Southpaw
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I truly did not expect much in this guitar for the price and bought it solely for the American Flag top. But, quite frankly this guitar has blown me away in quality, sound and playability. It’s got a great solid feel, the neck has a slimmer more comfortable profile than my $6k LesPaul Custom. There is so much that impresses me about this guitar. But, the most unexpected awesome surprise is the neck and fretwork. The frets are well polished, unheard of this this price range… no gritty sound sliding string across the fret. The fret ends are perfectly smooth with no sharp edges or fret sprouts. Generally, the worst aspect of a low price guitar is the nut. Unbelievably, the nut is set perfectly precise for optimum playing neck action. Intonation was perfect out of the box with the exception of one string I had to set.
Also, the first thing you need to do is change the strings. I almost took a file to my second fret thinking it was the cause of a fret buzz. But, after taking off the stock fake D’Addario Chinese strings and replacing them a new set of Ernie Ball Super Slinky strings? The fret buzz was gone and the guitar pickup volume jumped considerably. I’m thinking the Chinese strings must have some level of aluminum in their make up. Just take the strings off first thing. I made a couple height adjustments on the pickup screws and realized the pickups are in fact waxpotted. A level of quality that is unheard of in this price range. As I tightened the pickup screws some of the pickup wax squeezed up onto the pickup cover. ????????
Whenever, you buy a guitar online, particularly one that has traveled all the way from China? You WILL need to adjust the neck truss rod. Straight out of the box this guitar was unplayable because the change in climates and temperature in its travels had created a slight backbow in the neck basically laying all the strings on the frets. So, I used the provided hex wrench to relax the neck some and the guitar played like a charm.
I found no finish flaws… which are usually low on my concerns anyway. Because, at this point in my playing career it’s all about feel, playability and sound. Of which I can only give this guitar a 10 out of 10. Yes, it’s THAT good. The pots are totally clean absolutely no scratchiness. The pickups sound much like my 1976 Gibson LesPaul Standard pickups.
Based on my experience both as a performer and guitar collector? If someone just handed me this guitar I had never heard of and solely on the guitar’s own merit? Asked me to determine a fair value for it based on current available comparables… Epiphone, Gretsch Streamliners, etc.? I’d find a $500 value for this guitar very fair.
The tuners are not real Grover tuners, but Chinese Grover copies. That being said… they feel tight and hold tune very well. That’s having already put in about forty hours playing time on mine. If I had to pick a weak link in this guitar? The only one is what is typical on most guitars even that cost three times the price of this one. The input jack nut comes loose. Which is nothing Blue Locktite adhesive can’t remedy. I use it on all my guitar jacks.
To close out? If you are not an experienced guitar person? When this guitar arrives at your house. If it doesn’t seem playable out of the box? That’s completely typical for a guitar that has traveled all the way from China. Before, you decided to return it? Have a friend whom is good with setting up guitars take a look at it and make the proper adjustments. Even if you have to pay a professional guitar tech at your local music store $75-$100 to set the guitar up perfectly? That’s a well worth investment. If all of the Leo Jaymz guitars are made as well as mine? You are still coming out way ahead as far as quality per dollar spent.
I have been wanting to have one of my Gibson LesPauls airbrush painted EXACTLY like this guitar, before I knew about this guitar. The quotes I got were all between $700-$750. Then I ran across this Leo Jaymz guitar with the exact style American flag I wanted. This guitar is a GREAT GUITAR!!
