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Rally: Neosound JR
List: $340
Rally’s Neosound JR is the manufacturer’s economized version of its Neosound guitar, a take on Gibson’s semi-hollow unit, the ES-335. The JR differs from its seniors by virtue of its satin, glossless finish, 2 fewer control knobs & a pair of uncovered humbuckers. This instrument is manufactured in China.
Construction/ fit/ finish
Despite having hollow body parts, the JR proves to be an arguably hefty instrument. The glossless finish didn’t do much to differentiate itself significantly from its senior manifestation in this aspect. However, upon handling, we bear witness to its sturdy nature & high standards of construction, all for a sub-$350 price tag. Nevertheless there are two points of quality contention pertaining to the JR’s good nature; its binding works & fingerboard finish.
The JR possesses an untidy binding application at the neck-body area. Both the treble & bass sides display binding fray which implied a hasty snip-off at the factory. There’s also a disparity in colour in this area, some length of the binding look darker than the remaining strip. The F-hole’s interior binding suffered from depth inconsistencies which were compounded by sharp edges. This is the crucial area of assessment for instruments featuring both binding & F-holes & the JR was caught in the (finished) act, so to speak. The fingerboard, under bright light scrutiny, displayed dull patches implying uneven varnish application.
These are virtually ‘invisible’ blemishes which are not significant enough to disrepute the JR in this category. Considering the overall worthiness of this guitar, coupled with that glaringly attractive price tag, the JR is a winner.
Rating: 80%
Playability/ tone
It is this reviewer’s ritual to strum instruments under appraisal in an unplugged nature, this way, if the amplified tones prove to be dismal; we know it’s the fault of the pickups which are not complementing the instrument’s acoustics. In this case, the JR’s unplugged tone proves to be rich & bright, the glossless finish would have contributed to this accentuation in addition to its all-maple nature. The sturdiness of this instrument is such that one could feel the entire neck & the body’s solid center block resonate.
The neck sports a rounded rear (a firm C-profile) & it’s not easy handling in view of the sumptuous depth. But the symmetrical, double cutaway, provided easy reaches to the upper frets. The default action wasn’t too low so chords rang full & rich.
The expectations from a semi-acoustic instrument is more ambitious in clean settings & this is where the JR might put off the traditionalists; it’s rather excessive in the upper frequencies so watch your amp’s EQ while you’re at it. The upper hand here would be some good definition coming from the neck humbucker in both clean & driven settings. The JR makes for a good shredding experience but we won’t be buying it for that purpose primarily, yes? For those of us accustomed to the regular solid body dimensions, be wary of the JR’s more pronounced width but this is only apparent when played sitting down.
All in all, the JR is fundamentally what it was made to be, a semi-acoustic guitar which fuses the rich resonance of a hollow unit with the attack of a solid body. There were some idiosyncratic expectations from the in-house ‘Classic’ humbuckers because despite being uncovered, the pickups feature a perimeter housing which invoked a Filtertron persona but they sound very normal indeed.
Tone test equipment:
• Amp: Sound Drive SG-612R/ Marshall JVM410
Rating: 85%
Conclusion
Can you get away with an ES-335 tone & playability on a budget with Rally’s Neosound JR? Superficially, you can but tone wise, the JR isn’t as warm & invigorating as the acclaimed aforementioned instrument. It’s already maple-bright, the satin finish & uncovered humbuckers made it brighter than it should be. But that’s not to say the JR isn’t an appealing guitar, it might not live up to your inclined expectations.
Overall rating: 85%
Availability: Standard Value/ SV Guitars
Worthy contender:
• Ibanez: AS73
Likes:
• Price
• Clarity & definition from default pickups
• Overall quality-price consideration
Dislikes:
• Bright sounding
• Binding could have been better
