24-fret neck
Sculpted heel
Coil-tapped
Seymour Duncan
humbuckers
Korina and
maple-cap body
construction
you’d want a humbucker to interact with a
great British tube amp.
The dual custom-wound Seymour
Duncan pickups are, in general, quite hot,
but they possess a juicy bounce and sweetness that feels natural and easy to control.
By comparison, the Caldera’s coil-tapped
sounds are a little disappointing and seemed
a bit weak and thin, even when I ran just
the neck pickup into a Fender Twin Reverb.
Obviously I wasn’t expecting the guitar
to exhibit the same amount of force and
punch as it had in full humbucking mode,
but the chime-like quality of the high end
was noticeably deadened when the tapped
mode was engaged. That said, it’s a tone
that could work for jazz or blues players
who require a little less muscle and high-mid kick in front of their amp.
The JET Caldera is an outstanding guitar.
It offers many familiar Les Paul design
motifs with refinements that alleviate
some of the most common complains of
that time-honored axe. I was hard-pressed
to find anything involving the tone that
was not top notch, except for an arguably
weak coil-tap mode. Thanks to its great
neck and super-resonant, lightweight body,
playing the Caldera is almost as effortless
as pulling it out of the case. Traditionalists
should have no problem gravitating
towards its impeccable build, though they
might be turned off by how brazen and
hot the pickups are. For modern rockers,
however, the Caldera is a great choice,
especially if you crave a guitar that stands
out from the pack.
Rating:
Buy If...
you’re looking for a great-sounding,
hot-rodded rock machine that’s dis-
tinctive and magnificently playable.
Skip If...
you rely primarily on single-coil
guitar tones.
JET Guitars
MSRP $6350 with hardshell case
jetguitars.com
or use a mobile device to watch a
video review of the guitar at
CLICKHere…
