Ash JEM questions

Karmann · #1 05-11-2001, 07:29 PM

I have some general JEM questions...
1 - What are Bad Horsie and Neville made of? Northern Hard Ash or Southern Soft (Swamp) Ash?
2 - Why don't both of these wonders have the lion's claw? Is ash too fragile to have them?
3 - Does the lion's claw have a real use, or is it just a cosmetic feature? I never played a JEM or Rg but in what i see in pictures, it looks that the tremolo can go far back the same on both guitars... well,
i don't know... that's why i asked....
4 - Does the Neville headstock have a rosewood veneer?
5 - Ok... as far as I know, ash is a bright sounding wood, so... wouldn't the Evos be a little to bright for these ash JEMs? I'm planning on a custom ash JEM, and would like suggestions between the Evos and Breeds

Thank for the attention... and please excuse me for this poor english...

yuza · #2 05-12-2001, 03:10 PM

For what i Know "Bad Horsie" is simply a Jem7vwh with the finish stripped off.... but i could be wrong.

carlos seo · #3 05-12-2001, 06:17 PM

Me too... As far as I know, "Bad Horsie" has a basswood body.

About the other questions:

- In my opinion, the lion's claw is more a cosmetic feature, as the RG has a rectangular back-box that also allows the tremolo to be pulled far into the body. But I think the JEMs have a more deeper back-box.
- I don't think the Neville's headstock has any Rosewood there. Its color doesn't look like Rosewood very much.
- I don't think Evos would be a nice choice for an Ash or Solid Maple or any other bright-sounding body wood. I would go PAF Pro + Fred combination instead.
- So, you're having a custom JEM built? I suggest you to get a Mahoghany body. It's a little heavy (remember the Gibson Les Paul), but it has infinite sustain and it's fairly cheap and easy to find in Brazil, as it's very common in the North. For the neck, the best Brazilian wood is the Brazilian Flamed Maple (not so easy to find, but easier than Maple for you). For the fingerboard, I suggest the well-known Brazilian Rosewood. Then, find a PAF Pro (neck), a Fender Texas Special (middle) and an Evo or The Breed (bridge) and you're done!

Karmann · #4 05-12-2001, 06:53 PM

Hey carlos... a mohog would be cool... ok... you live in Brazil... have you ever thought about a pau-brasil(brazilwood) guitar? I know it's considered one of the best woods for violin bows, maybe it's a good choice for guitar bodies, necks or fretboads...
anyway look at this: http://www.vai.com/machines/guitarpages/guitar007.html
they say there that bad horsie is an ash guitar... but they could be wrong...

**jemsite** · #5 05-12-2001, 07:15 PM

1 - What are Bad Horsie and Neville made of? Northern Hard Ash or Southern Soft (Swamp) Ash?

Bad Horsie is Ash, but I have no idea which variety.

2 - Why don't both of these wonders have the lion's claw? Is ash too fragile to have them?

You'd have to ask the builders. It was made with an RG route given the straight output jack. The Monkey grip was probably added later.

3 - Does the lion's claw have a real use, or is it just a cosmetic feature? I never played a JEM or Rg but in what i see in pictures, it looks that the tremolo can go far back the same on both guitars... well, i don't know... that's why i asked....

Cosmetic.

4 - Does the Neville headstock have a rosewood veneer?

not sure. need to study good pics.

5 - Ok... as far as I know, ash is a bright sounding wood, so... wouldn't the Evos be a little to bright for these ash JEMs? I'm planning on a custom ash JEM, and would like suggestions between the Evos and Breeds

I always thought Ash was darker but given Steve's preferences for Evolution pickups, i think it's a natural they are in there. Breeds are more versatile... glen

**jemsite** · #6 05-12-2001, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Quote: from yuza on 2:10 pm on May 12, 2001
For what i Know "Bad Horsie" is simply a Jem7vwh with the finish stripped off.... but i could be wrong.

This is false :biggrin:

Karmann · #7 05-13-2001, 09:04 AM

There's a Neville pic in http://www.vai.com/ebay/neville.html
where the JEM output jack can be seen... so it's not the RG straight route... maybe it was added later though....

rgr · #8 05-13-2001, 12:24 PM

Ash is not a fragile wood, don't know why BH doesn't have a lion's claw. *The LC is purely cosmetic, the routes on RGs are just as deep.

Quote:

For what i Know "Bad Horsie" is simply a Jem7vwh with the finish stripped off...

Me too... As far as I know, "Bad Horsie" has a basswood body. *

BH is ash, a VWH is alder. *Don't know what variety of ash BH is. *

I really like ash guitars, I have an Ash ESP that I really like and I have an ash Robin on the way. *Basswood is a very fragile wood for guitars, it's very soft. *That's why they ding so easy, it's also one of the reasons that they all have the threaded inserts for the trems instead of the old style OFR wood screw type. *I guess SSV used to rip the wood screws out of his old green meanie Charvel, which is basswood. *That's probably his complaint about being able to break OFRs. *In ash or alder they probably wouldn't have ripped out. *

Basswood has a "soft" darker sound, ash is brighter with better sustain. *Alder is somewhere in the middle. *My BFP is heavier than a DBK, interesting, don't know if the wood had a higher water content when they made the BFP or if it is a different variety of basswood. *I think it, the BFP, sounds better, except for the pups, Breeds rule. *They also used to advertise the the JEMs were made from American Basswood, they have dropped the American part of the wood descriptions on the new ones. *So, it is probably a different type of basswood.
-R

carlos seo · #9 05-13-2001, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Quote: from carlos seo on 7:17 pm on May 12, 2001
Me too... As far as I know, "Bad Horsie" has a basswood body.

WOOOPS! I know that the 7VWH is alder.... sorry for the big mistake! :biggrin: