Love/hate relationship with JP6...

[Pott]

I simply LOVE the looks of them, though it took me years to appreciate it. Those curves man... that forearm contour is amazingly comfortable. And those cleans tones... oh my (got a non-piezo version). Hell normally I hate flat necks, but... wow. It's a VERY comfortable guitar.

But the floating bridge, that wide neck, the 3 way toggle switch. ARGH. And the very, very distinct lack of sustain (may just be my own instrument, and I'm spoiled by the Axii and AL HH, but still...).
Well, it's a sig guitar.

I'm selling mine locally, but it pains me to do so. It got so close to being 'there'. That Pearl Redburst finish is downright lusty on such a body. But I just can't play it with all those quirks.

How did y'all deal with this kind of relationships towards your guitars?

 

[FantasyMetal]

I simply LOVE the looks of them, though it took me years to appreciate it. Those curves man... that forearm contour is amazingly comfortable. And those cleans tones... oh my (got a non-piezo version). Hell normally I hate flat necks, but... wow. It's a VERY comfortable guitar.

But the non-floating bridge, that wide neck, the 3 way toggle switch. ARGH. And the very, very distinct lack of sustain (may just be my own instrument, and I'm spoiled by the Axii and AL HH, but still...).
Well, it's a sig guitar.

I'm selling mine locally, but it pains me to do so. It got so close to being 'there'. That Pearl Redburst finish is downright lusty on such a body. But I just can't play it with all those quirks.

How did y'all deal with this kind of relationships towards your guitars?

When I started playing MM I wanted a JP6 so bad, but when I finally got one I didn't care for it because I had grown accustomed to my Morse. Over the years though I have gravitated back to it. I found that over time I got used to the wider neck and I could actually play much cleaner than on my Morse (I have a heavy hand). Also, as for the floating trem (I assume you mean floating, since the JP6 is not hardtail) I've gotten used to that as well, but there are several ways you can make your JP6 dive-only or completely locked. I've used tremol-no's to great effect on floating bridges. Also you could simply block it like Clapton does his strats and like Van Halen does. The three-way toggle is a matter of preference but I think that its actually much more sturdy and reliable than a blade switch. Anyways, to me if the guitar is so aesthetically pleasing and comfortable I would pretty much go to any lengths to adjust to keep it. I hope that it all works out for you though!

 

[Pott]

Been through all this. Even had a tremol-no for a while but didn't like it. I like dive-only trems, or hardtails (good catch there).
I definitely am not keeping it. It's just a frustration with some sig guitars, that they can be so close and yet, it's all outside of our control.

I think I could live with the wider neck... I mean it's VERY comfortable... The biggest gripe is probably the lack of sustain and ability to easily block the trem. But well... that's JP's guitar I guess I'm just ranting; it's a French national pastime.

 

[mikeller]

I never have experienced any lack of sustain on mine - out of curiosity - what gauge strings do you use?

 

[Sigvard90]

I think it's nothing more than getting used to a new situation, according to my experiences.

I've had similar thoughts... Started out playing LP-style guitars and found the JP to be harder to play at first.
But soon, after investing some time in the instrument, noticed that I was playing cleaner, more precisely and "tighter". The JP guitar allowed me to develop my playing skills A LOT. Also I noticed, and this is probably the most important aspect, that I sounded a lot better on recordings as well.

So I think if you do like the sound and looks of the guitar, and it inspires you, it's more than worth it to invest the time and learn to master/tame this unique, incredible instrument! It paid off for me.

Good luck

 

[Pott]

10-46s. Guitar is setup to perfection. No fret buzz, low-ish (by my standards) strings... Sounds very nice; I actually love the JP tone.

 

[Willdfx]

I think my current JP6 is one of the best all around 6 strings I've ever owned. And that goes for all the JP's I've owned. I think they're close to the most balanced and uniform designs ever created. I love everything about the neck carve, and the BFR 15' radius and stainless frets, and the way the body is streamlined literally to my body shape. At first I preferred the feel of my jp7's to the 6's.

 

[Pott]

Yep, that body and playability comfort is quite something! Prior to the JP6 I really didn't like any 'shred' style guitars with wide, thin necks, but the JP6's is just so incredibly comfortable...

 

[uOpt]

The 24 fret design is not a good thing in a plain bolt-on like that. It's very easy to get a guitar with short sustain.

I would take of the neck and make sure that there is no shim in there. And look for other trouble such as paint.

A tremblocker is a cheap and easy fix for the trem even if you don't want to deck it. But decking it is a good thing to try if you don't need the trem and don't think the guitar sustains the way you want to.

However, you say that you really like the sound, especially clean. The clean sound changes if you were to extend the sustain. The shorter (and hence more noticeable) bloom might be an important component of your desired sound.

 

[BUC]

I have an early JP6. Lack of sustain has never been a problem with it.

Playability is tops. As great as any guitar I own. Love the way it fits my body. The pickup selector is in the perfect place for me.

Neck pickup Amazing, bridge pickup amazing, middle position...great for certain things but not really evocative of a strat middle position but great for the more sterile clean stuff that JP uses. For me it sacrifices some combined tones that might be useful in the name of simplicity. But I reiterate that the neck and bridge humbuckers sound fantastic to me.

Mine doesn't fight very hard to come back into tune after a dive. Unlike my Reflexes that snap right back into tune, the JP6 sometimes needs to be yanked back into tune.

I don't gig with mine now because I typically cover too much tonal range. But it frequently finds a voice in my studio because the bridge and neck pickups have such a great voice. It'd definitely a keeper but more of a studio queen right now.

 

[Rachmaninoff]

that wide neck

The JP6 neck is not so wide as you may think. Ibanez and Jackson necks are even wider.

the 3 way toggle switch

I got used to that 3-way switch. The 5-way blade of the JPX, however, is in a very bad position to me.

How did y'all deal with this kind of relationships towards your guitars?

Guitars are like girls... if you're in a love/hate relationship, something is wrong, she's a source of stress. Let her go and find another one.

 

[Pott]

Already been working on it for a couple of months Luxembourg is a small market, even at a low price. As for the neck width, it's a big difference compared to Axii and the AL, which is what I like. Not everything is relative; somethings are entirely subjective.