Hey gang.
It's been a while since I posted, but I figured I had to get my two bits in since I own both an '88 JEM 777DY and an '03 Jackson USA Warrior WR-1, and I've waxed philosophically on the genesis of the Super Strat for some time.
1) Jackson vs. Ibanez: I love my JEM. I love my Warrior. Without getting into the pros/cons of neck-through vs. bolt-on, I'll say that the Warrior's action can go so low that it's mind-blowing, while the JEM absolutely screams. Take it for what it's worth (and understand that the Warrior
neck dimensions are more akin to the Wizard neck than they are the JEM neck), I'm 10bpm faster on the Jackson than I am on the Ibanez, every time.
They sound very much the way they look: The Warrior is dark, even, and packs a mean punch. There is no perceptible change in timbre anywhere on the neck ... it's totally consistent. Greater string spacing and a wider, flatter board just make it that much faster and more precise. It's the ultimate speed-metal machine.
The JEM absolutely screams, harmonics literally jump out of the guitar. The smaller radius makes it a little more comfy for sweep picking, and the taller frets and scalloping make it a joy for tapping and hammer-ons. It's far more open sounding, and absolutely wails for big solos. It has perceptible sweet spots on the neck; certain registers come across as slightly wimpy while others just sing out, the whole guitar resonating as one, and make you grin ear-to-ear. Tone-wise, the Jackson just can't touch it.
As far as quality control: My '88 has seen such heavy action that it's tough to say (I bought it used). It has no neck stress cracks in the finish, but the middle pickup is microphonic these days. The inlays are kinda cheesy just 'cause they're little decals at the bottom of cutouts in the fretboard that are then filled with epoxy. On the other hand, the scalloping is extremely well done, the original hardware is still going strong, and she's still purdy after 17 years.
My Jackson came with quite a few flaws. The binding on the headstock is rather poorly done, and there's paint glop here and there on the neck. The back of the neck is tung-oiled, but the body clearcoat actually goes further up the neck than the body paint does. Bummer. She was built in April 2003, right around the time that Fender bought Jackson and moved the factory ... so maybe folks were more worried about their jobs than they were building flawless instruments. Understandable. Either way ... these are nitpicky things. On the other hand, the fretwork, bridge, setup, and especially inlay work are absolute things of beauty. I've often mused that the reason why the neck didn't get nixed in QC due to the binding/paint screwup was because the rest of the neck is so amazing. Seriously ... it's the best fretwork/inlay I've ever seen.
The bottom line is that I play the JEM and I say, "Man, this guitar is so sweet, I can't believe I was playing that Jackson! I'm never putting this thing down." A few months later, I grab the Warrior and say, "Holy smokes! How could I play the JEM instead of this thing? I love this!" A few months later, I pick up the JEM again and say, "What was I thinking? The JEM is the best guitar ever ..." You get the picture. These are the problems people want to have.
2) Jackson Floyd v. Edge: The Jackson's Original Floyd Rose stays in perfect tune no matter what. The 17-year-old Edge drifts slightly after serious (I mean serious) abuse. The OFR sets up easier; new strings stabilize way earlier and easier than they do on the Edge. So there. A brand new OFR is more stable than a 17-year-abused Edge. Big surprise. The fact that the Edge is still going after all this time really says something. It's also way more fun to flutter/gargle than the OFR, and has a greater range thanks to the extreme recess. Much like the guitars themselves, I tend to prefer whichever one I happen to be using at the time.
3) Vai, Ibanez, Jackson, and the Super Strat: I'm telling you I smell a book deal in this one. "Armashreddin': The history of the Super Strat and the Guitar that Changed Rock." Everyone is so vague on the genesis of the Super Strat ... guitar history books, Ibanez retrospectives, web sites, etc. I'd love to dedicate time to research this properly (wouldn't we all love that much time on our hands), but it seems to me that
Eddie Van Halen pioneered the idea of the Super Strat when he built his guitar out of Charvel parts. That probably convinced Wayne to build entire guitars instead of just parts. Grover Jackson's Rhodes model and takeover of the company is well documented, so we don't have to touch that one.
What gets weird is when you figure that Kramer came in there at some point and further tweaked the Super Strat notion. The Soloist, being a neck-through guitar, wasn't quite the shred-machine that the Charvel-branded bolt-on or Kramer bolt-on was. In my opinion, the bolt-on-neck is totally essential to the Super Strat concept.
Dig: Most Charvels were single pickup models with non-locking trems. I believe that Kramer was the first to license Floyd Rose's design, and actually commissioned the building of the Floyd Rose trem through Schaller. Kramer also introduced several models with HSS pickup configurations instead of a single humbucker by the bridge. It was Kramer, more than Jackson/Charvel, that made the bolt-on, multi-pickup, locking trem Super Strat popular.
Until 1987, Vai is on the scene with a heavily modified Charvel guitar. Vai appears in the Jackson catalog (1986 maybe? There's a pic in "Electric Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia" by Tony Bacon et al, ISBN 1571452818), and even stars as Jack Butler in "Crossroads" wielding a red Charvel bolt-on two pickup model (a guitar that I am still lusting after and will have built for me some day!). He works with Ibanez to create the JEM, and then this is where everything goes to pot and gets complicated.
Vai's JEM has the following deviations from the standard guitar: HSH pickup configuration, recessed Floyd (the entire bridge, including the studs, is recessed, not just a cutout under the back of the bridge for pull-ups), bridge "hand rest," scalloped board, sharp edges, pyramid inlays, monkey grip, flashy colours, etc. Great stuff.
I don't think many would argue that the paint job, Monkey Grip, Lion's Claw, pyramid inlays, etc. are 100% pure Vai. It's worth pointing out, however, that the concept of an out-of-the-box hotrod (24 jumbo frets, great pickups, heavy-duty hardware, etc.) was pretty novel in itself back in 1987. Other folks on this thread have covered the sharp edges of the guitar. Let's look at the other pieces:
The HSH pickup configuration was used by Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith and photographed in their 1984 "Powerslave" album. Who made his guitar? That's right, Jackson (like I said, this is where things get complicated). Smith might not have been the first person to do this anyway: The triple-humbucker look was an Ace Frehley trademark, surely someone out there also swapped a single-coil for the middle 'bucker. While Vai didn't necessarily invent the HSH configuration, I don't see any evidence of it being used en masse prior to the JEM/RG series, and I have no idea what kind of wiring scheme was used prior to Vai's innovative 5-way. Just as Kramer popularized (but didn't necessarily invent) the bolt-on HSS Floyd guitar, Vai and Ibanez certainly created the HSH craze, and may have invented the HSH 5-way switching as we know it.
The November, 1988 Guitar Player "Amp Issue" featured a "Do It Yourself" article by Dan Erlewine that covered Floyd Rose installations. In the article, Dan credits Ibanez and, specifically, the Steve Vai JEM model for the conception of the recessed Floyd Rose. It's a far cry from gospel, but it's something. Vai's conception of the "hand rest" for the Floyd and the subsequent lawsuit against Ibanez for violating the Floyd Rose license is fairly well documented.
As for the scalloped board ... well, we all know about that crazy Swede and the Deep Purple guy that came before him ...
Did Vai invent something completely new, or did he just combine some older ideas into an evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, guitar? I'd like to think it's the former -- I can't imagine what went down in the Chicago NAMM show when Ibanez pulled the wraps off of the JEM. Given the way my 777DY turns heads to this day, I'm imagining quite a bit of people were picking their chins up from the floor.
--jr
