I got my first JEM today! - JEM7VWH

darthpolster · #1 05-17-2001, 08:46 PM

I got my JEM7VWH today, and i love it!
feels great, action is smooth, lo-pro is nice too.

Just a few questions:
I haven't taken it to be set up professionally yet, so when dive bomb on the trem, it does go slightly out of tune.. which i've heard is NOT meant to happen on the lo pro?
Also, is the middle p/u meant to be staggered? the two center magnets of the middle pickup stick out, but the other 4 are flat, in line with the plastic casing of the pickup. Meant to be like this?

Otherwise I think its a great axe, i recommend anyone to get it!

bob oakman · #2 05-17-2001, 08:56 PM

I don’t own one. I’m just the first to stumble across the thread. Congrats on a great guitar. Yes, I have played them.

I can comment on the trem thing. Sometimes it takes a while on a new guitar for the trem springs to remember what tension is “normal”. If it stops doing that after a couple days, that’s it. If not, check the knife edges first. The tech section of jemsite.com is exhaustive on trem maintenance. It helped me a lot, even though someone else read it for me.

swig · #3 05-17-2001, 09:05 PM

first of all congrats on the new baby man, *believe me you won't get bored of it EVER!
the 7vwh was my first and only jem aswell, *i'm spoiled now, i can't play any other guitar anymore.

anyway, to my real point -
about the trem thing........

read this next post i'm going to put in.
later.

kennydoe · #4 05-17-2001, 09:07 PM

Congrats on the new axe. *Play it well.

A guitar that is well set-up shouldn't go out of tune. *
If it's still going out after you have had it set up, there are a bunch of things you can try:
Make sure to stretch new strings quite a bit before locking down the nut. *
Also make sure to lock down the trem posts after you're comfortable with the action height. *There's help with this in the Tech section of jemsite. *Most people don't know to do this, guitar techs included. *It's best done by the guitar owner, IMO - you may want to raise and lower the action for a few days to figure out which way you like best, then lock it. *You'll have to loosen the posts to change the action again, if necessary

As far as the middle p'up goes, most single coils I've seen (with poles) don't have matching pole heights. *One of the more technical people on the forum can probably explain it. *All I can *tell you is that it's normal to see them that way. *HOWEVER - my finding is that all JEM (and Ibanez for that matter) middle pickups lack gain and clarity. *It's almost as if they're only there for show. *If you play a lot of clean stuff, you might consider changing it. *I put a DiMarzio Virtual2 (wired as a single) bridge p'up (hotter) in the middle position of my BFP and I couldn't be happier with it. *It's all personal preference, of course.

Again, good luck and congrats!
~Kenny

Wicked Blade · #5 05-18-2001, 04:32 AM

Congrats darthpolster !!!

arty:

About your questions :
- dunno, but I'm interested by any answer you can get (I think I could have the same problem)
- the middle pickup on my BSB has the 2 center magnets sticking out too, I guess it's OK.

Congrats again !

ripl3y · #6 05-18-2001, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Quote: from darthpolster on 7:46 pm on May 17, 2001
Also, is the middle p/u meant to be staggered? the two center magnets of the middle pickup stick out, but the other 4 are flat, in line with the plastic casing of the pickup. Meant to be like this?

The poles on the middle pup are supposed to compensate for the radius of the fretboard.
i.e. higher in the middle, so raise the poles to have a similar clearance to the outer strings when depressed.

They probably look a little more severe on the jem (or any guitar with a flatter radius than a fender) purely because most single coils use fenders design as a standard. It's entirely normal.
The majority of humbuckers have adjustable pole pieces so these are usually just all screwed in level and it's left to the players discretion to adjust them.

And the trem...if you're not comfortable with setting up, get a pro to do it and give the springs a little time to break in, i'm sure all will be ok.

Hope you enjoy your new baby

Steve

warmregards · #7 05-18-2001, 05:00 PM

Hey, congrats on the guitar! *I am a relatively new owner as well. *When I received my used VWH, it was in better than advertised condition....nearly spotless. *However, when I picked it up to play right out of the box, I wasn't really blown away. *So I went through the setup process myself. *There are many things you are perfectly capable of doing without a pro that can probably fix your problems. *I had to do the truss rod, trem angle, and action to suit my tastes, and now the guitar is amazing.

Before taking it to a pro, check the jemsite maintainence pages for things you can do yourself...including suggestions on the trem problem. *I don't think you should have much trouble getting the guitar to work the way you want it to.

Skaught · #8 05-18-2001, 05:51 PM

Make sure your 3 pressure pads on the nut are tight, and make sure that the two screws at the back of your neck (holding down the locking-nut) are tightened as well. A lot of people overlook the nut, but again, look in the Technical Setup portion of this page (it certainly doesn't overlook it

vai311 · #9 05-19-2001, 02:01 AM

this makes me scared to buy a new one! *

:idunno:

JFT · #10 05-19-2001, 03:47 AM

Hi Darth,

congrats on the new babe!

Got mine a month ago and can't stop playing it since. They are AMAZING.

My other axes are gathering dust nowaday

Enjoy!

rvj · #11 05-19-2001, 10:59 AM

Congats on the axe!!! Warning, you will fall deeply in love with this guitar and won't be able to keep your hands off her. As far as your problem, check the locking screws in the trem posts.

littlegreenman · #12 05-19-2001, 01:13 PM

Congrats on the Jem man! *I love mine, it's become my favorite guitar out of the many here. *It gets played the most of any of them. *I've had it just 8 months and yesterday the 26th pack of strings went on it! *I love it, and I'm sure you will too!!!
Welcome to the family! *Now just wait, this is when the really bad GAS starts! *

Jeremy

darthpolster · #13 05-19-2001, 01:45 PM

Thanks for all the great replys guys!

Took the JEM to get setup today, but I haven't had time to try it out yet so I can't report on its new playability just yet.

The tech said that the springs should be in an arrow formation (like in the book) instead of straight ala the tech section of JEMsite. *He changed them over (they were straight before), what do you guys think of this?

Also said that the brass shim under the nut would cause it to slide and slip a bit, like by microns, even if the two screws at the back of the neck were tightened, and this was causing the guitar to go out of tune when I divebombed??? *He recommended I replace the brass shim with wet and dry paper, what would stop the nut moving.

Lastly, this is the freakiest news I've heard about Ibanez guitars ever. *He said the frets were prone to 'coming up' from the fretboard. Worst thing is, he proved it! *He slipped a thin strip of paper under my frets and the paper got underneath the fret!!! *He said its happening to all Ibanez guitars, coz he had an RG570 on his bench that had the frets coming up as well. *He said he'd have to hammer the frets in again (which he was doing to the RG) and stuff... but I didn't have time to leave the JEM with him for a week. *Now I'm worried!

**jemsite** · #14 05-19-2001, 01:56 PM

My opinions below...

Quote:

The tech said that the springs should be in an arrow formation (like in the book) instead of straight ala the tech section of JEMsite. *He changed them over (they were straight before), what do you guys think of this?

Personal choice, but this won't make the difference.

Quote:

Also said that the brass shim under the nut would cause it to slide and slip a bit, like by microns, even if the two screws at the back of the neck were tightened, and this was causing the guitar to go out of tune when I divebombed???

*not likely the cause, since most JEM/RGs are shimmed there. You can always glue the shim in place if action suffers.

Quote:

He recommended I replace the brass shim with wet and dry paper, what would stop the nut moving.

see above. paper disolves, brass doesn't.

Quote:

Lastly, this is the freakiest news I've heard about Ibanez guitars ever. *He said the frets were prone to 'coming up' from the fretboard. Worst thing is, he proved it! *He slipped a thin strip of paper under my frets and the paper got underneath the fret!!! *He said its happening to all Ibanez guitars, coz he had an RG570 on his bench that had the frets coming up as well.

*He is being sensational. Most ANY guitar will allow this

Quote:

He said he'd have to hammer the frets in again (which he was doing to the RG) and stuff... but I didn't have time to leave the JEM with him for a week. *Now I'm worried!

I would get a new tech. Barring major fret problems (not common in upper-end Ibanez guitars) HAMMERING them will only loosen the wood... glen

SalemB · #15 05-19-2001, 02:13 PM

I remember that a friend of mine bought an Ibanez Roadstar II around 1985. He was made aware of the frets coming out thing and we did the paper test and was horrified.

He's got the same guitar today and the frest are just like they were 1985. It really doesn't matter, they won't fall out.

I suspect this is something like an urban legend.

/B