Total noob, some guidence would be good

[rowan]

Hi this is my first post as you can see. I am considering buying a jem and this seems the place to get information from people with jem knoladge. I cant find a shop that has any jems in stock near to where i live so i cant see or play any, which sucks. I have looked all over the net for professional reviews of any of the jems but cant find any other than reviews customers of sites selling have written.

The models that i am conidering buying at the moment are are the 7wvh, the 7db and the 777vbk. Thoug the 777vbk is in an auction ending in 14 hours so then it will be gone. I dont know how rare it is, i may not be able to get one before i do buy something. These are the only models that i can find and like the look of and can afford.

What i want to know really is how much difference is ther between the 7vh and the 7db in terms of playability? Would you really tell the difference between them? How much of the difference is just how they look? Also how much difference is htere between the two of these and an rg1570 or something similar in the rg range.

Also if anyone sees this before Nov-21-04 09:15:00 PST who has played a 777vbk or anything similar, i would appreciate really any opinion on it other than on how it looks, especially the difference between it and newer models

I have found the 7db new for $1080 new and i recon i can get the 7vwh used for the same price roughly. This just happens to be my absolute maxamim budget which i actually am taking as a sign that i am meant to buy a jem. I would like to know would a used 7vwh be worth getting over a new 7db. I am a bit wary about buying a used guitar from another country.

I am a poor student(with 1000 dollars to spare) so this is a really big deal for me. Its just that i bought an ltd esp and im not happy with it for a few reasons and i want a better guitar. I prefer an rg series guitar to any other guitar i have played. So i think A jem would be the best guitar for me. If anyone could give me there opinion it would be great as so far the only opinion ihave gotten is buy a jackson and all ibanez guitars are the same get a low end rg series, i doubt i will get eithre of those opinions here though. Thanks,

Rowan

ps sorry for bad spelling and grammer etc i am very dyslexic

Also if you are reading this and thinking what an idiot why is he posting this rather than reading x, if you want to tell me im an idiot go read something in perticular, that would be cool. I just cant find information in previous posts or anywhere on the net.

[learningtolive]

Hi fellow UK jemsiter and welcome. I have the same problem in that I can't find any UVs to try out in shops here. I've never tried the DBK but I hear it has a different neck to normal jems. Also, its pickups are more vintagey I think because they are alnico not ceramic magnets. You might want to wait and see what comes out of NAMM, a mirror jem may be on the horizon my friend.

[Jem7RB MK]

Hi and Welcome to the site :-) Don't worry about your spelling, it looks perfectly fine to me :-)

The 777VBK has the old style Square neck joint and Paf Pro's as standard
The 7DBK has the AANJ and has Breeds as standard
The 7VWH Also has the AANJ and has EVO's as standard ...

As such really, they are all very differant sounding, Within the same style (still with me?) Me Personally i'd take a DBK over a VWH everytime, Now i know i am going against most opinions there, But i just prefere the Basswood/Breed setup over the Alder/EVO setup on the VWH ... Of course, The VBK has the Basswood, and PafPros (Breeds and EVO's are based around the Paf series anyhow)

I know it's probably not what you want to hear, But you NEED to try them out first, Out of all the Jems i have played, I'm most at home on the Older PBK and RB's ... Where abouts are you? I'm sure there is somewhere not too far from you that may have something in stock to try out ;-)

Regards, and enjoy the site

Rob

P.S. My Nephew is also Dislexic and i understand the frustrations :-) He's also just bought a J-Custom to p*** me off

[ukwan]

I prefer the JEM7DBK and the older Basswood JEM's im not a fan of the Alder/EVO combo at all it's far too shrill for my tastes.. but still an amazingly nice guitar!

[bobojem]

Hey man, I'd like to start off by saying Welcome! No question is a stupid question here, as long as everyone is respectful.

So, if you wanna read user reviews, harmony-central.com has a great archieve of user reviews on, not just guitar but many other gears too. Here's the link to user reviews on Ibanez guitars, scroll down to the Jems and you'll find reviews on all of them.

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data4/Ibanez/

Ok, here's all of the differences I can think of between the three guitars you mentioned. (I'm gonna be redundant here but bear with me) And my opinions.

7VWH: Alder Body, Rosewood (post '03) OR Ebony (uptil '03) fretboard, Evolution (which I think is not very similar to Paf Pros), Jem neck, All Access Neck Joint, Lo-Pro Edge or Edge Pro, depending on the year.

7DBK: Basswood Body, Rosewood fretboard, Breed, Wizard (II?) neck, All Access Neck Joint, Lo-Pro Edge or Edge Pro, depending on the year. Edge Pro for sure if you get it new.

777VBK: Basswood Body, Rosewood Fretboard, Paf Pro, Jem neck, Original neck joint, Lo-Pro Edge ('91 - pres) Edge (- '90).

For more information on neck specs:

http://www.jemsite.com/axes/htm_features/necks.htm

For more information on pickups:

www.dimarzio.com

For more information on these or any Jem guitars:

http://www.jemsite.com/axes/htm_features/spec.htm

Here is my opinion:

Between these three, I would personally get either the 7DBK or 7VWH. The original neck joint is the biggest fret i have about it. I have a 77FP and everytime I play that guitar I can't help thinking, Man! I wish this thing had AANJ. Between the DBK and VWH I would consider carefully. The 7VWH has more of a 'bite', where as the 7DBK has more of a 'growl'. There are sample clips on Dimarzio.com of Steve playing these two guitars in different songs. Breed and Evo both have better harmonic response than Paf Pro. Breed has a lot of mid and has a pretty high output; Evo has slightly less mid than Breed but has very high output. Also worthy of noting is that the Wizard neck on 7DBK is thinner than the Jem neck on VWH. So its a matter of preference. Again, if you had a chance to play these two guitars, you'll be able to make a better judgement. I've played a VWH (Lo-pro + ebony) and a 7DBK (edge pro) and I must say, the VWH blew me away. Ebony board is just gorgeous.

So there it is. Good luck to your search. Please do let us know how everything turns out!

-Bo

[rowan]

Hi, thanks for your replys. I think i am going to try and get a 7vwh on ebay. If i can get one for $1000 i will be happy. I am assuming i can get one for that much. I much prefer the look of the 7vwh and i think if i got the 7dbk i would end up regretting it. At least i think there is much more chance of this than visa versa. I must say this is a very good site, good selection of information. Anyway if anyone else wants to give me any suggestions keep them comming.

Rowan

[rgr]

You'll be doing well to find a VWH for $1000, but it has happened, it will probably just have some wear. Around $1250 - $1350 is more like it. The DBKs go for less. Personally, I'm not a big fan of the gold hardware on the VWH but it is a striking guitar. I like the DBKs but the textured finish isn't for everyone. I also like the Breeds better than the EVOs, but again, that's my opinion. I don't think you will regret getting a DBK, they play and sound great, but are a different beast than a VWH.

$0.02,
Roger

[rowan]

Hi i got a jem 7vwh for $1100 in good condition, no dings or anything. I have not been this excited since about this time last year when i got home one night to find all the parts for my new pc had come, which at the time was an absolute beast, i am going to be so happy when i get it i just hop that can avoid any customs tax, dont want the british government making this any more expensive.

cant figure how to add an aimage of it oh well

thanks again to the people that replied to my origanal message

rowan

[bobojem]

hey man, con-friggin-grats!!!

[sanitarium]

$1100!!!!!!!!! With current exchange rates you got it about £550? Mint selling £1900, you did well. Even if customs get ya it will only be for about £80 tops (I think). Hope you enjoy, no let me rephrase that, I know you will enjoy.