NGD CNZ Audio JM Mini

[Partscaster]

It arrived in 3 days. Looks great. Plays great. $169 shipped.
Edit: after lowering relief, and action to a strong 5/64ths there is fret buzz on 6th and 5th strings above 12th fret.
If i have to do a step down fret level from 12th fret forward, no problem.


It feels small, but not kid's guitar small. I didnt dwell on the smaller size when playing..
For comparison I have an SX 1/2 scale (23") strat. The SX feels fun for a travel ,car or backpack guitar, but it has a 1-1/2" nut ( 38mm), and in conjunction with the reduced scale, it's not what I'd grab off the rack to play often.

This JM Mini has a 42mm nut, and only 22" scale. The 42mm nut makes the 22" scale seem fine. Some ways it feels ideal. This guitar is about equivelent to using a capo on 3rd fret of a strat. But it still has 22 frets up from there, and great high fret access.

The neck is about 14" radius, and feels to be of good quality. Matte finish on neck. FB is alleged to be rosewood. Nice and thick slab, and smooth.
Frets are smooth too. No rough feel. Fb edges have been rounded over enough that it feels nice. Came with highish action, played well as was. I'l take a bit of relief off of neck and get down to 4or5/64ths


Color is translucent midnight blue. Very nice. Grain is visible, but it almost looks solid dark blue a few feet out.
Body for Mini version is basswood. Not maple or alder , as I had wondered.

Strat style tremolo cavity is large and looks like it will accommodate full size bloc mod. I am glad it has this strat tremolo style. I dont like the vintage wobble stick as much, which is what CNZ Audio uses on their full size JM.

Pickups are loud and strong. I like them, they arent junk at all. Lots of heat. But the attack is hard not bloomy. Likely a ceramic, I'm guessing. I will put in some TVJones p90 shaped T-Armonds I have laying around. If thats no good I'll get something like Wolftones I hear so much about.

It is nice to play. Reach is easy. Pinky work outfront of bar chords is easier, like Lennon on early
Beatles with his Ric 325 = 20.75 scale reaching up extra 2 or even 3 half steps with pinky.

Weighs just under 5lbs 10oz. Probably 6lbs when full block trem is swapped in.
3 way switch works great.
Tuners are okay. Its a little early to be sure as strings are stretching too.
Tone knob is effective over full range. IDK what pots are in it yet. Hopefully 500k already in place.
I think hooked headstock looks fine, and with logo. Its a sporty little guitar.

[Partscaster]

I did what I wanted to this guitar.
Turns out the fret buzz was from a high 21st fret. Did not need to address other frets which is nice.
Sounds good at 4/64ths action at 12th fret, with .005 neck relief,..so pretty straight neck.

The CNZ Audio folks did check out the guitar before sending. I believe they must have raised the neck relief to create action of 8/64ths, which is pretty high for me, before shipping in order to ship a "buzzfree" guitar,.....rather than deciphering the real problem. They probably dont have time to spend other than to make the buzzing stop. And I admit it was fun to play when I got it...but now it plays even better with low action and no buzz.

I did replace skinny block trem with MIM 2-1/16 string spacing full block trem. I had to dremel the underside of the rear edge of the block cavity as it couldnt tilt into the large cavity that already existed.
About 5 minutes of dremel and there is a lot of trem action space now.

Replaced stock p90's with TVJones T-Armond old school single coils in a p90 shape. Large pole piece magnets. I've had them in a drawer for years. They are quite strong with a clear voice with bright highs and powerful tight lows. They enter break up easily with volume up, even while they're set pretty low under the strings. Did also replace small pots to cts 500k and PIO .015 cap.

"Now Junior, behave yourself!"

Its a very good early Beatles sound, Harrison used them. I have them with flatwound strings which slants them pretty well for that era's blues, rock, rockabilly. This 22" scale guitar is now a very good "Poor Man's" Ric 325 which go for about 3600$. I'm very pleased with it now.

[BatUtilityBelt]

I have one of these too, and love it, but probably not as much as you love yours after those upgrades. After some setup, they punch well above their price. I also had to address 1 or 2 high frets along with some sharp fret ends and a lot of tweaks to the trem and action. But once settled in with heavier strings, it's great for noodling. Their 25-1/2" scale JM is also a very good bargain.