2005 JEM Neck Spec Change

[Rich]

No, not the 5 piece [really a 3 piece neck with 2 thin walnut stripes for "color"], although that is different for 05'.

The new measurements on every "5 piece" 2005 JEM neck so far has been 18mm at the 1st fret and 20.5mm at the 12th. This leads me to believe the spec has changed [again]. You'll know it as soon as you pick one up, not as beefy as a regular JEM neck, not as thin as a Wiz, but pretty much in between.

[bpd111]

So the walnut stripes are only strips for decoration?! What next?

[Rich]

The 7 string 5 piece necks have 5mm strips of wenge, now those I'd call a "piece". I don't have one here now but I just measured a 1570 [same construction] and the walnut is .5mm. I'd hardly call that a "piece", but it does look nice, and I'm sure somebody out there could hear the difference [although I'm just as sure Jeremy will call him crazy]

[sk_josh]

any pictures of the old vs. the new. i am interested in seeing it.

[Rich]

18 years of production, I figure there enough "old" out there.

http://www.ibanezrules.com/namm/imag...5/P1010191.JPG

[megadeth]

how does stripe make a difference except looks ?

[jim777]

Originally Posted by Rich

18 years of production, I figure there enough "old" out there.

http://www.ibanezrules.com/namm/imag...5/P1010191.JPG

Yeah, that's a "fancy" 3 piece neck, but still a 3 piece neck to me

[sk_josh]

Originally Posted by Rich

18 years of production, I figure there enough "old" out there.

http://www.ibanezrules.com/namm/imag...5/P1010191.JPG

thanks!

[red5]

Sounds like a wizard neck to me!

[dex]

Reading the '05 Catalog seems like this neck is on all Prestige RGs and it has the spec of the original Japanese Wizard II.
It's still labeled as "Wizard neck" by Ibanez.

ilia

[moro]

Ibanez just updated their Japanese website and it looks like all the RGs, Jems, J-Customs, and PGMs are using the 18mm neck now.

[jem7vwh]

Oddly enough, i actually prefer the Wizard II and the JEM profiles to the Wizard anyway. Too thin I guess, because it makes my hand cramp up.

[bpd111]

My 2 cents: I had a guitar with a wizard neck. Then I bought a Jem and found it hard to go back to the wizard. Of course, that guitar only had 22 frets, and I didn't realize how much I missed them...

[mesavox]

I much prefer the 19 and the 21 mm thicknesses that the Jem had and the JPM had. Except for the JEM being 1 mm wider it's identical to the JPM neck, and I love them both. What I don't get is that this seems to be an Ibanez thing and it's always been understood that Steve has full control of the JEMs.

The other scary thing about this is that the JEM (and JPMs for that matter) has a nice rounded back. The Wizard II, while much better than the Wizard, still has a squared off feel on the back side.

Steve's hands are so big, it's probably six of one and half a dozen of the other to him, but with the known problems happening in the corperate offices at Ibanez and Hoshino... this really has me concerned about the Jem's future. I play mainly MM and Ibanez JPMs, but the Jem is one of those few other guitars that I always love playing and have plans on buying more than one of in the not so distant future.

I just wonder what all this means with the family fueding, and the rather not so secure building locations in the future. Are these problems going to completely put Ibanez guitars on common templates with only cosmetic and hardware differences?