Comments about Fender Jim Adkins JA-90 Telecaster Electric Guitar:

I was sick of switching between a Les Paul for heavier sounds and a Strat for single coil sounds, so I picked this up hoping it could cover both. All in all, it's a pretty good guitar. Looks great, stays in tune decently, and I like the Les Paul style controls. This thing really shines in the middle PU position. Tone is rich and full. The neck PU is pretty good also, but unfortunately, the bridge PU is unusable for me. It sounds dull and cheap. I'll probably replace that PU eventually, but I'm afraid it will ruin the near perfect middle combo. Happy and disappointed at the same time.

Comments about Fender Jim Adkins JA-90 Telecaster Electric Guitar:

The JA-90 is awesome. I've had everything from Teles to Les Pauls (have leaned toward Teles the past few years) and decided to give the JA-90 a shot. I've never received more compliments on my tone. The way this interacts with my drive pedals (Fulldrive 2 and Sparkle Drive) and my delays & reverbs (TC Nova Delay, Eventide Space) is just amazing.

I have the ebony - the finish is killer. It's black but the way you see through the grain is beautiful. It almost has a deep purpleish hue to it. I agree with other reviews that the input jack is poor and the knobs aren't great (I replaced them with some SG style knobs and it looks way better) but I wouldn't let that stop you. Those are easy fixes.

I love the sound of the P90s but they are definitely noiser than other single coils. That comes with the territory. I play quite a bit of atmospheric stuff where I need the guitar to be quiet. I tried shielding/rewiring but that doesn't help. I finally tried an EHX Humdebugger and it does the trick well with very little tone change. If you go for the JA-90 - and I definitely recommend that you do - its worth trying out a Humdebugger for the times you do need the P90s to function quietly.

Comments about Fender Jim Adkins JA-90 Telecaster Electric Guitar:

Excellent Guitar. I have always been a fan of Telecasters and Jimmy Eat World, but even if you don't like those two things, you would probably love this guitar. Right out of the box, it played great and looked amazing. The grain looks superb through the crimson red finish. It is darker than it looks in the pictures; it's like looking through cranberry juice. I liked that it is a Tele, but also has it has more Gibson like features such as a set-neck, independent volume and tone controls, and the adjustomatic bridge. I played it through a BOSS Me-25 and a Fender Super-Reverb, and I couldn't be happier with the sound. The clean tones I get out of this thing are smooth and warm. This thing can really get dirty though! It sounded great with all of my distortion settings on the Me-25. From blues to metal distortions, this thing did it all. It is literally the perfect guitar for any genre. My only complaint is that there is what appears to be a bit of glue inside the f-hole that is just caked inside the guitar. You can't really see that unless you look for it though. Overall, this is the nicest looking guitar I have ever seen, it plays great, and it sounds fantastic, exeeding my wildest expectations. Jim Adkins makes excellent music, but he also created a masterpiece of a guitar with the JA-90.

Comments about Fender Jim Adkins JA-90 Telecaster Electric Guitar:

Except for the two small quality issues I noted, this is a phenomenal guitar. I enjoy playing it more than any of my other 16 or so guitars. And it is stunning to look at (I have the black -- I bet the red looks killer in person). I was actually looking at SG's and LPs with P90s when I saw this in the store. I was disappointed with the Gibsons, but blown away by the JA90.
Two P90s, set neck, Gibson-style bridge.tailpiece, pup selector/knobs, semi-hollow body, matching headstock, killer finish. In a perfect world this would come with locking tuners and a roller bridge (since it practically begs for a Bigsby install), and strap locks.
My JA90 is well built, with killer looks and a deep finish, except for three things...

1. The fretboard has some rough-cut areas, like they didn't sand all the way to the edge in a few spots. It does not affect playability, though, and is barely visible.

2. As I have heard from others, my output jack came loose almost immediately. If you buy one, check that right away.

3. The volume and tone knobs feel cheap.
I have much more expensive guitars that do not look as good, play as good, or sound as cool right out of the box. It is a steal.

Comments about Fender Jim Adkins JA-90 Telecaster Electric Guitar:

I've loved every moment with this guitar and plan on playing it live and in the studio for a long time. The semi-hollow body paired with the P-90's makes a very unique sound that I've never gotten out of any other guitar and suits nearly all of my sonic needs. The neck pickup is a bit muddy so I don't use it much, but the bridge pickup sings and soars, you will not regret buying this guitar!!!
This guitar has everything I was looking for in a Telecaster and sounds amazing and stands out over your standard Tele. I love the neck through body and the P-90's are great for the kind of rock my band The Last Glimpse plays. The red transparent finish is beautiful! I never thought I'd want a red guitar, but I couldn't keep my eyes off this one, it just looks stunning.
Overall quality of my guitar is quite good, the only issue I had was the input jack came loose about a month in but I took it out and tightened it up and it has been fine ever since. I use this guitar for most of the songs we play, and it really sounds great. I currently play through a Fender Deville, and it's a great combo. Our other guitarist plays Les Pauls and the two mesh together wonderfully, we couldn't be happier.
Overall value is quite excellent, it was a great price for a signature guitar. I did have to buy a case as well, but that's pretty standard anymore on guitars that are less than $1000, so it was no biggie.

Comments about Fender Jim Adkins JA-90 Telecaster Electric Guitar:

I would give it a 10, but the minor flaw in the finish inside the F-hole, and the black dye leaching from the fret board onto my fingers warrants a minor deduction. I would but this guitar again.

After playing an ES-335 for decades, the JA-90 is now my go-to guitar.
Having played and owned a Gibson 335 rfor decades I like being able to get a Fender with the stop tail bridge. The Duncan P90's have a very sweet sound.
Over all the quality is excellant. But I'm marking it down a few points because the finish (while excellent) is flawed along the edge inside the F-hole. No one can see it but me, however I know it's there.

Also, I wonder the the fret-board is actually rosewood because it's taken a couple of weeks of daily playing for the black dye to stop transferring to my fingers. This even after several deep cleanings with Duncans fret board cleaner.
This is one nice sounding, well put together guitar for the price. The build quality is excellant. All the details have been attended to. It feels great in my hands.

Comments about Fender Jim Adkins JA-90 Telecaster Electric Guitar:

now that I have it set up, repairs completed and only have what the original new price was, I am happy. this will be my main guitar for practice and gigs becuase of the tone it has. Fender does need to do a better job on the quaility control.
this guitar has what I would have set up if I built a guitar from scratch, tele semi hollow ash body, set neck, 12 inch radius and a set of P90 pick ups
this was a returned guitar, it had some issues, cheap pots one was spinning around,and switch, changed those out with new and added some shielding, the frets were rising up from the neck, I had to have them re glued and set back into the neck along with some fret work. the rest of the guitar was perfect, the neck is very straight, finish is perfect, and I love the P-90's they sound great.
the reason I gave a 7 was becuase of the guitar being used, at a price that made it worth putting in some money on the set up to repair the issues and set up the guitar like I like it. if I had bought it new at full price, I would have returned this one because of the isssues it had

Comments about Fender Jim Adkins JA-90 Telecaster Electric Guitar:

I have been a long time fan of P90 pickups. Also play Tele's exclusively. This a perfect combination of your basic Tele playability and the ballsy sound of P90 pickups. I play through a Marshall amp and this guitar and the Marshall are a great marriage. Many of my friends have played it and where immediately smitten. When I told them the price they where amazed. If you like Fender Tele's and you want a fatter, bittier sound this is a super guitar. I find myself not playing my standard tele with Fender Custom Shop pickups as much as I used to. This is not your daddy's Tele!

Comments about Fender Jim Adkins JA-90 Telecaster Electric Guitar:

Bought this guitar for it's features and wasn't disappointed. Been playing it hard for about 6 months now and everything is just a good as it was when it arrived. The only thing I would say is buy a good case with it, come on Fender get with the program and put heavier strings on it. The tone will blow you away.

Comments about Fender Jim Adkins JA-90 Telecaster Electric Guitar:

this guitar is beautiful looking, but sadly it is wired horribly. i was so excited when i got my new ja90 i took it strait to practice. it shorted out halfway thru the first song!from the factory all the knobs were loose so if they were twisted (which is what they are for) they shorted out the pots on the inner shielding paint.second practice i tape up the shielding, and bring it back. it shorts out again one song in!lots of bare wire in the guitar, and i just had to make another repair to the jack. the wires were so bare in there that i had to unsolder both, and shrink tube them so they would not short each other out, or contact the jack that was plugged in.this has happened several other times, but i think you get the idea.i now check this guitar before i take it anywhere to make sure it actually works, and most of the guys in my band hate it!in the same time frame i bought a gretcsh. it works great no problems, no hassels just plug it in and it plays everytime.i am really dissatisfied with the way fender has let their worksmanship slide. i have a bunch of old fenders, and they still work like a charm. they really need to regulate the stuff coming into the states to avoid stuff like this.i wish someone would have written this review before i picked this guitar up. don't get this guitar without a soldering iron and some wiring diagrams, or unless you just plan on hanging it on the wall to look at it. the finish really is nice.