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For The Masterbuilt Jet 1000, Cream Is King...
LAG have a well deserved reputation for quality guitars on a budget, but criminally few have come across their fantastic high-end electric gutiars. Made in France, their Masterbuilt series offers the best that they produce, and we rate them very highly. Here we review one of their popular models, the Jet 1000.
Firstly it's a great shape. Simple but distinctive, the headstock in particular stands out, the top edge swoops round to a cutaway underneath the machine heads, which itself contains the LAG inlay and logo. The colour scheme of matt black hardware, ebony fretboard and silver scratchplate work well, and the quality Schaller bridge and tremolo arm are greyed to match the scratchplate. We think it looks great, a very clean visual overall, but the good news doesn't end there.
The neck and middle placed single coils sound punchy and crisp in either clean or overdrive settings. They sound edgy and precise, crunchy when required and warm when the volume is dialed back. But it's the humbucker that really shines on this guitar. It's a belter, and begs for overdrive to show off its capabilities. The full fat, deep and broad tone is more than enough to keep the big guns looking over their shoulder. Dial it down though and it becomes delicate and warm without any loss of clarity. We found a great setting to be the combination of humbucker and middle coil, which gives all the fat roaring tone with some extra bite, perfect for the soloist looking for precision in the thunder! The Jet 1000 delivers on pure sound, no question, but with a cleaner characteristic than some of the more well-known brands.
This guitar feels very easy to play, and the luxurious African Ebony fretboard is very responsive as is the maple neck. The action is great all the way up the fretboard and overall it's remarkably compliant with everything that you can throw at it. This is a no-frills quality guitar, very well made and suited to all styles and genres, so as such would make a great one-stop-shop players' guitar.
Verdict
A winner - packing the tone and playability of more expensive guitars into a neat, well thought out package. Perhaps it doesn't have the character of some but it's a great useable instrument in any setting at a highly palatable price, and something a bit different too.
LAG Masterbuilt Jet 1000 RRP - £1299.00
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Published March 24th 2017
