Ibanez JEM
Encyclopedia
Ibanez JEM is an electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

 manufactured by Ibanez
Ibanez
is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as well as the first brand of guitars to mass produce...

 and first produced in 1987. The guitar's most notable user is its co-designer, Steve Vai
Steve Vai
Steven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....

. As of 2010, there have been five sub-models of the JEM: the JEM7, JEM77, JEM777, JEM555 and the JEM333. Although the Ibanez JEM series is a signature
Signature
A signature is a handwritten depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a signature is a signatory. Similar to a handwritten signature, a signature work describes the work as readily identifying...

 series guitar, Ibanez mass-produces several of the guitar's sub-models.

The Ibanez JEM series is heavily influenced by the superstrat to model name or bodyshape is called a soloist concept, a more aggressive guitar in terms of shape and specifications compared to the Stratocaster
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...

.

Earlier guitars

Previously, Vai used a handbuilt guitar by Charvel
Charvel
Charvel is a brand of guitar originally founded in the 1970s by Wayne Charvel in Azusa, California and then later, Glendora, California. Charvel guitars became popular in the 1980s due to their association with famous rock guitarists such as Edward Van Halen , Richie Sambora , Warren DeMartini ,...

 & Jackson
Jackson Guitars
__FORCETOC__Jackson is a renowned brand of electric guitar that bears the name of its founder, Grover Jackson.-Early years:Grover Jackson obtained ownership in Charvel's Guitar Repair of Glendora, California in the 1970s with a promise to bolster Charvel's business...

. With Joe Despagni and Tom Anderson he created various custom guitars and used Tom Anderson's model to record the demo of the David Lee Roth
David Lee Roth
David Lee Roth is an American rock vocalist, songwriter, actor, author, and former radio personality. Roth was ranked nineteenth by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Singers of All Time....

 album Skyscraper
Skyscraper (album)
Skyscraper is the second full-length album by David Lee Roth , released in 1988. It was the last to feature guitarist Steve Vai, who left the group in 1989 to join Whitesnake and continue his solo career. Bassist Billy Sheehan would also leave the group before the tour to eventually form Mr. Big...

. Vai also began to bring his Tom Anderson guitars on tour:

"... He built this for me after my old green monster, which I used out on the road last year until it died. I was pulling on the whammy bar and ripped the bar right out of the guitar [laughs]; it was actually ripped out before the show at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...

. I was dying. So I started using Tom's guitar as my main guitar for the rest of the tour, and I really like it because it has a very heavy sound to it. So I took the best of the sounds from that guitar and had them incorporated into the Ibanez."

Ibanez and Steve Vai

Vai decided to stop using his Anderson guitar in favour of a guitar deal with a bigger company. Just before Christmas 1986 Ibanez received Vai's guitar specification; they were similar to Despagni's guitars. Ibanez built one of their "Maxxas" guitars for him with a palmrest for the tremolo
Tremolo
Tremolo, or tremolando, is a musical term that describes various trembling effects, falling roughly into two types. The first is a rapid reiteration...

. Vai liked the model and decided to produce that particular guitar with Ibanez. It took five months to make the new model samples in Japan, the JEM guitar and the RG range which launched at the NAMM Industry Trade Show
NAMM Show
The NAMM Show is one of the largest music product trade shows in the world, founded in 1901. It is held every January in Anaheim, California, USA, at the Anaheim Convention Center...

 in June 1987.

Design and production

After the JEM series was launched at the NAMM show, Ibanez with Steve Vai began to design and produce the guitar actively. Rich Lasner of Hoshino explained that Vai used a "Chinese menu approach" to design the guitar (i.e. choosing from many different categories). The first design was by Vai, when he sent Hoshino his ideas from many different guitar features he liked and combined it into one guitar. The essential considerations were the weight, wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

 types and pickups. For the latter specification, Vai decided long before Ibanez contacted him, that he would use DiMarzio
DiMarzio
DiMarzio, Inc. is an United States manufacturer best known for its revolutionary direct-replacement guitar pickups. The company also produces miscellaneous guitar accessories, such as cables, straps and hardware.DiMarzio became known for its Super Distortion model, which was the first after...

 pickups for his guitars.

Later, Lasner asked Vai to explain the guitar specifications further: "'The first thing he did" Lasner explains, "was disassemble them on the spot. Neck from body, pickguard off, tremolo out... took 'em apart. I was shocked, to say the least. But Steve looked at me nonchalantly and said, 'Relax, I do this all the time.' He wanted to check Mace's detail and craftsmanship."" Mace Bailey, who was also involved in the production, later went to Japan to the Ibanez factory to really begin producing the guitar. He sat there with the craftsmen and made ten guitars for Vai.

Naming conventions

Ibanez has not revealed much about the naming system of the JEM models(JEMxxx) but letters always refer to the name of the color pattern used for each models (JEM777LNG > LochNess Green). However, it is known that the number 7 came from Steve Vai himself as he likes the number 7. Steve Vai has also released an album titled "The Seventh Song
The Seventh Song
"The 7th Song, Enchanting Guitar Melodies " is a 2000 album by guitarist Steve Vai. It is his first compilation album, but unlike a standard "greatest hits" or "best of" album, all of the songs on it can be found on one of Vai's previous albums as the 7th track...

" which contains ballad songs from albums before "The Seventh Song". Steve Vai
Steve Vai
Steven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....

 stated on the CD cover, "Traditionally, I have made the 7th song on all my CDs the mellifluous guitar ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

 that serves the melody on a silver platter. In numerology, the number 7 is shrouded in mystique. In a record sequence, it has always felt like the sweet spot. These songs are more devotional in nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...

 than technical. They are a reflection of one man's desire to expose a glimmer of the depth of his longing for spiritual
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...

 communion."

There are 4 JEM sub-model numbers: 7, 77, 777 and 555. JEM777 was the first JEM sub-model, created in 1987. Currently Ibanez no longer sells this model, thus some of these models are quite rare, especially the JEM777LNG, which was a limited run and each model was hand-signed by Steve Vai. On the other hand, JEM77 models are more widely available compared to the JEM777 guitars. Some of the 77 models are very easy to make out and are especially interesting for collectors-these are models with a floral or multicolor pattern, for example, the JEM77FP (Floral Pattern) and the JEM77PMC (Purple MultiColor). However, a variant of JEM77, the JEM77BRMR is not a multicolor
Multicolor
Multicolor is a subtractive natural color process for motion pictures. Multicolor, introduced to the motion picture industry in 1929, was based on the earlier Prizma Color process, and was the forerunner of Cinecolor....

 guitar, but it has dot inlays on the fingerboard and a "rock mirror" finish and the 77VBK, which is basic black with a mirror pickguard and the vine inlay. The JEM 7 series was derived from Steve's current main guitar, "Evo" and is still in production, with the 7VWH being the longest run production model of all JEM guitars. The 7VWH is still in production today. Different from other JEM models, JEM555 is produced in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

 and in terms of quality, this variant is considered by many to be poorer than the others. As of 2008, the only production model JEM guitars are the 7VWH and the 77VBK. The cheaper Korean- made 555 was discontinued in 2000 for the USA market. JEM505 needs mentioning, the JEM333 is no where to be found, the other jem77 models. etc etc. In 2008 there were more models than the 7vwh and 7vbk.

JEM10

The model was created for JEM's tenth anniversary in 1997, although production started in 1996. "This sub-model of Anniversary JEM includes numbered letter of authenticity
Authentication
Authentication is the act of confirming the truth of an attribute of a datum or entity...

 hand-signed by Steve Vai. The aluminum pickguard has an engraved vine and its JEM10 serial number. JEM10s designated for the USA have a silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 tweed JEM case with outside plaque and inner silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...

 screened protective shroud. Later numbered JEM10s going to the USA have their JEM10 plaque screwed onto the case, instead of riveted/glued on." There are 852 JEM10 guitars around the globe (210 of them are in the US), and each guitar has its own serial number. #1 is at Hoshino USA, #2 is at Roland
Roland
Roland was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. Historically, Roland was military governor of the Breton March, with responsibility for defending the frontier of Francia against the Bretons...

 (Roland/Meinl) in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. #3, #5, #7, and #9 went for sale in the US and JEM10 #16 was given away by Steve during G3
G3 (tour)
G3 is a concert tour organized by guitarist Joe Satriani featuring him alongside two other guitarists. Since its inception in 1996, G3 has toured most years and has featured many guitarists, including Steve Vai , Eric Johnson, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci, Robert Fripp,...

.

JEM90HAM

HAM stands for Hoshino Anniversary Model, which was made for the 90th Anniversary of Hoshino. The specifications are similar to the JEM10 model, as both use the same type of wood, pickups, hardware and tremolos. There were exactly 72 guitars brought by Ibanez to the US of the 831 available worldwide.

JEM2KDNA

The most notable aspect is the color, as Vai added his DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...

 (blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....

) to the mixture of the paint. The painter of the guitar, Darren Michaels/Darren Johansen of ATD (About Time Designs), stated on Jemsite.com, "For the record if you own a DNA you have a good amount of the "DNA". The "blood red" paint that I mixed was mixed at a ratio
Ratio
In mathematics, a ratio is a relationship between two numbers of the same kind , usually expressed as "a to b" or a:b, sometimes expressed arithmetically as a dimensionless quotient of the two which explicitly indicates how many times the first number contains the second In mathematics, a ratio is...

 of approximately 8:1 [paint:blood] so the content is quite high. There had to be pigment mixed into the paint to hold it onto the guitar as well as a carrier. If you purchase a canvas you get a picture of myself and someone mixing [the blood] in to the color. Also a picture of the room we did the guitars in too. The canvas
Canvas
Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...

es also have the same content as I mixed all the DNA left into the paint when I left Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and brought the paint back with me . I hope this clears things up for you" The guitars were made in the year 2000, represented in the model series, JEM2KDNA (2000). Around the world, there are exactly 300 guitars.

JEM20TH

In 2007 Ibanez announced the 20th Anniversary JEM guitar. This guitar is made of acrylic with multicolour paint streaks running through it. When the tone control is pulled up a set of green LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....

s light up within the body.

JEM7

From six different variants, currently Ibanez produces only the JEM7VWH series as it was Steve Vai's main guitar that he used for live performances. Steve Vai has one JEM7VWH with exactly the same specification as the guitars on the market, which he named "Evo". The main features of JEM7 variants are the monkey grip, which are located above the pickups and the scalloped fingerboard that applies from the 21st fret up to the 24th. This series is also equipped with DiMarzio Evolution pickups. In 2003, the 7VWH specifications were changed from an ebony fingerboard to a rosewood fingerboard. According to Ibanez officials, this was done because "Evo" and "Flo" also had their necks changed to rosewood fingerboards.

Complete list of JEM7 variants:
  • JEM7RB - dot inlays, Root Beer, American Basswood body (production 1988,1989)
  • JEM7PBK - disappearing pyramid inlays, Pearl Black, American Basswood body (production 1989,1990)
  • JEM7VWH - vine inlay, White, Alder body (production 1993–present)
  • JEM7BSB - screw head inlays, Burnt Stained Blue, American Basswood body (production 1996 - 1998)
  • JEM7DBK - screw head inlays, Black with texture, American Basswood body (production 1999 - 2004)
  • JEM7VSBL - Blue vine inlay, Sparkle Blue, Alder body (production 2002 - 2004)
  • JEM7EAFX - fixed bridge, vine inlay, Black, American Basswood body (production 2009)
  • JEMVLWH - vine inlay, White, Alder body (production 2009) Lefthand model of the JEM7VWH

JEM77

The older 77 guitars use the DiMarzio PAF Pro pickups, where the new 77BRMR (discontinued) and the 77VBK (still in production) are equipped with DiMarzio Breed pickups. Steve Vai used to use the JEM77BRM model as his other main gear, named "MOJO". Steve's version of the 77BRMR has a few modifications that are not in the production model, such as blue LED light fingerboard inlays. The 77FP and 77BFP featured a flower pattern, that was a real fabric, put over the black painted guitar body and then clearcoated onto the guitar. The 77FP was re-issued as the 15th anniversary model, with exactly the same specs as the older 77FP. Therefore the 77FP is widely available on the used guitar market and the cheapest collectors model.
The new Flower Pattern is the 2010 release of Ibanez, the Ibanez Jem77FP2. It features a basswood body clad in actual floral pattern fabric chosen specifically by Steve, and then clear-coated. The guitar features a 5pc maple and walnut neck with a rosewood fingerboard, and vine neck inlay with red accents to match the body design.

Complete list of JEM77 variants:
  • JEM77FP - vine inlay, Flower Pattern, American Basswood body (years of production 1988 - 2003)
  • JEM77BFP - vine inlay, Blue Flower Pattern, American Basswood body (production 1991 - 1994)
  • JEM77GMC - vine inlay, Green Multi Color, American Basswood body (production 1992 - 1993)
  • JEM77PMC - disappearing pyramid inlay, Purple Multi Color, American Basswood body (production 1992 - 1993)
  • JEM77BRMR - dot inlay, Black Rock Mirror, American Basswood body (production 2005 - 2006)
  • JEM77VBK - vine inlay, Black, American Basswood body (production 2007–present)
  • JEM77FP2 - vine inlay, Flower Pattern 2, American Basswood body (2010-present)

JEM777

The JEM777 variants are the oldest variants among all JEM models. Currently no 777 model is in production. There are exactly 777 JEM777LG (which stands for "Loch Ness Green") guitars around the world, which is also the first variant produced. One of the most noted users of these was the late Denis D'Amour
Denis D'Amour
Denis "Piggy" D'Amour was the guitarist for the Canadian heavy metal band Voivod from its inception in 1982 until his death from colon cancer in 2005, aged 45. His approach to music was anarchic and experimental rather than strict and theoretical. He was trained in classical violin as a child...

 of Canadian band Voivod
Voivod (band)
Voivod are a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Quebec, Canada. Their musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s...

.The Loch Ness Green guitars were also hand signed by Steve Vai. From a technical point of view, all JEM777 guitars have more or less the same specifications with the other two JEM models (JEM7 and JEM77)

Complete list of JEM777 variants:
  • JEM777LG - disappearing pyramid inlay, Loch Ness Green, American Basswood body (years of production 1987)
  • JEM777DY - disappearing pyramid inlay, Desert Sun Yellow, American Basswood body ( years of production 1987 - 1996)
  • JEM777SK - disappearing pyramid inlay, Shocking Pink, American Basswood body ( years of production 1987 - 1989)
  • JEM777VBK - vine inlay, Black, American Basswood body (years of production 1988 - 1992)
  • JEM777VDY - vine inlay, Desert Sun Yellow, American Basswood body ( years of production 1989 - 1991)
  • JEM777VSK - vine inlay, Shocking Pink, American Basswood body ( year of production 1989)


JEM 555

All the JEM555 variants are not widely available in the USA currently, as Ibanez received a great deal of negative feedback from consumers. However, in 2000, the variants have been reintroduced in many different countries thanks to high demand. Unlike the other JEM variants, the 555s are Korean-made rather than Japanese and are of lower quality and specs. Most years have the script JEM Jr. on the headstock.

Complete list of JEM555 variants:
  • JEM555BK - vine/ dot inlay, Black, American Basswood body (years of production 1994–present)
  • JEM555WH - vine/ dot inlay, White, American Basswood body (years of production 1994 - 1999)
  • JEM555LWH - vine/ dot inlay, White, American Basswood body (years of production 1997 - 1999)

JEM 505

Complete list of JEM505 variants:
  • JEM505BK - black dot inlay, Black, Basswood body (years of production 2010 - present)
  • JEM505WH - black dot inlay, White, Basswood body (years of production 2010 - present)

JEM 333

These are currently only available in East Asian and South American countries. In essence it is an RG350EX with the monkey grip, using the same Infinity pickups instead of DiMarzio pickups that even the JEM555 used, and the Ibanez Edge III tremolo.

(Unfortunately, there are some companies in Asia (China) that produce JEM counterfeit copies. These are cheaply made and are sometimes sold on US auction sites. They're referred to as "Chibanez" models in the US. These are not to be confused with the authentic Ibanez JEM333 models.)

Universe 7-string

The Universe series is not a JEM sub-model. It was designed from the start as its own model separate from the JEM despite its similarities.

Pickups

From 1987 to 1992 all Ibanez JEM models came standard with a DiMarzio PAF PRO (Humbucker) neck pickup in the neck position, a DiMarzio PAF PRO (Humbucker) bridge pickup in the bridge position, and a DiMarzio JEM (Single Coil) in the middle position.

In 1993 the JEM7VWH was introduced. One of the new features of this guitar was the new DiMarzio EVOLUTION (hence the guitar also being known as EVO) pickups in the neck and bridge position, but the DiMarzio JEM middle pickup was still featured on the model introduced in 1993. This pickup configuration was standard on all JEM7's, JEM77's, and special edition JEM's from 1993 to 1998 (JEM777's were not produced after 1992). A slightly different pickup configuration has been featured of JEM555 models ever since their original production in 1994, JEM555 feature an EVOLUTION middle pickup in addition to the EVOLUTION neck and bridge pickups (a feature that was not standard on other JEM's with EVOLUTION pickups until later in the JEM's history).

In 1999 the JEM7DBK was the first JEM with DiMarzio BREED pickups.

The JEM7VSBL which was originally produced in 2002 was the first JEM that was not a JEM555 to feature a DiMarzio EVOLUTION single coil pickup in the middle position.

All JEM's introduced in 2003 or after have either all Dimarzio EVOLUTION or BREED pickups except for the JEM-JR (JEM333), the JEM20th, and the JEM505.

The Acrylic JEM20th featured DiMarzio TranceJEM pickups.

External links

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