Jolana Jantar

Made: in 1989, Czechoslovakia
Frets: 22, small (low profile) + the saddle
Make: Solid-Top
Pickup(s): 1x HB, not switchable, bridge position, made by Jolana
Electronics: 1x volume, 1x tone, passive
Wood: maple body (out of 4 pieces) and neck (out of 3 pieces), fretboard - unknown
Finish: various, from solid black to sort of a tabacco sunburst, glossy top
Body style: sort of a superstrat in these days
Bridge: sort of a Tune-O-Matic with rollers allowing string spacing adjustments
Tuners: Non-locking, fast responding causing a fine tuning hard to achieve, made by Jolana
Neck/Scale: Bolt-on, thinner, Gibson scale length
Accessories: A gigbag
Other: two on-the-back strap buttons (a quick play position setup & a very high lean stability)

I rate it 8. It would receive more on these conditions:
9 for a 2 or 3 way switchable pickup
10 for the On-the-head locks & string-through body bridge style.

Music style: rock, hard-rock
Amps & effects: AXL Akita AT30, Ibanze CS9

Reviewing its original shape the amplified guitar sounds dull though it posesses a HB (the HB's sound quality is poor). However, its maple body helps to achieve a particular sound set to the midlle-high frequency range. Overaly it sounds a bit like a benjo.

I replaced the original pickup for a hand made (hand wound) R.M. Custom HB - a local production. The sound has dramaticly changed. The dullnes is gone and strings can be very well recognized. The color of the sound and its frequency range stays though. It is probably because of the material the body is made of.

The only drawback that persists is its short sustain classifying this guitar rather as a rock, hard-rock solo guitar. However, using a compressor/susstainer, a well picked amplifier or an appropriet musical style may help to widen it classification - to play rhythm as well as solos (esp. as a guitar, bass, drums, keyb lineup).

I rate 6 for my guitar didn't sound bad in its original shape hooked up to my amplifier. I was probably at purchasing a good piece.

It would receive more on these conditions:
7 for replacing its original pickup for a better one.
8 - 9 for a better sustain (different body material)

I bough it used in 2007 in quite a good condition, with no major dings, all working. I had to disassemble to remove "mud" from its fretboard, clean the volume/tone knobs, tighten some screws, replace the who-knows-how-old strings, but nothing special. Then adjusted its intonation... and it worked better right after. However, I can't realy judge its factory set-up for who knows how many hands the guitar went through.

After changing the pickup I use the guitar for real playing (demos, practices). I plan on using it live. However its tuners are still the original ones so I have to be little gentler in order not to make it go off tune after a few songs. That way it works well. Overally the hardware seems it could last another two decades if handled and taken care of well. The strap buttons realy proved its second purpose - stability while leaning against anything.
As far as the dependancy, well I've been playing it in our test room very ofted and it withstood well. However, since its parts are not manufactured anymore and are worn a bit already I'd have another guitar around just in case.

More points on thi condition:
7-10 - various HW parts changed for the same, but new ones

None. The guitar is not manufactured anymore.

I've been playing for 10 years, but this would not be may primary guitar as far as reliability. Its parts are old, worn out a bit and need a replacement it a intended to play/handle hard. However that cannot be done without "drilling to wood" which I do not want to do. What is the most valuable is its age. There's a Czechoslovakian history in it that gives it a value.
I have played guitars like Framus Pathera Custom, Yamaha SG2000 and this guitar cannot be compared to those. However I must admit based on my own experience that a well adjusted and taken care of piece may serve very well as a low cost instrument for begginers to intermediate or even advanced guitarists.
I realy like its shape, finish and weight. It's light and it counts. Also its sound is nowadays a unique and suitable for some songs.
Overally I rate 5, but rating the one it turned out into after I made the changes I'd rate 7 for it is a good simple piece of an instrument that unluckily gets downrated by some crappy, but important parts.

It's a bolt-on solidbody. The body is shaped basically in a strat-style layout, but the upper horn is much longer while the lower one is shorter. The neck is thinner than a Les Paul's but sort of deeper. 4-piece maple body; 3-piece maple neck with a 3+3 pitched headstock (sort of like Gibson-shaped but narrowed towards the end); Gibson scale length, 22 smallish frets (there is a zero fret and a separate saddle, so there are in fact 23 frets); a single bridge-position humbucker with a volume and tone pot; stop tailpiece and a bridge that looks like a tune-o-matic except that the saddles are rollers shaped like string balls and mounted on screws, which allows string spacing adjustments. The guitar is a pretty basic rock basher. The finish resembles tobacco-burst, but the brown component is more into violet shades. "Jantar" is Czech for "amber", and it is a fitting name for this particular finish, although they were also produced in solid black, white and other colors. Rate it 8 because it has all it needs, but nothing fancy.

Acoustically, the sound is lively and bright, although the sustain is not the best - it feels a bit banjo-y. Amplified, the sound is usual HB sound, a little rounder because the PU is moved about 1/2 inch towards the neck than on a LP quite dull with full-on volume which is surprising given the body and neck material. Maybe the four body pieces are not best matched for resonance, dunno. However, the sound gets interesting when you roll the volume down. There is a high-pass cap on the vol pot so that when you roll it down, there is no high-frequency loss - in fact, the cap cuts off bass and lower mids so that the guitar sounds very bright and twangy, and it cleans up quite well with some distortion. The only downer is that when you try to roll down some treble with the treble knob at other than full volume, there is no more sound left so it actually cuts the guitar's volume. Plus, the tone pot isn't particularly inspiring even at full volume. The rating here is 5 because when this was my only guitar, I learned to use it and it worked perfectly with my style. Now I got spoiled with a LP Studio and a Hawk, and the tone is hard to deal with for me.

I bought it used in late 1992, and the setup was bad - intonation was misadjusted and the action was too low (it buzzed a lot and I prefer higher action for easier bending). Plus, there is a large ding in the upper horn which the previous owner covered with something like that brass plate which is attached to the back pocket on jeans. The dumbass fastened it with two nails (!!!). Also the tone pot was scratchy but that happens with old stuff so no big deal. Otherwise the workmanship was OK, and the guitar has distinct look. One thing is very cool - the guitar has two strap buttons on the back so it is very stable when leaned against almost anything.

I've had this guitar for more than eight years now and it has always lasted with no major problems. There was even a period when I never broke strings (thanks to, in part, the rounded saddles). However, one day I broke a chip off the upper plate on the pickup bobbin and exposed the coil. I was afraid I might chop the coil wire so I replaced the PU with an Asian noname, and the sound was much better. Then I tried a DiMarzio PAF, and it was way better after that. Now I am using a Gibson 498T, and it seems this one will stay. Having the possibility to adjust string spacing was very handy during the pickup changes because the original unit was spaced for its specific position. Now both the DiMarzio and the 498T are spaced for the usual Gibson bridge position, so the strings were initially misaligned with the pole pieces when I installed the replacements. Fixing this was easy, and I wonder why no other manufacturer makes bridges with this possibility of adjustment. The strap button screws that loose after some time, and this was an easy fix. the strap buttons themselves are very large and solid - way better than the stock ones on my LP. The stock tuning pegs were a nightmare and so when one broke in 1996, I was happy to replace them with Gotohs. It's been smooth sailing since then. I like playing with backup but this one can do an evening without it; even if I break string, the replacement is quick and easy. Rating is 6 - it would be about 3 stock and about 9 with all the improvements.

I've been playing for 13+ years, and this is my most long-term companion. I plug it into my Laney LC15. I have become a genuine Jantar freak - although I have the aforementioned Gibsons and some other cool guitars, this is a special one. The sustain and wiring sorta suck, but not enough to make me sell it. It would probably yield no money anyway. All my other guitars sound better, yet this one plays the best - it feels like home. The shape is very comfortable and balanced, and although it isn't particularly lightweight, it fits me extremely well. I like the shape so much that I ordered a custom replica of my Jantar (with some upgrades and better materials). These guitars were made in Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) in the 80's, and they were crap-ola, to be fair. However, at that time in the country , there was little choice in most common products, let alone electric guitars, so players used it and it worked. And, with a bit of luck, you could stumble onto a good one. Some unfinished bodies and necks can still be found on sellout in stores around Prague, and I bought one of those bodies and fitted it with a SSD neck and Dimarzio PUs. The resulting special has a better workmanship than the original in terms of neck/body fit and resonance - not the finish which I screwed up. I am even planning to make another Jantar clone with a Floyd-style trem. I said I'm a Jantar freak. Having experience with better guitars, though, I think a fair overall rating of the instrument is about 4. It cost me an equivalent of about 50 bucks and that price, without all the improvements I made, would be fair even today with all the CPIs and stuff.