Issue 5.07

"Making a guitar sound amazing is fine, but JMP Guitars doesn’t stop there...custom paint jobs, dragon inlays, and even the occasional portrait. Anything a customer wants, he or she can get. This approach, combining technical excellence with true artistic sensibilities, is just another feature that sets JMP apart from everyone else......"
Read More at thepulsemag.com

Ben of CARV

"Let me first preface this statement by explaining a little about myself. I am a gear junkie. A gear snob. You might even gander to say a gear whore. By that, I mean, I have been testing out guitars and buying them now for over 10 years and have accumulated over 30 instruments over that time. Paul Reed Smith’s, Gibson’s, Martin’s, Taylors—and the best of the breed. People have even paid me to fly out and buy guitars with their money because they trust what I say. So when I say there’s no one else I trust to work on MY guitars other than JMP Guitars, it speaks wonders of their abilities. I’m not a particularly nice guy, nor am I the type of person to put forth free endorsement. With that said, let me begin by telling you a little about JMP Guitars.

I first met JMP Guitars about a decade ago. They have worked on every one of my guitars that I have "frankensteined" ever since. He is a man that literally gets upset when he sees the inside of a guitar and it’s not shielded properly. Not wired perfect. Not designed under ideal circumstances with the best of the best put into it. So, with all of this out in the open, JMP Guitarsis the first person to put DOWN my guitars. It’s always "I can make it sound better." So after a while of this nonsense I began to tell him to put his money where his mouth is.

The first instrument I trusted JMP Guitars to put their stamp on was one of my trusty PRS Custom 22s. A 1998 10 top to be exact. I had taken this specific guitar on at least 100 gigs and toured all around with it. I loved it, but I thought it needed some more cut to it. After playing my friend’s 1959 Gibson ES-335, I was encouraged to find that "ultimate tone" that every guitar player fiends to find. You know, like Eddie Van Halen on 11, except it’s not just my fingers making it sound that good. He is not only a man, he’s sort of his own guitar tech God. He has this uncanny ability of reading my mind. You know, figuring out how to make stuff sound the best. Anyhow, he changed the pickups, redid the wiring, changed the switches, and then set the guitar up. I almost had a heart attack when I plugged the damn thing in. It was like butter. PRS’s play ridiculous right from the factory, but this guitar was playing me like a bad top 40 hit. The tone was ridiculous. The inside looked immaculate. I couldn’t have wished for anything better. He even took it back a few times (against my will, of course) to do "adjustments." Well, whatever this man did, I’d put this guitar against anything. ANYTHING. Holy crap, batman.

Now, just as I began to think all of the custom work JMP was doing for me was the best of the best, he brought one of his creations over to my recording studio. One by the name of "Irriguous." I asked him what brand it was and he told me he had made it. I could not believe it. This instrument had the best paint job, the best detail work, the best of everything. And then I plugged the damn thing in. Oh my God. I was like…I have to have this. JMP has a way of finding the best woods to match with the best electronics with the best hardware. There’s no "best" when it comes to guitar, it’s a matter of taste. That’s what JMP’s gift is. You tell him what you want and this man will make it. He’ll take the design right out of your brain and invent it in front of your eyes.

The attention to detail is uncanny. From the fretwork to the crazy inlay work he tracks down. If he’s not good at something, he’ll find the best person who is. He’ll spend hours just shielding a guitar nevertheless intonating it, nevertheless spending sleepless nights figuring out which tuning heads he wants to put on the headstock or how he wants to wire a piezo pickup for a strat into a Flying V. His guitars are everything you could ever ask for. First you notice beauty. The inlays. The paint jobs. The perfectly matched hardware. Then you pick up one of these suckers and feel what AMAZING is in your hands. You don’t even need to plug one into an amp to hear the tone. It’s right there. And when you do…watch out. Oh man, watch out. If there’s a man who knows what makes a good guitar, it’s JMP. And like I said, I’m an ass hole, he didn’t pay me to say this."

Brian of Meat Circus

"My guitar was a gift from a good friend. I always wanted a crazy retro telecaster® sound, but wanted it built for me; not someone else's old guitar. I took a cheap, factory made telecaster to JMP Guitars. I had the Fender Noisless® Custom Shop pickups installed with all new wiring, shieding, and hardware. The result is simply amazing. Amazing vintage tone in a guitar that originally cost under $200. JMP Guitars can make any guitar sound world class."