I bought a 555

[Mewcenary]

I bought a JEM 555. I have an (old) RG and S series, and fancied something new.

I played it against a Fender Deluxe Strat. That's a gorgeous guitar too but ultimately I had to go with what made me smile when playing it...

Now, I also tried a JEM 505. To me, I preferred the action and sound of the 555. Sound makes sense due to the pick-ups, I see, from reading on here. Although I was surprised to see the 505 getting a fair few negative comments.

Do these comments still apply to the 2011-2012 505s?

[Verus]

The 555's and 505's are entry level jems (so to speak) which approach the high end price range. People seem to give it low ratings because you can scoop up a used RG and get similar playability and feeling as a 5xx, minus the monkey grip and few other extras. With a 5XX you are paying for the line of guitar, not so much the quality (built in Indonesia), but i've heard great things in regards to the 5XX's... The 555 does indeed have evo's, so you've got some great pickups. big difference is the quality and parts used But hey... if you walked away smiling... THATS ALL THAT MATTERS!

[Mewcenary]

It's okay. I got around the problem by returning the guitar and getting a JEM7V

[M.V]

The major difference is 505 is JAPAN and 555 isn't. I can tell that 505 is a great guitar, wasn't setup pretty good, it has the original edge trem, which is very different from that on 555 and has a maple fretboard.

[Verus]

the 505 has horrible pickups though. And good solution, the real deal is so much sweeter