Roland Gonzales from Albuquerque, NM USA
Subject:
Not like they used to be!
Quality:
For the high price tag, this guitar should have "0" issues. Like I said earlier, My '87 JEM777DY was built better and extremely reliable with a price tag half of the JEM7VWH.
Sound:
The tone is truly "Vai" inspired. I the 2 through 4 pickup setting sound very strat-like. Nice! I used the neck pup a lot for soloing. Extremely beefy and emotionally moving.
Reliability:
Not very well. It's always hard to tune every time I took it out of the case. When ever I popped the trem bar in, it would go out of tune. So I had to whammy it a few times to get it back to close to being in tune. I had to replace the volume pot. The darn thing froze up on me during a gig. Luckily, it was frozen on the "10" position so I could continue playing. Lost one of the locking nuts screws that bolts to the back of the headstock. It just seemed to delicate for gigging. My old 1987 JEM777DY was more stable and less hassles than the new Team J Craft models.
Overall:
Beautiful and High Quality guitar. But, upon close inspection and use in a live setting was somewhat disappointing.
Playability and Feel:
This was a pretty lite guitar. Good for playing 4 - 45 minute sets. The neck is a little too thin for my preferrence. But, still somewhat comfortable and very fast feeling. The volume knob is a tad too close to the pup for my taste. I kept bumping it and had to bring back to "10".
Tone:
Very versitle sounding pickups. Creamy to snappy Strat-like to bright PAF grind. I did have a hard time making this guitar sustain and scream. I didn't have that problem with my '87 JEM777DY
Finish:
The paint job was flawless. Very professional and impressive.
Action:
The action was perfect. I love it low and fast.
Do you own this product?:
Not anymore!
Date submitted:
5/13/2010
John Rego from Huachuca City, AZ 85616
johnnyguitar.krysis@gmail.com
Subject:
I have a Jem, nutral finish with pink pickups
Quality:
I love this guitar. My band mte hated floating bridges, but even he said "Ican't believe how well it stays in tune"
Sound:
Great, I love the neck pickup
Reliability:
Better than any other i have had
Overall:
This has been the best guitar I have owned. I did send back to Ibanez for work as it would not return to tune after using wammy bar. Tht was 15 years ago and this guitar beats anythibg my band mates bring! Mine is a natural finish, haven't seen another like it!
Playability and Feel:
The guitar is very light, the neck iscgreat I ahve always been a Gison man so I approached this with caution)
Tone:
Depends on what you play, what you play through, and what pick up.
Action:
too high, but easily adjusted
Do you own this product?:
YES I DO
Date submitted:
March 28, 2010
Dave Anthony from Columiba, South Carolina, United States
Subject:
Best guitar I've ever played or owned! Love it!
Quality:
This guitar is solid as a rock. The detail put into it is of course driven by Mr Vai himself so you can't go wrong. I love this neck and the guitar just feels solid without feeling heavy like a Les Paul. Well made through and through.
Reliability:
I've only had it for two weeks but judging on the quality of the build I'm sure it will last.
Overall:
I absolutely love this guitar! The setup was pretty decent although I made some of my own adjustments for my taste and playing style. The neck is so fast and playable, better than any other guitar I have played. The Evolutions are so sweet, the sound cuts through and has a sound like a cross between smooth butter and a razor blade. I love the scalloped frets also. This is a fantastic guitar.
Playability and Feel:
The feel of this guitar is like heaven. The neck is solid and fast. The guitar doesn't feel heavy at all, the balance is perfect. Controls are fine where they are. The added bonus of the slide in trem arm is nice. I can't say enough about the playability and neck of this guitar. I love it!
Tone:
The pickups are super hot, the Evolutions are so perfect sounding for the styles I play. The definition even when screaming is what really caught my ear. These pickups aren't muddy at all. There really is a very nice balance between the highs, lows and mids. I would like to put Evolutions in all my guitars actually, I think they sound better than any other pickups I've played. The single coil seems a bit low in volume as balanced against the Evo's but that's probably to be expected since they are so hot!
Finish:
Stain and paint were fine. I think I'd like to get a more exotic JEM next time, gotta save up though, I've seen some really nice paint jobs. But this guitar is very nice and elegant and of course the vine of life is sweet!
Action:
Action was fine, I did feel the trem was forward a bit too much, although I've read both that they should be for this unit, but also that it should be parallel to the body. I find it holds tuning better when parallel. The action was just right when I got the guitar. I am going to mod my trem unit though with tremel - no. I personally like having that option and my style generally is just diving and tremolo anyway, so it won't matter to me not pulling up. Plus it's easy to switch between full floating, dive only and fixed so...
Do you own this product?:
Yes
Date submitted:
Feb 16, 2009