Cheap Jet JS-300 guitar: yes, it works

David Lee

6.6.2024

Translation: Megan Cornish

The Jet JS-300 is a Stratocaster-style electric guitar. It’s very inexpensive, and it shows at times. But, overall, it offers a lot for the price and is fun to play.

This is my second attempt at finding a cheap entry-level guitar worth recommending. The last one I tested cost less than 150 francs, but I wasn’t impressed with it. I wouldn’t recommend it even if you’re on a tight budget.

The Jet JS 300 costs a bit more, currently around 200 francs. But that’s still very cheap. Like the Dimavery ST-312 I’ve tested before, it’s a Fender Stratocaster-style electric guitar. However, the Jet JS 300 has a different pickup configuration: instead of a humbucker and two single coils, it has the classic three single coils. If these terms don’t mean anything to you, I wrote a separate article explaining the most important parts of an electric guitar – using the Jet JS 300 guitar as an example.

First impressionsbeautiful and a bit broken

My test model looks a little different to the product pictures. The pickguard, controls and pickups have a distinct yellow tone. Although I’m not usually a fan of yellowed plastic, I really like it here. It must be the colour combination. The body is «sea foam green», a kind of turquoise. It’s also available in white, black and sunburst. The manufacturer states that the neck is «Canadian roasted maple» i.e. a maple neck that’s a bit darker than usual.

The guitar neck was slightly damaged in transit. There’s a small chip, a half-torn part and the outlines of the black fretboard dots have faded into the wood. As a customer, I’d return it. As a reviewer, I accept it because I had to wait a long time and don’t want to be delayed for another few weeks or months. Fortunately, the guitar’s still playable.

There’s another initial negative. When you bend the strings, the frets feel rough. Almost as if there was fine sand on them. This scratching disappears over time when the frets wear down a bit. But it’s annoying for the first few hours.

The guitar sounds the way it should

Sound demonstrations are always difficult because the guitar is only one of many factors. The amplifier, its settings and, not least, how you play are just as important. The recording should give you a rough impression. As usual, I’m using the small Roland Cube Lite practice amplifier, playing a few bars clean for each pickup position, i.e. without distortion. Distorting notes makes the differences harder to hear.

I’m impressed by the Jet JS-300 in terms of sound. It sounds like a classic Stratocaster. This also applies to pickup positions 2 and 4, which produce the typical «quack» sound of a Stratocaster. If I use my Fender American Professional II as a reference, the Jet JS-300 is significantly louder. Unfortunately, you can hardly hear this in the test recording below. However, you can clearly hear that the Jet sounds a little less treble-focused, but by no means dull. Both are probably due to the fact that the pickups on the Jet guitar have ceramic magnets, while the Fender has alnico magnets.

Playability: no complaints

The Jet guitar is nice and easy to play. The maple wood looks untreated and feels good – not sticky at all. The action was already set quite low without the strings buzzing. I managed to lower it a little further still. The neck profile corresponds to the commonplace «modern C», making it relatively flat. The frets are curved in a 9.5-inch radius.

In contrast to the Dimavery ST-312, there are no protruding metal frets here – at least on my model – that would trouble your palm. The Jet also doesn’t go out of tune all the time. The saddle is apparently made of bone rather than plastic. This is unusual for this price range and can result in more tuning stability. The tremolo also does its job. However, it requires a lot of pressure at the default setting.

The tone controls are more like on-off switches

So everything’s great, right? Not quite. I have an issue with the tone controls. Not being able to control the tone of the bridge pickup is normal for this type of guitar – it’s the same with the original Stratocaster. But even when the tone controls are active, they only work in the lowest range, from about 1 to 3. Between 3 and 10, hardly anything happens. The wrong potentiometers are probably soldered in. In any case, it’s impossible to regulate the high frequencies in a targeted manner.

In a nutshell

Okay for the price

I like this guitar. Unlike the Dimavery ST-312, I enjoy playing it. This is probably due to a combination of positive aspects: the neck is ergonomic, allows a flat string position and feels comfortable. The Jet JS-300 also looks good (at least I think so). The sound is absolutely fine for this price range. The Jet JS-300 is also stable in tune. The tremolo’s tight, but it works.

But there’s also cause for criticism. The metal frets should be ground smooth during the production process, not just through use. For the first few hours, bending the strings feels scratchy. But the problem goes away on its own. That’s not the case with tone control: it only really works between 1 and 3, so you don’t have any accurate control.

My model also arrived with two dents on the neck and the colour of the black dots runs into the wood. Of course, these issues are covered by the warranty and you can return it. But it still doesn’t make a good impression.

All in all, I can recommend the Jet JS-300. But take a close look at the model you receive and don’t hesitate to return it if it has any defects.

Pro

• playability of the fingerboard
• sound
• tuning stability

Contra

• tone can’t be finely adjusted
• frets scratchy at first
• damage to the neck on delivery

Guitar

CHF233.–

JET JS-300SFG

Electric guitar, Basswood

5

David Lee

Senior Editor

David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.ch

My interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.

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