—The signature JM percussive attack is very subtle, likely due to the TOM.

—Quite a bit more sustain and roundness than a stock JM.

—Regardless of percieved issues about the trem plate being moved up, it’s not very noticeable in person. I compared it to an AVRI and of course it’s obvious then. But otherwise it was pretty negligible.

—Pickups have adjustable pole pieces similar to P-90’s.

—Screw in trem arm is a bit weird to get used to. The feel is more akin to a Strat trem. But it works. The tip was parchment while the volume and tone knobs and PU covers were aged white. Looked odd.

—Tuning was very stable. Lack of floating bridge was strange at first but I quickly got used to it.

—I’d bet $20 that the neck is stock AVRI. It had a similar profile to my AVRI. No skunk stripe either. Fret dressing on the ends was a bit lackluster but par for the course with MIM Fender’s.

—Tuners and trem plate could also very well be AVRI.

—Speaking of the neck, the 9.5″ radius felt really nice. I’m not a stickler about radii… never have been. It felt great for reals. What I usually dislike is the medium jumbo fret wire but it didn’t bother me at all on this JM.

—Even with the tweaks they did with the bridge area, it will still need shims. The action was great lower on the neck but any experienced offsetter will be able to tell immediately that shimming will have to be done.

—Tort guard looked halfway decent.

Some Pics:

Note the adjustable pole pieces…

A lovely piece of rosewood on this one…

Two shots of yours truly in all my offset glory…

And the sound? I loved it! Still distinctly JM just a little less so. It has more midrangey bite and much hotter PU’s. Both PU’s together sounded awesome… super punchy, great sustain, lots of output. I would say in all honesty for the $800 price point this is a solid guitar. Not the best deal on earth but certainly a strong contender. You got to play one. You just might like it. You could do some serious rocking on one of these. I think it would be an excellent back up for a “real” JM or even a main gigging axe. Now I’m very excited to get my hands on one of the Jag HH’s!