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Complain to Steve about the JEM/UV LINEUP here (no long winded rants elsewhere)

231K views 599 replies 237 participants last post by  Jem777DesertDiamond 
#1 · (Edited)
On the eve of the JEM20th announcement, it has become necessary to start a single, organized, contained thread where Ibanez customers of past and present can convey their dissatisfaction of the JEM/UV line to Steve Vai (and indirectly to Ibanez). Some of you are misguided in that you think Ibanez has any control or say over the JEM line, aside from pricing and distribution. They do not.

Here is an estimated breakdown of who controls the Ibanez JEM line. Sure it's slightly exaggerated, but the point it makes should be loud and clear.

99.4% control - Steve Vai
00.5% control - Ibanez (ie. pricing and distribution)
00.1% control - laws of physics & machinery
00.0% control - Ibanez customers and Steve Vai fans

If you wish to voice your negative opinion and displeasure with Steve Vai's signature model JEM guitars please do it here and stop littering topics with repitituous rants and raves. Thanks... glen

PS - DO NOT INFILTRATE THIS THREAD WITH JEM20 CRITIQUES AND COMMENTS. THIS IS FOR CONCERNS AND SUGGESTIONS ONLY.
 
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#198 ·
Dee, I'm not asking for a new body design or for removing the monkey grip - all I'm asking for is a more sober and grown up finish.

Still a jem with all the jem features - just make it out of Korina and oil finish it or put AAAA maple top on it.
Something for grown ups.
Nostalgia is all good but nostalgia only sells pre-owned jems on evilbay.

I'm saying if Steve/Ibanez want my money they have to entice me to walk into a shop and buy a new jem and I'm most certainly not going to do that if the only choice (other than the VWH) is a black jem.
 
#204 ·
I think locking studs is a possibility, but the Lo-Pro? I would doubt it. All they need to do to improve the Edge Pro is supply them fitted with the posts ready to accept studs, then those of us who want locking studs could fit them later on. Apparently Ibanez stopped using the locking studs because of the users who didn't know they were there and ended up breaking them. Doing it in the way described above, it's a win-win situation.
 
#205 ·
Well actually the locking studs fit with the Edge Pro. Just u need like something to stop the small screws from digging into the body of the guitar. Rich does a locking stud mod for any Jem if u want him to do that for u.

So yes the Edge pro does accept Locking studs. and actually they stopped making them because of it costing them. i dont know how much but it does cost.
 
#207 ·
Well actually the locking studs fit with the Edge Pro. Just u need like something to stop the small screws from digging into the body of the guitar. Rich does a locking stud mod for any Jem if u want him to do that for u.

So yes the Edge pro does accept Locking studs. and actually they stopped making them because of it costing them. i dont know how much but it does cost.
I don't believe they stopped because of the cost. It's already been talked about by Tak Hosono on this very board, and he said it was the fact that people damaged them who didn't know they were there. That was the problem. The cost thing is probably made up by people who accuse Ibanez of penny pinching. Given that there's no official explanation, it's no wonder that people find their own reasons.

And yes, the Edge Pro is compatible with the old type studs, you can replace them yourself, thanks to Rich. But if Ibanez supplied them already fitted, you'd only need the small locking screws that fit inside.

http://www.ibanezrules.com/tech/setup/stud_mod_03.htm
 
#206 ·
I think given a choice between the Lo Pro Edge and the edge pro, the Lo Pro would win hands down. It's the unit on the majority of Steves guitars, so he obviously approves of it. My point is basicly since Steve has final say on the Jem, he can make the locking studs and Lo Pro Edge a reality on them. Now that's a win-win situation! --Jason
 
#215 ·
If Steve posted something like "Hi guys, thanks for the comments and your dedication all these years, I'll think about all your suggestions, Peace" We'd end up with at least 100 (maybe 500? :D ) more posts in 3 hours thanking Steve for dropping in. He might not want to do that. He might, who knows? Steve is a very good guy though, and I'm sure if he gets a chance at some point he'll pop over and scan through the thread. So, as the thread title implies, just let him know what you you think you'd like to see, or if you want to complain about something or the lack of something do that as well. Just be polite about it, as we wouldn't have the Jem or Universe line (or the RG and all their derivatives) at all without him.

jim
 
#224 ·
I know that this is jemsite, and that a certain amount of enthisiasm with jems and UVs is to be expected, but at least we had a fair amount of accuraten info before. Some of the posts that we see on a daily basis are flat put "jem fundamentlism" and I dont think it is good because there are alwaus people trying to learn or get info about this guitars and they mey end up being missinformed.

Just my 2 cents
 
#226 ·
I feel that the Jem line has stopped being so much of a signature line of guitars (in terms of: the artist likes to play THAT, so that's what you're getting if you choose to buy it). I feel that the JS line is closer to what Joe plays and to what I think as a signature line of guitars. He liked to change pickups his signature did too (paf pro to paf joe), he liked a mahogany guitar with fixed bridge, they put that in production. Same goes for the chromeboy and crystal planet guitars. The only thing I believe is wrong there, is the new trem. They left the square neck joint he likes, but why did they change the trem?

On the other hand I feel that the Jem line has gotten a bit out of hand, mostly driven by the rules of marketing imho. It certainly is the most selling signature line that Ibanez has. Colors and designs that Steve never uses, while fetures that he uses, never make it to the production model.

Ibanez still seems to be able to produce Edge bridges for the RG20th. Why not have the LoPro on Steve's signatures, if that is what he is using. I can understand the difficulties and legalities in having a sustainer in the Jems, but why not have the guitars prerouted for one (and have the controls routed under the pickguard so that you're not left with holes if you never install the system) Also where is the Back Stop? If Steve likes to use one, why don't his signature guitars have one?

I would very much prefer if the 20th anni model was a white guitar with a LoPro bridge, a sustainer, an ebony board, a digitised neck from Steve's favorite one and a "Jem Evo" script on the headstock. Don't get me wrong, acrylic guitars are fun, but this one has gotten a bit out of hand. Tha crystal planet is classy looking, but the Jem20th looks out of place now that Christmas is over.
 
#229 ·
A very close friend of mine is a South Paw.
The only Ibanez he could locate with a dealer was an RG.
When he decided he wanted a 7 String he had to go to Carvin.

It is pretty tough for lefties when it comes to guitars. Because the options out there are pretty limited.

Jim is 100% correct in his statement of leftie models getting snatched up PDQ.
 
#230 ·
Actually, Steve addressed the lefty issue a while ago on vai.com, he asked Rob Nishida from Ibanez to give his thoughts on it, which he did:

Hi all. Rob Nishida from Hoshino in Los Angeles here. It's cool to see so much discussion about the subject of a lefty JEM. Steve asked me to post here, to give a bit of a company perspective on this subject. As you are probably aware, we're quickly approaching the 20th anniversary of the JEM, so there's recently been a lot of talk internally about the different variations of the JEM over the years. There however, has never been a high end, left-handed JEM. The main reason there hasn't been one, as many of you have guessed, is due to the presumably small quantity of guitars we'd be able to produce and sell on a regular basis, keeping in mind that the cost of the left-handed JEM would be significantly higher than a standard JEM. If we knew the demand was there, we could possibly offer a high end, left-handed JEM in a limited number sometime in the future, unless there are other production issues I'm not aware of. Let your local Ibanez dealers know if you have the interest. Trust me, they'll tell us.
http://www.vai.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=20170&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

So there you go :)
 
#236 ·
Thanks for the info Mikey, knowing that steve owns, and hopefully therefore plays the UV777PBK will do wonders for Ibanez sales of this guitar. I dont know why exactly but the though of Steve not owning or playing one of these put me off buying one for ages (I guess I thought there must be something bad about this model, however in the end I couldnt resist the temptation to try and buy), no doubt you are aware of the many comments on here from guys moaning about artists not using the kit they endorse, so for me and no doubt many others this is welcome news.
Take care,
Chris
 
#239 ·
If anything, the price on the Jem needs to come down. The whole pricing thing reminds me of a guy called Lars Ulrich, who back int he 80's said that he wouldn't care if people made bootlegged copies of metallica's records as long as the music got heard. Nowadays, all he cares about is money.

Personally, I think the Jem is a nice guitar but way overpriced for what it is. In comparison to the JS, I don't think the Jem warrants such a higher price tag. The inlays are made of pearl(ish) material, while the JS is abalone, the bodies are routed on a machine and so are the bodies for the JS. Pickups are dimarzio's, so are the ones on the JS.

Jimmy:smile:
 
#242 ·
Yep - it's an on-going project. Many of the guitar images have been updated with front and back shots (I took those, and that's what mot of them will end up like), and I have quite a few still to add. I like to clean up the shots though - and try to color correct them as best I can to match the guitars. I'm not a snapshot against a brick wall kinda guy.

Also, Steve has a number of guitars in different places, and working out were certain ones are stored and the retrieving them isn't always immediately possible.

As far as higher res images go, maybe. I have them, but they are better kept for print than the web... and that's another story.

Mikey
vai.com
 
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