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Jem77FP Pickup configurations.

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air norton combo air norton neck john petrucci mesa boogie
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4.1K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  Aaron_Jem_FP  
#1 ·
Hello all,
I'm extremely new to this Forum and don't really know any body, so please forgive my lengthy post. I’ve been in and out of playing guitar for a few years now. I have previously owned a DBK and a VWH model. I played them for about 2 years but after getting married at 21 and starting life I was forced to sell them. Now I’m back into guitar again after a good year or not touching one…
…I purchased a Jem77FP with original case from a pawn shop. It had the original pink pickups replaced with EMGs, but for the price I payed for the guitar considering its condition (almost mint in the body, neck and headstock) I couldn't pass it up. The guitar now sits waiting for me to decide what color pick-ups I want to install in it. I've already found a shop in Houston certified to do Ibanez warrantee work and they agreed to take on the project of installing the pickups, re-wiring the guitar and repairing the one ding in the side of the guitar about the size of a match head. Where my problem comes in is I’m not sure what pickups I want to install. I toyed around on Dimarzio’s website, but I was unable to make much sense of what they were saying about the pickups. I was considering maybe a Steve’s special on the bridge and an Evo Neck for the later position. I will be replacing the current black tone and volume knobs with colored versions to correspond with the colours of the pickups. What I’m hoping for is to gain some ideas of what model of pick ups I would like to have and wondering if some of you guys would be willing to post pictures of your non-factory pick up colouring. I like the pink look of the factory color, but I am throwing around the ideas of maybe green/pink/purple colours. I greatly appreciate any insight and pictures and hope to hear from you all soon.

Thanks,
Aaron
 
#3 ·
Aaron, firstly welcome back to guitar and congratulations on the new Jem. I think the first thing you may need to establish is what sort of sound you are after - this will certainly help with pick up choice.

You could do no worse that replacing the EMG's with PAF Pros as per the original. They are very worthy all round performance pickups. The added bonus with replacing the EMG's with PAF Pro's will be that you get the guitar back to original (semi) condition, that is provided you go with pink pickups etc. Hope this helps.

- Wolfram
 
T
#4 · (Edited)
Sorry, I do only have pink pickups in my FP, but I have the steve's special and air norton though, which I like very much, BTW
Do you need a single coil as well, make sure you get a 4 conductor one, they are humcancelling, so the won't have as much noise as the original one.
The dimarzio HS-2 is very similar to the original jem single, but have the 4 conductor configuration. I'm sure there are others as well.

my 2 C

good luck
 
N
#5 ·
Hi Aaron, I am also new to the forums (at least when it comes to posting). I cannot help you on the colors, but I have a Steve's special (bridge) and an Air Norton (neck) in one of my guitars and they both sound awesome. I also recently bought a JEM77VBK which has Breeds, and they also sound excellent.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the comments guys. I'm not too sure what kind of sounds I'm looking for. Unfortunately I can't afford to try 50 different pickups. Naturally I would like the bridge pickup to be a bright clean sound and the neck to be something warmer and mellow. I've played an original FP owned by my friend Jeremy and I really liked the sounds he was getting out of it. I should probably just stick to what came with it from the factory, or get the closest variation of it because I already know what it kind of sounds like. I've been trying to locate an FP here in town in a shop to get a feel for the sound of it, but my efforts have failed; and my friend traded his for a VWH. I've also tried looking on Youtube for people playing Jems to get an ear for what it sounds like, but i cannot be certain they're not running through some kind of processor or effects pedals. I have been able to locate a VBK locally, in rather rough condition to boot, does this model have the same style pickups?

Thanks,
Aaron
 
#9 ·
Well, in the process of getting married and all that I've sold EVERYTHING guitar I owned. From my amps, to processors to...well, everything. The VBK i mentions looks like it's possibly from the 80's. The bridge is extremely pitted, well, most of the hardware is pitted. The body is dinged up horribly and all things green are faded and the headstock is hardly readable. And the price it carries is out of this world. Are you ready? 1,299.99 without a case. Talking to the sales representative it's an extremely (yeah right) rare "Steve Vai" custom .

It sounds like the Steve Special and Air Norton are my ticket to pickups. Now time to figure colors.

Thanks guys,
Aaron
 
#13 ·
Alrighty then. I just ordered an Air Norton (pink) an HS-2 (with pink cover) and a Steve Special (pink) and they should be here Friday. Anyone know where I can get the clear pick guard, pink knobs and mounting screws for the pick-ups and pick guard? It wasn't specified if the pick-up mounting hardware was included with the pickups.

Thanks for all your help guys.

-Aaron
 
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