J&D Jack and Danny Brothers SH-205

It???s a double cutaway jazz box. Made in Taiwan (I suppose ??? nothing written on it). Rosewood fingerboard, maple set in neck and maple body, fully hollow (no center block) with f-holes. 2 humbuckers, 2 volume and 2 tone knobs, a 3-way switch, and a tune-o-matic type bridge. It came stock with only one strap peg (like an acoustic guitar) so I had to screw in another one. Wish it had a Bigsby and I???m considering adding one.
For some reason this model is not listed on the J&D website, and I haven???t found it anywhere on the internet. It???s very different from the SH-20 model. It???s more similar to the SA-10 or SA-20, the main difference being the double cutaway. In many ways it resembles a Gretsch G5122 DC. Found it on sale, so it was a steal.

With stock pickups the sound is pretty decent. Sure, it???s no Gibson, but with a good amp it honestly sounds much better than you would expect from a cheap Taiwanese instrument. I used to play punk, than I???ve switched to rockabilly and early ska, and now I???m into swing and jazz. I???ve managed to get some useful tones out of this guitar for nearly everything I play.
Anyhow I???ve swapped the stock pickups for a Gibson ???57 Classic/Classic Plus combo, and now this guitar really shines. I can get anything from smooth jazz to AC/DC. It???s fully hollow, so there is quite a lot of feedback on high gain settings, but I manage to keep it fairly under control and I rarely use that much gain anyway. I???m giving it 7 for stock pickups but it deserves a 9 with the new ones.

The factory setup was bad ??? it had acoustic guitar strings. Absurd but easy to fix. The stock tuners are not very good, but it stays in tune if I???m not strumming too hard. I???m planning to change them soon. The plastic parts are cheap and often badly assembled. The pickguard rattled like crazy until I???ve glued in place. But all of this doesn???t matter, because this guitar is just unbelievably comfortable to play. That???s pretty much why I???ve bought it. The quality of wood and finish is astonishing if you consider the price of the instrument. The neck is smooth and attached to the body at such an angle that the whole instrument sort of wraps itself around you when you play it. Actually everything that was ???cheap??? about this guitar could easily be fixed or replaced.

Nothing broken yet, but I???ve only had it for about four months. It???s relatively light and because of that it seems fragile, but after a few gigs it turned out to be quite solid and reliable.

Since I haven???t found any information about this model on any website, I???ve e-mailed J&D with some questions about it but I???ve never got an answer.

To be honest I???ve always believed that all of these guitars made in China, Taiwan, Indonesia or Korea are crap. My main guitar is a 2002 American Fender Tele with Lollar Vintage T pickups. I???m also not the kind of guy who likes having twenty cheap guitars instead of one decent. But when I???ve found this guitar I just fell in love with it and couldn???t resist buying it. It just fits my hand perfectly. I was surprised that it actually has some character and soul whereas most cheapo guitars don???t. I also wanted my second guitar to sound totally different than my Tele but not in a ???modern nu-metal??? way and this one does the job very well. It used to feel cheap at first, but I knew it had potential to be a great guitar, although it did require some work. With all the modifications I???ve made to this guitar I???m giving it a 9, because I???m very pleased with it now.