# NGD: Sterling Petrucci JP157 Island Burst (Meh..possibly going back)



## Exit Existence (Apr 18, 2018)

*Overview:*
So I was in the market for a new budget 7 string, and I decided to give the Sterling version of the John Petrucci models a shot. This guitar particularly caught my eye because of how aesthetic it looks. The Island Burst finish combined with the baked maple neck looks quite attractive, and I do have to say they delivered on looks. Quality on the other hand is somewhat disappointing, and leaves a lot to be desired.

Lets go over my initial impressions...

*Aesthetics and finish:*
The flamed maple veneer is very nice on the guitar, it has a lot of detail and depth to it. The veneer and grain on the mahogany body looks very nice with the Island Burst finish. I can't find any weird looking issues with the body wood itself. There are a few finish flaws near the control cavities but very minor.











The baked maple neck has a pretty good satin finish, not the smoothest but overall pretty good. I was hoping that the neck profile would be the exact same as my Music Man Petrucci, but it feels a bit chunkier with bigger shoulders on the neck profile.






There is some ugly (In my opinion, purely subjective) figuring on the fretboard. I know this is purely cosmetic but it bothers me. Some may find this cool, but to me it looks more like a stain than cool figuring.






*Fretwork:*
Here is the most disappointing part of the guitar. The frets are very poor quality and will require serious polishing. You can literally hear and feel the scratchyness while performing bends or vibrato. This is really disappointing especially considering the price point of $729. There are also many rough fret ends. Rough fret ends happen on imports sometimes but isn't the "baking" process of the neck supposed to suck out all the moisture to prevent shrinkage / warping / fret sprout? Hmm.....

*Hardware / electronics:*
More of a let down here. I knew the pickups aren't great on these guitars, but It's not only the pickups. The potentiometers feel very cheap, the volume and push / push gain boost potentiometer has almost no resistance to it, it spins very freely. You'd easily knock your volume down by just brushing against it. The gain boost works fine but again feels very flimsy. Other components like the pickup selector and saddles feel very cheap, and have that "chromed" cheap plating on them.

The nut seems fine, it's cut pretty clean. The locking tuners seem okay as well, they turn smoothly and have a decent ratio.

The string access holes on the back plate look like they were cut with a dremel lol







Very cheap pot metal trem block. It's very thin. I think these bridges are proprietary so I don't think this could be upgraded unless something custom was made. The routing on the back also does not allow even spring spacing, You can see here that a spring would not even fit on the bass side of the tremolo if you wanted to add a 4th. Also the claw is clamped down all the way (Even with stock strings, 9's I'm assuming)






*Factory Setup:*
These guitars, all though Indonesian made are supposedly set up in California by Sterling. While the out of the box action was decent..check out the bridge setup..






So as you've probably guessed by my initial thoughts, I think I'm going to be returning this one. I think it could make a good modding platform and with a lot of extra work it could be fairly nice, but for $730 I expected much better quality in terms of fretwork and hardware. Was I expecting a perfect guitar? No, but this guitar feels very similar to a $400-$500 Indonesian Ibanez, probably made in the same factory. By the time you upgraded pickups, hardware, cleaned up the fretwork etc you'd probably be close to the price of a used Music Man or something comparable.

Just my 2 cents. Allthough I'm most likely returning it I figure I would post up my experience in case others were wondering about it.


----------



## Wolfos (Apr 18, 2018)

None of your pics work for me but that's crummy about the guitar. You might have been better off going for a schecter km7 or jackson pro ht7 unless you were dying for a trem.


----------



## AC.Lin (Apr 18, 2018)

Same, none of the pics are working !
Also, i second Wolfos.


----------



## JEngelking (Apr 18, 2018)

Gotta say, disappointing to hear that the QC wasn't there. I've had my eyes on these as this has the best aesthetics of any of the Sterling JP models IMO. Hope you wind up with something more ready to play!


----------



## Exit Existence (Apr 18, 2018)

Fixed the images for now (Damn IMGUR!) It's funny they displayed for me but I seem to remember having issues in the past with ss.org and imugur. 

Yea, I think I'm definitely biased because I own a music man JP and other nice guitars but I've also played a bunch of imports at this price point that were much better value. Took a gamble on this one I guess


----------



## movingpictures (Apr 18, 2018)

Too bad... Mine was set-up better than that, and doesnt have the huge string holes on the back plate. No sharp fret ends either...

I always take the strings off a new guitar, polish frets, and do a set up. My Neptune Blue 157 plays great and i swapped the pups for Illuminators and a Dimarzio EP1111 3 way.


----------



## Zado (Apr 18, 2018)

Exit Existence said:


> probably made in the same factory


I hope not, cause that's the factory that will be used by many brands in the near future in place of MIK WMI.


----------



## SDMFVan (Apr 18, 2018)

Thanks for the review, I was actually just looking at getting one of these and couldn't find any honest reviews.


----------



## Lasik124 (Apr 18, 2018)

I owned a sterling and got rid of it after a week due to the quality of it. They really ask for to much money for what they give you.

Cool looking guitar though


----------



## Exit Existence (Apr 18, 2018)

movingpictures said:


> Too bad... Mine was set-up better than that, and doesnt have the huge string holes on the back plate. No sharp fret ends either...
> 
> I always take the strings off a new guitar, polish frets, and do a set up. My Neptune Blue 157 plays great and i swapped the pups for Illuminators and a Dimarzio EP1111 3 way.


Sounds like these might be hit or miss then, glad you got a good one!



Zado said:


> I hope not, cause that's the factory that will be used by many brands in the near future in place of MIK WMI.


Is World Musical Instruments planning on scaling back in the future? I think they do a fairly good job, most of the brands that come out of there are pretty decent.


----------



## Zado (Apr 18, 2018)

Exit Existence said:


> Sounds like these might be hit or miss then, glad you got a good one!
> 
> 
> Is World Musical Instruments planning on scaling back in the future?


No idea, I hope so


----------



## Randy (Apr 18, 2018)

Lasik124 said:


> I owned a sterling and got rid of it after a week due to the quality of it. They really ask for to much money for what they give you.



Eh, so-so. $699 brand new for a trans-burst, flamed maple top with a proprietary bridge setup, the shield inlays, and a "roasted maple neck" (look more like stain than roasting to me anyway) is actually kind of a bargain. The problem is that the QC, setup, hardware and some of the finish is considerably below the pricepoint and even further below what you'd expect when you see the features on it. 

That's kinda the rub, if you're going to get THOSE features you're going to either pay more or they're going to makeup for the price elsewhere. That's the classic "you can have it fast, reliable and cheap, but you're only allowed to choose two" conundrum.


----------



## Zender (Apr 18, 2018)

So.... you buy a guitar only to find out after the fact that it has a "stain" on the fretboard, and a crummy fretjob? How does that work. You order guitars online or something? (Why would you _ever_ buy a guitar unseen.... ) 

I'd send it back, for that price I'd expect more.


----------



## Mathemagician (Apr 18, 2018)

Is this for real? I think most of us here buy guitars online regularly. Especially from large online dealers.


----------



## Albake21 (Apr 18, 2018)

This is too bad to hear. Although personally I never liked the Sterling line. They always felt cheap to me. The only one that I thought was alright was the Majesty. I will say though you are completely right about the neck. The 7 strings, at least, feel NOTHING like the normal Music Man shape. It has super chunky shoulders and is definitely thicker all around. Very uncomfortable IMO. 

As for the issues, man what the hell is with the black plate? You're right, it seriously looks like someone made those holes themselves. Also that setup... yikes! Not sure if you want to mention them, but who did you buy this guitar from? Personally for that money, I think you are better off finding a good deal on a used Ibanez Prestige 7.



Zender said:


> So.... you buy a guitar only to find out after the fact that it has a "stain" on the fretboard, and a crummy fretjob? How does that work. You order guitars online or something? (Why would you _ever_ buy a guitar unseen.... )
> 
> I'd send it back, for that price I'd expect more.


Because it's 2018 and not everyone has access to unlimited guitars in stores. How else are you going to try guitars?


----------



## bostjan (Apr 18, 2018)

How does the quality compare to the "Officially Licensed Product" brand of these? I rememebr those guitars sold for dirt cheap and looked just like real JP's and real Axis guitars, but when you picked them up to play them, they were very obviously cheap.


----------



## Randy (Apr 18, 2018)

bostjan said:


> How does the quality compare to the "Officially Licensed Product" brand of these? I rememebr those guitars sold for dirt cheap and looked just like real JP's and real Axis guitars, but when you picked them up to play them, they were very obviously cheap.



I think the experience varies a lot depending on what model you play. My brother in law has an OLP Petrucci in Red Pearl Burst and it's definitely on par with a MIM Fender as far as fit, finish, hardware and wood quality. He also had sculpted flame top (literally flames) McSwain that felt like a prize at Six Flags. The Axis' that I've played felt more like the McSwain than the Petrucci.


----------



## Exit Existence (Apr 18, 2018)

Randy said:


> Eh, so-so. $699 brand new for a trans-burst, flamed maple top with a proprietary bridge setup, the shield inlays, and a "roasted maple neck" (look more like stain than roasting to me anyway) is actually kind of a bargain. The problem is that the QC, setup, hardware and some of the finish is considerably below the pricepoint and even further below what you'd expect when you see the features on it.
> 
> That's kinda the rub, if you're going to get THOSE features you're going to either pay more or they're going to makeup for the price elsewhere. That's the classic "you can have it fast, reliable and cheap, but you're only allowed to choose two" conundrum.



Yea I agree with you for sure. I think the features are definitely there, and like I mentioned it looks killer and the design of the guitar is very comfortable aside from the sharp fret ends. I think the JP body designs are very ergonomic and comfortable so I think there's value there in purely the design factor of it. I'm just not the kind of person that wants to spend the extra time and money to make a guitar a "player" out of the box. I think this guitar would be great for someone who wants the look of a MM JP and doesn't mind doing some work and upgrades on it.


----------



## bostjan (Apr 19, 2018)

Randy said:


> I think the experience varies a lot depending on what model you play. My brother in law has an OLP Petrucci in Red Pearl Burst and it's definitely on par with a MIM Fender as far as fit, finish, hardware and wood quality. He also had sculpted flame top (literally flames) McSwain that felt like a prize at Six Flags. The Axis' that I've played felt more like the McSwain than the Petrucci.


I only ever played a three of them: two at guitar center, right after they first started stocking them and one my band mate bought second hand. My friend's was borderline playable, and the floor models were horrendous. Still, 3 out of tens or hundreds of thousands of pieces made is not a good sampling.


----------



## odibrom (Apr 19, 2018)

Those trem springs...


----------



## Albake21 (Apr 19, 2018)

odibrom said:


> Those trem springs...


Oh my god, I didn't even notice that! Did you set that up, or did it come like that, @Exit Existence?


----------



## lewis (Apr 19, 2018)

wow there are some unattractive errors with that.

What a shame.


----------



## Exit Existence (Apr 19, 2018)

Albake21 said:


> Oh my god, I didn't even notice that! Did you set that up, or did it come like that, @Exit Existence?



lol no. It came set up like that. I kind of decided it wasn't for me pretty quickly so I didn't bother giving it a proper setup, especially since it's going back I'd rather not touch it and return it as is.


----------



## TheShreddinHand (Apr 20, 2018)

Exit Existence said:


> lol no. It came set up like that. I kind of decided it wasn't for me pretty quickly so I didn't bother giving it a proper setup, especially since it's going back I'd rather not touch it and return it as is.



Ouch, I'd send it back to.


----------



## JustinRhoads1980 (Apr 20, 2018)

Exit Existence said:


> *Overview:*
> So I was in the market for a new budget 7 string, and I decided to give the Sterling version of the John Petrucci models a shot. This guitar particularly caught my eye because of how aesthetic it looks. The Island Burst finish combined with the baked maple neck looks quite attractive, and I do have to say they delivered on looks. Quality on the other hand is somewhat disappointing, and leaves a lot to be desired.
> 
> Lets go over my initial impressions...
> ...




IfI had saw what i got for that priced I would have returned it. My schecter that costs lest smokes that fucker


----------



## cardinal (Apr 20, 2018)

I mean, none of it’s great, but...

On the frets, as long as they’re level, the ends wouldn’t bother me that much. It’s expensive (time consuming) to deal with them on a maple board.

I have no idea whether the neck is stained or roasted, and I’m never been a fan of even legit roasted necks, but it seems ok for what it is.

That style tremolo block is common to all import 7-string nonlocking trems. It’s not great, but the block doesn’t seem to be inherently bad (FWIW, I’ve swapped necks around between bodies with that style of trem and a Hipshot 7-string with their uber fancy steel block, and there was no difference with sustain etc).

The backplate is awful but a lot of people just toss those anyway.

The trem spring set up is weird but it looks like they could be put on the center three prongs.

The factory set up looks awful but I would expect that unless the store said it’d do a set up for you.


----------



## groverj3 (Apr 20, 2018)

cardinal said:


> I mean, none of it’s great, but...
> 
> On the frets, as long as they’re level, the ends wouldn’t bother me that much. It’s expensive (time consuming) to deal with them on a maple board.
> 
> ...



I'm kind of with you here. The only thing that I'd be really all that upset about is the trem cover. The trem claw being screwed in all the way is WHY the bridge is not level. Loosen that and two problems go away. Buy a new trem cover, get it set up by a tech (which is hardly something uncommon with a new guitar).


----------



## auxioluck (Apr 20, 2018)

I didn't have the greatest of experiences with EB when I had my Petrucci custom ordered about 10 or so years ago, and even though I had to send it back to get some finish cracks and blemishes fixed, the build quality itself was top notch.

This doesn't look like it even comes close to the asking price. I get as a company, you're not going to make anywhere near as much on this as a $3000 USA Petrucci, but you can at least make it _look_ like you give a shit about it.

Sadly, what I've heard about these is just reinforcing my choice to not buy EB again. Sorry that you had this experience man. Looks like it was truly disappointing.


----------



## auxioluck (Apr 20, 2018)

groverj3 said:


> I'm kind of with you here. The only thing that I'd be really all that upset about is the trem cover. The trem claw being screwed in all the way is WHY the bridge is not level. Loosen that and two problems go away. Buy a new trem cover, get it set up by a tech (which is hardly something uncommon with a new guitar).


 
Part of me agrees with both of you, but from a purely business standpoint, you can't base a business model on the assumption that your clients will know how to set up guitars properly, or can afford to have it done. I am aware that's the way it is currently, but the whole point of "production" product lines is to have a modicum of consistency in each guitar you pick up. These seem to be all over the place.


----------



## groverj3 (Apr 20, 2018)

auxioluck said:


> Part of me agrees with both of you, but from a purely business standpoint, you can't base a business model on the assumption that your clients will know how to set up guitars properly, or can afford to have it done. I am aware that's the way it is currently, but the whole point of "production" product lines is to have a modicum of consistency in each guitar you pick up. These seem to be all over the place.



The production guitar that's correctly set-up from the factory is a rarity. Not just because setup work takes time, but simply the act of shipping the guitar ruins it. I never even expect a custom guitar to come without being in need of a setup (though that has happened much more frequently). I'm just saying that the setup stuff is par for the course. Even the rough fret ends are so common on production models that unless you can play something before you buy you might as well expect them.

That stuff being said, you're totally within your rights to return it. I don't think it's unjustified or anything.


----------



## auxioluck (Apr 20, 2018)

groverj3 said:


> The production guitar that's correctly set-up from the factory is a rarity. Not just because setup work takes time, but simply the act of shipping the guitar ruins it. I never even expect a custom guitar to come without being in need of a setup (though that has happened much more frequently). I'm just saying that the setup stuff is par for the course. Even the rough fret ends are so common on production models that unless you can play something before you buy you might as well expect them.
> 
> That stuff being said, you're totally within your rights to return it. I don't think it's unjustified or anything.



Oh, you're absolutely right. I expect to have to setup and file the frets on any production I buy anymore. Just seems like it used to be I would have to do a setup as a "preference" thing, whereas nowadays it seems more like necessity than preference. With these guitars in particular though, there just seems to be no consistency at all.


----------



## Rollandbeast (Apr 21, 2018)

lul I agree that the backplate looks like shit , mine doesnt look like that, but who cares its just a piece of plastic , honestly all that guitar needs is a proper setup..


----------



## MaxOfMetal (Apr 21, 2018)

Take the plastic film off the backplate. They cut them with the film still on to protect from scratching. That "rough" look is just the plastic film.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Sterlings are mediocre at best. They sell purely on looks and artist association. 

The build is sub-par, hardware is cheap and the materials are cheaper.


----------



## TedintheShed (Apr 21, 2018)

Is it just me, or has a lot of the stuff coming out of WMI been sub-par lately, even for imports?


----------



## MaxOfMetal (Apr 21, 2018)

TedintheShed said:


> Is it just me, or has a lot of the stuff coming out of WMI been sub-par lately, even for imports?



Everyone talks like World is something special, they're not. They've been building guitars since the 90's. 

They've always put out guitars with various levels of QC. This is absolutely nothing new. 

It wasn't until maybe 10 years ago they, World, started marketing themselves as the "high end" Korean OEM. Shockingly, this was around the time Cortek moved to Indonesia and World became the only major Korean OEM.


----------



## SDMFVan (Apr 22, 2018)

Aren't these made in Indonesia?


----------



## Albake21 (Apr 22, 2018)

SDMFVan said:


> Aren't these made in Indonesia?


Yes they are.


----------



## eightsixboy (Apr 22, 2018)

TedintheShed said:


> Is it just me, or has a lot of the stuff coming out of WMI been sub-par lately, even for imports?



These aren't WMI Korean made though, they are Indonesian, which explains all the issues.

In saying that my experience from having a dud MIK Schecter and others also being sub par as well I don't get the hype around the Korean built stuff, they seem no better then most indo stuff.


----------



## The Silent Man (Apr 24, 2018)

I recently played another 7-string Sterling John Petrucci and I was not impressed. At all.


----------



## MaxAidingAres (Apr 24, 2018)

That’s a shame! I have a local jp150 around me and it plays great. I wanted the seven string variant but idk now.


----------



## Ralyks (Apr 25, 2018)

I just got one recently too, and if I didn’t hastily throw Fishmans in there, I probably would have returned it too. Not a BAD guitar, but I felt I should have just put that money towards something better...


----------



## Exit Existence (May 1, 2018)

So I know I came off as a whiny complaining gear elitist (Maybe my expectations were just too high), but long story short I've decided to keep the guitar....for now.

I did contact the company I bought it from via Reverb (Not one of the big box store) and they very cool about the return inquiry. I would have to pay return shipping, plus they would deduct my "Free" shipping from the refund. That is all totally understandable and cool but the more I thought about it, I'm either going to be out $100-125 for return shipping costs or I can just hold on it and maybe sell it down the road.

I did a full setup on the guitar, filing down the rough fret ends and doing a full fret polish with some Music Nomad polishing compound. The frets are still a little scratchy but the guitar plays much better. 

Some things still bother me, but the guitar is very comfortable to play now.


----------



## Exit Existence (May 1, 2018)

I'm definitely going to try and find some steel saddles to upgrade, and possibly block off the trem. I think that alone will help a lot with tone. I also stuffed the trem cavity with some foam and it quieted the springs right up. The stock pickups seem to sound fine on some of my amplifiers and a little muddy on others. I may try lowering them a bit to get a little more sag. I mainly use an Axe Fx for home and live use and pretty much any pickup sounds pretty nice though that so I'm not too concerned!


----------



## Caleb Joshua (May 1, 2018)

whatever that finish is, its not even close in color. This BFR with gold headstock lettering is island burst.


----------

