vwh neck opinions

[swiggy]

can someone give help?
in your opinion, what is the best neck on the vwh, the 2000 ones or previous ones?

i would appreciate a lot of opinions so i can make up my mind.

[jemsite]

I haven't seen a 2000 VWH neck but they can all be made the same by removing the finish on the rear of the neck. See the jemsite --> Guitar --> Tech/Setup area for details. IMHO that is critical for any JEM player if you have one with the poly finish from Ibanez.

I would not judge buying a VWH based on model year, i'd go by condition, price, the "used" factor and feel if you see it first hand. For example I'd personally take a '94 with great frets over a "new" VWH because it would be broken in already Good luck... glen

[ellsobrien]

I don't know about older necks, but I own two VWH's and the necks are really close but not exactly the same. The backs are sanded by hand (or so I have heard) from the factory, so one has a slight relief in the low 8th fret side that the other does not. You wouldn't notice it at first, but I did after a few weeks. I use that one as the back-up always, since it is a slight distraction when playing live.

I sugest you play a buch of 'em before you buy one since there are many differences you won't notice on just one or two.

Hope this helps.

[tommy west]

It still smokes every other guitar in existence in my opinion so minute differences in neck craftsmanship are minimal at best. Just get ya one, you will love it. Plus one a year or two old will save ya around 3 or 400$.

[jay ratkowski]

I have a 2000 VWH... I didn't know there was any difference. *I have my neck sanded down to the wood though, so it's hard to tell.

[shawn]

i have a 99 and a *2000, and the 2000 is cooler because they changed how they do the scallops--the scallops on the 2000 are from fret to fret whereas the 99's scallops were all the same size and left some of the area next to the frets unscalloped (which to me is quite unacceptable for a guitar of such caliber). *thats really the only major difference in which the make year will play a role--everything else is variable from guitar to guitar and has little to do with production year.

[littlegreenman]

I have a 2000 and it doesn't have any finish on the neck! *I got it brand new (Axe music ordered it and I was there when they first opened the box) *I also have a 2000 UV777BK and it does not have a finish on the neck at all either. *(same scenario with the music store)
The scallops on mine go from fret to fret as well, my old JEM777DY has all the same size scallops on it and I must admit, if not for playability, the scallops on my VWH look better.
Jeremy
Oh yeah, I know what the finish on the necks looks like and my 2 definitly do not have it but my friends DBK does!

[Rich]

Better check the back of your neck again, the finish is there, it's just Matte now. Look at the serial # sticker and you can easily see it's cleared in. Alot of the 2000's I've seen have the much better scallops, but not all. Overall though they are much better. IMO it's only a visual thing because even on the thinnest scallops you can't get the string to the board.

[littlegreenman]

Hey Rich, I double checked the serial numbers on my JEM and UV, you can see the edge of the serial numbers very clearly AND....... *I can easily grab an edge with a finger nail and lift them so I'll be putting some clear on them to protect them, besides that, I've burnt the serial numbers into the wood in the neck pocket and the heel of the neck on the guitar. *
So is it just a total fluke that my Jem and UV have no clear on the necks???
The Jem gets played the most often (only about 45 hours so far probably) and you can already see the wood darkening on the back of the neck from sweating.
Oh well, I would have just sanded them anyway, this just saves me a little work.
Jeremy
BTW, I'm guessing the serial number's are screen printed onto the sticker as the one on my Jem is probably 3 times thicker than the one on my UV and you can scratch the lettering off if you aren't careful (one more reason to clear coat)

[Rich]

Most think the matte clear isn't there because it looks like raw wood, but if it's not there at all, you've definately got some flukes on your hands, and if it's the same on both? I'm not totally convinced. Just too freaky a coinkydink!!

[littlegreenman]

Hey Rich, I'll borrow my buddies digital camera tommorrow if I can and take a pic for ya! *The only way I think it will show the edge of the serial number is if I lift it with an exacto knife blade or something though and I'm not totally sure I want to peel them up but I guess if I'm gonna clear coat them anyway it won't really matter. *I'll try to get the pics for you anyway.
Jeremy
p.s. the only thing I can think of is that when I ordered the guitars (I ordered both the same day), Efkay (the Ibanez distributor in Canada) told us that Ibanez was currently out of stock on the UV's and JEM's, whether this is true or not I don't really know but they said they would be doing another run soon. *It took like 4 months for the JEM to show up and about a week less for the UV (I believe) and they said it was because Ibanez was building them. *I don't know how true any of that was but..... all I know is both guitars showed up about the same time, both were ordered at the same time, and both have necks with no clear on them.

[Rich]

Efkay doesn't stock very deep, and like Hoshino, is basically sold out untill the nect import on many models, &vwh's are at the top of that list. I'm not saying you're not correct, just that it's a pretty freaky coinkydink if both models actually don't have any clear on the necks. It is supposed to be there. I have seen some very LIGHT coats, and with the matte it's almost impossible to tell it's there, but I can usually always find some sign of it being sprayed to some degree,