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5K views 19 replies 16 participants last post by  jem7vwh 
#1 ·
I'm sitting around the house today being too sick to go into work but not sick enough to be unable to play (quietly :) guitar, and I realize I have pulled the trusty Strat and Tele out for a stretch in a couple months. So I drag them out from under the bed and plug in the Strat and start to play...

...and it just doesn't feel right :( I mean, sure it's strung with .010s (vs. .009s on my Ibanez guitars), and it sounds great! and it looks as good as it always has (CAR... yum! :)), but it doesn't play smoothly enough, it's too much work, the neck's too chunky and...

it's not a Jem :eek:

I try the Tele and it's the same thing... only twangier :)

Now I'm not going to run out and sell these guitars - I'm far too fond of them for that, and I own other guitars that I love despite some playability issues (my Ovation Breadwinner, for example), but I was somewhat taken back by the huge difference in the playability stakes between my Jems, JPM, Universe & USRG10 and these old faves... Anyone else had similar revelations?
 
#2 ·
Spoiled by my Jems...

Most guitars that sit under beds end up with a layer of corrosion of the frets which is tough to see, but you instantly feel the 'drag' on the strings. Could be this is all it is and the frets need a polish. But maybe you've just turned more Ibanez than before :)
 
#4 ·
Spoiled by my Jems...

I hear ya. I have a 74 strat and 57 (reissue) LP that usually collect dust on my guitar stand tree. My Jem is always in its own personal stand - plugged in. When I grab my Strat or LP to give a run, I can't get used to it. I enjoy the sounds of the other guitars but can't stand to play them for long periods of time. I do believe this is because you become accustomed to playing your Jem more. They're so versatile and just feel good.

When I go back to playing the Jem after playing the other guitars, I get addicted to the Jem. Can't put it down.

Just my thoughts.

Gabe
 
#5 ·
Spoiled by my Jems...

I'm gonna' come from the other side on this discussion. I love my UV and every Ibanez I have played, but my Epiphone Les Paul is way easier for me to play. It has a big baseball bat neck on it. Maybe that's why my large hands like it. My UV neck is so thin it feels like my left thumb is touching the palm of my hand when I play.

I never play my other guitars any more because there are a multitude of other features that I prefer on my UV. Ease of playing is not one of them for me.

I'm weird,

bob :lame:
 
#6 ·
Spoiled by my Jems...

I agree with both of you! My Strats don't get nearly as much use as the Jems. They probably need the most steel wool. There are those occasions where the tune requires a Strat, and as I learned a long time ago-you can't buy or use something and expect it to sound or perform like something else-regardless of how good it's supposed to be. But, I love all of my guitars equally-none of them are going anywhere.
 
#7 ·
Spoiled by my Jems...

I know what ya mean.....first guitar I ever owned was a Gibson Les Paul Standard...1980 Model....bought it brand new when I was a kid....this is the guitar that I cut my teeth on....couldn't even IMAGINE how many hours I spent playing this thing....if you said, "Les Pauls suck," we would have been fighting. As I got older I decided I needed a whammy bar....Brad Gillis was doing some cool things....so I looked into it....and all of a sudden Eddie was sponsering these Kramer things....and they were the only ones with Floyd Roses...so I went down and checked one out....LOVED IT...instantly....next thing ya know....I'm a Kramer nut....Les Paul just became fire wood (not literally I'm not stupid)....but if you said, "Kramer's suck," we were fighting. Well we all know what happened to Kramer....and all of a sudden up comes Ibanez with the Jem series...hmmm....interesting.....I bought one....Oops....my Kramers haven't seen the light of day in years. It was sorta like this:

Les Paul = Cadillac
Kramer = Corvette
Jem = Lamborghini

And I drive the ****
out of my Lamborghinis.....the rest of them sit in the garage!
 
#8 ·
Spoiled by my Jems...

Yup yup. It's kinda sad. When I go to guitar stores, I usually end up plugging in a guitar I already own (a JEM or RG) and playing on that. It's completely taken the fun out of going guitar shopping when I always end up realizing that I like MINE better than any other one at the store. It's reassuring, but it's less fun on a boring Saturday. I used to love to go to GC and play all sorts of different guitars, noticing how many were better than my EX-350, but no more. Now I play my Dad's PRS and taunt him. I can't tell you how nasty that PRS neck is. He doesn't care. All that matter is that it has pretty "quilted maple" :)
 
#13 ·
Spoiled by my Jems...

Hey Bob, what model Epi Les Paul do you have? I've got the birdseye maple standard which I've decked out with Duncan Pearly Gates pups. I love that guitar! But, I haven't opened the case in months. My main stage axe is a Jackson Soloist (custom shop) that I put EMGs in. My backup is my Jem777DY. Now I have a UV777BK which will replace them both hopefully when I get used to it!
I also traded a killer Fender Jeff Beck strat (Midnight Purple) for my DY, and it was the best trade I ever made! The DY is my all time favorite of any guitar I've ever owned. It plays way better than my Floral.
G.M.
 
#17 ·
Spoiled by my Jems...

After I graduated from college and had much more time to play guitar (and more $ to spend on them, too), I started buying all kinds of guitars to have a really wide variety at my disposal. At one point, my collection was: JPM, UV777-BK, JS1000, Parker Fly Classic, Steinberger GM7T, Gibson Les Paul, Fender American Strat Plus, PRS EG-2

Once I bought the RG3120, I realized that I spent almost 95% of my time playing the Ibanezes. I'd occassionally use one of the non-Ibanez guitars for recording or for big band gigs (nothing like playing 1940's songs on a pointy-headstock guitar). So I underwent a period of getting "back to the basics" by selling non-Ibanez gear to buy other Ibanez guitars. The PRS and Parker were soon out the door to be replaced by the RG7CT, USRG30, and JemBSB.

At this point (about a year and a half later), the collection looks something like this: JPM, JPM90, UV777-BK, UVMC, JemVWH, JEMDBK, RG7CT, RG3120, RG1200, RG1880, RG570, RGART, RG6CST, USRG30, UVEW1, plus the Strat, Les Paul, and an Artstar. And I find myself once again wanting to return to the basics again (and downsize a bit in the process)... the Strat and Artstar are up for grabs, and certain newer/less frequently played axes (like the 570 and UCEW1) are up for grabs as well.

Seems that the longer I play, I concentrate on mahogany bodied guitars because I like the tone of them the most. And I love the playability/pickup combinations of all the Ibanezes I've played. So while I can't see myself getting rid of the JemVWH or JPM90 just because they're so cool, I could see myself getting rid of the USRG30, JemDBK, or (gasp) maybe even the JPM just because I've finally been able to find the tone I'm looking for in different RG models.

--Brent "spoiled by RG's" Duersch
 
#18 ·
Spoiled by my Jems...

I was the same.
I learnt my trade on a Str*t and it was years b4 I picked up another guitar and then it was a gibby.
(appetite for destruction was the big thing then, so hence the gibby) :)

The difference was huge to me, although not quite as big as JEM vs Str*t.

I have a DBK, SK and also a JS1000.
My main players now are almost always the JEM's and more specifically the DBK, so any change is a real re-learning process.
Although I do sometimes pull out my old Charvel from the closet and it still feels like a best friend and the frets are so flat that the action is fantastically low :)

Steve
 
#19 ·
Spoiled by my Jems...

Steve ~ it's funny, but of my solid body Ibanez guitars - a UV777GR, Jems 77FP & 7DBK, JPM100P4 and USRG10 - the DBK has become the one I reach for the most. I think it's the only one that hasn't seen the inside of it's case since I bought it from Kirk... I say it's funny, because I really only picked it up as a backup to the Floral, and even then only because Kirk gave me a great deal on it and I knew I could trust him when he said it was "MINT" (and it was - I mean unplayed!). I dunno what it is, but the combination of that neck (which is really ironic, 'cause I don't like "Wizard" necks) and the Breeds just keep me coming back for more!
 
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