Ibanez Steve Vai Signature Premium JEM7VP - White Reviews

I will preface by stating that out of the box this instrument would only get 3 stars...... Entirely an Ibanez thing.... It is made in Indonesia and QC is not the same as Japan hence the lower Price Tag from the discontinued 7V.

The fretboard was very dry and had no preservative (oil or wax or anything)...in fact the Ebony had slightly Greyed due to Oxidation. Additionally the sanding on the fingerboard wood was maybe 400 grit (very rough). The frets themselves were rougher than expected that made bending strings feel like a cheese-grater. The tremolo springs are also too weak to support 10-46 strings even when the claw is adjusted all the way in, with added harmonics like crazy. The screws used to hold the claw were too small as well. The back of the neck was sanded rough and had cheap poly coating....

The work: Sanded the fretboard to 2000 Grit (yes had to tape off the frets and carefully sand in between) took 3 hours + to complete. Next, used lemon/orange/mineral oil mix (1:1:5) to finish the wood-- 5 coatings (let each dry till all oil absorbed before re-coating) then 24 hours set time before playing. Next, lightly sanded the fret-wire to 2000 grit wet-sand then polished with leather and Linde A-oxide (0.3 micron) to mirror finish. Finally bought new noiseless springs from Am-zon and added new larger hex head screws to the claw to adjust tremolo for 10-46 set. Additionally adjusted action (which came set at ultra low 2/64 inch) to 5/64 and adjusted pole screws on Hum buckers to match the radius of the bridge along with raising the pickup height. Last re-sanded the back of the neck and applied 5 coats of Tung-Oil as the box finish was some odd poly material that in my opinion is insufficient.

The Results: probably the best guitar I have right now in both playability and sound! Well worth the effort and expense to do the Work as this 7VP is now equal to my friends Japan 7V from 2002 with the exception of the scalloped frets (witch I do not care for anyway).

I would say it is a solid buy if you can get the work done to get it up to par. It has the potential to be 5 star but out of the box you will probably get a 3 star

I am a beginner who had a great day playing many guitars back to back using a Boss Pocket GT with various presets I had made and finishing with a Jem followed by a Gibson Les Paul Standard and a Les Paul the GC version. I have been a Steve Vai fan since 1989. The Jem blew everything out of the water and the Les Pauls competed only when I played riffs originally played on Gibson like Rainbow in the Dark or Highway to Hell. But even there the Jem was by no means worse, just different.

I could not let go of the Jem due to outstanding sound from high gain to acoustic simulator, on any pickup, and the actual single coil is amazing for, well, clean stuff. The 16" radius I found superbly comfortable as well as the neck overall. Fast, wonderful neck.

The Jem and the Wolfgang Special will be the finalists for my "specialty guitar" (I use a Player Plus Tele as my main practice guitar and I think it is fantastic for that...but along came the Jem! :) ).

I've had this guitar for almost 3 months and the first time I played any of my other guitars for more than 3 minutes was last night. I broke a string on the Jem. Restrung it right after.
I've been playing for a long time and I play every day.
This is the perfect guitar for me. I thought it was going to be great and it outperformed my expectations.
I love the neck. I used to have a Travis Bean with a great neck and my dream guitar was a strat with a Travis Bean neck. This is pretty much that dream come true but better. Its surprisingly easy to play finger style on it and it has a resonant unplugged sound too.
This guitar plays itself. Its like a Porsche or something. Its a sports car.
It has had a major impact on my technique. Stuff that was difficult on my other guitars is much easier on this thing.
The Edge tremolo is basically perfect. Pops back every time. Almost every time I pick it up its perfectly in tune.
I thought I had neck humbuckers on other guitars that were decent but the Evolution blows them away in that position. The coil splitting in the 2 and 4 positions really gets you into that single coil vibe nicely and makes this hands down the most versatile guitar I have. I could literally jump into any band with this and get an appropriate sound.
I've been buying musical equipment since the 70's and this is without doubt my favorite thing I've bought, seriously.
Last piece of gear I'll get rid of.
I wish I would have known how much I loved Jems a long time ago. I thought they would be great but I have been blown away.
If you gotten to here in this review just buy it. You won't regret it

Love the smooth neck has great pick-ups takes a beating without going out of tune. Overall great ax for a variety of sounds and styles. Very pleased!

This is the guitar that I have waited for all of my life ...

It's pretty rare for me to give five stars. Five stars indicates much more than a quality build and playability - 5 stars indicates that the company took the time, the details,and the player's needs (and wants) into consideration when making the guitar, pricing the guitar, and bringing the guitar to market.

I have had the Steve Vai Blue Floral Pattern JEM (I sent it back - I didn't realize the blue floral design was cheap fabric based on Steve Vai's favorite curtain pattern *groan* glued to the top then sealed over). I have had super strats. I own the J. Custom RG made in Japan. And other japanese prestiges, vintage strats, gibsons, epis. taylor electrics, fenders, etc.

This guitar is, by far, hands down, the #1. You can certainly stop reading now and just know: Don't delay. Get it before anything happens to the quality or workmanship. Right now, Ibanez is absolutely killing it with this premium guitar out of Indonesia. Oh...and order a hardshell case with it. Or at least a hard foam zipper case. Don't ship a $1800 guitar in a BAG.

Deets:
- It's more than $1000 less than the Japanese one
- Same pickups
- TITANIUM TRUSS RODS!!! YES!!!!
- Nicer neck radius (400mmR as opposed to Japanese 430mmR...400mmR is better for the average player).
- Premium fret edge treatment
- the REAL EDGE Tremolo bridge!!
- Alder body
- 5 pc maple neck, solid, stable, and so, so smooth playing

Look, I just don't how Ibanez did it. I really wish I could play the $3,000 JEM7V to just compare. But I play this along side my brand new RG J Custom a few times and week, and for the biggest reason, the JEM7VP wins...want to know why?

It feels right in my hands.

I have been looking about 15 years for such a guitar. FIFTEEN years! My closest match before this was an epiphone custom shop Lee Malia edition. Plays like butter. Second one was the Gibson LP Voodoo JuJu. Made for speed and tone w/slug pickups. But still...something about the body balance and the heavy neck and that neck-droop thing...

When along came JEM7VP...

My shopping is over for a long, long time. I know you don't believe me. But that's ok :) Now it's time to PLAY.

I got so emotional the third night I played this guitar and started to really dial it in. I finally heard the sound I have been hearing in my head. As a matter of fact, the beauty of the tone can be distracting. I'm not kidding when I tell you I got pretty choked up.

And that, my friends, is why we have Sweetwater and awesome salespeople like Cristian.

He stuck with me, through thick and thing, processed my returns with no complaints, and was such a prompt and professional and kind salesperson. Cristian knows. They are not selling a product. They take a personal interest in our passions and invest in our dreams coming true. Finally, after 15 years, and lots and lots of shedding and Berklee music school, I feel unlocked and unleashed.

Thank you, Cristian, for being so kind and believing that we would find the right instrument. I hope maybe I can work at Sweetwater some day, too, and help others make their dreams a reality. Sweetwater listens and they make informed recommendations. The awesome financing helps!!! :)

I will not only be a customer for life, but I refer all my students to you also.

Was skeptical on getting this at first, compared to the Japanese 7v.
Main reason I went with the Indo version was the ebony fret board.
All the hardware, and pups are pretty much the same.
Too good to be true?
I could not find a thing wrong with it.
I've been playing my whole life, and do my own custom builds, so trust me, I knew what to look for.
The neck, and fretwork is impressive. Was able to adjust low action 1mm at the 12th with minimal residual buzz.
The edge trem comes back to zero everytime. Some of my original floyds dont do that.
Only thing missing that reduced the cost was a case.
I wouldn't trade it for the Japanese version with the rosewood board.

I received my JEM7VP last week and have had some time to play with it! My previous main guitar was a Prestige RG655. I do have to say, that guitar, had a slightly more comfortable neck/fret treatment than this JEM. HOWEVER, the guitar as a whole is still phenomenal. I do think that you could get a similarly performing premium Ibanez for less money, but being that you are getting a legit JEM guitar, I really cant complain. I have never owned an MIJ JEM, but I have played them before. I have to say that I believed the RG655 neck was more comfortable than those as well, leading me to suspect that this JEM7VP neck is really close to the MIJ model. The finishing definitely got some cost cutting, as certain areas (truss rod cutout, input jack) have incomplete finishing. I'm not sure if this is a feature, but the paint is almost 'textured' where the monkey grip is. All in all, I would buy again. This thing RIPS under some drive!

PROS
-All original JEM hardware/pickups
-Ebony fretboard w/ abalone ToL inlay
-Does not feel/sound like a "discount" JEM

CONS
-no scalloping (I dont care about this)
-Neck feel could be better
-NO CASE (I expect a hardshell case for an $ guitar)
-finishing abnormalities

I had qualms about buying a white guitar. They usually turn yellowed after several years. But the Evolution pickups are to me the best Dimarzio pickup and the Jem is the guitar to have those pickups in. The gold hardware also sets this guitar off too.
I have had two Jems before and borrowed a Jem Jr. First the Jr...you get what you pay for. The fret finishing is not that good, the pickups are gainy but thin and the bridge, not a Floyd at all, is cheap. It surprisingly stayed in tune though but after extreme whang bar abuse, I don't think it would stand the test of time.
On to the Jems I have. They are Japanese made and built like tanks. The first is an original Floral(pink pickups, flowers on a black fabric on the body, PAF Pro pickups). The second is a Floral 2 with a different pattern(lotus leaves and flowers or something, Evolution pickups). My fave Jem. The only thing I don't like is the flat radius and wide fretboard. I have small hands and small stature and the guitar feels big to me. But the construction of both of my Jems is immaculate and without flaws. I tried a Japanese JEM7V and it felt exactly the same. Just don't dig the white finish.
On to the new one made in Indonesia. By and large this is the second Ibanez I have bought and its great bang for the buck and not cheap like the Jr but the finish flaws really need to be noted. The pickup cavity has loose wood shavings, a few spots on the pickguard weren't cut cleanly, the frets are protruding on both fretboard edges. The pots inside look cheap and are a bit noisy when adjusting. The bridge is not an official Floyd Rose but the pickups are actual Dimarzio Evolutions. The inside of the monkey grip handle had rough spots and the recessed cut where the back cover sits is slightly large and not cut evenly with the size of the cover. It does have an ebony fretboard rather than rosewood.Its a good guitar but I may sell it as its just no match to my older Jems.

The main issue I have with this guitar is the fit and finish. You can tell some corners were cut when you get up close to the instrument. There were imperfections in the body work like rough areas that were not sanded or painted properly. Specifically around areas in the guitar that have holes and the handle area. Not a huge deal but something to expect when you drop that money on this guitar. It seems to play pretty good so far. It also does not have the scalloped last four frets in case you were wondering. The pick guard also has strange defects and off colored area by the five way switch. Very disappointing and I removed the protective film. I will still likely keep the instrument but something to consider before purchasing.