Got to play a JPX today. GC in Boston just got one in. 2 words: Freakin Killer. The guitar is light as a feather. Unplugged it's loud. Really alive. Plugged in the cleans are stellar. Crunch tones have a nice aggressive bite and high gain sounds are very tight. I played through a mesa Roadster and an Express. Compared to my cherry burst which I brought with me to A/B the JPX is brighter and punchy. I'd say it cuts more and has more bloom and definition than a BFR. Not brittle. Did not try the piezo as it would not have sounded good through a standard guitar amp.
I'm not completely sold on the five-way, and I spent a lot of time flipping from the neck back to the bridge to try to get comfortable with it. IMO the switch is a tad too close to the volume knob when in the bridge position and when it's in the 4th position or neck you're going to bump it if you do any windmills or aggressive strumming. If you like to mix mag sounds with your piezo you might be making contact with it. The angle is nice - in line with picking motion. But you have to pay attention a bit more switching on the fly to positions 2, 3 or 4. That being said the new 5-way does bring some interesting tones to your sonic tool box of sounds.
The finish is absolutely amazing and the black hardware is a nice touch. I've been dying for black hardware for a long time. The frets are bigger but not gigantic compared to the BFR/Standard JPs. Ebony fretboard completes the look.
In short - try one you'll LOVE it!
I'm not completely sold on the five-way, and I spent a lot of time flipping from the neck back to the bridge to try to get comfortable with it. IMO the switch is a tad too close to the volume knob when in the bridge position and when it's in the 4th position or neck you're going to bump it if you do any windmills or aggressive strumming. If you like to mix mag sounds with your piezo you might be making contact with it. The angle is nice - in line with picking motion. But you have to pay attention a bit more switching on the fly to positions 2, 3 or 4. That being said the new 5-way does bring some interesting tones to your sonic tool box of sounds.
The finish is absolutely amazing and the black hardware is a nice touch. I've been dying for black hardware for a long time. The frets are bigger but not gigantic compared to the BFR/Standard JPs. Ebony fretboard completes the look.
In short - try one you'll LOVE it!
