JPX with Roasted Neck - Any experiences with this model?

[Economista]

I'm seriously thinking about getting one. If anyone here has one please share your experience with it. Pictures are also welcome and appreciated. Only place I know that has them is Guitar Center Platinum.

 

[carydad]

Musicians Friend has it in stock as well.
Music Man John Petrucci JPX 6 with Roasted Neck Electric Guitar | Musician's Friend

 

[Crowyote]

Yes.



It's a great guitar w/ a braod variety of beautiful tones,

I think that the fundamental tone of the guitar is beautiful and robust. The roasted maple definitely lends something incredibly rich to the sound.

However, because EBMM artificially reduces the moisture content by "roasting" it is my experience that the wood seems to take back moisture whenever the humidity changes. I've noted this with my own guitar. On days where it was consistent humidity, the guitar was stable; on days when it rained or was cloudy, the guitar would shift it's tuning a bit. Luckily, I tune my guitar everyday. It's not something that happens while jamming; it happens overnight. I played one at a GC that had not been touched for a few weeks, and it had shifted up a step and half in tuning which threw out the truss rod and made certain frets unplayable.

This is not the reason I'm ebay-ing mine right now, actually. I personally don't like the XJ frets and find the C-like neck shape to get in the way of some of my sweeping runs. I have smaller hands, so that won't effect everyone. Although, I do have a huge stretch-span from years of classical and flamenco playing and I love the width of the fretboard.

I just recently played the Rosewood neck LIII, and now I want to get one of those on my next guitar.

So in other words it's an amazing guitar if it fits you, but you must keep tabs on the tuning stability.

 

[Norrin Radd]

Not sure I'm buying that bit about the humidity affecting the neck due to it being roasted and "drying" out the wood. That evidence is anecdotal at best - and this is the first I've ever heard it. If it were an issue, I'm sure it would have been discussed on the forum previously. All necks are affected by changes in humidity. My experience has been that the older and drier a neck is the LESS it is actually affected by changes in humidity. YMMV.

As for the guitar itself - fantastic instrument. I've played one at our local GC. Not exactly my cup of tea - but I could sure appreciate the quality and awesome tone! Nice thing about buying from GC - 30 day return policy. Try it out!!!

 

[Crowyote]

It's possible that the problem could be binding

I've been told that the problem with my guitar was binding at the nut. My old tech (no longer) did put on 11's and seemed to just assume the nut didn't need to be adjusted: he was just like "eh, it's fine." Hmmmm

Well, I'm not sure if it's binding. Perhaps the graphite of the nut dried out from hanging on the wall at GC for so long. Just in case that's the case, I'm lubing the nut w/ "nut sauce" this week so that the next owner will hopefully avoid this weird issue.

However, this does not explain why the guitar seems to shift in relation to fluctuations in humidity as I've observed. Perhaps if the nut dries out and binds and the humidity shifts, the strings get tighter?

The guitar I played at the GC which went up at a step and a half from standard had been hanging up for nearly a year also. The weird thing is I had played it two months before and it was fine, and when I went in to buy it, I was like: "WTF?!"

 

[Crowyote]

Needless to say . . .

I didn't buy that particular guitar, but another one at a different local GC. It seemed much more stable, and has only experienced slight shifts in tuning from day to day.

 

[Norrin Radd]

When I had a JP, I HAD to have the nut slots widened because I play 10-52 strings. The JP, IMO, is like a high performance sports car - any change from stock MUST be accounted for in the setup. The nut is the source of most tuning stability issues in all guitars everywhere. It's also one of the most neglected areas in guitar maintenance. If you have a tech who thinks its not a big deal when your changing more than one string gauge (you went to .011s, right? Do I recall that correctly?) - then that's a real serious problem. That guitar has the worlds greatest tremolo system on it - but it also is very high performance and also requires everything else on the guitar to be working accurately to properly function.

 

[beej]

I have to say, this is the first time I've heard somebody describe a roasted neck as less stable. I'm not really buying it either.

As I understand it, MM purchases the roasted wood from a supplier (as do Suhr and others who use this kind of wood). Crowyote- information from all of the vendors has indicated that this wood is more stable- it doesn't absorb humidity as you're suggesting.

Even a shifting neck (and I've had a few) usually won't move that much. And you'll know if it moves, b/c you can visibly see the change in relief and know how many turns of the truss rod you'll need to bring it back. What's usually responsible for tuning changes is temperature (a small change can throw things out a lot), and a trem that's not fully stable (including strings binding at the nut as discussed).

 

[Crowyote]

GC is more at fault . . . and my tech.

I do want to make it clear that I am not trying to say anything negative about this model.

It has the best electric guitar tone of any guitar I've played. If it weren't for the XJ frets on mine it would also be the best feeling guitar I've ever played.s

I would also like to believe that roasted maple is more stable since it does add soooo much dimension to the tone of the guitar and it feels more solid.

The problem lies more w/ GC. For instance, the JPX Roasted which had gone up so many steps a at my local GC platinum store might have fallen against it's nut. Another reason I avoided buying it.

All kinds of weird things go on: I went in to test out a JP12-7. I noticed it was tuned way low, so I brought it up to B standard. It felt great while I was jamming, but then I looked at the bridge and it was tilted towards the ceiling. The in-store tech had set it up for dropped A! I quickly tuned it down and gave it back.

I went in to another local GC and found a JP12-6 to test out, and the action was so bad that the neck was out of whack, and I couldn't make a note on the 6th string lower than the 3rd fret. I had them fix it, but still what is going on with these guys?!

Also, both roasted JPX's I've played, including the one I bought had the pre-amp completely maxed out at GC. This is bad news, at least for me. When I bought a brand new Custom Vibro-Champ, it sounded like the speaker was torn or the chassis would erupt when I turned the volume past 3. So, I returned it. Later, I had the preamp adjusted–changed to flat EQ– I went back to the store and the amp sounded fine, no buzzing no erupting.

My own guitar had a couple dings "new" from the store, and the employees were handling it carelessly when I purchased it. At least, it plays and sounds like a dream, but not my dream.

My tech did a great job getting the neck and trem set up for my playing style, adjusting the pre-amp, and put on 11's; but, he shrugged when I asked him about the nut. I brought it in 2 more times about the tuning stability, and he just adjusted the string height and neck relief. This is the local Fender Custom Shop trained guy?! Eventually, he refused to do any more work on it. For adjustments that go outside of stock: Avoid Dallas Guitar Repair like the plague

 

[Crowyote]

Nut Sauce.

I do want to make it clear that I am not trying to say anything negative about this model.

I also want to make it clear that I am not trying to say anything negative about this manufacturer. Although in my first post, I suggested that perhaps the Roasted Maple is not as stable as implied; I do realize this was only a speculation. My speculation came from trusting my former tech, but now I see that he and perhaps GC's carelessness are at fault.

I also want to make it clear I am not boycotting GC. They are a great store, but like any company where the employees are milked by bureaucrats who cut corners-they don't always pay attention to all the details.

On the lighter side, I sauced up my JPX's nut w/ Big Bends Nut Sauce, and it seems to be doing the trick.

When I applied the sauce there was so much dust in the grooves, I had to clean the applicator after each string slot.

My tuning is much more stable now, but should I apply it to the piezo saddles as well? Is this suggested?

 

[Crowyote]

Nut sauce is the cure!

Well day 4 since I applied nut sauce to the nut, and the tuning hasn't shifted a bit even w/ drastically changing humidity conditions.

I've already begun applying it to all my other guitars.

I highly recommend it.

Cheers!