Help with my guitar. What is it?

Thared33 · #1 07-06-2002, 01:25 PM

Hi. I have been reading about Jem's and I have some questions. I have a white JEM555. Now it's really weird, because I have NEVER seen a picture of this guitar anywhere, or seen one in stores. The one I have is totally different from any other JEM 555's I have seen. First of all, the pick gaurd is totally white, and it's a slightly lighter white than the paint on the body. I always see the silver/white looking design on the 555 pickguards. Well, mine is flat white. Second of all, the pickups I have are weird. The middle pickup looks normal, but the 2 humbuckers on it are different than any 555 I have seen. They dont have the little silver dots going across them. All it is, is these little small dots on them, without the silver dots. Looks like little holes in it where the silver dot things are supposed to be. Did I mention that all the pickups are black, and not white like they are supposed to be? Third of all, the tremelo on it is black also. It's not supposed to have that either. It's supposedto be silver. But it is an ibanez floyd rose. Fourth of all, the knobs on it arent like any 555's I have seen either. The knobs are black/clear and are really big unlike the ones i have seen on other 555's. They have these little rubber circle things that go on the very top of them so you can have more grip I think. And there's probably a lot more to my guitar. But anyway, the guy I bought it from said it is worth $1200. And I bought it from him for $400. Now I have no idea what kind of guitar this is, because it isnt like ANY jem555 I have ever seen. On the back of the head, it says Jem555 and the serial is C426263. Made in Korea. Can anyone help me out here to try and figure out what exactly my guitar is? I have heard something about a "Jem JR" guitar, could this possibly be one? One the front of the head it says "JEM" in cursive and not jem jr. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

By the way: This guitar is horrible. It has so many problems I cant even list them all here.

pd0x · #2 07-06-2002, 01:30 PM

Sounds like an RG250DX w/ a 555 neck on it. It's probably just any real low end white RG w/ a pickguard and black speed knobs thrown on.

[img]http://img.***************.com/dbase/pics/products/51/519561.jpg[/img]

BrianH · #3 07-06-2002, 01:30 PM

sounds like a modified jem555. I know it isn't worth 1200.00. Doesn't suprise me it has so many problems, it sounds like its been on the block for a while.

good luck with it...

Thared33 · #4 07-06-2002, 01:34 PM

Nope. It isnt an rg250dx. It DOES have the handle in the body, but the pickgaurd is flat white on a flat white body. Has anyone ever seen a flat white pick guard on a JEM before?

Rich · #5 07-06-2002, 01:40 PM

Probably modded with the pickguard/p/u assembly from something else, only 2 wire to solder.

Thared33 · #6 07-06-2002, 01:48 PM

hrmm... So if I can look at the pickups, and look at the tremelo, and see what kind they are, and tell you the exact dinks/flaws in it,can someone give mean estimate onhow much it's worth?

By the way: I had to have the tremelo locked down because every time i use it (raise a note) it gets out of tune, then I have to dive/dump it go get it back in tune. but I can only dive/dump it now. Cant raise notes. Frets were once had dents, but since I have had the guitar, they have been grinded down from me using so much vibrato. There is a 'load of fretbuzz, I cant even get sound out of some on the low E string upper frets. Most of the screws are stripped. But other than that, it's fine.

Lonely Raven · #7 07-06-2002, 03:03 PM

First off, I'd take the guitar to a pro shop and have them look it over
and set it up.

It does sound like you paid a bit much for it.

Also, if you do take the time to take it apart and look it over yourself,
you can find out a lot about it by looking at the components.

If you take the neck off, you will often find a stamp on the wood of the
neck and the body telling you what model it is.

For example, my Root Beer Jem says 7RB

The under sides of the pickups generally tell you something about what
they are. If they are Dimarzio you will usually see an "F" somewhere
on the bridge one telling you it's "F" spaced for a tremelo, and they often
have model numbers stamped on them like DP-155. You can look up
those model numbers on the Dimarzio site. I don't recall what kind of
marks Semore Duncan pickups have, and I don't recall many of the
OEM ones having markings at all...but that's still a lead.

If the pickups are missing the metal poles in them, then I think you have
some problems. Look at the pickups, and tell us if there are any metal
poles, screws, or bars in the black plastic bobbins. If not, then you have
some issues.

Also, what Trem do you have? Does it say Edge on it?

Can you take any pictures? If you can take a picture and you don't know
how to post it, just send it to my E-mail and I'll post it for you so the
guys who are "in the know" can diagnose it better then I can. I've been
out of the loop for a few years...

Thared33 · #8 07-06-2002, 05:32 PM

Well... I WOULD do a lot of that to find out exactly what it is, but im afraid ill mess the action up if i take the neck off etc. Actually a month ago I had it set up by a professional, and he made it play a bit better, and got the action right. So I dunno WHAT to do. I'll think it over.

Edit: Well, I believe it IS a JEM555, but I have never seen one like it. Is there anyway I can find out on the net about it? I just need to find out a few things. Though I know for SURE that the pickups/tremelo were removed and replaced with others. There HAS to be somewhere that tells you about the flat white pickguard/knobs or something like that. I'll go ahead and try and see if I can tell what model the tremelo/pickups are.

Thared33 · #9 07-06-2002, 05:38 PM

I'll look over it, and find out as much info on it as Ican and post back here in a few.

BeastofLove · #10 07-06-2002, 05:42 PM

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the 1st year JEM 555's have non-pearloid pickguards (flat white)?
Anyhow, without seeing it, it sounds like a 1st year run white JEM555 with replacement humbuckers.

-Ben

Thared33 · #11 07-06-2002, 05:56 PM

Does that mean mine is worth more?

littlegreenman · #12 07-06-2002, 05:59 PM

Is the body kind of an off white? and did you get it off of ebay by chance? or from someone who bought it from ebay? if you did, I know what guitar you have, it's a 555 that someone modded and swears up and down it came from the factory like that............right

Thared33 · #13 07-06-2002, 06:04 PM

Actually I found it in the news paper in the classified adds. It's some guy that well, I dunno where he got it. I bought it around 4 years ago. He said he was just selling it because he needed $$$ for other equipment. He said he bought it for $1200. He had it listed for $500, but he sold it to me for $400 because he said he needed to get rid of it. I'm not sure where he got it from.

Yes. The body color is more of an egg white, and the pickguard is WAY whiter than the body. Actually I just glanced over at it, and the head stock is the same color as the pickgaurd. So the pickguard/headstock is REALLY white, and the body is more of an egg white/darker white.

Thared33 · #14 07-06-2002, 06:08 PM

Hey look here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...item=891210266

It's my guitar, except the pickgaurd is flat white, and the knobs are bigger/different, and the pickups are all black.

Lonely Raven · #15 07-06-2002, 08:00 PM

Ok, but what about the other stuff I asked you about?

What about the poles in the pickups? Are they completely missing?
Is there no metal there at all?

Can you take a digital photo or a scan of the guitar?

I'm very curious about this myself now!

As for what it's worth...what does it matter...as long as your happy with
the way it plays!!