555?

[ibanez25]

Hey...i jsut need some advice. A guy who owns a guitar shop near me wants to sell me his own Jem 555 for around $500C and he has had a lot of ibanez guitars and knows a lot about them. I really wanted it because it looked in great condition and sounded good, the only thing is i was reading some forums and some people say they dont think it is a very good guitar, and others that do like it becuase of the EVO pickups . So now im wondering if i should get it or if it would be a good deal for the price he is selling it to me . I'm gonna go try it out in a few days but any advice if i should buy it or not would be good.

[Kontalonis]

The biggest knock the 555 is going to get is its half vine inlay and trs bridge. Are you a heavy tremolo user? If so, you may want to replace it with an original floyd rose. These bridges are available from www.warmoth.com, www.carvin.com, and www.***************.com

Or if you don't use the trem that much you may just want to block the tremolo.
http://users.pandora.be/marnix.ghesq...ckingtrem.html

Overall it can be easily fixed up to the normal jem standard in my opinion. I hope this helps!

[Andelusion]

I'm from the UK, is $500 good for a second hand 555? If it's all you can afford then i'd go for one.

If not you could hunt down a second hand RG5XX(550,570 etc) series Ibanez either on the for sale section here or from Ebay and replace the pickups with Evolutions if that's the sound you're after.

The benefit of doing that is that you'd have a guitar that's basically the same as the Jem555 apart from not having the smelly half vine, and it'll have a much-much better trem whether it's a guitar with a Lo-Pro or Edge. It's just up to you, whether you want the looks of the 555 or are prepared to hunt for a second hand RG550 (or similar 500+ model) and replace the pickups

I'd do the RG option..

[MehYam]

I'll second that post. $500CDN (about $400 US) is probably the most I'd consider paying for a 555. However, for about that same price you should be able to nab a used RG570 and upgrade its pickups to have a better guitar overall.

[ibanez25]

how much would an original floyd rose be? Or are there n e other good bridges i could put on..

[nocluejimbo]

Originally Posted by Kontalonis

The biggest knock the 555 is going to get is its half vine inlay and trs bridge. Are you a heavy tremolo user? If so, you may want to replace it with an original floyd rose. These bridges are available from www.warmoth.com, www.carvin.com, and www.*******.com

Or if you don't use the trem that much you may just want to block the tremolo.
http://users.pandora.be/marnix.ghesq...ckingtrem.html

Overall it can be easily fixed up to the normal jem standard in my opinion. I hope this helps!

the problem with doing that is that the radius of the OFR is set for 10", and the IBZ fretboards have a radius of 14" or 15". if you went that route, you would need to put in shims under the saddles to try and match the radius of the fretboard.

[littlegreenman]

Ibanez boards are actually 430mm which is almost 17" radius, but that's not a difficult thing to change.

Anyway, If you want a JEM, for $500 the 555 is a good buy. They play well, the TRS trems aren't as good as an edge, but overall they aren't a horrid trem. The OFR is an option but will likely require a route touch up on the body. You can find a used Lo Pro Edge or standard Edge used sometimes for like $100, then you can pretty easily swap the edge into the 555, just change the studs and stud bushings out.

Buying a Used 570 or something is also an option, but if you want the cosmetic features of the JEM, you'd be further ahead buying the JEM.