Jay Turser JT-142

I own the 2004 model of this guitar in left handed. Mine is the trans. red with gold finish. 2 humbuckers, and a nice, figured, floating tail piece. The sides are bound and it is a set neck.

I bought this guitar because I was looking for a fat jazz sound for playing Christmas gigs where I find myself covering all of those big band standards. It came with flat wounds and was everything I was looking for. Full tone, not noisy at all, smooth action. The neck pick-up was a little anemic, but I fixed all of that by dropping in a set of Gibson humbuckers. Now this thing will drill anything out there for just a small additional investment. My total outlay is about $700 and there is nothing short of a custom Gibson or DeArmond that can touch it for sound.

I have not found any finish issues. Color is deep and rich and fit and finish are very clean. I have seen many top dollar guitars with poorer finishes than this.

Evrything on the guitar seems sturdy. However, at one point I dropped the guitar and broke one of the tuning machines. I was unable to match the hole pattern and eventually had to settle for a new set of Grover tuners and had to drill out new holes. But the breakage was my fault, not the manufacturer.

I have been playing for 30 years and have gigged with everything out there, Strats and Tele's (both copies and the real thing), Les Pauls (copies, Epiphones and Gibsons) as well as a variety of acoustics including Martin's and Taylor's. This is a solid, good guitar at a ridiculous low price.

This is a 2004 made some where in the far east. has been slightly modded out. Looks alot like a grestch. excellent build and finish.

I recieved it with the mods already done...thats why I purchased it. I have liked the JT finish but not the electronics. Will discuss the mods in the following sections

its great with the mods. Gone are the factory pu and swithches and tuners. It now has SD Phatcat p-90's shaeller locking tuners and all new volume and tones as well as a new master volume. The sound will rip your face off. This is #8 in my collection and i can get a lp or strat sound out of it as well as the wonderful p90 sound that I love o so much. Basically the only thing stock it the bridge.
Currently running it through one of the following...a fender princten chorus, an 83 Randall rg 80 sc(ya thats the badass one) and a fender automatic se...have to get a tube next

everything had been redone to make this a pro player..even had new frets and polishing..the guys who did get an AAAAAAA+++++++++

its built well...being an amatuer woodworking it very well put together

JT support sucks ass..trying to get a hardshell for it they wont return my messages or a friend of mine who is a dealer. The need to get their heads out of their backside and start paying attention

been playing 20 years...currently have a lp, strat, tele, telestar, ovation, arbor, the jt and I just sold my epi. I do lots of research before buying anything...was burned on my first guitar I bought and havent made the same mistake since

Double cut-away, 3" hollowbody, H/H pick-ups. Mine is tobacco sunburst. Gold hardware.

I oought this for jazz. Wanted a nice jazz box but didn't want to invest a lot of money. (I already own a Gibson LP custom, a mexican strat, and a Schecter c1 - Classic) Read good reviews on the Turser and bought one on Ebay for $275. The sound is fantastic! It came with 10's but I quickly put on a set of flat wound 12's and the tone is great. The bridge PU is bright and punchy, with just a bit of an edge when driven hard. the neck PU is smooth and woody, but very clear and responsive (NOT muddy at all!). And the combination tone is beautiful. The more I play it, the more impressed I am at the quality of the sound. The tone and volume pots are very responsive and quiet.

I bought this used. the guy I bought it from played slide, so the action was a bit higher than I wanted. New strings, very minor truss and bridge adjustments, and it is now set up great. There are a few minor cosmetic flaws, and one small ding on the back. Some excess glue around the binding of the f holes, and the pick guard is a bit cheesy (I may take it off anyway). None of this is noticable from more than a foot or two away. Gold hardware is holding up, but I don't gig with this guitar so I'm not sweating all over it like my Les Paul and Schecter. For the price, it is a great looking guitar.

It's a hollow body so it needs a little more TLC than a strat. Everything seems good so far.

N/A

Great Jazz Box! I've played $2000 Gibsons and there is not much difference in sound and certainly not $1700 worth of difference in finish. I was sceptical going in and hoped I was making a bad purchase, but I'm now a Turser fan. I may pick up one of their Hoffner style guitars - they look fun.

This JT-142 is a 2005 purchased at this year's NAMM conference by a guitar seller from Franklin, TN. I purchased it over eBay from him.
This guitar, like so many others today was I believe, made in Korea. Has a 3-way pickup switch (loose from shipping - I tightened it with no problem), 2 volume and two tone knobs. The pickups are no-names as far as I can tell but seem to be humbuckers and sound good to me. Who knows what kind of wood was used here - I imagine at the price they list for it's not plywood but it's probably not a super high quality wood either. The guitar is fairly light (it is a hollowbody after all) so my guess is maple. The finish I have is tobacco sunburst but has a little more of a golden-orangey tone to the color that I like. The wood grain comes through nicely front and back and has a mild tiger-stripe to it. The cream binding is a nice touch and the lacquer seems thick enough although not flawless - there are several spots on the double cutaway body (front, back and sides) that could have been finished better but I did not expect miracles at $255.
The rosewood neck is decked nicely with rectangular mother of pearl fret markings filled with an inverted triangle of abalone - very attractive. So far the tuners seem to keep the guitar in tune although one of them was immediately noticable to me as being askew. Upon investigation I could see and feel that it was slightly loose and required only moving back into place tightening with a small phillips head screwdriver. The neck is a nice width for med-large female hands (mine!) and I'm pretty happy with how it feels in them. The hardware is gold (which I'm sure in time will rub and fade off) and really looks great against the finish. I am quite disappointed in the pickguard, however, and can see that it is a cheesy single ply, not secured very well to the body and will ultimately be replaced.
My seller included a hardshell case that was not top of the line but again, at $255 I didn't feel cheated when I could see that the tolex on it was a little bubbled in places.

With the loose tuner, cheap pickguard and finish flaws I wasn't sure what I had gotten into (I had done quite a bit of research on Jay Tursers before committing to one) but when I plugged it in and started to get serious with playing it I was VERY HAPPY! I am new to hollow-bodies and wanted one to learn jazz styles and rockabilly sounds. This guitar definitely is well-suited to both!! I love the lead (down) position sound that gives a great rockabilly twang while the rhythm (up) position is nice and buttery with a deepness to the natural bass from. The center position makes a nice combination from both pickups and the tone controls work well to adjust it all to your liking. I was afraid that the bigger (wider than I wanted) box would give me too much of a boominess to the overall sound but whatever they did inside (it does have a center block) made it not too much but not too little either. As I stated earlier in this section, I am new to hollowbodies but could tell immediately the difference that a hollowbody gives to the natural sound "emptiness" that makes this type of guitar a great blues/jazz machine. This guitar sounds very nicely "buttery" to me. I am currently driving it through a VOX Pathfinder 15W reverb-tremelo amp as well as a Crate 60W acoustic amp. I like the sound of the acoustic amp better. There is no rattling, no extra noise from the pots or switch, and no hum whatsoever from the guitar. For an inexpensive guitar it sounds fabulous!

The guitar needed no set-up, the seller had D'Addario strings put on it. Other than the finish flaws mentioned earlier I had no problem with how this guitar looked and sounded out of the case/shipping box. I may lower the action slightly at a later time.

I will be using this guitar for studio work almost exclusively but would have no qualms about taking it on the road. The strap buttons seem fine, the hardware (other than the cheesy pickguard) should be fine and I would think that I could depend on the axe wherever I use it. Gig without a backup? I've been playing live in many, many different situations and venues for 30 years and I have yet to play with a backup or know anyone who does. I've always wondered what all of you Harmony Central reviewers do with your equipment to think you could "never gig without a backup!" Where do you guys play regularily that you can afford a decent backup anyway - Madison Square Garden???

Haven't needed them yet.

As I said earlier, I've been playing 30 years professionally. I'm more of a keyboard/piano player than a guitarist but know a decent guitar when I see and play one. My guitar experience is mostly on bass but I can tell that I will love this guitar for a long, long time. I looked at the Epiphone AlleyKat/Wildkat as well as the , I researched the Carlo Robelli hollowbodies, and even thought about the Ibanez Artcore (I really wanted a hollow with a REAL Bigsby - even if I never used it they look soooo cool!) but thought I could get a decent guitar and a low price with a Turser. I researched Tursers here at Harmony Central and played a Colonel at a local music store and figured that I couldn't go very wrong with one of the JT hollowbodies. If this guitar were stolen I would be VERY upset (I've had guitars stolen before and it totally sucks!!) but get over my upset when I filed an insurance claim and went out to get another Jay Turser JT-142. If you want a really decent hollowbody at a very decent price give this guitar a try. If you're too dissappointed you're either too picky or a guitar snob. Either way go ahead and spend more than twice as much on a Gibson - you wouldn't be happy with anything else anyhow...

Double cutaway archtop, 3.5" deep, similar shape as a 335 but not quite as wide. Twin humbuckers, gold sealed tuners, trapeze tailpiece. Non-floating tune-o-matic bridge. Full 5-ply binding, nicely done. 22 frets, nice MOP inlay work. 1-9/16 nut, 24.75" scale length. Big hands should probably not apply. Made in China?

Use this mainly for jazz. It can produce a nice range of tones from mellow to bright. Both pickups work well with decent definition. Tone controls are also fairly responsive with good range. Don't really feel the need to swap out pickups at this time. Have D'addario 12-52 flatwounds on it. String to string balance isn't perfect, but for the money it is more than acceptable. Despite its thickness, this is a semi-hollow guitar that has a small 3" x 1" block just before the bridge connecting the top to the back. Therefore feedback is not as much of a problem as with a full hollowbody.

This is a slightly used guitar. Action was fine but it required intonating. Fit and finish is amazingly good. Controls are solid and silent. Nice tobacco sunburst finish. Only complaint, as is common with many archtops, is a slight resonant ringing between the bridge and the trapeze tailpiece. Also, mine came with a cheap single-ply pickguard, which I am replacing.

Very substantial instrument, seems built to last. I would gig it w/o a backup.

Emailed Turser about obtaining a case and they responded the next day.

Been playing for 40 years. Have many solid body guitars in addition to a Washburn J6 jazzbox. Was looking for a smaller jazz guitar with better access to the upper frets. Was considering many 335 type instruments but most lacked the mellowness of a full body. The JT-142 fit the bill. It's a unique instrument that's well made for the price.

Made in China, Nice blue finish, action seems nice, double cut away, left handed got it off of e-bay for $230 includes shipping. It was used, advertised as a 134, but when I checked it was a 142. No case and it won't fit in conventional cases, about a quarter inch to wide. stays in tune, put some markely blue strings on it.2 tuners 2 volume 3 way switch, 2 pickups, looks like some kind of humbucjers.

good for lead or rythym it can wail or play backup stuff

I had to make a few adjustments for a couple of string heights and adjust the length on a couple to get the twelfth to match the open string when tuning. It's lightweight, the wood seems ok, craftmanship good. I'd rather see some stuff made stateside, iinstead of sending all our manufacturing jobs overseas.

Had it a couple of months, not sure on longevity. seems as good as any other for under $800 (hollow body)

other than trying to find a reasonable price hardcase, I haven't used any customer service.

A few years now, playing
no case
I would get another
solid sound at a cheap price
you can see a block of support would in the cutaway and the fingerguard looks a little weak on the support over the f-hole
I play bass on a american deluxe fender jazz with a mesa 360 out of a 4x10 ampeg and a 2x12 earcandy cabs.
I play guitar for refining finger placement and speed and also song development.

Full hollow body, flame (probably photo flame) top, dual humbuckers. Very beautiful guitar for the money.

I've played many, many guitars, from nice Gibsons, to Epiphones etc. For the money, this guitar is amazing. Pickups are far better than Epiphones, and while not 'top of the line', as good as most players will ever need. I'm quite pleased, and honestly, surprised at how good they sound. For the money - a 10. Overall, an 8.

For a guitar in this price range, action fit and finish are outstanding. Some 'very' minor swirls/scratches - if I had spent 2k, I might take notice, but for $300 - WOW - awesome! If anything, the action is a bit too low. Some fret buzz for 1st position bar chords, notiong a few minor tweaks won't fix. pickups and switches are very quiet, no hum, and overall, hardware is easily better than epiphones, and won't make you want to replace it with Gibson parts! (perhaps the nut) Intonation is off very slightly (but I'm being picky, it was as good as any factory setup). Overall - I am VERY impressed.

Seems pretty solid to me. Only time will tell. Tuners are very nice, stays in tune very well, not like cheap Epiphone crap. The case that I got with it is less than impressive - reasonable, and somewhat solid, but it doesn't 'fit' the guitar, so it slides around a bit, and it had a broken latch when I got it (screws/nails came out of back hinge) - nothing that can't be fixed, but that is the only negative I have.

Just got it - haven't needed customer support

I've been playing for more than 20 years. I'ved owned or played plenty of fine guitars, and this one is hands down THE best DEAL you will EVER find in a guitar. I would absolutely buy another, no doubt. I may in fact buy some other models of Turser.

Trust me - you owe it to yourself to check out Jay Turser guitars.

You would have to spend at least three times as much to find another brand that looks, plays and sounds as good.

For the money, an absolute 10 (or 12, or 13) Overall - a very solid 8 to 9 depending on how picky you are! It's no Heritage, but damn, you can't beat this deal.

dual cutaway. dual pickups. 3 inch deep ES-335 body style electric archtop with laminated top. bound everything. Block neck inlays. small top to bottom block beneath the bridge, otherwise fully hollow. made in china.

Excellent electric sounds from both pickups. nails both jazz and blues tones perfectly. very quiet. a real winner in this area for the price. no real "acoustic" feel to this box. must be plugged in to enjoy playing.

factory setup was ok. top is flamed or perhaps photo-flame, though it looks like real wood up close. sunburst paint job and finish is better than I expected for the price. frets are medium. intonation is good.

here's where it may fall short. neck moved around lots the first couple months as temp and humidity changed. It's been on a hanging stand out of the case so the wood cures straighter. seems to have settled down after 4 months but too soon to say. jack loosened up within a week, and so far one pot has come loose. There are resonant wood vibrations occuring that could be from poor glue joints inside.

Been playing 30 years. Took a chance on this - wanted a Heritage H-550 type jazz box. It has the sound, has the look, plays well, but for how long? the quality of the woodworking is the great unknown here. It may be a player for 50 years, or may be a lovely wall ornament in just two or three - too soon to say. If they have the patience to carefully choose and season their woods then they'd have some fine instruments. Local dealers will not likely carry this line as it would undercut other lines which cost more and are thus more profitable for them, so you're probably stuck with on-line ordering. This is a much better sounding and smoother playing box than some comparably marketed cheap Ibanez/Epiphone/Samick guitars I've tried, but only so long as it holds up. I hope it does.

This is a Chinese manufactured, 3 in. thick jazz guitar that looks like a fat Gibson ES-330. 2 humbuckers, 2 tone and 2 volume controls and a 3 way switch. For this price you expect cheap, bottom of the barrel stuff......but with this guitar you get middle of the barrel stuff. Good solid hardware (gold). Nice pearl (fake?) inlays on the neck. Whatever they are they look alot better than inlays on guitars I paid a heck of a lot more for. Tuners are good....real solid. Scale is 24 3/4" and its a full hollowbody. Mine is Tangerine Orange in color ( it looks FANTASTIC )

They sound like stock humbuckers. The bridge pickup sounds kinda cool actually. Lots of grind, but not shrill at all. If I was to stick a Duncan orDimarzio in this guitar I'd be tempted to just update the neck pickup and leave the other one alone. I just don't think I could get a better rock sound out of it....maybe different, but not better. It has a cool grind to it. The humbuckers are medium to slightly high output. I like the neck pickup on a hollowbody to really sing and get syrupy, especially with a little distortion. This one doesn't sing enough for me. I'm going to look for a P-90ish pickup I can drop right into the humbucker hole. It'll sound better....kinda like that Epiphone Casino sound. People say full hollowbodys feed back real easy. Not this one so much. I'm sure it will if you're standing in front of a Marshall stack....but through my Vox and my Behringer cranked, you really have to push it hard. It isn't what I'd call "super-touchy" as far as feedback goes. Clean it sounds fine...not unbelievably great...but, hey....look at the price!

The neck was set up perfectly and is straight as an arrow. I've played alot of Epiphones (Sheratons, Korean Casinos, a John Lennon Casino) and I used to have a Gretsch hollow body.....and this one is as good as any of them or better as far as how it feels. The flame looks fine. No problems with the bridge. Tailpiece vibrates just slightly on certain notes. It doesn't seem to come through the amp at all though. The action on it is good...I'm sure there is a really skilled guy somewhere who could make it even better....but for the price, its as good as you could ask for or expect. If I was Gretsch or Epiphone, I'd be worried about this product....for $250 to $300 you get the equivalent of a $600 Epiphone at least.

The guitar, tuners, and hardware seem real solid. The switch doesn't seem as cheap as less-than-$500 guitars I've purchased in the past. I would never use it without a backup though....I just don't trust switches and electronics (I could tell you stories). Everything feels real solid,though, in all fairness to this company. Its not their fault I refuse to trust any guitar. Strap buttons are very solid. Finish seems very durable. The guitar is not as light as you would expect a full hollow body to be....so my guess is that its some pretty hefty laminated maple holding the thing together.

Mark Curtis on ebay handled the whole transaction perfectly. I've never dealt with JayTurser, so I don't know how that would go. Hope I never have to find out. I'm not sure what the normal warrantee is on these.

I've been playing since I was 13....I'm now 46. I own alot of guitars and basses...too many to list. I was stunned by the beauty of this guitar and the quality I got for the price. Its not perfect.....but man-o-man is it worth the money!Right before I bought this one I purchased a total of three Epiphone Casinos (one was a John Lennon.)They all went back with flaws and problems. The only thing I think is better about the Casinos than this guitar is the weight. Casinos are alot lighter and easier on the back. For the money, Jay Turser seems to have Epiphone beat in alot of ways. Those Chinese are amazing. I'd buy another one of these in a minute if I lost or damaged this one. I'm giving it a 10 because it a fantastic value for the money. If I'd have paid $100 more, I'd still be happy. I hope I can find a case for it. A vibrato (Bigsby type) would have been cool....I might still put one on.

The JT-142 I own is brand new, made in the U.S.A.,with 23 frets, solid top, and with volume and tone controls. The finish on it is a reddish-brown to yellow sunburst. It is the guitar itself; no other accessories. It features vintage humbuckers, along with a double cutaway.

The guitar itself has a deep bass sound at heart, but when switched to only the lower pickup and adjusting the volume, it goes from slow jazz to hard rock in a "playing possum" manner like no other instrument I have ever played. When used with regular reverb, it creates a rich, natural bluesy tone, but when attached with death metal destortion, it becomes a lethal machine of hard rock unlike most. In all, the sound/tone is remarkibly suttle, but can cut through even the raunchiest of rock guitars.

I bought it at my local music shop, where I had played already several times, and enjoyed the feedback it delivered. It stayed on the shelf,I was told, for over a year, and they believed that it had fret problems. For this reason, they were reluctant to sell it, but with heavy persuasion, they agreed to, dropping $70.00 off the charge in the process. I brought it home, where I tuned it, adjusted the bar, and retuned it. It played beautifully. In my opinion, they let a true catch slip through their fingers. Why it sat on the shelf for so long I don't know. But it's MINE now.

The hardware seems to have been maticulously hand-crafted,using only the best electronics to power it's double humbucker layout without a fault. The finish seems to look like it was made to last. I would not recommend this guitar for those who merely looking to play acoustic ballads. This more along the line of the blues, jazz, and slow/fast rock players group.

Probably a 2002 model - Bought in 1/2003
Flame-top tobacco sunburst model - It is close to a Gibson ES-150DC model with a change in placement to the three-way selector switch and no master volume control
Gold hardware - The ad quoted the tuners as being Gotoh's (who knows?) - whatever they are, they stay in tune great.

I gotta say it - Out of the five guitars I currently own, this one sounds the best. I own two Carvin Bolt models (1 bought, 1 built by me), an Ovation Balladeer bought in 1982, and a Hamer Strat model that I completely gutted and replaced with all humbuckers and new electronics. I amp them all through a Carvin BelAir 50 watt tube amp with two 12" speakers. The JT-142 has a deep, ballsy sound that echoes the old days of sixties San Francisco sounds and has the versatility to take you to the smoothest jazz ever played. It is probably one of the quietest (electronically) guitars I've ever owned. Absolutely no hum of any kind. Caution: This is a TRUE acoustic guitar with two humbuckers & controls mounted in the soundboard. It can and will feed back when pushed too hard or faced wrong when too close. Other than that, a dream to play.

When I first opened the box, my first impression was, "OH MY GOD!" I don't know how the Chinese did it, but they captured the look and feel of a Mercedes guitar for a Hyundai price. The strings were WAY out of tune upon receipt (so what?) - After tuning, I checked the intonation and action. The intonation was set up perfectly. The action was geat except for one fret slightly buzzing. I promptly took the strings off, got out the 6" straight-edge and found the culprit. After filing for 1 minute, sanding with 600 grit for 2 minutes, and rubbing down ALL the frets with 0000-grade steel wool and "Never-Dull" (another 10 minutes), I ended up with a neck and fretboard that I would compare with any $2000 Gibson. It was during this process that I also noticed a strange rattling sound coming from inside the guitar. I shook the guitar until the object that was banging around inside was visible through the f-hole. It turned out to be a piece of Chinese newspaper that was hardened with either lacquer or poly-urethane. I had to ease it out with a claw retrieving tool. Beware of Chinese newspaper. Anyway..., the hardware all looked good. When applying the finish, they really captured the look of aged binding. It has that tanned/yellow tinge that looks so good on a sunburst finish. The actual finish had zero flaws. The colors, binding application, and final finish are all immaculate. I'm deducting a couple of decimal points for the fret and the newspaper fishing trip. Nah, never mind, it was all kind of fun.

This guitar seems to be built like a tank. All the hardware seems very tight. I haven't mapped out my fantasy world tour so I can only imagine that it would stand up to the same abuses that any instrument would get. Most long-term axe-persons eventually start to do their own repairs anyway and generally don't sweat the small stuff. As far as taking it to a gig without a back-up, I don't think I'd do that with ANY guitar. Nothing worse than doing your air-guitar act in front of strangers.

Limited-life-time warranty. We all know how those work. Hopefully, I'll never need it for ANYTHING since I do all my own minor/medium level repairs myself. Anything that I can't fix is at a level that depresses me to think about.

I would definately purchase another guitar from this manufacturer. In fact, I've got a notion to pick up one of the Gold-Top Les Paul copies. Jay Turser MUST have the Fender and Gibson people more than a little concerned. I really don't think that the word is out yet how good their guitars are, and I expect the prices to double or triple within the next year or two. Now's the time to get them - While they're still a bargain (and possibly a collectible).

New from Ebay. Red, 22 frets etc. Custom shop.

As good as any Gibson or other maker and a hell of a lot less money. Outstanding at any price but absolutely great at the bargain basement prices. Hope this was not made with slave labor in China.

Perfect except for plte where cord plugs into guitar. This was rather loose and kinda cheap. The only flaw in an otherwise great guitar.

Don't know yet

Haven't had any problems yet.

I have been playing for 41 years. Everything from folk and beach boy stuff in the 60s to hard rock and new age today. You should get one of these babies or better yet, get five or six for the price you would pay for a medium quality Gibson or Gretsch.

Made in China
22 frets
2 tone controls, 2 volume controls
2 humbuckers
Sunburst finish
Copy of a Gibson ES-150DC, full hollowbody ES-335-style
Great action, easy-to-play neck.

Great for Blues or Jazz.
Very quiet.

Setup was perfect.
Very good fitting on neck and finish is flawless.

I will be using it live for jazz, blues and some rock tunes.
Well-made, Very sturdy.

Have only contacted company by email to congratulate them on the product.

I am thinking of buying another as a spare.