jem 7v prototype?

Angryibanezguy · #1 11-20-2006, 11:32 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XxexbaCw2c
is steve playing an early prototype to the 7v?
and what about those pickups, they look like blade pickups to me

kennydoe · #2 11-21-2006, 12:34 AM

That video is very cool...never saw that.

It's from the Fire Garden Tour. The 7v's have been around far longer than that (since S&R, at least). I'm thinking that might have been one of the 'Lasher' guitars, but i'm sure one of the Jem historians around here will probably correct me.

Thanks for the link!
~K

Angryibanezguy · #3 11-21-2006, 12:43 AM

I was thinking maby it was a prototype he kept as a backup, cause if you look its a jem, but the claw is missing, it has a black pickguard and it looks off to me somehow, like its proportioned differently

The Euphor · #4 11-21-2006, 12:43 AM

It could be one of the Lasher guitars. I always thought they had regular RG dot necks. Still, the tremolo routing suggests that it's not a regular Jem, or it's the lighting that fools my eyes. Looks square to me, as in no Lion's Claw.

But... Didn't Steve use a separate guitar for this tune, since it's tuned so low? Could be just a regular Jem with a black guard to make it more visible to pick up for Vai or the tech.

All in all. I have no idea.

But a Jem7v proto? No, I don't think so.

crevis · #5 11-21-2006, 12:43 AM

well all his 7vs are in standard so this would just be used as the drop C guitar, whatever it is, he used to use koreans and other cheaper guitars also if he felt like getting a little carried away.

Angryibanezguy · #6 11-21-2006, 12:51 AM

look, missing claw entirely and its a jem cause, why would he go through the trouble of installing a tilt jack, and a jem neck on a korean rg?

Chris777 · #7 11-21-2006, 12:55 AM

Is this from the G3 with EJ and JS? It looks like the same set-up of amps, and Vai is wearing the same clothes as the Minneapolis G3 dvd.

The Euphor · #8 11-21-2006, 01:00 AM

http://vai.com/Machines/guitarpages/guitar007.html

Would need to correct myself then.

A prototype after all. Although used long after the production model was released.

MM · #9 11-21-2006, 01:26 AM

The guitar wasn't a prototype for the 7V - it was a prototype for a Jem with a swamp ash body.

Mikey
vai.com

The Euphor · #10 11-21-2006, 01:35 AM

So the one I linked to and the guitar in the video is the same, only stripped for paint in the Vai.com/Gallery.

Makes sense.

Thanks Mikey, for the clarification.

(I always thought MM was the initials for Mandy Moore...)

MM · #11 11-21-2006, 01:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Euphor

So the one I linked to and the guitar in the video is the same, only stripped for paint in the Vai.com/Gallery.

Makes sense.

Thanks Mikey, for the clarification.

(I always thought MM was the initials for Mandy Moore...)

You know what? Upon watching the entire video, I see that I'm wrong. It's not the "Bad H" guitar from the Vai.com gallery. Normally Steve used this guitar for the song, but this video does indeed show a painted guitar. Also, "Bah H" has a a strange "locking" input jack on the side of the guitar about 3 inches below where the normal input jack on a Jem is.

I suspect it's one of the Lasher configurations - and there were a number of them - that Steve used during the Fire Garden tour. His tech, Roger Bell has a bunch of necks and bodies and they were changed around a lot - especially if a neck broke. Bad Horsie was the song where Steve threw the guitar around.

Rich Pike shot this video. It appeared on an older version of Vai.com. The video was poorly compressed back then and looks even worse on YouTube. One of these days I'll find the original tape and reimport and reencode it.

Mandy Moore
vai.com

Angryibanezguy · #12 11-21-2006, 02:06 AM

Deleted post

MM · #13 11-21-2006, 02:28 AM

Okay - forget everything I just said. I have the final answer. It's "BH II" - a guitar that does not appear in the Vai.com guitar Gallery, but one that I photographed in Steve's vault. In this video, it has a black pickguard, but now has a regular pearloid 7V pickguard. I found a Quicktime version of the same video here on my harddrive. BH II also has a big crack in the body that runs from about where the input jack is to about an inch from the pickguard between the volume and tone knobs.

In the video I can also see "BH II" written below the trem. It has a regular lions claw cavity, and is just a standard 7VWH with a different pickguard.

This was a fun investigation! I wish they asked questions like this over ont he Vai.com forum!

Mikey

vai.com