Jerry Jones Electric Sitar

1998, handmade in Nashville, USA. Standard six strings -- 11-46 with a set of 13 sympathetic strings on the body. Nut width is 1 11/16", 25" scale length and a 21 fret neck. Indian rosewood fingerboard w/14.5" radius, trussrod adjustment accessible at the heel. Gotoh? tuning keys, 21 jumbo frets, intonated sitar "Buzz-bridge". Authentic gator finish (mine's red and black) masonite over a hollow shell, like the Danelectros but with quality construction. Heavy duty hard shell case. This is a superbly done one-trick pony, thus it only gets an 8 for features, but keep reading...

If you're a flower child from the 60's who thought that you'd love to cop the Norwegian Wood sitar lead without finding (or learning how to play) a real sitar. A covers-band guitarist who want to give the Box Tops' "Cry Like a Baby" "sitar" lead a try. or, a blues guitarist who is tired of "Sweet Home Chicago" and willing to shake things up with Rory Gallagher's "Philby". That's the sound of the Electric Sitar, and Jerry Jones has built it into his product. That's the only sound, but if you want it, come and get it.

I also won a Jerry Jone Baritone guitar. Both were shipped to me ready to play. The neck, the action, the fretwork, the faux-alligator body finish -- all were superb. Nothing loose, nothing noisy, nothing less than perfect. I would compare it to the quality of any American-made Fender or Gibson guitar in the $700 - $1000 range. It's not Paul Reed Smith quality, but the price isn't either.

Unlike the Danelectro reproductions, this guitar proves that a masonite guitar can be well constructed. The wood, the hardware, the strap buttons...they are all first-rate. I've used it time and time again without fear. The only negative from a usage point of view is keeping the 13 sympathetic strings in tune.

I wanted more informaiton on tuning the sympathetic strings, and I called the company. Jerry Jones answered the phone, told me more about tuning and faxed me a suggested sympathetic string tuning to go along with an open D tuning. He was very helpful and patient. I suggested he put up a web site (I also am very happy with his Baritone guitar), and I just saw that it is finally up -- www.jerryjonesguitars.com. Hopefully, more people will learn about his fine guitars.

I've been playing guitar 38 years. I've owned every fine electirc guitar made, and find that -- in the past decade -- PRS is the guitar of choice as a mainstay guitar. I own niche guitars because of their uniqueness, but I demand a quality instrument. I love the electric sitar sound, and fortunately, found someone -- in Jerry Jones -- who takes quality seriously, along with sound. I'd buy another if lost. No it's not versatile...I wish it also made tabla sounds, but the Jerr Jones Electric Sitar is the best at what it does!