JB Player info

[daan]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dnork01/26 ... 104024063/
I had a JB Player guitar, I sold it years ago, blah blah blah. It was from a little store where I grew up in rural Wisconsin, I had never heard of them before and I haven't seen one since, either. I was looking around the net about these, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of info that I could find, at least. Can anybody help me with this, I know I can't be the only person who had one of these. Thank you.
PS I put this here because I assumed the guitar was Korean, like anything else I could afford at the time.

edit: I got it in 1986, and sold it in 1990. The music store I got it from had a red one like mine, except the tuning machine area was painted and the whole neck on mine was natural wood. They also had a Tele shaped guitar, with humbuckers. I never saw another JBP the whole time I had mine, or since.

[jedistar]

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/revi ... Style/10/1



Still available
Owned and distributed by MBT International
http://boardroom.deepblue.com/db/mbt/default.asp
_________________________
www.jedistar.com

[Bassassin]

I would hazard a guess that it is Korean - and quite possibly made by Cort. I've seen this particular locking trem system on a variety of Cort-built guitars, including the 80s Hohner Professional range.

Jon.

[DougDoppler]

Hey,

I realize that your post is a little old, but I can answer a number of your questions. JB Player was formerly owned by Dana Zacuto - RIP, whose brother founded Mighty Mite guitars. I quite possibly set up that guitar as I worked for Dana at the time your guitar was made - by Westheimer, whose Korean factory as noted in another post made Cort as well. I worked with another tech setting up those guitars when they came in on a container. It was a long time ago, but I'm glad that the guitar was memorable to you!

Cheers,

Doug

[martysmith]

hi there...i have a WONDERFUL JBplayer Artist series that i got NOS in a pawn shop on the coast of Mississippi last year...i dont have pix of it, but this ad IS the exact guitar.....they really are good players...marty

[daan]

[ELamb]

I know this is ancient, but it may help with your search. It seems that JB Player electric guitars are getting harder to find anymore. Even though they were brought in from the orient, in the early 80's they were made from US hardwood and set up in Westlake, Ca. The owner at that time, Dana, was not only an incredibly crazy man, he was driven to try and make a great playing instrument for a fair price. Many of his guitars I still have were quite innovative... a strat with a built in wireless system in the guitar so you didn't need to have a transmitter on your belt... another one that he called 'The Buick', that had just one triple coil pickup that was wired to play any of the three coils independently, in or out of phase or all at the same time! Besides myself, I've only seen Mark Motherspaw from Devo play one of these (it's in one of their early 80's videos)... I also have a strat with a neck that was shaped from the early Hendrix strat. That was one thing about these early models that he was putting out. The necks played really nice. I helped set up many of the guitars that came through the shop back in the very early 80's and endorsed them with pride. So, if you are still looking for one, try to find the early 80's models... you won't regret it. Eric Lamb

[daan]

I loved my first JB, and the blue one I got last year is just as nice other than the wear on it. I have a "real" Strat and I almost always would rather play my JB than that one, even though the JB weighs more. THe JB bass is the nicest P-bass style I've had too. The "new" JBP guitars (like in the link "martysmith" posted) don't seem any nicer than other noname import guitars that I've tried though.

[lostnfound55]

I have a mid 80's JB Player ... pearl white strat style w/single coils in the neck & mid & a humb at the bridge ... no pick guard ... two knobs - volume & tone ... 3 toggles to mix & match the pickups ... ebony fret board ... tuners lock at the nut with additional tuning at the bridge ... plays beautiful ... a little stiff compared to my fender strat standard ... but it can really get it with the right amp ... my wife bought it for me brand new back then but we can't remember when ... serial#8702056 ...
anybody have an idea of when it was made and what it might be worth?

[daan]

I can't tell you how old yours is exactly, but if the headstock looks like this then it's an early/mid 80's one. If the headstock looks like the one "matysmith" posted below, then it's a 90's or later one. I can tell you none of my 3 JBs have serial #'s on them anywhere. My first one had a "Made in Korea" sticker on the neckplate, but I peeled that off as soon as I got it home When I saw the JBs in the store in the 80s most of them were Strat shaped ones with guardplates. THey did have a couple Tele shaped ones, one with a plate and one without. I hadn't seen a Strat one without standard PU's though. Not that I'm an expert or anything...
Hope this helps.

[lostnfound55]

Actually my head stock looks like neither ... it's more swept to a point with all of the tuners on top ... when I get the chance I'll post a picture.

[daan]

does it look like this
if so, then it's late 80's. Apparently they made cheap-ish ones like mine (bolt-on necks) throuought, and "Proffesional series" with neck-thru construction (the neck goes all the way to the back of the guitar, and the body sides are glued to the neck). THe "nicer" ones had "Fender" shaped headstocks at first, then they switched to the "hockey stick"/"Jackson" style ones. The newest ones have the completely different shaped headstocks. It's been fun chasing this stuff down, I swear I've learned more of this stuff in the last couple months than I had from 1986 when I got my first JB... it's all good. As for what it's worth, I paid less than $200 for my first one in the 80s, then $150 for my blue/white one 2 years ago, and there's 3 of these neck-thru ones on Ebay right now for $300 or less. OF course there's someone trying to sell a bolt-on one with what looks like a broken tremelo for tons of $, it's been relisted several times but he's still asking $600. Insanity. If you like yours, don't sell it, they are very nice guitars. I have a Mexican-made Strat along with my JBP, and the only thing that's better about the "real" Fender is that it weighs less. The neck-thru guitars are supposedly better, so take that for what it's worth.

[lostnfound55]

Yessir ... that's the one ... except mine is white pearlessence and the neck is very dark and tight grained which has always led me to think it was ebony. Would that be possible or was rosewood the staple? I'd never sell it as my wife gave it to me as a gift when it was brand new and I was
still playing in a Blues band. I just never had any knowledge of who made it and where it came from. Mine only has a serial number on the back of the neck, but doesn't say where it was made. So are these made in Japan or Korea? I also have a couple of Strats and the JB definetly plays stiffer. It is harder to bend the strings of the same gauge ... but it does get some very sweet tones with the right amp. Do you know of any source where I can trace the serial# to get a more accurate read on it's age? In any case, I greatly appreciate all of the info ... and wouldn't it be something if we are both holding on to future rare & classic guitars?

[pasterkeith]

i have a jb player guitar probably an mid to late 80's model. its a strat style body and the neck goes through the body and the head stock is strat shaped. i got this on my 19th bday in 1986 and it still plays great. the only prob i have had with the guitar is with the bridge i had to add extra springs on it to hold it in the body. but it had an awesome sound. i was wondering if these guitars are worth anything. i still have the brochure with the girl group vixen.

[VintAxe]

Hard to estimate value without knowing what model you have pasterkeith. There are a couple of models listed over $500 in the Blue Book, but the majority of models are valued between $100-$350 in Excellent Plus condition.