NGD: Ibanez Jem JR ''UPDATED WITH MOD PICS''

Fortheloveofguitar

The second NGD from me this week

I actually bought this a couple of weeks back but it went straight off to @SteveRobinson of this very parish for a setup and some requested fretwork

She arrived back with me this afternoon and wow the guitar plays fantastic now with the super low action that i'd requested so huge thanks to Steve as always for his great work and turnaround time

The guitar itself is great value for money. I paid £365 for it new from my local guitar shop and i will be upgrading the pups, scratchplate and electrics in the next few months. I will be in the states soon so will pick up some discount Dimarzios whilst i'm there so save some money on the mods.

The trem is a little stiffer on this model but holds tuning perfectly and to be honest i don't do any whammy bar stunts these days anyway.

I'm a huge Vai fan but i wouldn't buy a full price jem as it wont be played every day so this does the job       

Richardj

Nice. Could be worth looking at the trem too as I believe this has something like the Lo TRS they have been known to chew the edges up quickly.

Fortheloveofguitar

Richardj;1021416" said:

Nice. Could be worth looking at the trem too as I believe this has something like the Lo TRS they have been known to chew the edges up quickly.

The trem is nothing like the old Lo Trs in that it actually holds tuning perfectly

Apparently the original edge is a straight swap so that is an option long term but like I say I'm not into whammy stunts these days but good to know the option is there.

Fortheloveofguitar

Thought i'd update the thread now i've completed the mods that i wanted and i'm very happy with the results

New scratchplate

Irongear 'steam hammer pickups. Very high output and sound great

Axerus 5 way switch

CTS pots including capacitor mod on volume pot as per Vai spec

Gotoh GE1996T locking trem. The best floyd style trem i've used

Gotoh 33mm replacement trem block as the one supplied is 40mm and this particular body requires 33mm

Vanson locking tuners from ebay. Which are the only let down as they're utter shite. AVOID!

Only bought these as Axerus we're out of stock for a while of their own version which are great

I've also rolled the fingerboard edges using the screwdriver shaft technique and it's made a huge difference. Neck feels like it's been played in nicely over time

Guitar cost £365

Mods cost £220

£585 total and it plays like a guitar more than twice that price. 

Considering the cost of the Jem 7wh  I'm very happy with it. Besides the fact that i hate gold hardware on that model

miguelzv

That JEM JR looks great!
I'm planning a similar project on mine, can you please tell me where did you get the white pearloid scratchplate?

Thanks!

Alterlifeson

Looks great! Always had a slightly hankering for one of these. Tasteful mods too.

bluechargeboy

EDIT: For clarity, I think that JEM rocks. Just thought this pic might be construed as mocking, but I think you have a fine guitar there!!

meltedbuzzbox

Why did you buy locking tuners when you have a locking nut?

Great guitar by the way. I've always fancied a go on one of those

Doug

Fortheloveofguitar said:

Gotoh GE1996T locking trem. The best floyd style trem i've used

What do you think makes it the best floyd style trem?, Better than an Original FR?, must admit I've fancied trying one of these myself

SexualChocolate

Fortheloveofguitar said:

 Gotoh GE1996T locking trem.

Was this a straight drop in replacement for the Lo TRS? Did you keep the original studs? I have a mid 90's RG470 which plays great but the Lo TRS II only stays in tune if I don't use it and I was eyeing up the Gotoh GE1996T as a potential replacement.

Fortheloveofguitar

miguelzv said:

That JEM JR looks great!
I'm planning a similar project on mine, can you please tell me where did you get the white pearloid scratchplate?

Thanks!

Official ibanez scratchplates were ridiculous money so I found a cheap version on eBay from china

i paid about £5 for it and it's 3 ply and shielded and the quality is fantastic so I bagged a bargain there 

Fortheloveofguitar

meltedbuzzbox said:

Why did you buy locking tuners when you have a locking nut?

Great guitar by the way. I've always fancied a go on one of those

Because after all these years I truly detest changing strings so I have locking tuners on all my guitars including locking nuts as it speeds up string changes 

Especially when I was gigging at pro level and needed to do work on the guitars between sets 

Fortheloveofguitar

Doug said:

Fortheloveofguitar said:

Gotoh GE1996T locking trem. The best floyd style trem i've used

What do you think makes it the best floyd style trem?, Better than an Original FR?, must admit I've fancied trying one of these myself

I find official floyds to be clunky and not smooth enough travel for my liking also when the arm screws in there's still always that little bit of play no matter what you use to secure it 

The Gotoh is super smooth and the arm secures perfectly via screwing it in and has a great rubber seal to support it and also has an extra grub screw to tighten it further so there is zero play 

Fortheloveofguitar

SexualChocolate said:

Fortheloveofguitar said:

 Gotoh GE1996T locking trem.

Was this a straight drop in replacement for the Lo TRS? Did you keep the original studs? I have a mid 90's RG470 which plays great but the Lo TRS II only stays in tune if I don't use it and I was eyeing up the Gotoh GE1996T as a potential replacement.

Its a straight forward drop in replacement

Need to use the original studs though as the provided Gotoh studs are much bigger in diameter and there's not enough wood left in the cavity to be able to drill out big enough to install them

Loobs

SexualChocolate

Fortheloveofguitar said:

SexualChocolate said:

Fortheloveofguitar said:

 Gotoh GE1996T locking trem.

Was this a straight drop in replacement for the Lo TRS? Did you keep the original studs? I have a mid 90's RG470 which plays great but the Lo TRS II only stays in tune if I don't use it and I was eyeing up the Gotoh GE1996T as a potential replacement.

Its a straight forward drop in replacement

Need to use the original studs though as the provided Gotoh studs are much bigger in diameter and there's not enough wood left in the cavity to be able to drill out big enough to install them

Thanks, I think I'll give this a go.

William Williamson

What's the screwdriver rolling method, please?