Eastwood Guitars JR Elite

cheap nasty guitar

there is no bend on the strings they are crap THESE GUITARS ARE MAD IN CHINA BUT THEY DONT ADVERTISE THIS THE JUST BANG ON ABOUT CANADA

bollocks guitar cost me over ??600 to my door in scotland they say there better than most american guitars i think there pissed

they did not even give me a phone number why? cause they know there ****

It's basically a copy of Johnny Ramone's Mosrite. A single coil in the bridge and a mini humbucker in the neck position. Metal nut and zero-fret. Grover-clone tuners and mismatched tone and volume knobs. It looks pretty authentic.

Well here the problems start. I bought this guitar used and it's whole condition was horrible. Actually it sounded like crap. Thin, shrill, noisy, unbalanced, off and muddy. The bridge pickup was set a centimeter below the strings. Input jack crackles.
I play punk rock. I have played in two bands during the late seventies/early eighties and now at the age of 54 I still play punk rock but now only in my living room... I use a Marshall MG50DFX and a Boss ME50 multi FX.

To be continued at 'action, fit and finish'.

If I have to believe the seller that he didn't changed a thing on this guitar, the setup was very, very bad. At closer inspection it appeared that the bridge was tilted and the metal nut wasn't cut deep enough and therefore 3 strings didn't made contact with the zero-fret causing major scale length, intonation and tuning problems.

The good news is that after 2 days of cleaning, filing and adjusting most of the problems are solved. Intonation is corrected and so is the problem with the nut. The neck was cleaned, the bridge refitted (I also put the string tensioner back in place) and the bridge pickup was adjusted till 2 mm below the strings. What remains is the fact that the pickup still sounds cheap and unbalanced, and that the neck has too much relief for my likings but since I'm not familiar with this particular trussrod construction I am contemplating to bring the guitar to a luthier for a complete overhaul because I am convinced that it has a lot of hidden qualities. In it's present shape the guitar already sounds close to the original and after replacing the pickup by a Dimarzio as used by J.R. I hope that it will become a great guitar.
I won't give a rating since I can't be sure if the seller has spoken the truth or that the guitar has been a victim of some sort of 'forgotten' stage accident...

For me it's to early to say of it would withstand live playing. The crackling input jack on a guitar less than a year old doesn't give much convidence. The finish on the other hand looks good and the tuners work as advertized. The bridge looks a bit flimsy.

Never dealth with.

I play guitar for more than 30 years and I still suck but I can do a pretty good Johnny Ramone. My main guitar is a Gibson SG Standard and it outperforms the Eastwood on all aspects, but it's also more than double the price.(new) I purchased the Eastwood for sentimental reasons (I have seen the Ramones live several times during their begin days) and for playing Ramones covers. After my own setup I am not disappointed and I hope that the hands of a skilled luthier can bring out the best of this guitar. Affordable Mosrite copies are a rare commodity and I am happy that I have finally found one.

Already covered by other reviewers - but the Eastwood website currently states Gotoh hardware, the tuners are not though - they are Korean Grover copies...

Well... as a devotee of the late great Johnny Ramone - with a similar playing technique - it kinda nails it for me! I replaced the bridge pickup with a DiMarzio FS-1. Versatile sounding instrument - even with single volume and tone conrols it produces a wide tonal range. Originally it was fairly noisy, but I've since added some cavity shielding which has improved things. I use this through a Marshall MF350 - gives me all the sounds I need.

The guitar was bought new and came pretty well setup with D'Addario strings played good straight out of the box. The neck and body on this guitar are excellent for me, it was slightly let down by the quality of the pickguard which was a flimsy single ply affair. Since I've had this guitar I have replaced this with a decent pickguard, upgraded some of the internal electrics using switchcraft parts, carried out some cavity shielding and replaced the Korean tuners with Grovers (which are a direct replacement). There is an ugly string tensioner on this model and I see that another reviewer has removed this - I tried and strings kept flying out of the guide. I've since replaced the original string guide (doesn't have a 'nut' as such as it uses a zero fret) with a Mosrite half-round job and got rid of the tensioner - works like a charm. Lovely fretboard (for me) with well finished fretwork. The small white dot inlays on the board were actually partially hidden underneath some 'finish', but I scraped this off the dots and then gave the rosewood a couple of doses of lemon oil - improved appearance no end. Finally, had a decent setup done by our guitar tech.

With a bit of work, a good 'budget' guitar has now become a quality instrument both aesthetically and playing-wise.

I know this guitar is solid and it will be expected to stand up to plenty of live thrashing. Even in its 'straight from factory' guise I would foresee no problems. Hopefully it will 'mellow' nicely with age...
I always gig with a backup - easier to change guitars as opposed to strings!

Mike is excellent - had a few questions which he answered immediately. Just bought another Eastwood from him as well and it arrived in the UK four days after I ordered it!

I've been a muso for too many years - but only started to play guitar 'in anger' during the last five or so years. I play in a indie/pop/punk band and this guitar is going to feature heavily in future gigs and recordings. I've always liked Mosrites but even if I could ever find and afford the real thing, I doubt it would play as well as this does. My main guitar is a beautifully setup Rickenbacker 620, but I keep picking up this Eastwood...

Purchased new from Mike's website.
2006 Model, Made in Korea. Everything was already said about the specifications so i wont repeat. One thing is sure this guitar is a great deal for all Mosrite and Ramones lovers.
Very fast shipment from Canada to Belgium.

Incredible sound, i only use the bridge P.U. and it sounds great. Just like Johnny's Mosrite and certainly even good or maybe better than many other much more expansive Mosrites clones. Try it, it's a real buzzzzz machine!
Some little differences compared to the real one, like the "floyd" and the "roller bridge" but doenst affect the sound quality...

Well set-up out of the case, everything fine adjusted, nothing to say! Great finish and look! Nice lay varnish on the neck.

I think this guitar will last. Everything looks pretty good and heavy enough. This will be my first choice guitar.

Mike was very kind and answered all my questions in short delays.
3 years warranty.
This is my 3rd Eastwood and i'd never had any problem, but i'm sure that Mike should find a solution if there was anything wrong.
I'm completely confident.

I would certainly buy it again.
I also owned 2 Mosrite JR Signature made by Fillmore Japan and i can assure you this one is even well finished and sounds great. I could directly capture Johnny's Buzzzzzsaw sound, the bridge P.U. is a masterpiece for people who wants to play punk rock.
This is my own experience and i'm not part of Mike's business!
You cant have better for that price...And can be easily compared with lot expansiver Mosrite reissues or copies. Maybe better, but this is my point of view!

2005 made in korea
solid alder top, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, small frets
really fast strat type neck
mini humbucker in the neck and a hot single coil strat type pickup in the bridge
Stop Tail piece with a roller bridge
grover type tuners, 3 way switch, 1 tone and 1 volume knob
metal nut
came with hardshell case, allen wrench, cable and a tshirt
well its copy of Johnny Ramones mosrite, it has all the features his has so I gave it a 10

I play punk and some surf and maybe some slayer if no ones looking.
play thru a 50 watt marshall no external effects
If the switch is in the middle or neck position only it has a full rich sound, the tone knob really adjusts the sound alot.
I play it like Johnny did (thru the bridge pickup only)
it has that wonderful snarling, buzzsaw punk sound I could never get

the factory set up was perfect, didnt have to adjust the action or the intonation or anything. pickups and frets were perfect
finish was excellent.

This is a well built guitar. it will definately withstand live playing
hardware and finish etc all seems top notch.
Everything on it is of equal or better quality than my 2004 Korean made Epiphone Les Paul(and I really love my epi)

Mike at Eastwood/myrareguitars.com was friendly and asnwered all my questions (both before and after I bought the guitar)via email in a timely manner.
Has a 3 year warranty
Havent needed any repairs or anyhting.

Been playing on and off for 15 years, also on an epi les paul, used to a gretsch and a gibson sg, sold those years ago.
Definately would get another if lost or stolen.
Over all this this is a really good guitar for a good price.
Its totally differnet from my other guitar and thats what I wanted.
This is some what of a niche market guitar, but its exactly what I was looking for.

Ordered my JR february 2006.It was shipped by UPS in 4 days from Canada to Belgium.It came in the hard shell case with a T-shirt and a (not so usefull) cable.I like the guitar, everything you need is there.At first, I couldn't get a decent sound out of it but I raised the strings a bit and practiced hard on that neck.It took a bit of getting used to for me, but if you work it hard, the sound is incredible.
There is one thing I removed instantly from the guitar.
It's that thing screwed into the headstock, pressing down on the strings. Now I'm left with two tiny holes in the headstock but the guitar works just fine.

I use the JR in a Ramones tribute band (one of 3000 out there, gabba gabba!)and it is fit for the job.I only use the bridge pick up and I think it's just great.I use it on a peavy bandit 112 with no external effects. The guitar produces a bit of background noise when in rest(only with gain, not on the clean channel)but I don't find it disturbing at all.
I love the sound of the JR and the feedback it gives is great.

After I raised the strings, I set out to fine tune the guitar using the roller bridge. To my surprise, it needed no changes.
For the rest, I didn't change one bit.(accept for that horrible thing on the headstock)

I will use the JR to play live.
This is one solid guitar and I am sure it will last.
I wouldn't mind if the finish wears off, this guitar will age beautifully.
This is my main guitar now,I'll be using an Epiphone Les Paul as a back up.(just in case a string breaks)

I got an answer to my e-mail within one day.
That's really amazing.

I have been playing for more than 10 years.
All that time I was lookin for a mosrite like Johnny Ramone's.
Meanwhile, I used 2 Epiphone Les Pauls (standard & custom)
These are also fine guitars but not really suited for that buzz-saw sound.I love everything about this guitar, I am thinking about buying another one (maybe in the year 2027,haha)I would have to get rid of the Les Pauls first.

Purchased online January 2006 (manufactured in Korea probably in late '05) from MyRareGuitars. 22 thin frets like on a Fender Strat. Includes a 3 way toggle pickup selector, single volume knob and single tone control. Has a mini-humbucker in the neck position and a hi-output Eastwood F1 fixed single coil in the bridge position. Passive electronics. Solid Alder body, maple neck and rosewood fretboard. This guitar is a variation on the reissue Mosrite guitar. Solid white finish with black pickguard and nautral headstock. Has a stop tail with adjustable roller bridge. Non locking Grover heavy duty tuners. The neck scale is like a Fender Strat. The neck is somewhere between thin and normal. The dot inlays are small - that's probably the only thing I am not happy with. I like the placement of the dot inlays but they are too small to see on a dark stage. The fretboard side dot inlays are also very small and difficult to see. Even if the side markers only were larger that might help. That is something I did on another Eastwood guitar of mine already and it did help. A hard shell case was included with my purchase. I like it because it's a smaller case and I could probably carry it on a plane rather than have to check it with luggage. I'm not a fan of 'gold' hardware on cases either.

This guitar suits my style because it is very comfortable to play. It didn't capture "my" sound right out of the box because it has a different configuration than my main guitar (a '79 Gibson SG with 2 Classic '57 humbuckers). I wasn't expecting it to because there is a single coil in the bridge position. I was mainly concerned with how the guitar felt when worn, how the neck felt to play and how the guitar resonated. The JR-Elite is well balanced and not heavy like a Les Paul - and it's lighter than my '82 Strat. The body has nice contour and is easy on my right forearm which gets really banged up when I play a Les Paul. I like the thickness of the neck and i'm fine with the thinner frets although i'm used to jumbo's. I think the mini humbucker sounds really great but I didn't love the single coil in the bridge postition. For the style of music I play, I need a humbucker there (so i may swap in a Duncan Little '59 and see how that sounds). But the neck pickup is very warm and full sounding and I was quite pleased with it. Bridge pickup was extremely bright and tinny. I used this guitar through a '90s Vox AC-30 reissue with the Vox blue speakers. Also ran it through a '64 Fender Tremolux with Reverend All-Tone speakers. I can't rate the guitar in the Sound category because i didn't buy it specifically based on the pickup configuration. But I can say that the guitar is very comfortable to play and resonates quite well compared to my other Eastwood (a Hi-Flyer). Definitely more sustain and resonation with this guitar.

From the factory, the guitar setup was decent. The action was a little high for my taste. The neck was straight and the intonation was not far off. Pickups were adjusted accordingly. No flaws with this guitar at all. I had some issues with a different model Eastwood guitar that I purchased last year (the Eastwood Hi-Flyer Ramones model- a few of the frets were not properly 'seated', the nut needed a little work and pickups needed wax potting). There was nothing about this JR-Elite that absolutely had to be done to make it playable - even though I will probably end up doing a few things to it.

I feel this guitar would definitley withstand live playing. My intent is to use this as my main guitar. I wanted to find a comfortable playing, cool looking guitar that didn't cost an arm and a leg - so that in the event damage or theft occurs, i won't be that bad off - i could easily acquire another rather than risk touring with my vintage Gibsons. Time will tell if I am happy with the Grover tuners. So far it has stayed in tune despite aggressive playing. I use Sperzel tuners on all my other guitars so I may upgrade these as well. I will also install Shaller strap-locks. The 3 way toggle switch is a little cheap feeling so I will probably upgrade to a genuine Gibson 3 way toggle.

Haven't had any issues to report so I have not had to contact the manufacturer. I do know that Mike from myrareguitars.com is easy to get ahold of and does reply to emails very quickly. To my knowledge, the guitar is not under warranty.... but i'm sure if there was a problem, Mike would work something out with me to resolve it.

I've been playing for roughly 18 years. I own a ton of guitars, amps and effects - probably have had at least one of everthing at one time or another. The JR-Elite is a great guitar for the price - bottom line. Like all other guitars manufactured overseas, i'm sure Eastwood saves money by using cheaper components - probably why they're able to offer these guitars at such a great price. But I don't think that's a bad thing because the overall quality and craftsmanship is very good compared to imports from 10-15-20 years ago. The most important thing to me was that the guitar had a solid neck and body that was comfortable to play. Everything else can be adjusted, tweaked, upgraded, repaired or replaced to make the guitar play/sound exactly how you want it to. I love the look and feel of it and would definitely buy another one if this were lost or stolen. I may even buy another one just to have as a backup. I am a Ramones fan but that had nothing to do with my purchase decision. The only thing I would like to see is some kind of humbucker in the bridge position as opposed to the single coil. I love Eastwood's new logo on the neck and like the natural neck headstock. Again I can't give an overall rating for the guitar because my reasons for purchasing it are probably a lot different than most people's. But I can say (for the price) it is a great playing guitar that is very comfortable to wear. And the craftsmanship overall is very good. I only wish import guitars were this nice (and as good a value) when I started playing back in the 80's.