[tzoranski]

There is a Jem for sale at a local shop that I'm interested in buying. The catch is the neck has been seriously cracked and repaired. Obviously, the guitar tech at the shop says it was repaired well and I shouldn't worry about it. I'll be honest, I don't know anything about buying a guitar that had its neck repaired. Normally I wouldn't even think about it but these guitars are getting so difficult to find and it does seem to play fine. I'm hoping some of you Jem/guitar experts could share some of your thought or wisdom with me. Any advice or experience with this issue would be appreciated. I've attached some pictures for reference if that helps. I know it's hard to tell from the pictures but when I run my fingers over the repair cracks, everything is smooth. I cant feel the cracks at all. Thanks

 

[bob493]

"repaired well"....


Thats.... not a good repair lol. I'd honestly be tempted to rebreak it, clean the crap job out and redo it personally. Realistically its probably "fine", but it better be real cheap. These breaks do happen; its not common but certainly not unheard of. If its cheap, and you enjoy it, go for it!

Well, on an aside, what specific jem is that anyway? I was gonna assume a 7vwh, but looks like you got some cosmo hardware there .

 

[jemboyee]

$2300 is far too much for that 777VBK.

 

[Rich]

The repair could be better cosmetically but structurally it looks like it's fine. But any damage like that is a very serious devaluation, and if it is $2300 they're off their rocker.

 

[axegarden]

i have a s540 with crack and it's never given me any guff

 

[jemboyee]

if it is $2300 they're off their rocker.

That's the sale price. It was $3k.

 

[tzoranski]

Yes, it’s the 777VBK. They were originally asking 2995 which I thought was crazy and now they dropped it to 2250. I’m sure if I pay cash I could get it for 2100 or 2000. So what would you guys pay for this guitar assuming it pays well after I test it? Im pretty familiar with the going price for an original jem 777 but not a 1989 777vine jem. What’s the going price range for one of these without the crack?

 

[jemboyee]

I couldn’t see myself giving more than $900 for that, and that would be if everything was straight and the guitar was ready to play (no major setup or fretwork needed).

 

[ibaraki_gaijin]

777VBK have traditionally been a bit cheaper than the original neons. (Although looking at prices now I wish I'd held onto the one I sold in 2013...)

Prices have gone mad in the last few years. But even recently there are sold prices on reverb/eBay for less than that for much cleaner 7VWH, 7VSBLs, 77BRMRs.. (Proper MIJ jems of similar desirability)

So with a neck break I think even as they're becoming more scarce that still feels over unless you really really want a 777VBK and have the cash.

 

[tzoranski]

Thanks for your comments and advice. I passed on the guitar.