Hi to everyone
I have a problematic situation with a SBMM JP100D.
Problematic in many ways.
A bit of introduction to the situation and to this long email.
I am an over-40 beginner guitar player.
My main guitar for the last year was a SBMM JP70. Kind of a weird thing. Even as an intermediate-beginner, I didn't find any problem playing the JP70 seven string. I actually found it quite the opposite. It is probably one of the most comfortable things I ever used.
Still, I did want a 6 string guitar, too. Tried many brands and models but couldn't find anything close to the feel of the JP70. So getting a 6 string JP seemed like the best solution.
I found a great offer on the internet for a JP100D from a UK shop.
After a week, I had the guitar with me in Prague...
... and it wasn't anything like the JP70. Nothing comfortable about it.
It was by far the most uncomfortable guitar I ever tried.
In order to avoid string buzz and a proper height of the strings, the bridge has to be set so far up that the saddle of the 6th E string is badly cutting in to my strumming hand. That is if I lower the bridge flush and parallel to the body. This is how it's setup on my JP70 and what I found on the internet that is the proper way of setting the JP bridge.
The situation gets a bit better if I raise the bridge and lower the saddles. However, it still cuts into my hand and the bridge is too high. The same as with the other setting.
It feels worse than a non-recessed floyd rose or a Les Paul bridge.
It seems to me that the neck sits in the pocket to high and therefor the bridge needs to be raised.
Anyway, one would say, it is just easy to return the guitar if you don't like it, right?
That is exactly what I did.
Emailed the UK shop my problem and we both agreed that I should just send the guitar back and get a refund.
Unfortunately, once the UK shop received back the guitar, they reported that it is damaged. The body cracked just next to the neck pocket. It happened during transport. So no refund from the UK shop and now I'm trying to sort with UPS the refund (I did insure it for the shipment).
In the meantime, the guitar returned back to me in Prague and now I have to make a use of it.
I took it to a luthier to check the crack and he said it is just a cosmetic crack.
When I asked him to check the bridge height, he said that apart putting a shim in the neck pocket he can’t do much with it. He definitely didn’t want to sand the neck or the neck pocket.
And we get to the point to this long post.
Can anyone with a JP100D please take a look at your guitar and tell me what's your bridge saddle height from the guitar body?
For some reason I can't post pictures that I've taken of my setup.
So here are the measurements of my JP100D as it is now:
- top of the E saddle height from guitar body = approx. 13mm (approx. 8mm on my JP70)
- fretboard (not fret, but the wood) at 24fret height from guitar body = approx. 5mm (approx. 3mm on my JP70)
- E string height from top of 12th fret = approx. 1,25mm
Is it really how the bride has to be setup on the JP100?
Or, is the guitar really faulty and I could try to fix it by sanding the neck pocket?
Or, there is nothing wrong with the JP100D but I do have a faulty JP70 and I like it
Thank you
I have a problematic situation with a SBMM JP100D.
Problematic in many ways.
A bit of introduction to the situation and to this long email.
I am an over-40 beginner guitar player.
My main guitar for the last year was a SBMM JP70. Kind of a weird thing. Even as an intermediate-beginner, I didn't find any problem playing the JP70 seven string. I actually found it quite the opposite. It is probably one of the most comfortable things I ever used.
Still, I did want a 6 string guitar, too. Tried many brands and models but couldn't find anything close to the feel of the JP70. So getting a 6 string JP seemed like the best solution.
I found a great offer on the internet for a JP100D from a UK shop.
After a week, I had the guitar with me in Prague...
... and it wasn't anything like the JP70. Nothing comfortable about it.
It was by far the most uncomfortable guitar I ever tried.
In order to avoid string buzz and a proper height of the strings, the bridge has to be set so far up that the saddle of the 6th E string is badly cutting in to my strumming hand. That is if I lower the bridge flush and parallel to the body. This is how it's setup on my JP70 and what I found on the internet that is the proper way of setting the JP bridge.
The situation gets a bit better if I raise the bridge and lower the saddles. However, it still cuts into my hand and the bridge is too high. The same as with the other setting.
It feels worse than a non-recessed floyd rose or a Les Paul bridge.
It seems to me that the neck sits in the pocket to high and therefor the bridge needs to be raised.
Anyway, one would say, it is just easy to return the guitar if you don't like it, right?
That is exactly what I did.
Emailed the UK shop my problem and we both agreed that I should just send the guitar back and get a refund.
Unfortunately, once the UK shop received back the guitar, they reported that it is damaged. The body cracked just next to the neck pocket. It happened during transport. So no refund from the UK shop and now I'm trying to sort with UPS the refund (I did insure it for the shipment).
In the meantime, the guitar returned back to me in Prague and now I have to make a use of it.
I took it to a luthier to check the crack and he said it is just a cosmetic crack.
When I asked him to check the bridge height, he said that apart putting a shim in the neck pocket he can’t do much with it. He definitely didn’t want to sand the neck or the neck pocket.
And we get to the point to this long post.
Can anyone with a JP100D please take a look at your guitar and tell me what's your bridge saddle height from the guitar body?
For some reason I can't post pictures that I've taken of my setup.
So here are the measurements of my JP100D as it is now:
- top of the E saddle height from guitar body = approx. 13mm (approx. 8mm on my JP70)
- fretboard (not fret, but the wood) at 24fret height from guitar body = approx. 5mm (approx. 3mm on my JP70)
- E string height from top of 12th fret = approx. 1,25mm
Is it really how the bride has to be setup on the JP100?
Or, is the guitar really faulty and I could try to fix it by sanding the neck pocket?
Or, there is nothing wrong with the JP100D but I do have a faulty JP70 and I like it
Thank you
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