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Jem 30th anniversary question

2K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  Takin' a Ride 
#1 ·
So I just got a 2004 7VWH and I’m curious about the 30th anniversary Jems as I found a good deal on one! Of course this would happen after I buy a 7VWH lol! Are they worth they hype?!
 
#2 ·
So I just got a 2004 7VWH and I'm curious about the 30th anniversary Jems as I found a good deal on one! Of course this would happen after I buy a 7VWH lol! Are they worth they hype?!
The factory setup on the 777 seems to be leaps and bounds ahead of the average off the shelf Jem that I've played (though I haven't played a recent 7V specifically), it has 1.5mm action at the 24th fret without any buzzing and from what I'm told that seems to be consistent with all of them. I own a 94 7V and I bought a 777 in 2017, I'll give you a few of my thoughts from owning it.

Day 1... Noticed the trem felt weird, tuning stability was good but not quite right... Turns out the backstop system was causing issues, disengaged it and that fixed all the issues I had. There is another thread about the backstop that I posted in just today on the same topic, people seem to have a love/hate relationship with the backstop but it's a rare feature.

Week 2... Noticed some fret buzz in the low frets, basically the neck just hadn't settled and so I had to make some minor adjustments quite frequently in the first few weeks/months... The guitar had been stuck in a shipping container in Japan for over 6 months due to CITES law changes that happened just as the guitar released, I'm guessing maybe the big change in climate/humidity had an effect, and with a guitar as finely setup as this it didn't take much to tip the scales.

Year 2... The neck has stabilised I haven't had to adjust the truss rod since those early weeks, tuning stability is amazing and it still plays without any buzz with 1.5mm action on the 24th.

Some notes, the guitar has a smoother sound than my 7V.. I don't know what it is but the 7V has a bit more bite to the sound in the upper mids and for the most part unless I'm playing delicate/smooth parts I prefer the more percussive and mid focussed sound of the 7V.. With yours specifically there is a significant difference in the trem also, the 777 has an Original Edge while the 2004 7V's have an Edge Pro, personally I prefer the Lo-Pro and Original Edge trems, but it's a minor sticking point.

If you can get a good deal on the 777 and you want a kickass guitar that plays like pretty much nothing else out there then yes I'd say grab the 777 30th.
 
#3 ·
I never had another to compare to at the time but the back rib of the backstop in the 30ths is tall and the middle spring rubs on it, which affects tuning. Everybody that wanted the backstop left in I had to grind down the back rib so the spring would clear and not bind. I still have never liked them, I hate the feel, but as you said, there is a love/hate relationship depending on the person.
 
#4 ·
Would have to take mine apart to see if you did this but my guess is that there isn't anything different with the Backstop. The issue is the sustain block length. On the originals, they used a longer sustain block with an S cast into it. It's longer than all the ones you see with HS by a few mm. Not as long as the unmarked ones from the top mounted Edge.
 
#7 ·
It seems silly that they ever made a longer sustain block for this purpose when they could have simply routed a channel in the body to sit it in. With the EVO being a Sugi build, it wouldn't surprise me if they did that.
That is correct. S blocks were longer and the HS block did not work with it in my old RG. I used a brass block which was a hair longer than the HS block. Of course it also depends a bit on how high the setup of the bridge is. The old bodys had an extra recessed routing for the backstop. Do the 30th's have this?
All the bodies have a recess there, but it's not entirely clear what it's for? Maybe to give the springs clearance on the leading edge? There isn't anything different about bodies that did or did not have a Backstop. Here is a 540P body. It's hard to see but the recess is there. Another thing to note is that the guitars with Backstops didn't use the spring lock. If I remember correctly, the S block is 3 mm longer than the HS and might not clear the cover plate with the spring lock in place.

 
#11 · (Edited)
So I just checked three guitars for this.

'89 RG560 - has recess
'00 JEM77FP - no recess
'18 RG550 - no recess

But the recess is a red herring. It doesn't tell you what you need to know. The important thing to know is the depth of the route. On the RG560, which had the recess, the depth from the mounting surface for the cover to the floor of the route near the opening for the sustain block is around 22 mm. It is around 23 mm on the newer bodies without the recess. So it's more accurate to say that the old bodies are NOT recessed closer to the spring claw and I think if you look, you'll see a bigger gap between the spring claw and floor of the cavity on newer bodies.

I've installed a Backstop on an older body with the recess and the center spring still dragged on it with the HS block. Went digging around and it turns out I do have an older trem with an S block. Length of the three different blocks are:

HS - 30 mm
S - 36 mm
Blank - 40 mm
 
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