This is a solid Mahogany (3 pieces) body, Mahogany set neck, single-cutaway, with twin P-90 pickups. Very reminiscent of a late 60’s Gibson ‘Les Paul Junior Special’. The finish is not what I’d quite call transparent Cherry, as it’s more brownish than that. The neck is very ‘Junior-ish’ as well, with a nice chunky heft to it; wide, with a fairly flat fingerboard radius. The guitar is made in China.
Pickup selector switch
The pickup switch and pots feel nice and solid, not cheapy-sloppy at all. The bridge hardware looks and seems much better than anything found on other guitars in this price range, as do the tuners. The pickup mounting seems a little sloppy and loose, but it’s definitely not an insurmountable problem; easily fixed by anyone who dorks around with his guitars even a little.
SX GG1 JR Fit & Finish:
As mentioned above, the finish is sort of a brownish-Cherry transparent over Mahogany, grain visible thru the finish…very nice color.
The finish is very slick and glossy, nicely buffed out, and very consistent. I found two little uh-oh’s in it, though. Near the control cover on the back, there appears to be a tiny little wood chip embedded in the finish and just buffed over. Almost unnoticeable. On the front, where the neck joins the body, between the fingerboard end and the neck-pickup cavity, there’s a little area where it’s not really buffed down so smooth. I can see how hard it must be to get that area onto the buffer wheel, though, without also getting the fingerboard itself onto the buffer. And it’s only a little strip about 3/16” wide, not at all noticeable unless you’re looking right at it from 18 inches away. And I’ve seen the same thing on some older Gibsons, truth be told.
The pickups seemed a little sloppy on their mounting springs and will need something like a piece of neoprene foam or something underneath to ‘stabilize’ them some. I’m told, too, that the bridge was installed backward on this specimen. That was rectified before I got hold of it, though.
The neck joint looks to be a very good fit, and feels quite solid. Overall, the finish on this instrument is very smooth, glossy, and just gorgeous. The fretwork is so much better than on my Epiphone Junior (for instance), that it ain’t even funny. Nowhere do I detect a rough fret-end, and the frets seem well-leveled and dressed. Overall, a really, really nice-looking guitar.
SX GG1 JR Playability:
I happen to like the chunky ‘Junior’ style neck. It’s what I learned on and what I’ve become comfortable with over the years, so I took to this one like a duck to water. It feels perfect to me, although I know a lot of people find this style of neck too ‘slow’. I’m no Yngvie Malmsteen, so it works just fine for me! I’ve always liked the slightly back-angled neck common to this style guitar, rather than the bolt-on style with the neck roughly parallel to the body. It just feels more comfortable to play. The shape of the SX GG1 JR electric guitar is the typical LP-style single cutaway, and thus feels pretty much like a LP on the lap or strap. Setup wasn’t quite to my liking (action just a tiny bit high for my taste), but I was still able to do what I do (such as it is) with a guitar, without difficulty. It feels nice, plays nice, looks very nice.
P-90’s…need I say another word?
Seriously, this type pickup is and always will be my favorite, regardless of how noisy they can be, not being humbuckers. The tone that comes from them makes any buzzing and humming insignificant and completely tolerable. The best descriptive word I can come up with for the bridge pickup is ‘snarl’, right up in your face with some ’crunch’ applied via tube amp or your favorite overdrive/distortion unit.
The neck pickup is full and warm, but retains an airy brightness to it that just doesn’t quite seem to come from dual-coiled pickups… yet it’s not as brilliant as a Fender-style single-coil. It makes tone that’s the best of both worlds; thick and creamy, yet with that airy, chimey top-end. This pickup sounds wonderful clean or just chorused, or with a bluesy mild overdrive clipping applied. I’ve played all kinds of styles on this guitar, from clean, to clean/reverbed/chorused/atmospheric, to bluesy grit, to shreddy distortion.
I find the bridge pickup a little lacking in low-end ‘grunt’, though, especially when played with much distortion. But then again, I haven’t messed around with the pickup height setting. I think that if it were cranked up a bit closer to the strings, plenty of grunt would suddenly appear. So, I can get anything from a nearly Tele-like bridge pickup tone, to a mellow, warm (yet still sparkly) neck-pickup tone. And with both pickups on, this is a rhythm-guitar monster. Chunky, yet cutting through nicely.
SX GG1 JR Value:
I mentioned the price of this thing already, and I dare to put it up against many other guitars at three times the price. Seriously. This is a solid, well-put-together and finished guitar, worthy of gigging anywhere, and with only minor setup adjustments will compete very favorably against much more expensive ‘name-brand’ guitars. Did I already say ‘Seriously’?
SX GG1 JR Overall Rating:
Within its price range…Five-Plus Stars
Measured up against guitars costing three times as much…still, at very least, 3-1/2 Stars.
I’ve had this guitar in my possession for three days now, and have played it until my fingers are literally sore. I haven’t found anything, at all, that warrants a genuine complaint. I love it, and I plan to buy an SX GG1 JR Electric Guitar for myself!
For more information please visit Agile Guitars, and SX SJM-62 Guitar
