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Thoughts on the PIA (The new JEM)?

163K views 714 replies 102 participants last post by  SkeletronPrime 
#1 ·
Ibanez' big announcement was leaked in a facebook group today with Steve's new PIA model. There are some pretty radical changes, I'm kinda sad about the monkey grip, but stainless steel frets is a big plus. I can't help but wonder if the Art JEMs were a better direction to go in, I'd take a sustainer+stainless 7v over the new ones... Thoughts?

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#7 ·
New affordable swirls were the way to go; I don't see Steve leaving EVO at home and playing those aberrations on stage.
This is the correct answer and I had put some cash aside for a new JEM this year, but I can't bear to look at the new handle on this monstrosity.

I'll probably spend the money on a new set of wheels for my car. Or maybe a new gaming PC.
 
#11 ·
Was talking about this with someone on FB. Steve seems very big on decades. Consider the DNA in 2000 and a new FP and UVMC reissue in 2010.

I think the story nobody is talking about is that the Jem is done as a MIJ regular production guitar. This is Steve’s new signature. New decade, time for another big change.

I also would not be surprised to see a reissue DNA. Over the past decade, they’ve done reissue UVMC and 777’s plus new UV swirls and a new FP. New swirl Jem is the only thing they haven’t done.
 
#13 ·
Was talking about this with someone on FB. Steve seems very big on decades. Consider the DNA in 2000 and a new FP and UVMC reissue in 2010.

I think the story nobody is talking about is that the Jem is done as a MIJ regular production guitar. This is Steve's new signature. New decade, time for another big change.

I also would not be surprised to see a reissue DNA. Over the past decade, they've done reissue UVMC and 777's plus new UV swirls and a new FP. New swirl Jem is the only thing they haven't done.
They did it in 1987; the music, the scene, THE MOMENT for Ibanez/Vai/Jem success was back then and they succeed (and glad they did); nowadays it is not the same scenario and trying to repeat that success is a risky movement for Steve and Ibanez with a new model (which is just a revamp of the Jem with different aesthetics. We, guitar players, tend to be very conservative regarding gear once something has reached the "standard" status (think about Gibson turning back to solid body models for the Standard models, the success of the Reissue series for Fender, Marshall-Fender-Vox forever standing models in their catalogs because they are the best-sellers instead of the new models,...).

I hope the PIA model will sell well but I am sure prices for second hand Fuji Jem models are gonna rise (again). Maybe in a year or two they are re-releasing the Jem.
 
#12 ·
I'm gonna be having nightmares about that for weeks. It's a mission abort for me, the Monkey Grip replacement seems pointless and the gold is super tacky and sickly on the coloured models, the 7V lookalike has the gold chrome knobs which we have all become accustomed to associating with the fake Jems from china... I love the specs, but it's a no from me.
 
#17 ·
I don't know what to say, the Jem is one of the longest running iconic signature models... You can't just up and change something like that and expect people to be on board.

Of course I don't knock him for trying, but the result doesn't make sense to me. Do people really want tacky over the top gold hardware everywhere? The monkey grip had a function, while these flower based holes don't seem to. And the pricing, the only thing that differentiates this from an old 7V on paper are the SS frets yet if I'm seeing this correctly the PIA is selling at quite a big price jump from the 7V? I'm not going to buy one anyway, he's turned the tacky up to 11.

I just hope he does a 180 and the Jem returns, or at the very least they make some better colour choices for 2021, minus the gold hardware.
 
#42 ·
I highlight for the rest of you a key sentence in Rich's post. "The colors are rarer than the 30ths were"

I remember when the 30th 777's hit Rich posting that he thought there were only 450 Green LNG's and to grab what you could. I grabbed my dream guitar (the 30th LNG) quickly.

IF you like one of those three colors, you probably need to place your order very quickly on Jan 16th or whenever they go up for sale.
 
#23 ·
It's funny how so many are opposed to the change in the holes based on....practicality??? The only time I've ever held my guitar by the monkey grip has been simply because it was there. Never to play it, or carry it, and the new holes are much like the old one, or fake f-holes on solid body guitars, nothing more than embellishments. And besides, how many fingers do you need to hold up an 8 pound guitar?

I still think he's trying to target the girl-guitar market with these and for the rest of us, there's plenty of older/cooler JEM's out there on the used market.

 
#37 · (Edited)
It's funny how so many are opposed to the change in the holes based on....practicality??? The only time I've ever held my guitar by the monkey grip has been simply because it was there. Never to play it, or carry it, and the new holes are much like the old one, or fake f-holes on solid body guitars, nothing more than embellishments. And besides, how many fingers do you need to hold up an 8 pound guitar?
FWIW, I pick up my JEM by the handle all the time.
 
#28 ·
Rich and other insiders have already confirmed, the only reason we are seeing this is due to insiders confirming. This is definitely what we're getting, if it were not the case we'd know about it.

It's funny how so many are opposed to the change in the holes based on....practicality??? The only time I've ever held my guitar by the monkey grip has been simply because it was there. Never to play it, or carry it, and the new holes are much like the old one, or fake f-holes on solid body guitars, nothing more than embellishments. And besides, how many fingers do you need to hold up an 8 pound guitar?

I still think he's trying to target the girl-guitar market with these and for the rest of us, there's plenty of older/cooler JEM's out there on the used market.
I don't think there really exists a girl market for really high end guitars, the female guitarist market is already tiny compared to the male market and the female market for pointy Floyd Rose equipped £3000-4000 Super Strats is smaller still. And yeah the only reason I kinda like the monkey grip is because it does have a function, it's not there purely for aesthetics, otherwise I'd rather have the missing wood that was cut out to make the shape. Really the teardrops are not the make or break point, it's the retiring the Jem (which I think looks better) combined with the chibanez styling choices.

Did the fakers have the right idea all along? Just add more tacky gold. It barely works on the 7V due to the contrast with the white on the pickups/knobs etc.
 
#25 ·
And what makes me even more skeptical, is that there seems to be TWO so called catalogs, one which says "Limited Model" and one which don't. Also the text "New Model" is missing from the other catalog.

See the difference:





Also in Dimarzio's website, there's absolutely no mention about any UtoPIA pickups...
 
#41 ·
It is what it is, and it is and always has been Steve's guitar to do with what he wants (or can't be talked out of). I have to admit seeing the pics of these instruments was a bit like having that bandage pulled off really fast! :lol:
I'm all calmed down now though ;) Someone will love them, it just won't be everyone. Maybe someone will sell a nice 777DY cheap to pay for one and I'll get lucky lol
 
#43 ·
I saw it after I got home last night, when it was first posted (I've been checking Jemsite like twice daily waiting for the leak that I knew was coming)... I dreamed about the PIA and how bad it looked, I literally had a nightmare about it falling asleep about 30mins after first seeing it, then I came on today (technically yesterday now, since it's 3am) to rant before heading out. It is what it is for sure, but there is a situation where if Ibanez had the right version of a Jem they would have my money in an instant.

Then they come up with a Chibanez with teardrops instead of a monkey grip, meanwhile on planet earth we're smack bang in the middle of a 80s/90s nostalgia wave and swirl dipping random objects is fashionable with young people and youtubers.... The time is ripe for a Jem with those specs and a swirl paint job, but instead we get an attempt to make a 7VWH look more sickly. I love and hate Steve, I didn't expect a swirl in any way, but I also really didn't expect the PIA.
 
#45 ·
Maybe this whole thing was his wife's idea...
Hmmm. A Yoko Ono or Jeanine Pettibone (Spinal Tap) theory. Yeah, I think you've got it.

David: Can I have...can I have the floor for just one moment because
I've got, you know, something I'd like to show you. These, uh,
Jeanine's been working on these very hard. These are a
new direction...
Jeanine: Got a new idea for a new presentation.
David: ...a stage look...for the band fashioned after...
Jeanine: The signs of the zodiac.
David: ...the signs of the zodiac.
Jeanine: We needed a new presentation.
David: This is a look for Viv; he's a Libra. There's sort of the
ying...yang...
Jeanine: ...ying and the yang...
David: ...sort of look, this is Nigel. He's...he's uh... Capricorn.
Sort of a goat look.
Jeanine: I've given you a little bib. <beard>
Nigel: Is this a joke?
David: ...this is the...
Nigel: Excuse me, is this a joke?
Jeanine: A joke???
David: Just bear with us for one moment please. This...I love this. I
wish I were...
Derek: Cancer.
David: This is your crab face. Give me a chance! Give it a chance.
Ian: David. David. David. Wait, please, wait a minute. Have you any idea
what it will costs to dress up the band as animals?
 
#52 ·
Usually when they make such a dramatic change, it accompanies something else. Like back in the day, Steve was on top of the guitar world coming of Dave Roth, Whitesnake, releasing Passion & Warfare, multiple video's on MTV etc. Right now, is he doing anything new?
I've read he is going to record again with a classical orchestra, and maybe after that start working on a new album, but we've heard that before. It would have helped I think if he released a new (succesful) project to coincide with this big move.
 
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