[eddyrox]

stupid question, but I can't find any confirmations online...

Was the JEM7v the first JEM to feature the ebony fingerboard and alder body?
thx!
m.

 

[diablomozart]

yes...d.m.

 

[jono]

Yep, debuting in 1993, it was also the first one to have the AANJ.

 

[eddyrox]

thx guys! i was able to confirm the alder (basswood veneer) and ebony fb on vai's website (for Ibanez guitars):

"1993 saw the introduction of one of the most popular Jems yet, the Jem 7WH. This Jem was a huge evolutionary step for the Jem. All previous production Jems were made of basswood, but the 7WH had an alder body. The DiMarzio PAF Pro humbucking pickups were replaced in this model by high-output DiMarzio Evolution pickups designed with Steve. The fingerboard was ebony instead of rosewood or maple, and the guitar featured pearl/abalone inlays and gold hardware."

(cool that the Dimarzio Evolutions also debuted on the 7vwh8))

AANJ too? wow -> i really love the AANJ! (the standard squared body joint is very cool though...love the JEM neck plate w S/N)

Fair to say that the JEM7VWH = the most refined of the JEMs?
m.

 

[WMerkert]

It's a fine guitar. I have a '94 and it is my "daily driver" since over 20 years now. Great player. Maintenance was only changing strings and sometimes cleaning and a little bit oiling the fretboard. Wish i had a car that is so cheap in maintenance for over 20 years.
Cheers !

Wolfgang

 

[eddyrox]

It's a fine guitar. I have a '94 and it is my "daily driver" since over 20 years now. Great player. Maintenance was only changing strings and sometimes cleaning and a little bit oiling the fretboard. Wish i had a car that is so cheap in maintenance for over 20 years.
Cheers !

Wolfgang

thank you Wolfgang!
I have a 2001, and while she is not "quite" that daily driver (i have a 8520SDE for that), it is super comforting to know that these ebony FB/LPE 7VH's are soooo durable:smile_big:

 

[WMerkert]

thank you Wolfgang!
I have a 2001, and while she is not "quite" that daily driver (i have a 8520SDE for that), it is super comforting to know that these ebony FB/LPE 7VH's are soooo durable:smile_big:

Yep, she will still exist during i am ten feet under ground. (-;

Cheers !

 

[BigBazz]

I've got a 1994 7VWH, it was my main live guitar from 2005 until an accident last month where the neck split. I don't know about the most refined Jem but the only significant move forward with the newer models is the volute at the back of the neck behind the nut, same volute that was designed prevent the neck split that happened on my guitar. I haven't played any recent 7V's with Rosewood fretboard (not since before I bought own 7V), my 1994 guitar is a beautiful instrument though, but I definitely think there is room for improvement.

Honestly the Edge/Lo-Pro trem can be improved, the pop in trem arm is nice but

1. The trem-arm bushings wear out very quickly if you remove the arm a lot, and you kinda need to if you want to put the guitar back in the case. After a while you will develop a lot of play in the trem if you don't address it, it would be nice if removing/replacing the trem arm didn't wear down the bushes so much but it's integral to the design. The bushes aren't cheap either, the prices on them are robbery.

2. The Trem arm holder has a tendency to work itself loose and when it does it can be very difficult to get it to stay again, causing the trem to have play in the socket holder. I dealt with that issue for years on my 7V before I finally fixed it properly, thankfully it hasn't shown up on the 777 yet. When I eventually broke the 7V's trem arm socket holder last year (years of hard use) it took a few of attempts before I finally got the new socket to stop working loose.

They could improve the pop in design in a way that could be retrofitted quite easily, I still prefer it to the Floyd Rose screw design but I think systems such as the Gotoh 1996 could be used as inspiration. Aside from that the Jem could come with a Sustainiac neck pickup, we've been saying it for years and though Steve uses them extensively he refuses have them put on the guitars. On top of that the Jems could really benefit from having stainless steel frets, I'm already beginning to notice visible fret wear on my 2 year old 30th Anniversary Jem 777, if you play the guitars a lot then SS frets are a godsend.

 

[Rich]

I've got a 1994 7VWH, it was my main live guitar from 2005 until an accident last month where the neck split. I don't know about the most refined Jem but the only significant move forward with the newer models is the volute at the back of the neck behind the nut, same volute that was designed prevent the neck split that happened on my guitar. I haven't played any recent 7V's with Rosewood fretboard (not since before I bought own 7V), my 1994 guitar is a beautiful instrument though, but I definitely think there is room for improvement.

Honestly the Edge/Lo-Pro trem can be improved, the pop in trem arm is nice but

1. The trem-arm bushings wear out very quickly if you remove the arm a lot, and you kinda need to if you want to put the guitar back in the case. After a while you will develop a lot of play in the trem if you don't address it, it would be nice if removing/replacing the trem arm didn't wear down the bushes so much but it's integral to the design. The bushes aren't cheap either, the prices on them are robbery.

2. The Trem arm holder has a tendency to work itself loose and when it does it can be very difficult to get it to stay again, causing the trem to have play in the socket holder. I dealt with that issue for years on my 7V before I finally fixed it properly, thankfully it hasn't shown up on the 777 yet. When I eventually broke the 7V's trem arm socket holder last year (years of hard use) it took a few of attempts before I finally got the new socket to stop working loose.

They could improve the pop in design in a way that could be retrofitted quite easily, I still prefer it to the Floyd Rose screw design but I think systems such as the Gotoh 1996 could be used as inspiration. Aside from that the Jem could come with a Sustainiac neck pickup, we've been saying it for years and though Steve uses them extensively he refuses have them put on the guitars. On top of that the Jems could really benefit from having stainless steel frets, I'm already beginning to notice visible fret wear on my 2 year old 30th Anniversary Jem 777, if you play the guitars a lot then SS frets are a godsend.

The volute is there because the necks are no longer scarf joint but are laminate and have 3 [or 5 if you wish] pieces of wood that run the length of the neck instead of splitting at the nut with a separate headstock piece.

If you haven't learned to flame the bushing to distort them and tighten them up again, and again, and again until you finally need to replace them then you haven't been paying very close attention to the forum. It's been publicly shared for years now.

And when the holder tube becomes loose it only has to be tightened right once, instructions have been in my tech section for 15 years. Most people try and use a screwdriver and use the slots in the top to tighten it which is just never going to work and you'll probably just end up putting a big scratch on the trem when you slip.

Otherwise, if I had to guess, Steve is finally putting the sustainer in the production model, like Joe did years ago. In fact I bet Joe $1 that within 2 years Steve would release one in the JEM. Looks like I owe Joe a $1 as it's taken alot longer, if that is what is coming.

 

[BigBazz]

The volute is there because the necks are no longer scarf joint but are laminate and have 3 [or 5 if you wish] pieces of wood that run the length of the neck instead of splitting at the nut with a separate headstock piece.

If you haven't learned to flame the bushing to distort them and tighten them up again, and again, and again until you finally need to replace them then you haven't been paying very close attention to the forum. It's been publicly shared for years now.

And when the holder tube becomes loose it only has to be tightened right once, instructions have been in my tech section for 15 years. Most people try and use a screwdriver and use the slots in the top to tighten it which is just never going to work and you'll probably just end up putting a big scratch on the trem when you slip.

Otherwise, if I had to guess, Steve is finally putting the sustainer in the production model, like Joe did years ago. In fact I bet Joe $1 that within 2 years Steve would release one in the JEM. Looks like I owe Joe a $1 as it's taken alot longer, if that is what is coming.

Volute : And as a side effect the neck is much stronger with this design, and cracks are much less common than the old scarf joint necks. Also you could argue the necks are 7 piece, since the headstock itself has 2 additional pieces of wood, that annoys me with the newer guitars because it's quite ugly to look at.

Bushings : Nail varnish, wrapping string packet liner inside the bushings... I've done a lot of stuff to extend them over the years, that doesn't mean you can't improve it or move it forward by using a different design (like the Gotoh 1996 as mentioned).

Socket : Yeah it can be fixed, but it's a common problem that can end up plaguing a lot of players. It took me a lot of attempts to get it to hold when I replaced it last year... Again a problem that doesn't exist at all with other trem models, definitely something that can be improved.

We're talking improvements here, I'm not saying there aren't solutions to these issues but that doesn't mean that design improvements wouldn't be a better option. Be nice if the trem bushings were less than £15 for 5p worth of plastic.

 

[Rich]

If they changed the design of the push in bar I bet there would be more push back than push forward. It's been like that for 35 years for a reason. Flaming the bushings is the only good fix, I've tried all the rest and none of them make sense, and now that they've increased their diameter you're just asking for trouble.

The problem with the tube is it's rarely tight when new which just means at some point it will become loose. Again, an easy fix.

If you think there are no problems with the arm torque on other trem systems you're not reading many reviews.

 

[Takin' a Ride]

No. Proline PR1440 and PR1660 in 1985.

 

[Evil Z06]

Otherwise, if I had to guess, Steve is finally putting the sustainer in the production model

Is this the big news he was talking about that will be shown at this coming NAMM show?

 

[Rich]

Is this the big news he was talking about that will be shown at this coming NAMM show?

A guess is just that.

 

[Evil Z06]

A guess is just that.

Cool....I have always wondered why the sustainiac was never offered on his Sig. JEM 7V

 

[Rich]

Cool....I have always wondered why the sustainiac was never offered on his Sig. JEM 7V

Because it would have required a deal with Fernandes and IIRC they were not playing ball. Now I believe the last video I saw at Sweetwater, didn't he have a Sustainiac in FLO3? and If so, that's why my guess is, it goes into production just like Joe put it in on his guitars. If I'm wrong and it wasn't, then throw my guess out the window.

 

[BigBazz]

I could see myself buying a Jem with a Sustainiac, only if it's made in Japan and not a 7V though so I think the chances aren't in my favour.

 

[Takin' a Ride]

Are you talking Sustainer (Fernandes) or Sustainiac (other company)?

 

[Rich]

Somebody go find that Sweetwater video with FLO3 and see if that wasn't a Sustainiac. It was an afterthought to me a day after i saw it, that is wasn't his regular Fernandes, it had those angular stripped chrome lines on top like a Sustainiac. If he has switched one guitar over, then my guess is it's finally going into production.

I could always and often am, wrong.

 

[Jeroenn]

Somebody go find that Sweetwater video with FLO3 and see if that wasn't a Sustainiac. It was an afterthought to me a day after i saw it, that is wasn't his regular Fernandes, it had those angular stripped chrome lines on top like a Sustainiac. If he has switched one guitar over, then my guess is it's finally going into production.

I could always and often am, wrong.

No, it's still the Fernandes. A black driver, which replaced the white driver after it died years ago. After Sweetwater, Steve went to Starmus festival, I had Flo in my hands tons of times there, it was definitely no sustainiac.