[Fowleri]

The Jem premium cost a lot more, but are made in Indonesia and probably cheaper material than the $1000 Genesis made in Japan

Its hard to justify buying a jem premium for $1700-1800 when is not even made in Japan. At these prices they should at least be made there.

So basically the $1800 jem premium is equivalent to a regular rg premium which is about $750-800 with Steve Vai $1000 tax on it lol

 

[Leviathus]

Vai's royalty rate is no joke.

 

[chris101]

I guess its not much different from Petricci or whoever, so I cant criticise him for that - however his tastes in guitars these days since the birth of the PIA bloody awful! Actually his last album or two have been awful also, when daring to listen to such recent works, passengers in my car have commented along the lines of WTF is that, or.... its embaressing turn it off FFS! Perhaps I'm stuck in time somewhere around 30 years ago.

 

[jim777]

The feel of the neck in your hand is really the most important thing to me, but all else being equal I would always go (and DO always go) with the Japanese made guitar.

 

[3bolt79]

I know this thread is getting a little stale as it’s been stagnant for a year and a half. But I was just scrolling through, and thought that was interesting because I have one of each of these and I can tell you that the Jem neck is a little bit thicker than the RG550. The guitars each have their own voice V7 V8 vs Dimarzio’s.

I actually got a discount off of my Premium Jem as it needed work done to it and it was missing a part off The nut. I ended up doing fret work on it so I got it for 1600 with a case, which is a fair price considering that I had to put 5 hours worth of work into it.

‘The RG 550 needed no fret work. I got a good deal on a demo for 799.00 without a case. I had to re-lace one of the string lock’s allen screws as it was cross threaded. Still covered under warranty.

The fit and finish was really good on both of these guitars. Which is better? Well I can’t really say. I like the neck on the Jem a little better fit wise, but the RG’s super thin neck is really fast. I was able to stay them both up with 1mm action height on the high E at the 17th fret and 1.5 mm at the 17th on the Low E. Both have the original Edge tremolo’s.

While the Premium Jem is a bargain at the price I got it for, I think that the RG550 is probably Ibanez’s best bang for he buck. I think somebody on the board had posted that they are going to quit making the RG550. Hope I can buy at least one more before they do.

 

[jono]

The other thing is that there now have been several versions of the Premium level JEM. The original seafoam green one, the natural finish one, the blue floral and now the Premium 7VWH! Two of them have the "right" hardware, and two of them don't.

I personally prefer the thicker necks on the JEMs over the RG, but that might be my "old man" hands

The few I have played have been great and I'd have bought the BFP if it had had an Edge trem... I'm still tempted by the white one, to mean that my Japanese one can be for "fancy"

 

[Fowleri]

The Genesis doesn't need real fretwork, only the fret ends need to be dressed. That's the only thing I see people complaining about online and the pickups, do they really think Ibanez is going to have their Japanese workers do fret filing on guitars that cost 1k. That's time-consuming by machine let alone by hand. They don't even do hand fret end dressing on the Pias. Probably all by machine.

I wish I had the yellow RG550 and the green RG565 but I don't need more guitars at this point. If I buy another guitar, it has to be something different. Already have two guitars that are very similar.

 

[3bolt79]

The other thing is that there now have been several versions of the Premium level JEM. The original seafoam green one, the natural finish one, the blue floral and now the Premium 7VWH! Two of them have the "right" hardware, and two of them don't.

I personally prefer the thicker necks on the JEMs over the RG, but that might be my "old man" hands

The few I have played have been great and I'd have bought the BFP if it had had an Edge trem... I'm still tempted by the white one, to mean that my Japanese one can be for "fancy"

What trem comes on the blue floral?

 

[Fowleri]

What trem comes on the blue floral?

edge zero 2

only the $1800 jem premiums come with original edge

 

[3bolt79]

edge zero 2

only the $1800 jem premiums come with original edge

Gee, that’s too bad. The RG550 that I just got I got for the body and the Edge. I would like to try one of the BFP’s out. However, no brick-n-mortars in my town Has one. The local GC only carries cheap guitars.

So different bridge, and different pickups Than the Jem7vWH?

 

[Fowleri]

Gee, that’s too bad. The RG550 that I just got I got for the body and the Edge. I would like to try one of the BFP’s out. However, no brick-n-mortars in my town Has one. The local GC only carries cheap guitars.

So different bridge, and different pickups Than the Jem7vWH?

thats why it costs less lol you can always buy used

I personally wouldn't pay $1800 for these jems made in Indonesia. I would try to find a made in Japan jem that is older, you could find one for similar price, problem here is you don't know the real condition of used guitar, even more so if return is NOT available. Lots of things could be wrong with it. I'd buy a from a guitar store off ebay or reverb that offers returns. You'll have to pay for return though, in 99% of cases, this is why buying used guitars sucks, is a gamble, especially with guitars as complex as these ones

You only go by photos, don't know squat about the real condition of it except some description the seller wrote, 99% of guitars are always suspiciously "mint" lol and in 99% of cases you'll have to pay for a return. To return a guitar with insurance, which you want, it will easily cost you $80-100 with Fedex or USPS

It's not worth it imo unless is a limited edition or you really want and can't find it anywhere else. Sometimes people get lucky but as with everything in life, you only read the good stories.

If you plan on replace the pickups and bridge of the floral, not worth it, it will cost more than just buying the white one. The floral is nice looking, if you really like it and willing to take a risk buying used, you could then change stuff

Ibanez Steve Vai Signature Premium JEM7VP - White

Solidbody Electric Guitar with Alder Body, Maple/Walnut Neck, Ebony Fingerboard, 2 Humbucker Pickups, 1 Single-coil Pickup, and Edge Tremolo - White

www.sweetwater.com

Ibanez JEM7VP Steve Vai Premium Signature | Reverb

Ibanez JEM7VP Steve Vai Signature White Perhaps the quintessential Ibanez Signature, this is the Steve Vai model in white. When Steve Vai teamed up with Ibanez in 1987, little did he realize what a lasting impact his signature model guitar would have. Today, the JEM is an iconic instrument imme...

reverb.com

 

[Saxopwn]

It actually takes very very little routing to change an EZ2 out for an original edge.

 

[DP155FBK]

I guess its not much different from Petricci or whoever, so I cant criticise him for that - however his tastes in guitars these days since the birth of the PIA bloody awful! Actually his last album or two have been awful also, when daring to listen to such recent works, passengers in my car have commented along the lines of WTF is that, or.... its embaressing turn it off FFS! Perhaps I'm stuck in time somewhere around 30 years ago.

😂🤣
too funny

 

[3bolt79]

The other thing is that there now have been several versions of the Premium level JEM. The original seafoam green one, the natural finish one, the blue floral and now the Premium 7VWH! Two of them have the "right" hardware, and two of them don't.

I personally prefer the thicker necks on the JEMs over the RG, but that might be my "old man" hands

The few I have played have been great and I'd have bought the BFP if it had had an Edge trem... I'm still tempted by the white one, to mean that my Japanese one can be for "fancy"

Which one other than the 7VWH has an edge, not edge zero II?

 

[DP155FBK]

every one should have one seafoam axe

 

[jono]

Which one other than the 7VWH has an edge, not edge zero II?

every one should have one seafoam axe

It’s the seafoam one. IMHO, this one Should have had a maple board, but it really is a great guitar full stop. period. end of.

 

[3bolt79]

It’s the seafoam one. IMHO, this one Should have had a maple board, but it really is a great guitar full stop. period. end of.

Thanks, I’ll keep an eye open for one. I might get a Premium BF, but it has the edge zero II. I have an S series with that bridge. It is ok. But that is about it. The screws are really soft and strip easily. I guess that one is made in China.

Sea Foam green looks like a better option If it has a real edge.

 

[Fowleri]

The seafoam is nice but premium, but the one Steve has is probably custom made in Japan.

Another jem I like is the blue one

 

[3bolt79]

It’s too bad we can’t order RG’s to our own specs. Suhr takes about 4 months. Anderson looked better to me. I like their neck joint a lot. You will never have to realign the neck in the pocket. I might consider another Anderson at some point in the future. I had one long ago, as well as a few Suhrs back when I was a well paid Nocter (that is a practitioner that isn’t actually a doctor ha ha).

 

[Jeroenn]

The seafoam is nice but premium, but the one Steve has is probably custom made in Japan.

The first one he got was a prototype so that was custom made - one of two actually, the other one had a frosty blue color.

The one he used live on the EU SOL & G3 tours, the Evolution Tempo Orchestra tours and the Guitar En Scene Jam is an Indonesian made premium.