Jet Vs Fazley Guitars - 6 Things To Know - Round 2!

[@Vincent-wt3pg]

I bought a Fazley SG style guitar from BAX. It arrived on the wrong day that I had specified. Customer service SPOT ON! Got it on the day I requested. Full Marks BAX. However the guitar seemed more dark wood than cherry and there was slight chip by the neck joint. The frets were high and low so I did some basic Fret modding and polishing and new strings and plays great. I bought a cheap guitar (£99) to see how it would be and to upgrade and learn basic guitar maintenance and if I screwed it up well hey ho. Great vid by the way Steve

[@BudgetGuitarShow]

Still watching, mate

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Nice one mate! Thank you! I'm looking forward to your new Fazley Vid 😃👍

[@hock4540]

I prefer the darker roasted necks and the aged looking plastics. I prefer the more vintage looking plastics, paint shades and muted/worn-in looks. There are enough same-ol' bright white plastic and genaric color strat copies out there already. Keep it up Jet with being different.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

You're WRONG! 😜 Nah 🤡 It's great there's something for everyone these days. Different strokes for different folks. S'aul Goodman 😀🙏

[@michaelw6277]

I usually try not to leave multiple comments on the same video, but this has to be the best EART advertisement I’ve ever seen. I’ll definitely have a look at those.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

I know right!?! 😆. I wish I liked the neck, was the perfect guitar on paper. Something to note though - I'm not 100% on this but I "think" they list the product info incorrectly. They say it's a 7.25" to 9.5" compound radius fretboard. I probably would have kept mine if it was, but to my hands it feels much more flat/modern, i'd guess 12" - 16". I think I might have read that somewhere too 🤔 All your comments and engagement is hugely appreciated here - thank you mate! 🙂👌

[@neilhaynes4972]

I learned to play a right handed guitar left handed back in the early eighties. Now retired I decided to buy a left handed Fazley telecaster copy as it was only £67 and I wanted to play again, The problem was the strings were now upside down to the way I learned. I needed the thick E at the bottom so I emailed Bax and asked if I could replace the nut and restring the guitar without affecting the warranty for all of the unaffected items i.e. electrics and machine heads etc. Bax replied and said my warranty was still intact but obviously could not cover any damage done to the neck in replacing the nut. Fare play I would say and good customer service as you found. The guitar survived my mod and now works and sounds great. Good on Fazley and Bax for chucking a cheap quality guitar and for a good customer service.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Nice one Neil 👍- Can't argue with that - Another point for the people at Fazley & Bax 🙂

[@kurtvonnegut1]

Aye good work again Steve. Appreciate what you're doing mate. 👍

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Thank you mate! 🙏

[@kurtvonnegut1]

​@@stevecassidyguitarbtw ...just been on Bax's site. The Humbugger reverse headstock reduced £48! In purple! 😍

[@Mr4Strings]

Hey Steve, another great video. I was recently facing a choice between a Jet JT300 and a Harley Benton T62CC. After watching countless reviews of each I ended up choosing the JT300, largely due to the smaller neck radius. I'm very familiar with Harley Benton and Thomann and truly believe Thomann has consistently high quality products and the best customer service on the planet. The one issue I had with the Jet, after watching many reviews, was the color. I wanted the blonde model, but reviewers said the color was more of an unattractive yellow and that the actual color did not match the photos. I ordered anyway and paid 20€ more for the Jet than the Harley Benton was listed at. I was skeptical and held my breath for about 5 days (a Guinness World Record) waiting for the guitar to arrive. Started off poorly when I returned home one afternoon in the rain and saw that the carrier, SEUR, had left the box on my front steps. The outer box was pretty well soaked but inside was OK. I was very pleasantly surprised when I finally laid eyes on the guitar. It is a beautiful creamy yellow with a nice roasted maple neck. Ever since the guitar arrived I have been searching and searching for some kind of defect and so far it is perfect, really. My only surprise was the guitar had not been setup at all, but that was easily remedied. After watching your 2 part Jet Vs Fazley videos I feel like I dodged a bullet and was sent a really nice instrument. I think Thomann/Harley Benton opened the door to the "budget instrument" world by proving you can produce a quality instrument at an affordable price. But of course this also opened the door for crap sellers as well. It's folks like you, honest and trustworthy, that help to sprad the word on quality, customer service, and the overall buying experience. Keep those videos coming Steve and thanks!!!

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Thank you mate! I'm very glad to hear you're happy with your Jet! 😃👍 You're spot on about Harley Benton leading the way with the affordable and quality gear these days. What I've learned recently is, it does take these younger brands time to get there. Harley Benton last year celebrated thier 25th anniversary. Their Guitars like 6-7 years ago, were nowhere near the quality of thier current offerings. It takes years for these brands to build up relationships with factories tweak and improve QC try different runs of guitars etc. So some of the even younger brands who've not built the relationships or learned their lessons yet, can't produce the same quality - yet. I'd say Jet are somewhat outliers in this. They're younger, but the parent company had been making "Flight" Ukuleles for a while first - maybe that helped. 🤷‍♂️ I've just realised how long I've been typing/ranting 😂🙈 All the best mate! 😂👍

[@Mr4Strings]

Hey man, you're not ranting, you're spreading your positive vibes. I became aware of Thomann/Harley Benton only recently, 2021. I came across "davie504" and decided to buy/learn bass (I'm a drummer that can't drum due to my housing situation) One thing led to another and bought a HB bass. Since then I've bought a keyboard and now the Jet. Yeah, I'm gonna do some research on Flight Ukuleles and learn more about the company. I agree to some extent regarding new companies finding their way, but quality issues are pretty basic and should be caught before an instrument ships. That's the quickest way to gain a good reputation. Your experience with Jet customer service is a little troubling. Even when they respond they seem rather give excuses than solutions. Carry-on Steve.@@stevecassidyguitar

[@stevecassidyguitar]

@@Mr4Strings Nice 1! Davie504 is a legend! Love his stuff 😃👌 I might be trying Jet customer service again - I've just found another one I fancy 🙈 Was gonna try my luck and see if I can get one to review from Jet - 😬 Thanks again mate 😃👍

[@cwj138]

Bax e-mailed me more than any other company ever after buying a guitar, it was a greatest hits of email aftersales patter such as "Recommended for you" "Learn to tune your guitar" "We'd appreciate your feedback" "How do you like your Fazlay?" and of course who could forget "We've selected these products especially for you!" all within 5 days of purchase.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

😆 Brilliant! 👌 How recently was this? I don't think I get anything like that (Actually just ordered another one the other day 🙈). I get sent invoices, delivery estimates and order confirmation emails but none of that extra patter 😜 Did you maybe check or uncheck some marketing box or something? 🤷‍♂️

[@cwj138]

Ordered Monday last week, arrived Monday this week and those emails have all been since delivery not ordering sorry got that bit mixed up, only got 3 confirmation emails. I did probably click or unclick a box somewhere, that makes sense. Serves me rite for impulse buying a Sheriff basic HSS which will be getting those locking tuners you recommend (cheers for your research btw) along with new guides and strings because they are honkin as was the action before I straightened things out.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

@@cwj138 Congrats on the new Sherriff mate! They look very decent! Will be even better after the upgrades - strings will make a massive difference 😎👍

[@calbrockocat8728]

Bax is using Fazley to win over new (and budget conscious) guitarists. If while we window shop we see a different brand that's more dear but hits all our checkpoints, both sides win if we buy either. Good points well made, Steve!

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Thank you mate! and yeah spot on - Smart move from Bax stocking Jet too.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Apologies - Full on Karen Mode in this one 😆 Did you already know most of these points? - Let me know! 🤓👇

[@purplerocket666]

Nice one, as always. Man this Jet looks like a lollipop.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Ha! It's a bit more subdued in real life - This vid was an early attempt at learniong how to colour grade the vids. I went a bit over the top with the colour saturation 🙈

[@BudgetPedalChap]

I had a jet js400 on the channel recently, it was pretty impressive for the price. I was tempted to actually buy the demo unit they sent to me, but the price they were asking was more than a new Fazely so I decided against it. Harley Benton then came out with the firemist strat and I got one of those instead. Upgrading to stainless frets, locking tuners and AlNiCo pickups for perhaps less than it would have cost to do those upgrades to the Jet. I mirror your sentiments that they are decent guitars and have potential but it's just lacking that last little bit of polish.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Hullo BPC 😃👋 I was very tempted by the HB 25th strat too! Only 2 things put me off was, the 12" radius (I don't know why they won't make any 9.5" r guitars 🤷) and the lack of roasted maple on the fretboard (another strange move I can't get my head around). I've got an HB Fusion, and totally agree with you Re the quality being that one step above - great guitars 👌 I've actually just ordered an HB25th, but not the strat 👹 The new Fazley launched models have went all out on the 12" boards too :( Anyway.... Thanks for the comment mate. Off to check out your vids now 😃👍

[@Chimp_No_1]

Really interesting and helpful ! Thanks !

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Thank you mate! 🙏

[@GraemeCampbellMusic]

My Jet Js300 was the opposite neck wise. Mine has the new logo with a lighter more vintage tint (which I prefer) rather than the dark one. Not had any issues yet. I've changed the pickups now, but its still solid.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

I much prefer the lighter ones too, although sometimes it depends on the finish. The dark ones look great against sunburst. 😎 Sorry I should have said - it's (as you know) not all of the new logo ones have a darker shade, just an initial batch once they changed logo's were considerably darker 👍

[@kisonpuker]

informative and entertaining, well done

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Thank you so much! 🙏

[@leonardowrigley4376]

My Jet JS400 Sunburst has the darkest roast I've ever seen I love it 😊 Smells nice too 😅 However on dark stages I sometimes struggle to see fret markers 🎸

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Oh yeah - the Dark roast on sunburst looks super classy! 😎 I've had this same issue with hard to see fret markers in venues with lower lighting. Check this out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKaanWqNp9Z-a9k I got a bottle of this stuff to try out last year, but still not got round to it yet. Just gigged different guitars instead 😆 Not sure how great it would be - My Charvel has Luminlay side dots, but even those aren't the perfect solution for visibility.

[@swimpsmagbayao9513]

Hey bud...hello from Boston Massachusetts 🇺🇸...you are hilarious...love your vids i just subd...

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Hullo! 👋😀 Thank ya for the sub and your kind words mate 😀🙏

[@bosshogg8273]

I don't have much to say about guitar companies... but as far as shops in Scotland go.. I've never had anything but excellent service from Merchant City Music (online). On a more FLGS/local shop, Joanie's in Stirling is a cracking wee shop with some excellent 2nd hand/used gems, a lot of knowledge (very handy for me as I don't) and an ever increasing range of pedals!

[@stevecassidyguitar]

I'm sure I've ordered from Merchant City online before - no complaints 😃👍 Will be sure to check out Joanie's if I'm ever in the area - cheers mate! 😃🍻

[@thelolguy007]

Love the channel mate 👏 One solution to the guitars coming in different shades etc might be for the store to photograph each guitar individually. Some stores do it already.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Totally! I mean for the budget ones at least take a picture of one of them. To be fair - GAK did this with the Blue ones almost immediately and Jet also aren't "enhancing" their newer images as much, but they're still not as accurate as i'd like to see. I do feel terrible complaining about the colour of a £180 guitar though 😆

[@thelolguy007]

@@stevecassidyguitar haha I hear ya man but it’s a fair point nonetheless. I’d buy one only I’d have to swap out the pickups and electronics and I know zero about that shit ha

[@stevecassidyguitar]

That's what I'm doing to mines 😎👍

[@thelolguy007]

@@stevecassidyguitar I know. Makes sense 👍

[@michaelw6277]

Fender has taught me to look for third party images to get an idea of what color one specific guitar is… because there are endless variations of Lake Placid Blue.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Your so right. 👍 I've now learned this lesson too XD Although I've never had this with a Fender yet. But I'm familiar with the different shades of LPB, SFG, sonic blue and Daphne blue, Fiesta red all depending on whether it's nitro or poly used and it stage in the ageing. But yeah, I'll definitely be checking 3rd party from now on too 🤓👍

[@TheGoodSon89]

Hey Steve, amazing content once again! Any idea which model will replace the phynicas? I hope it's not the outlaw series:/

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Thank you mate! 🙏 I don't know and I hope the same as you. However, Jonny @budgetguitarshow has some insider info he will be releasing soon I think 😃👍

[@TheHiFiTeam]

This is really interesting, especially the colour aspect. I'm waiting for my Jet Olympic white to come, when it gets here I'll do the check, although I'll say this beforehand. I checked the colour of the guitar offered by some retailers and then researched what the actual colour contained. It seems that some retailers are using a picture which adds a blue hue to the body.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

That makes sense 👍 Regardless of colour, in sure you'll love your Jet - really great guitars (not just for the price) Did you go for the HSS JS400? That's my favourite one 😎👍

[@TheHiFiTeam]

​I went for the HSS JS400. After a long break I'm back playing again, it's nice too for a leftie back in the day there was little choice but that seems to be improving with some of these companies offering fantastic value for money. I have a Squire tele which I love and plan to pick up a PRS 24 08 SE. To be honest that's probably the most money I'll spend on a single guitar. It is a bit of wood and some wire after all :D

[@stevecassidyguitar]

@@TheHiFiTeam Excellent choice sir! I'm sure you won't regret it - I reckon you'll be quite pleasantly surprised how well it shapes up to your squier 😃👍 Happy NGD when it comes 🙏

[@TheHiFiTeam]

@@stevecassidyguitar It came today and you are right about the colour being different to Jets own photos of the model on their website. I'm glad I checked the colour scheme online before I brought it and had a good idea of what to expect. I haven't much time to play it but what I played I really enjoyed. I love the neck on my tele but this is better to play and to look at. Not sure about anyone elses but the action seems really high or at least that's my first impression. It's my first strat style but I like how it feels, how it sounds and how it plays. It's light too, that impressed me but then I brought a Harley Benton bass last week, which makes picking up my amp seem easy.... Thanks for the content mate, really great channel you have and love the delivery. Keep up the good work!

[@stevecassidyguitar]

@@TheHiFiTeam Thanks for the update and your kind words mate - much appreciated 🙏 I should mention... I had the same issue with all the 2 point trem Jets and Fazley's on arrival. Although not recommended first step normally.... On all of them I just lowered the 2 trem posts with the supplied hex keys - instant fix! Night and day improvement, 10 second job 👍 Gets even better once you put a quality set of strings on. Happy NGD! Enjoy 😁👍

[@deanmccaskill5495]

Nice bend into that Major3rd I won’t sue you for stealing my favourite lick I invented

[@stevecassidyguitar]

😆 I'm not sure if this is a dig for not playing any guitar in this vid, or if it's. lovely compliment from another vid 🤔 Either way... Thank you! 😃🙏 and soz for stealing your lick 😬 I'll remove it from my repertoire immediately 👍

[@Dave062YT]

I love my Jet JT350 tele [neck humbucker]and recommend them to every guitar player I speak to but they are pretty useless when it comes to dealing with customers .I dont love the pickguard on mine and they are diferent from Fender so tried to buy a replacement from where I bought it and Jet themselves .they basically dont give a sh*t and no intention of ever helping a customer .Still love their guitars tho and maybe it a language thing as they are in Lithuania or some such place.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Apologies mate - Just found your comment in the "held for review" segment. Just see and approved it now soz 😬 But yeah this has been my experience too. Jet's are definitely my favourite Guitars at the moment, but not my favourite brand due to my customer service experiences too. I do prefer Fazley and even Harley Benton as brands, but Jet make the best affordable strats imo 👍

[@eaqwallbender8269]

I don't like rendered pictures of any products for this particular reason - it doesn't look the way it really is!

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Agreed! In my case, it only led to disappointment. Never encountered this before with any other brands tho

[@eaqwallbender8269]

@@stevecassidyguitar looks like there's a scam profile under this comment

[@stevecassidyguitar]

@@eaqwallbender8269 Thanks again - sorry only just seen your comment. I've reported the comment and user and hid them from the channel.. hopefully that'll fix it for now 🤞

[@tomchannelle8386]

Great work on these vids mate! Whereabouts did you get the proper white pickguards for the phynicas? I've got the same pink one and the off white pickguard has got to go at some point haha. Cheers!

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Thanks mate 👍 So.. weirdly... the Sunburst Phynica 720 comes with a proper white pickguard and has the creme plastics - looks even worse than the creme on creme imo. The sunburst one looks waay better with the creme pickguard. I had a SB 720 and swapped the pickguards and I have 2 friends who also got the sunbursts - when they were £56 too!! So they were up for swapping pickguards too. Sorry - not an ideal way to get a white pickguard 😆 You'd be around £40 - £50 to have a custom one made. The Fender & Squire stuff doesn't line up exactly - I've tried. And finally .... Although the Jet JS400 and Fazley 720's are the same .. the JS400 sunburst comes with a tort pickguard. I nearly bought one yesterday... Just for the pickguard 😆 Hope that helps 😃👍

[@tomchannelle8386]

@@stevecassidyguitar Ahhh right, sounds like a hassle haha! That's a lot of help though thanks a lot!😃 Still can't believe i got one of these things for about 60 quid haha, putting some locking tuners on it tonight :D

[@stevecassidyguitar]

@@tomchannelle8386 Nice one - Changing up the Tuners is a must, pretty much the only weak point with these. Everything else is stellar imo. 😎👌

[@makinganoise6028]

My Fazley Tele has the darker neck, love the sound of the Guitar, BUT cant see the fret markers on a dark stage, as they are dark against a dark neck, the neck on my first run Jet JS400 is superb, one thing to consider, Jet are in Slovenia, which is Central Europe, English aint too great there, so what might sound rude, could be just bad English, Chicks are hot as hell though.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Apologies - I just found this comment was hidden for some reason (not by me). Good point Re the culture/language differences - Maybe I took it wrong 🤷‍♂️

[@makinganoise6028]

@@stevecassidyguitar yeah, they dont speak English well, lots of good singers though in Hungary and Romania.

[@DMSProduktions]

Och aye!

[@stevecassidyguitar]

The noo? or later on? 😜

[@DMSProduktions]

@@stevecassidyguitar Heh! ROCK ye guitars lad! \m/

[@Michael-jv2cn]

What happened to the strings on the Fazley?

[@stevecassidyguitar]

You've got a good eye there sir! If I remember correctly, I'd just swapped the necks on the "white" and pink Fazley's. I hadn't properly restrung the pink one yet as I was planning on trying out Tim Lerch's cluster tuning - but didn't have the correct gauge for a couple of the strings. ... I think 🙈

[@antonyedwardson9900]

Hi Steve, as someone who’s clearly seen a fair few of these models, what is you opinion of the spread of weights? I’m after a cheap t style but don’t want to risk getting a boat anchor like the Harley Benton TEs seem to be. Other that that I’m enjoying the vids and the humour, subbed!

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Hi Antony 👋 Thanks for the feedback and the sub! 🙏 Jet JT 300 7.4lbs Jet JS 300 6.82lbs Jet JS 400 7.3lbs Jet JS 450 8.7lbs 🤯 Fazley FSST 720 7.38lbs & 6.7lbs & 6.8lbs Fazley FSST820 7.5lbs Only had the one Jet Tele - decent weight 👍 I'd heard the HB TE52 is quite heavy but the TE62's more standard? It's really luck of the draw at these prices - hope that helps 🤓👍

[@antonyedwardson9900]

@@stevecassidyguitar thanks for the detailed response! Yes I agree, at this price point you pay your money and take your chances, those all are reasonable apart from the 450 though, may just have to pull the trigger!

[@stevecassidyguitar]

No worries. The 450 is heavy, but strangely, the FSST820 is the same guitar, but a much more comfortable weight. You can always return any back breakers - good luck! 😎👍

[@dammitjim9131]

You mentioned you changed the pickguards on your Jets. Can you please tell me where you can buy these pickguards or did you get them custom made? I have a Jet JS-400 (2024 made in Indonesia - not China), and want to change the pickguard.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

It's a long story mate, but here goes... At my school we have a couple of Fazley Phynica's and I have a few friends who also got phynicas when they were reduced to £56!! I've also had several Jet S400's and 450's. Many of the above come with different pickguard colours and they're not always the best match for the guitar so... I did a lot of pickguard swapping. I even bought another sunburst Jet JS400 for £100 off of eBay just for the tort pickguard! 😂🙈 (not the cheapest option). People have told me, they used 3rd party Fender pickguards, but it does require some drilling and refilling and possible even some minimal cutting/reshaping (Not my prefered option - I've never did it) Then you can have them custom made. Send off your pickguard for tracing and get a new one recut in a clour of your choice. (Costs about £35-£40). There was a guy with an eBay store "EarlPilanz" in Glasow I was using before. But I am very likely about to do a collab soon with a new pickguard company who already have the templates for the Jet JS400's 😀👍 Watch this space 🤓 Hope that helps

[@stevecassidyguitar]

I didn't realise they moved manufacture to Indonesia 🤔 How can you tell the difference?

[@dammitjim9131]

@@stevecassidyguitar Wow ... Thanks for the detailed info!!

[@dammitjim9131]

@@stevecassidyguitar The seller put it in the description that it was made in Indonesia. Don't know if there is a difference btn the ones made in China or Indonesia just thought it may be important to mention it.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

@@dammitjim9131 Ah ok 👍 I think the seller may have been mistaken. 🤷‍♂ I'm pretty sure all the Jets are made in China. (As far as I know) 👍

[@samsbudgetguitars830]

New subscriber here 👍

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Thanks Sam & welcome! 😀👍

[@fmg9666]

So Fazley is gone?

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Fazley the brand still exists (via BAX music) and they still have loads of affordable models. But the Fazley "Phynica" models are now discontinued - these were the only models made out of the Jet factory, and are of a higher quality (imo) than the other Fazleys that I've tried.

[@matereo]

haha your pickguards are incredibly mismatched buddy :D

[@stevecassidyguitar]

I agree! The "White" and pink Fazley's are gonna be getting refinished soon. The sunburst one (that's how they come stock White guard and cream plastics -horrible imo) is now gone but i changed the pickguard to cream before it went. I'm happy with the pickguards on the Blue jet (hot pink) and the stock white pearloid on the Beachy Jet

[@BudgetGuitarShow]

Jet are annoyed that people have bought the Fazley versions since we broke the stories

[@stevecassidyguitar]

I don't know If Jet will have anything to worry about now the Phynica's are "almost" gone. Those models tick way more boxes for me than the other Fazley offerings. Fingers crossed for the new models! 😃🤞

[@chloewinkworthartist]

really, y get a guitar y can play what u want to play on, mabye two or three ....looks like who gives a shit....its a tool of trade, not a handbag ,even then when i recently bought a handbag it is black leather ,tidy and functional...same as a car, or an amp im gunna buy coz th katana is not cuttin it...function not ssthetic ay

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Different strokes for different folks n all that Jazz tho eh? I hate to admit it... But I "need" my guitars to look the part too - coz I'm shallow 😔

[@chloewinkworthartist]

@@stevecassidyguitar fashion is okay ,y not shallow, just flamboyant 💋

[@stevecassidyguitar]

@@chloewinkworthartist Aww fanks! 😀🙏