / high E saddle?

[bryanarzaga]

I see. 'Coz I tried searching for other reviews, said they paid $850 for it. Guess it's not high-end. So what are your plans for fixing the pivot post / high E saddle?

ah the 850 one is the jp100, if its using the same template...then you're more likely to encounter it..

as far as plans, none yet, but i could use dupont around the screw hole so that it doesnt lock up there, or not use the trem(ugh)..

ill wait for what sterling support says though..

[shredmaestrobri]

thanks for the review! hope sterling does a 7 string version.

[rowley75]

better off with a second hand musicman..

[spankyrigor]

Is there an EBMM JP60 version? i wonder if it has the same problem.

FWIW I got a chance to try a Sterling JP60 in HK a few weeks back. It sounded great, plugged straight into Marshall JCM2000 (heh heh) and I thought the stock pickups were mighty decent. It was on sale (Php21k? 18k? I forget). I was tempted to leave with it, but I was dead set on leaving with a 7string that day (another 6 string guitar would've been a step in the wrong direction. Oh well the search continues).

What else.. oh yes the body was very resonant, but then I also picked another JP60 that had a lot of dead spots on the neck. so i guess pipiliin mo pa rin talaga. But that goes without saying. 

[rowley75]

Is there an EBMM JP60 version? i wonder if it has the same problem.

FWIW I got a chance to try a Sterling JP60 in HK a few weeks back. It sounded great, plugged straight into Marshall JCM2000 (heh heh) and I thought the stock pickups were mighty decent. It was on sale (Php21k? 18k? I forget). I was tempted to leave with it, but I was dead set on leaving with a 7string that day (another 6 string guitar would've been a step in the wrong direction. Oh well the search continues).

What else.. oh yes the body was very resonant, but then I also picked another JP60 that had a lot of dead spots on the neck. so i guess pipiliin mo pa rin talaga. But that goes without saying. 

imo, it's the EBMM JP6..

[bryanarzaga]

thanks for the review! hope sterling does a 7 string version.

i hope they bridge positioning issues before they do that,

im still waiting for a response

[Pfizer]

How does the trem compare to the EBMM version?

[bryanarzaga]

How does the trem compare to the EBMM version?

what do you mean?

the ebmm jp? those are all piezo equipped so they arent the same. but as far as pushing the saddle, no clue ..there's a couple varaibles that could potentially make that happen



anyway

i've been doing a couple pivot posts comparison between my 2 pivot non locking trem guitars and it seems the wilkinson pivot post has the smallest head ,so i might try fitting it in and see if it works

[iccurtepnhoj]

IMO....hindi properly setup un guitar......


ito nga pala un sa jp6

[rowley75]

IMO....hindi properly setup un guitar......


ito nga pala un sa jp6

imo, bryan set it up properly already..

[pao2pao16]

EBMM John Petrucci guitars has the same problem with the bridge. Saddles get pushed when doing dive bomb. Google some pics or some forum members above already posted pics. However, can always be adjusted with perfect intonation. Mine has perfect intonation and it doesn't touch the pivot anymore.

Moreover, that version of the bridge on the petrucci guitars are discontinued. Musicman has improved the bridge. It was introduced on the JPX or the JPXI I believe and now used on all petrucci guitars.

See Ebay pictures

Older version


New version





Like I said, the old version can be adjusted to avoid the issue with perfect intonation. Musicman probably just improved the old version for cosmetic reasons and least on technical purposes. I think it's not a problem since it stayed that way for more then 10 years already.

[bryanarzaga]

IMO....hindi properly setup un guitar......

how so?, out of the box it wasnt some areas where sharp and flat at the fretboard up, now using the MM like most guitars uses the 12th fret open string/pressed 12fret octave comparison way of setting its intonation

i.e http://www.music-man.com/faq/music-man-guitars/how-do-i-set-the-intonation-on-my-guitar.html

its basically a no-brainer to setup, unless you tell me the way i've been doing it with all my guitars has been incorrect, i also tried just to see maybe if i just visually move it further from the neck it would just compensate, nope notes where too sharp in comparison to the rest of the notes from the other string

@pao, i wouldnt even expect ebmm's to have a majority of issues..its a given that it shouldnt..however with import counter parts thats different though,

its nice that your version of the jp has a different type of bridge..i just pulled that BFR photo of out the EBMM site

intonation again is affected by string length(i'll remove the scale length,fret spacing variable here), so its the distance between the nut and bridge and compensated using the saddles, if you look at you ebmm saddles with piezo inserts, that right there affects the distance of the string..

[bryanarzaga]

hey all,

here's what sterling support had to say

Bryan,
Thanks for your email and pictures. I do understand the problem and if your guitar intonation is correctly set, then the only modification is to install a slightly shorter High E saddle. This will give aprox 0.5 - 1 mm extra space in front of the saddle so it doesn't touch the post.

USA made Music Man JP6's also had similar issue with some models and they eventually redesigned the bridge, they moved the post out of the way of the High E saddle and this allowed the High E saddle to remain in the current position.

If you'd like to try one of these modified saddles, let me know and I'll send some out this week.

Best Regards,

ill be testing these modified high e saddles

[Gunslinger]

Guess they'll be sending you the modified saddle for free. (?)

[bryanarzaga]

Guess they'll be sending you the modified saddle for free. (?)

yes

[free2rock]

Guess they'll be sending you the modified saddle for free. (?)

They better. It's a design flaw.

[bryanarzaga]

I got the modified saddles yesterday (2pcs)

they basically machined the front of the saddle, and it works perfectly..

photo below shows the trem in dive mode, it barely touches the pivot, saddle screw doesnt pop out anymore



i also adjusted the hexpoles of the bridge pickup and it gave it a bit more mids, so i dont see replacing it any time soon.

its high now stays in tune/no 'kink' sound when using the trem,

[Rmansh]

so u took pics while u dive bomb...........mad skills u got there 

[Gunslinger]

so u took pics while u dive bomb...........mad skills u got there 

Multi-tasking.