Jerry Jones Neptune Series Single-cutaway

Mine is the Single-cutaway version of the Jerry Jones 'Neptune' 6-string electric. It is the 3 pickup version, with custom built in-house lipstick pickups. The Neptune model has the smooth clear-coated, hand finished neck (NOT the painted necks found on some repro models). Gotoh tuners and bridges. 25" scale. 21 frets. 14.5" radius (but it doesn't feel 'flat'). 54mm string spacing at the bridge! Weighs about 7 lbs. Very well balanced. Hand made in Nashville, from all custom built components.

I'll drop this rating to an 8, since JJ doesn't offer the terrific Bass Contour control found standard on Reverend guitars, as an option on some G&L's, and sorely missing everywhere else.

I play 2 different styles of music: fingerstyle blues/rags/instrumentals, and more tradtional surf/rockabilly with lots of reverb or slapback echo.

The Jerry Jones Neptune is a superb instrument: it delivers a broad variety of tones - which shocked me, as I had some pre-conceived notions that lipstick pickups were very limited. With the neck pickup, through a VOX AC30, I can achieve clean, clear, harmonically rich, balanced sounds for fingerstyle. It does not mimic an acoustic here, instead it simply delivers the most pleasing fingerstyle tones I have ever encountered from an electric guitar. With simple tone control setting on the amp (I tend to drop bass and treble), and rolling off the guitars tone control a bit, the sound is well balanced with no harsh highs nor booming bass.

When I add some gain for a more crunchy blues tone, or while playing slide, it continues to delivers a full, rich tone from the neck pickup.

For surf, I switch to the bridge pickup, which delivers more crunch, along with a little twang/squawk, although more subtle than a Tele. It can deliver great reverb-drenched surf sounds through a blackface Fender, as well as comparably great rockabilly tone through a Bassman with some slapback echo. The Neptune is versatile - it delivers the goods on a universe of great single coil tones.

I suspect that one of the keys to getting such fantastic tone with the Jerry Jones is by setting the amp so the the mids are more prominent, since hollowed, resonant guitars like these seem to me to be naturally mid-scooped.

I purchased my Neptune used. From a Fit & Finish standpoint, it is simply flawless. So lets move on to 'Playability', as these HC reviews don't provide a section for this most important aspect of any guitar!

I play a lot of fingerstyle, and the Neptune happens to offer my dream specs: wide string spacing at the bridge (53 - 54 mm on mine), on a shorter 25" scale. I find this to be a perfect marriage of (almost) Tele spacing, and (almost) LP scale.

The finish on the neck is very nice. IMHO, it is much superior to the painted necks on some of the repro models. Also, it does not feel 'flat' like some wide radius guitars I have used, and is exceptionally comfortable playing rhythm and a variety of drop-2 chord shapes up the neck. The neck is somewhat on the thin side, compared to a beefy LP - I'm not sure of the exact dimensions.

The balance on the Neptune is a dream. Other 7 lb guitars I've played had all the weight on the left strap button. The Neptune hangs and sits like it belongs!

And finally, in case it matters, every woman who has seen it remarks on what a great looking guitar it is (mine is finished in black)!

The Neptune is very very solid and well made. It feels exceptionally sturdy for a hollowed-out 7 pound guitar. Top-notch hardware all around - the knobs, switches and tuners appear as sturdy as any I've seen on any guitar, at any price. Great strap buttons! My only reliability issue is the somewhat sharp angle of the string coming off of the bridges. I feel that this puts extra stress on the unwound strings.

IMHO, the Neptune is an order of magnitude more durable than the old Danos, whose vibe it is climbing on the shoulders of.

Not much experience here. I sent them an email when I first found out about them, and they were very helpful, and timely in their response. I suspect the level of service to be very, very high, as it is a small operation.

I got my first guitar in 1986. I have owned and played Tele's, ASAT's, Parkers, Duo Jets, Axis SS, Fernandes, SG's. I am finicky when it comes to playability and usually end up with something just not quite right. With the Neptune, my only beef is that I should have bought a 2 pickup version, since the middle pickup gets in my way sometime when playing fingerstyle. I will probably buy a 2 pickup version some day soon. Also, if you need a thick or chunky neck, the Neptune is not for you. I don't know if the 'JJ Original' series has thicker necks or not.

Lost or Stolen? From here on out, I will always own a Jerry Jones Neptune.

Value? $1100 for a rock-solid, hand made in the USA, superbly playable, versatile, single-coil guitar. You decide.

In summary: it is the best feeling guitar I have ever played, which is what inspired me to finally write a HC review on a guitar. The balance, neck, frets, fretboard and body shape fit me like a glove. And yes, it sounds fantastic to boot!