Thanks Marty for doing a demo on this beautiful Jem. I can't help it I am a sucker for blue guitars and bass's. One last important note. You are a great 👍👍👍👍 player by far.
I tried one with the Evolution pickups and it floored me. The one issue with Pia/Jem is that the screaming design of the instrument makes the average Joes among us look like pigs trying to drive a Ferrari, LOL. Of course, the same applies to striped series EVH. No such issue with the Wolfgangs, most people would just file those looks under "another guitar."
Hey Marty ! I agree, an ebony board and some abalone or mother-of-pearl leaves would have everyone staring! Yer playin the bleepity bleep out of it too. Great job!
Great Guitar 🎸 🎶 Love Steve Vai & Ibanez... Ibanez is IMO The Holy Grail of Shredding Guitars.. Have to love how Ibanez went from imagination to innovation... I see the Chinese Guitars doing the same...
Ngl, the epiphones being made in China are really good right now. I got a prophecy Flying V last year. The epi factory in China was set up by their people in the US but everything made over there is then inspected when they arrive in North America. Of course every guitar is different from each other in some way or another, and yeah a lot of Chinese made guitars have a lot of question marks. I’ve definitely gotten lucky with a couple of them. Good instruments out of Korea and Indonesia too!
I'm a huge fan of Jems. I own 12 different Jems (including 3 Premiums). All are spectacular. FYI the Jem Juniors are also made in Indonesia but it may be a different factory. As for having an Ebony 'board on the 77P, I don't think the inlay would 'pop' quite as well as you think. I also own a Jem7V-SBL and it has the Blue Tree of Life on a Dark Rosewood 'board. The inlays are quite difficult to see unless you are close up
I treated myself to one of these late last year. The eBay seller accepted my offer for almost $100 off the list price and I had several eBay gift cards saved up so I was able to get a brand new one for just under $1100 out the door. It is a great instrument. The Jem Junior is also made in Indonesia but you can definitely feel the quality difference between them.
Thanks, for the review I've been on the fence to purchase one because, I own original floral and white Jem, from the 90s but concerned about the similarity of the necks sir..
Bought a new Ibanez RG 550 recently it has the original Edge trem it's a fantastic guitar the neck is paper thin only thing I don't like is the pickups they are the weak point I really like the sound of those Gravity Storms and the paint on the Gem is so Kool 🤘👍
Been seriously considering picking one of these JEM's up soon. After checking out this review and sound samples i was relieved to hear that the tone of those GRAVITY STORM pickups sound very, very close to the original dimarzio PAF Pro's the old JEM guitars came with. I did not want to buy a new guitar and then have to replace the stock dimarzio's with a set of PAF Pro's. Apparently Mr Vai is slowly going back to his original JEM's tone with these GRAVITY STORM pickups since they sound much closer to those than the EVO set did. The EVO's were based on those PAF Pro's but with more output and bass. I like the PAF Pro's a lot more. they sounded much more organic and dynamic.
PASSION and WARFARE was done with the PAF Pro's and so was DLR's "Eat em and smile" record. Those are my favorite VAI tones.🔥I am pretty sure those Gravity Storms will do those tones.🤘
Marty, thanks so much for your videos. From a practical standpoint, how do you find the edge zero ii on that Jem compared to an Ibanez Edge or OFR? Is the edge zero ii solid and do you feel it will hold up after years of normal use?
The trem appears to pretty high quality. So far I have had no issues with it at all I like how the strings load on the Ibanez trems. I'm not an expert on Ibanez trems and have only owned a few Ibanez models. Never any issues. I do however prefer non floating Floyd rose 1000's like the ones found in EVH guitars. I don't bend up often or if ever so the floating option isn't a mandatory thing for me.
Hi Marty. I find mine isn't a patch on my Jem 7BSB they're a million miles apart in sound and build. The J Shop stuff is so much better. It looks mint but sound wise not a patch IMHO.
I have a high fret I need to fix the string gets caught under which sucks. I never seem to get around to fixing it even though it's fast and easy. Mine is similar to my 1999 7VWH I used to have, but the VWH was better.
I honestly think the Jem is my favorite guitar ever. Love the look, love the tones, love how easy they play.
Thanks Marty for doing a demo on this beautiful Jem. I can't help it I am a sucker for blue guitars and bass's. One last important note. You are a great 👍👍👍👍 player by far.
I tried one with the Evolution pickups and it floored me. The one issue with Pia/Jem is that the screaming design of the instrument makes the average Joes among us look like pigs trying to drive a Ferrari, LOL. Of course, the same applies to striped series EVH. No such issue with the Wolfgangs, most people would just file those looks under "another guitar."
Hey Marty ! I agree, an ebony board and some abalone or mother-of-pearl leaves would have everyone staring! Yer playin the bleepity bleep out of it too. Great job!
Killer playing Marty. Love the guitar. I have an Ibanez RG 470 that I put SD Black winter pups into. Love it. 💘 😊
Thanks! Those RG's are tremendous man!
Your video from 2 years ago made me go on reverb and buy this guitar. I love it.
Great Guitar 🎸 🎶 Love Steve Vai & Ibanez... Ibanez is IMO The Holy Grail of Shredding Guitars.. Have to love how Ibanez went from imagination to innovation... I see the Chinese Guitars doing the same...
Ngl, the epiphones being made in China are really good right now. I got a prophecy Flying V last year. The epi factory in China was set up by their people in the US but everything made over there is then inspected when they arrive in North America. Of course every guitar is different from each other in some way or another, and yeah a lot of Chinese made guitars have a lot of question marks. I’ve definitely gotten lucky with a couple of them. Good instruments out of Korea and Indonesia too!
I'm a huge fan of Jems. I own 12 different Jems (including 3 Premiums). All are spectacular. FYI the Jem Juniors are also made in Indonesia but it may be a different factory. As for having an Ebony 'board on the 77P, I don't think the inlay would 'pop' quite as well as you think. I also own a Jem7V-SBL and it has the Blue Tree of Life on a Dark Rosewood 'board. The inlays are quite difficult to see unless you are close up
Excellent playing Marty! Steve is one of.my favorite guitarists. Excellent beautiful Ibanez. 😮
I treated myself to one of these late last year. The eBay seller accepted my offer for almost $100 off the list price and I had several eBay gift cards saved up so I was able to get a brand new one for just under $1100 out the door. It is a great instrument. The Jem Junior is also made in Indonesia but you can definitely feel the quality difference between them.
I snagged mine off marketplace for $900 back in 2019. What a steal!
Great video I have the same guitar Very happy with the guitar 👍
Thanks, for the review I've been on the fence to purchase one because, I own original floral and white Jem, from the 90s but concerned about the similarity of the necks sir..
They are still making them. I am waiting for one to get back in stock at AMS and or Sweetwater.
Sweet guitar Marty…people dump on dimarzio p/u’s…I always figured if they were good enough for Satch, Via and Gilbert, they’d be good enough for me 👍
Hi Marty Nice tò see that you review these guitars:I have a Jem jr Toy Guitar too. 😊
Bought a new Ibanez RG 550 recently it has the original Edge trem it's a fantastic guitar the neck is paper thin only thing I don't like is the pickups they are the weak point I really like the sound of those Gravity Storms and the paint on the Gem is so Kool 🤘👍
Been seriously considering picking one of these JEM's up soon. After checking out this review and sound samples i was relieved to hear that the tone
of those GRAVITY STORM pickups sound very, very close to the original dimarzio PAF Pro's the old JEM guitars came with. I did not want to buy a new guitar
and then have to replace the stock dimarzio's with a set of PAF Pro's. Apparently Mr Vai is slowly going back to his original JEM's tone with these
GRAVITY STORM pickups since they sound much closer to those than the EVO set did. The EVO's were based on those PAF Pro's but with more output and bass. I like the PAF Pro's a lot more. they sounded much more organic and dynamic.
PASSION and WARFARE was done with the PAF Pro's and so was DLR's "Eat em and smile" record. Those are my favorite VAI tones.🔥I am pretty sure
those Gravity Storms will do those tones.🤘
just amazing
Thanks! Had a mij a while back and it was a good guitar.
Great review! Beautiful guitar and love your playing!!
Thank you for watching. I appreciate the kind words. 😎🙏
Marty, thanks so much for your videos. From a practical standpoint, how do you find the edge zero ii on that Jem compared to an Ibanez Edge or OFR? Is the edge zero ii solid and do you feel it will hold up after years of normal use?
The trem appears to pretty high quality. So far I have had no issues with it at all I like how the strings load on the Ibanez trems. I'm not an expert on Ibanez trems and have only owned a few Ibanez models. Never any issues. I do however prefer non floating Floyd rose 1000's like the ones found in EVH guitars. I don't bend up often or if ever so the floating option isn't a mandatory thing for me.
Nice guitar 🎸 🤘
These guitars are still being made today Even in 2024
Love mine!!!
Not a fan of the pickguard. I have a yellow Jem Jr. and the only upgrade I did was installing a Gotoh 1996T trem.
Hey Marty, really appreciate your videos. I have this same guitar and have a volume drop when the middle pickup is played by itself. Is that normal?
Thanks dude. Yeh it's normal man. Mich more output from those humbuckers. You can raise the pickup a bit to help 😎
Hi Marty. I find mine isn't a patch on my Jem 7BSB they're a million miles apart in sound and build. The J Shop stuff is so much better. It looks mint but sound wise not a patch IMHO.
I have a high fret I need to fix the string gets caught under which sucks. I never seem to get around to fixing it even though it's fast and easy. Mine is similar to my 1999 7VWH I used to have, but the VWH was better.
I need Hot Pink Gravity Storms to go in my Jem Jr.
Greetings friend great channel
$1,700 for a made in Indonesia guitar. No way!
$1499 Sign of the times man. 🤷
I Thought it was a 7 string in the thunbnail