JA90 or MP thinline?

[Andy.j.ford]

Hi all.. I have a mim 72 custom reissue (which I can't get enough of) and a mik 90's squier tele (which never gets used).

I've recently messed up my left shoulder snowboarding so I'm looking for something lighter..

I've been looking at the jim Adkins JA90 or the modern player thinline as they will be lighter and the p90's will give me something a little different to my other tele's..

Is the JA90 worth the extra cash?

Welcome any thoughts.

[furtherpale]

Bump as I've been considering one (mp)

[Telenator]

Be careful in selecting a "light" guitar as they often tend to be neck-heavy.

Make sure you have the opportunity to play the potential new guitar while standing and using a strap.

Heavy guitars can be a bit uncomfortable on your shoulder, but neck-heavy guitars are much more difficult to play.

[telex76]

Welcome.

[Blustele]

Welcome!

[TX-Cabronita]

I have to agree, play it, standing w/strap. Maybe consider also the other MP Fender Tele with the toggle switch? It's made out if pine? MIChina, but for $350, not too shabby.

[electrablue]

Welcome.

[FrankJames]

Welcome to the forum !!

[Davecoleaus]

Hi Andy,
I will preface this by saying i am an average player, and i am by no means an expert, so this is purely my opinion. I just bought my first telecaster today (mim standard), but I did a huge amount of research and tried out pretty much every bottom end telecaster to find something that i liked.
I was agonising over what model to get, because I have a Gibson LP that is my workhorse, but I was looking for something a little bit different and I fell in love with the shape of the telecaster. In my search I tried out both models that you are looking at, along with several others.
My thoughts:
The modern player plus which someone else mentioned was very versatile in terms of sound, was well made and I love the coil tap for modding potential, but it weighs more than my les Paul, so I wouldn't recommend it with your shoulder.
The thinline modern player: I liked the finish A LOT more in person than I did in the photos. Under full stage lights it does look more brown, but under regular lighting it is more black. I couldn't fault the finish and the neck felt comfortable. It was really nice and light. The pickups also noise cancel in the middle position which i liked. they will pick up a lot of noise in certain environments though.
My issues with it: there was a fair bit of fret buzz which I didn't find in any of the other fenders that I tried out. That might be fixed with a set up, but I've read a few reviews that mentioned not being able to fix that properly. The pickups are also epically muddy. I loved the sound of the bridge pickup, but the middle position and the straight neck were just unusably muddy. When strumming there was no clarity whatsoever on the top end, to the point that it would only be good for lead use. I've read that this can be fixed with changed pots and tweaking of pickup height, but it depends on whether you want to go to the effort. The tuners felt a little bit cheap, which I would replace. I was also a little bit worried that the pickup selector was crackling when changing positions, and that made me worry what the rest of the electrics would be like.

The jim Adkins ja90: I'm a big fan of the jimmy eat world sound, so I was really looking forward to trying this bad boy out. What I liked: The sounds were great straight off the bat. I didn't feel like it would need extensive setting up, tweaking or modding. The bridge pickup had a great rock tone that was a bit hotter than a bucker. I was a bit surprised that I couldn't get a more in your face tone out of this guitar, but the neck would be sweet for a mellow kinda blues tone. The finish was impeccable, and the neck joint was flawless. Neck was great to play on, tuners felt solid, and the tones were good. You also have three finishes to choose from which I think are all good choices (but the black looks HOT). I think the reason why I didn't go with this model and bought a standard was that it was just a very Gibson kind of sound (I don't know if that's sacrilege to say?). I wanted the telecaster sound because I already have a great Gibson. For you though maybe already having a telecaster sound, the Gibson sound might be a nice change?
The bottom line of a ranting post. If you want to mod the guitar, and don't care about changing pots and wiring and pickups, I would maybe go for the modern player thinline? Any money you save could go back into the guitar. It's a solid wood, and it played well, but I would definitely play before you buy to see that there is no fret buzz. I would be a bit worried if there was when you tried it out.
If you want a no effort, great sound, and you don't mind the cost difference, I would maybe go with the ja90. It sounds great, even if not a traditional tele sound, and I got a better feel about the build quality (but that was from a brief time with it in store).
As I said, my opinion, take it or leave it. I've been playing for years but am new to telecasters so probably don't know the subtlety that the more experienced members on here know about :)

[Andy.j.ford]

Thanks for the responses, I tried both the mp and the ja90 in my local store and decided the ja90 was the one for me.. I liked the set neck and the p90s gave me a new sound (albeit very gibsonesque).

[Andy.j.ford]

Pics of the new and old telecasters

[Blustele]

Nice trio there, Grats!

[nrand]

Welcome
That thinline would be the first one I'd pick up