I fucking love your videos man. You WILL have your day, I GUARANTEE it brother. Excellent and honest content. A RUclipsr with integrity, and some of the best playing and reviews this side of a Chris Buck Friday Fretworks episode.
Great video. I have had mine since 96, and the finish/patina is just beautiful. I bought one of the modern Jems a couple of years ago and sold it 6 weeks later, it was so inferior, the feel of the BSBs neck,/fretboard far out weighed the new variant. I have had ibanez JS, RGs etc. and ESP kamikaze and the BSB is my go to guitar, daily.. love it!
4:12 "The Animal" from Passion.... love it KDH! I picked up a JEM Jr. Couldn't afford to spend 3 grand on Steve's signature JEM. If I could afford 3 grand, I'd probably get Misha Mansoors Jackson anyway lol
The amber tiger eye is $2800 and the Satin Amber tiger eye is $3900 @ sweetwater brand new bro. OR, you can do like I did and buy the $800 satin white model that doesn't stay in tune and spend $30 for a graptech nut, $100 on GOOD locking tuners and you're golden. Because honestly, the jackson MMI's sound great. Then the guitar cost roughly just under $1000
I'm lucky enough to own one of these Jem's, my eyes lit up when I saw this video pop up 🤩👌 I agree with the things you disliked about the guitar and personally decided to make some changes. Dropped in a Floyd Rose Pro with brass big block, Dimarzio Crunch lab and Liquidfire pickups and now it is indeed one of my main guitars 😁🤘
I had no idea what was the model of this particular guitar until today. I only knew about it because it has been Alejandro Silva's (Chilean virtuoso) main guitar for over 2 decades. Great review
I own a 1995 version and honestly I find it to be the best looking and best value Jem I've seen when I got mine @ $1700 AUD used I just had to get it not even a Steve Vai fan but the guitar itself I feel is near perfect and even new I think the price justifies it ( assuming you can afford it ) When I play mine I feel the quality and the sound is simply amazing but recently I also picked up a Jem 555 BK used and is Korean which sounds very similar I think regardless of which model and price range the Jems all seem to be the best of the crop for the signature models
They do what they were built for. Ive never been a fan of the super shreddy wizard necks etc... that is the style i play but i learned on a seventies sg copy and it had a pretty substantial neck so thats my comfort zone... but a friend had one and you couldnt find anything to say negative about it... like... if you really wanted to be that kind of guy you could begridgingly complain about the neck being too thin but even the edges were rolled so well that it wasnt as though it had any kind of hard edge or fret flaws... thats just if you absolutely had to throw some shade. Like you said, even the price, considering how well these perform the price is justified with no name attached... theyre spec'd to the moon and back.
Nice review! Have no fear the later Prestige Cases and (even) the standard M100C cases hold the Jem like a hand in a glove. Absolutely no way the guitar is moving around in transit. I agree with many of your points but I still love my Jems. I've never owned a BSB but have a 2001 DBK - the textured finish on those can be a bit delicate too
Abso on the case fitting. Both my late model Prestige models, 655 and 652 are 4 years apart-and Left handed, both fit into a custom mold that even makes ME feel warm and fuzzy.
Maybe a little late comment, but are you sure it was blue at one point in time? I have Ibanez catalogue from around 96-97 and there is identical Jem in exactly the same green colour. I remember it, as it was the only Jem I liked, when scrolling through the catalog as a kid.
My same doubt. I noticed it looks more like a blue shaded green . Furthermore in Japan some green is called blue commonly. Best example is given by traffic lights here where the green light matches the original color of this jem and it’s called “blue” . If that blue in the video existed I’d be curious to know where the image was from
Re: Worn bushings causing bar to swing loosely - Thomas Nordegg showed me the trick he uses on all of Steve's guitars and it's ridiculously simple. All you do is use a lighter to evenly heat up the worn bushings. Then blow on them to cool them ever so slightly, and, while they're still warm, insert the bar into the bridge. This will achieve a perfect like-new fit every time.
+1 Nick- Can verify this. Only a second or two tops under the fire while rotating. No more. You may need to do this twice depending on the age/condition of the bushings and how close you get the flame - don't hold it there and melt em! Also if you find the bar grabs at a specific point after this you can pull it back out and rotate the bar till it's gripping where you like it. Love my Ibbys. After being a Floyd Rose nut for 25 yrs I've come to prefer the Edge. KDH - You're right, this guitar design has been pretty timeless. Monkey grip or not. It's designed so well. Hard to mess with what works.
Alternative - remove the bushings, add very tiny drop of nail paint to the recess, wait until it dries, put the bushings back on - I have a 20 y old JEM and never had to replace the bushings. Or just buy new bushings :).
I have this guitar it’s so old now and worn out. I’m thinking of painting it due to the nicks and marks and wood colour. It did look great when I first brought it but not now
If you never ever under any circumstances would sell it then go ahead and refinish it. If there's any chance you would ever sell it, leave it original. A refinish would kill the resale value no matter how good it was done. Personally if I was set on refinishing it, I would go for a swirl 😃
Appreciate the review but I’m confused about some of your comments, you said that the sounds weren’t very versatile? It’s a HSH layout with a 5 way switch, what sort of versatility in tones are you used to? Just curious if what the comparisons are? Evolution pickups are super bright with a pronounced midrange so I get that they wouldn’t be to everyone’s taste. I’ve always preferred the Ibanez bars with the bushings but I find Floyd Rose’s feel weird. I guess that’s just my bias. Gorgeous piece of guitar history. All the best!
I've got the same guitar ( but a year older ) and honestly depending on your amp and settings the evolution pickups can cover everything just need to tweak things a bit but you can tame the brightness and mids
I'm only writing this because you've said you do your best to review a guitar in your videos. So I would kindly correct a couple of points: - The Jem pic you compared your guitar to is from an user of the Jemsite forums. He re-stained and re-torched his guitar, many years ago, so not even a factory BSB will ever be as blue. They are all "green" and it's not because of ageing or wear. You can search for the old topic (no such free time for me), but the giveaways are the blue colour (duh) and the "angled", and a little over-the-top, burn marks below the tremolo; - The pickups are the BREED set. Ibanez Wiki, along with a lot of fans and ads, are wrong. I have since corrected the Wiki. I know because I have a mint, un-modified piece of this, and also because of the pole pieces on the pickups. Evolutions sure sometimes come with gold pole-pieces (as in the Jem7VWH), but come stock with black ones, unless custom ordered. I have NEVER seen them in chrome. BUT, the real giveaway is that the Breeds, along with the Freds, Liquifires and the PAF Pros (the latest having black pole-pieces), just to cite a few examples, all have hex-screws with a "head". So... they sit just a little higher "out" of the top of the pickup. The Evos, Steve's Specials, Super Distortions, etc., have headless screws that are flush mounted. You can also measure the impedance of yours to make sure - if they are Evos, they have been swapped. The Jem7DBK also comes with the Breeds and they are pretty close guitars, as they're the industrial finished Jems. The BSB is a lot rarer, as dealers didn't appreciate its fragile finish - nothing to do with any "greening", since they have always been green, but with the easy knicking and scratching. The ones that were made, stayed mostly in Japan and Europe; - The 7BSB is also the only Jem to feature Powder Nickel hardware. I have only seen this colour in the occasional J-Custom. The Jem10th is also the only other Jem to feature a Brushed Aluminium pickguard, but it is engraved. I have a JS1000BTB as well, which is a JS in ACTUAL blue, with a burnt finish. This one being clear-coated, it isn't as fragile, but not as cool. Pretty cool still, though. Cheers and congrats on the great and rare guitar.
Steve vai words "we grabbed a jem basswood body and torched it. Then a very thin green paint" thats it. Its a joke that many took seriously. Its a jem jr (basswood) with 2 dimarzio evolution pups. Thats it. I wouldnt pay not even 500 us dolars for it.
I went to an arts high school. I was in the 10th grade when the original Jems became available. A kid in our jazz class walked in one day with one…I said wow! Dude!…he let me try it out. I could never get used to the neck. So thin. Too easy to play. My fingers are very long, so it felt like I was playing a toy or something. But it sounded very good. Well made for sure.
The Jem doesn't offer versatility? 9:59-10:04 Wow. Ok. Just a heads up, if you find the bushings on the bar are too loose, try removing one. I prefer the bottom bushing off w/top bushing on. But this was only after YEARS for them to wear out. "New" bushings isn't always the fix. Also, you can take a small piece of teflon tape and put 1 tight wrap on, underneath the bushings.
i have had my jem jr white for 4 years now a lil beat up plays well still.was thinking of getting out of the origianl floyd that it came with with the one that comes in the 777 jem thoughts ty in adavnce
I've got a whole bunch of Ibanez cases. The one that came with yours appears to be identical to one of mine (black plush, grey piping, and butterfly latches). I agree that the fit is pretty loose for cases of that era. In fact, my RGs do not appear to sit flat in that case. The Deluxe hardshell (grey interior, black piping, butterfly latches) case lets the guitar sit flat but it still has room to slide around a little. Ibanez does not make either one of these cases anymore - probably for the reasons you mentioned. However, I have a bunch of the more modern ones that come with RG Prestiges as well - a couple of the M10RG cases and a couple of the M20RG (2000s to 2010s) cases and the insert they use fits the RGs perfectly. You cannot even fit an S series in them because they were designed specifically for the RG shape (unlike the M300C which is sold separately and is meant to fit both RG and S - don't know if the M300C has corrected the sliding issue though). Long story short is that they corrected the issue, at least for the RG Prestige guitars
Check ishibashi (japanese site). I've seen BSBs come up used now and then. The customer support speak english and the site is usable with google translate.
BETAsin i took the last one yesterday. But may be some others could appear. Good advice by the way. Ishibashi here is really good, and actually is my favourite shop here in Japan.
I'd grab one in a second if I could find a Left hand model - if they made any of these at all - Ibby is notorious for where they release diff LH models. Luck to have a 652 - and she's my mistress
The DBK also has the ultra thin Super Wizard neck of the era (with the Bubinga Stripe). It's my absolute favourite Jem neck. The only other Jems with this neck are the 90th HAM and 2K DNA models. Illustrious company indeed! The Breeds are also my favourite Vai signature pups.
Ah, Cheap and Nasty (or Cheap and Narsty if you’re David Coverdale), nice. Big fan of Steve’s work in bands, he somehow always fit in perfectly yet sounded exactly like himself and put his own stamp on the music.
I went to my local guitar boutique and tried out an Ibanez JEM BFP (Blue Floral Pattern). I was sorely disappointed with the sound. First thing I considered was changing out the pickups with something hotter and less generic sounding. They were a nice blue color, but they still looked like cheap chinese plastic and sounded like shit compared to my initial expectations. Maybe I was looking at a budget model? It was $1700. I ended up trying out a (lame in my opinion, to have a worn look that you didn't create yourself) "relic'd" Wild Guitars Wildmaster (France) and was blown away by the sound. I noticed it because it was at half price (MSRP is $4200, but it came with a generic hardcase. They lost the original branded hardcase.) bringing it closer to the JEM's price so I had to take a closer look and see why the MSRP was so expensive. It was made when the "relic'd" fad was fresh. Everybody laughed and passed it up when they looked at it, so worn looking, with a silly manufacturer name few had heard of, and a high price tag. Few people gave it a chance (not even me when I saw it there previously) and it sat in the store for 5 years and also lost the case, making it get clearanced at $2000. I played it and then couldn't walk away from it, despite the relic'd finish I usually don't care for. It has a super sexy blues tone to it, you've got to check this thing out. I usually play metal, I also have a Dean Dime Razorback, Chapman Ghost Fret Pro(explorer body), Gibson Firebird, BC Rich Ironbird Extreme Platinum, and a Legator Ninja 8string. I would LOVE to see you demo a Wildmaster HSS, that way I can compare your tone demo to my playing and also get a chance to hear you play on my best guitar, while promoting a great boutique brand. They have a $60,000 guitar available, but even their cheapest models usually at $3500, are absolutely soulful, amazing craftsmanship, and incredibly easy to jam. The $60,000 one-piece guitar comes with the block of premium wood it was cut/carved from, built as a case/stand. I don't think you can afford to demo that puppy, but the "cheaper" models are still amazing.
That point with the longest production run of a signature guitar is not right. The Ibanez GB (George Benson) is available since the early 80ies. Steve always forget this one… anyway: I love the JEM and the poor man’s JEM - the RG Series. I play these guitars now since 29 years
Interesting. I have an s series with the low pro term and I love it. The S series is just so comfortable. I want to try the new Ibanez trem that work on bearings instead of knife edges.
Basswood isn’t known for being a very nice looking wood and it’s quite common for it to have greenish streaks running through the grain. So it’s surprising to see a basswood body done in a natural finish, but nevertheless this particular model looks very nice even if the finish has a tendency to rub off- Many modern poly* finished guitars will never develop a classic aged look over their lifetimes due to the opaque, hardwearing topcoat.
I'm 47 so I remember when these were new - It was bonkers when it came along, and I remember thinking how crap my Washburn with red crackle finish looked against it. I couldn't afford one though, so it was an RG-550 for me..... I'm not a JEM fan but that's just personal taste. It's undeniable how influential and unique that guitar is, and that's not something you can say about a lot of instruments. That case is well shabby though - Can't believe that Ibanez are still shipping it in that thing. For a company of Hoshino's size they should be able to business in a specific LH or RH case rather than one that does both, but fails in its primary purpose. I like the way the finish degrades, but I can see why an owner wouldn't. It'd develop a personal patina so it's got character.
The monkey grip apparently is a contentious thing. I don't care either way; it doesn't bother me (I am not interested in these kind of guitars anyways) but I think that it is really weird because the top horn of a strat is the perfect handle.
The BSB Jem’s Lo-Pro was finished in a kind of a gunmetal finish. It’s not chrome that’s dulled over time no, it’s the intended industrial aesthetic of the guitar
I seriously am obsessed with this guitar given that I am also a huge Steve Vai fan. Unfortunately, the JEMs are super expensive and you hardly get them in India. So got myself a JEM Jr. Btw I love Ireland 🤘🏽
I used to own one of these. Bad quality. The cheap basswood could be scratched by only accidently pressing with your thumb into it. That guitar produced tones without playing it by just touching the neck and grabbing it. Aweful. Never again, not for that kind of money!
![Eminem - Fuel (Shady Edition) feat. Westside Boogie & GRIP [Official Audio]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/k1OquBida9s/mqdefault.jpg)
I don’t care what they say about you I like your vids
What do they say? Share the gossip
@@manuele.itriagom.728 Trust me you shouldn't care what they say. Just enjoy the content
To be honest... The wear on the finish makes this guitar look soooooo good!
I fucking love your videos man. You WILL have your day, I GUARANTEE it brother. Excellent and honest content. A RUclipsr with integrity, and some of the best playing and reviews this side of a Chris Buck Friday Fretworks episode.
The background music and your talking sound like How It's Made hahaha
Yes dude , and the transitions .
Nobody does it like KDH does it. I'm more of a dad guitar guy who plays blues. But KDH is still one of my fav channels.
Great video. I have had mine since 96, and the finish/patina is just beautiful. I bought one of the modern Jems a couple of years ago and sold it 6 weeks later, it was so inferior, the feel of the BSBs neck,/fretboard far out weighed the new variant. I have had ibanez JS, RGs etc. and ESP kamikaze and the BSB is my go to guitar, daily.. love it!
Its solid. And the thing with that thin coat is that the more you use it the back starts to show the unpainted body. Beautiful desing.
3:42: *hair metal KDH has entered the chat*
4:12 "The Animal" from Passion.... love it KDH!
I picked up a JEM Jr.
Couldn't afford to spend 3 grand on Steve's signature JEM.
If I could afford 3 grand, I'd probably get Misha Mansoors Jackson anyway lol
His sig is 1500
@@petruccijr2270 mishas? Not his USA models...
The amber tiger eye is $2800 and the Satin Amber tiger eye is $3900 @ sweetwater brand new bro.
OR, you can do like I did and buy the $800 satin white model that doesn't stay in tune and spend $30 for a graptech nut, $100 on GOOD locking tuners and you're golden. Because honestly, the jackson MMI's sound great.
Then the guitar cost roughly just under $1000
I'm lucky enough to own one of these Jem's, my eyes lit up when I saw this video pop up 🤩👌 I agree with the things you disliked about the guitar and personally decided to make some changes. Dropped in a Floyd Rose Pro with brass big block, Dimarzio Crunch lab and Liquidfire pickups and now it is indeed one of my main guitars 😁🤘
My left ear thoroughly enjoyed this review.
I had no idea what was the model of this particular guitar until today. I only knew about it because it has been Alejandro Silva's (Chilean virtuoso) main guitar for over 2 decades.
Great review
Grande alejo silva asjdhsj
Aguante Silva
Great review sir, you are impartial and honest. I don't understand why so many dislikes towards Ibanez. People are buying them on a daily basis.
Personally, ibanez never feels quite right in the hand for me.
Hahaha that triggered Mark Agnesi killed me 😆
Its a design still currently used because the edge is the best floyd style trem there is.
I own a 1995 version and honestly I find it to be the best looking and best value Jem I've seen
when I got mine @ $1700 AUD used I just had to get it
not even a Steve Vai fan but the guitar itself I feel is near perfect and even new I think the price justifies it ( assuming you can afford it )
When I play mine I feel the quality and the sound is simply amazing
but recently I also picked up a Jem 555 BK used and is Korean which sounds very similar
I think regardless of which model and price range the Jems all seem to be the best of the crop for the signature models
They do what they were built for. Ive never been a fan of the super shreddy wizard necks etc... that is the style i play but i learned on a seventies sg copy and it had a pretty substantial neck so thats my comfort zone... but a friend had one and you couldnt find anything to say negative about it... like... if you really wanted to be that kind of guy you could begridgingly complain about the neck being too thin but even the edges were rolled so well that it wasnt as though it had any kind of hard edge or fret flaws... thats just if you absolutely had to throw some shade. Like you said, even the price, considering how well these perform the price is justified with no name attached... theyre spec'd to the moon and back.
I still regret not buying the green Jem when it was released.
Nice review! Have no fear the later Prestige Cases and (even) the standard M100C cases hold the Jem like a hand in a glove. Absolutely no way the guitar is moving around in transit. I agree with many of your points but I still love my Jems. I've never owned a BSB but have a 2001 DBK - the textured finish on those can be a bit delicate too
Abso on the case fitting. Both my late model Prestige models, 655 and 652 are 4 years apart-and Left handed, both fit into a custom mold that even makes ME feel warm and fuzzy.
FYI that's not the original case. From the factory, that guitar shipped with a UV1000c case.
Nope. The BSB & DBK were an attempt at 'budget' MIJ Jems and didn't ship with a case as standard. It was available at extra cost
@@ThePedroDB Yep. Mine shipped with a UV1000C at no additional cost. Damn son, you fucked up.
Maybe a little late comment, but are you sure it was blue at one point in time?
I have Ibanez catalogue from around 96-97 and there is identical Jem in exactly the same green colour.
I remember it, as it was the only Jem I liked, when scrolling through the catalog as a kid.
My same doubt. I noticed it looks more like a blue shaded green . Furthermore in Japan some green is called blue commonly. Best example is given by traffic lights here where the green light matches the original color of this jem and it’s called “blue” . If that blue in the video existed I’d be curious to know where the image was from
@@albertobocchio9337 you are right. I totally forgot, that in Japan green is not so obvious.
Thats a beautiful fuckin’ guitar. Love the burnt and unfinishedness of it.
Easily the most beautiful finish on a guitar, ever...
Re: Worn bushings causing bar to swing loosely - Thomas Nordegg showed me the trick he uses on all of Steve's guitars and it's ridiculously simple.
All you do is use a lighter to evenly heat up the worn bushings. Then blow on them to cool them ever so slightly, and, while they're still warm, insert the bar into the bridge. This will achieve a perfect like-new fit every time.
Nick Venables That’s awesome. Will definitely try it out !
+1 Nick- Can verify this. Only a second or two tops under the fire while rotating. No more. You may need to do this twice depending on the age/condition of the bushings and how close you get the flame - don't hold it there and melt em! Also if you find the bar grabs at a specific point after this you can pull it back out and rotate the bar till it's gripping where you like it.
Love my Ibbys. After being a Floyd Rose nut for 25 yrs I've come to prefer the Edge.
KDH - You're right, this guitar design has been pretty timeless. Monkey grip or not. It's designed so well. Hard to mess with what works.
Alternative - remove the bushings, add very tiny drop of nail paint to the recess, wait until it dries, put the bushings back on - I have a 20 y old JEM and never had to replace the bushings. Or just buy new bushings :).
2:14 nice touch
I have this guitar it’s so old now and worn out. I’m thinking of painting it due to the nicks and marks and wood colour. It did look great when I first brought it but not now
If you never ever under any circumstances would sell it then go ahead and refinish it. If there's any chance you would ever sell it, leave it original. A refinish would kill the resale value no matter how good it was done.
Personally if I was set on refinishing it, I would go for a swirl 😃
@@k7j007 I repainted it. It looks amazing!
great guitar ty for the review
I think I would prefer a Malmsteen signature over the Jem.
This guitar is for sale Reverb
reverb.com/ie/item/30526443-ibanez-jem7-bsb-burnt-stained-blue
KDH soundcloud.com/aidan-moore-2/cant-you-see-cover-hollywood
I actually applie some rosin to the bar, which gives the rings grip for a decent bit longer. DIfferent trem, but same concept. Might work!
I'm a old dude so don't like pointy guitars , good review & playing.
Absolutely love this particular JEM. Last Days Of Humanity \m/
Appreciate the review but I’m confused about some of your comments, you said that the sounds weren’t very versatile? It’s a HSH layout with a 5 way switch, what sort of versatility in tones are you used to? Just curious if what the comparisons are? Evolution pickups are super bright with a pronounced midrange so I get that they wouldn’t be to everyone’s taste. I’ve always preferred the Ibanez bars with the bushings but I find Floyd Rose’s feel weird. I guess that’s just my bias. Gorgeous piece of guitar history. All the best!
I've got the same guitar ( but a year older ) and honestly depending on your amp and settings the evolution pickups can cover everything
just need to tweak things a bit but you can tame the brightness and mids
I'm only writing this because you've said you do your best to review a guitar in your videos. So I would kindly correct a couple of points:
- The Jem pic you compared your guitar to is from an user of the Jemsite forums. He re-stained and re-torched his guitar, many years ago, so not even a factory BSB will ever be as blue. They are all "green" and it's not because of ageing or wear. You can search for the old topic (no such free time for me), but the giveaways are the blue colour (duh) and the "angled", and a little over-the-top, burn marks below the tremolo;
- The pickups are the BREED set. Ibanez Wiki, along with a lot of fans and ads, are wrong. I have since corrected the Wiki. I know because I have a mint, un-modified piece of this, and also because of the pole pieces on the pickups. Evolutions sure sometimes come with gold pole-pieces (as in the Jem7VWH), but come stock with black ones, unless custom ordered. I have NEVER seen them in chrome. BUT, the real giveaway is that the Breeds, along with the Freds, Liquifires and the PAF Pros (the latest having black pole-pieces), just to cite a few examples, all have hex-screws with a "head". So... they sit just a little higher "out" of the top of the pickup. The Evos, Steve's Specials, Super Distortions, etc., have headless screws that are flush mounted. You can also measure the impedance of yours to make sure - if they are Evos, they have been swapped. The Jem7DBK also comes with the Breeds and they are pretty close guitars, as they're the industrial finished Jems. The BSB is a lot rarer, as dealers didn't appreciate its fragile finish - nothing to do with any "greening", since they have always been green, but with the easy knicking and scratching. The ones that were made, stayed mostly in Japan and Europe;
- The 7BSB is also the only Jem to feature Powder Nickel hardware. I have only seen this colour in the occasional J-Custom. The Jem10th is also the only other Jem to feature a Brushed Aluminium pickguard, but it is engraved. I have a JS1000BTB as well, which is a JS in ACTUAL blue, with a burnt finish. This one being clear-coated, it isn't as fragile, but not as cool. Pretty cool still, though.
Cheers and congrats on the great and rare guitar.
Steve vai words "we grabbed a jem basswood body and torched it. Then a very thin green paint" thats it. Its a joke that many took seriously. Its a jem jr (basswood) with 2 dimarzio evolution pups. Thats it. I wouldnt pay not even 500 us dolars for it.
I’m not into the pointy guitars, but this is a gorgeous super-Strat & Vai is awesome.
I went to an arts high school. I was in the 10th grade when the original Jems became available. A kid in our jazz class walked in one day with one…I said wow! Dude!…he let me try it out. I could never get used to the neck. So thin. Too easy to play. My fingers are very long, so it felt like I was playing a toy or something. But it sounded very good. Well made for sure.
Great review of a great guitar!
The Jem doesn't offer versatility? 9:59-10:04 Wow. Ok. Just a heads up, if you find the bushings on the bar are too loose, try removing one. I prefer the bottom bushing off w/top bushing on. But this was only after YEARS for them to wear out. "New" bushings isn't always the fix. Also, you can take a small piece of teflon tape and put 1 tight wrap on, underneath the bushings.
i have had my jem jr white for 4 years now a lil beat up plays well still.was thinking of getting out of the origianl floyd that it came with with the one that comes in the 777 jem thoughts ty in adavnce
easy fix for the loose bar is place a small piece of clear plastic baggie over the hole and push the arm in. It makes it tight for a few days.
Try the lighter trick. Works better!
Buy a Red Bishop Magick Arm and have no more problems
Any tips to keep the thing in tune?
The BSB is definitely the rawest of all Jem's, in my eyes probably the best looking.
Now I see Mark Agnesi's face everywhere I look! :p
What’s that ESP guitar model in the video?
Just came to watch KDH play guitar. No surprise to me, he's a killer player.
I've got a whole bunch of Ibanez cases. The one that came with yours appears to be identical to one of mine (black plush, grey piping, and butterfly latches). I agree that the fit is pretty loose for cases of that era. In fact, my RGs do not appear to sit flat in that case. The Deluxe hardshell (grey interior, black piping, butterfly latches) case lets the guitar sit flat but it still has room to slide around a little. Ibanez does not make either one of these cases anymore - probably for the reasons you mentioned. However, I have a bunch of the more modern ones that come with RG Prestiges as well - a couple of the M10RG cases and a couple of the M20RG (2000s to 2010s) cases and the insert they use fits the RGs perfectly. You cannot even fit an S series in them because they were designed specifically for the RG shape (unlike the M300C which is sold separately and is meant to fit both RG and S - don't know if the M300C has corrected the sliding issue though).
Long story short is that they corrected the issue, at least for the RG Prestige guitars
Great Video Bro! :)
Nice vide! I've wanted the BSB for years, but unfortunately they are hard to find.
It's for sale.
Check ishibashi (japanese site). I've seen BSBs come up used now and then. The customer support speak english and the site is usable with google translate.
BETAsin i took the last one yesterday. But may be some others could appear. Good advice by the way. Ishibashi here is really good, and actually is my favourite shop here in Japan.
I'd grab one in a second if I could find a Left hand model - if they made any of these at all - Ibby is notorious for where they release diff LH models. Luck to have a 652 - and she's my mistress
Isn't it exactly as his JEM 7DBK? Apart from the different finish on the body
The DBK has Breed pickups, not evo’s
The DBK also has the ultra thin Super Wizard neck of the era (with the Bubinga Stripe). It's my absolute favourite Jem neck. The only other Jems with this neck are the 90th HAM and 2K DNA models. Illustrious company indeed!
The Breeds are also my favourite Vai signature pups.
Ah, Cheap and Nasty (or Cheap and Narsty if you’re David Coverdale), nice. Big fan of Steve’s work in bands, he somehow always fit in perfectly yet sounded exactly like himself and put his own stamp on the music.
the original jem had the square heel block dude. It wasnt until the mid 90s that Ibanez started using the all access neck joint.
You have some big hands and fingers. Not quite Buckethead, but definitely made for electric guitar.
This is good. That is a good guitar. Cheers.
That's a sexy guitar. In my older age I've come around on JEMs. I really want one these days.
This is basically the worst Jem. It used to be Root Beer or something, but at least those are old and rare now. These were never rare.
I went to my local guitar boutique and tried out an Ibanez JEM BFP (Blue Floral Pattern). I was sorely disappointed with the sound. First thing I considered was changing out the pickups with something hotter and less generic sounding. They were a nice blue color, but they still looked like cheap chinese plastic and sounded like shit compared to my initial expectations. Maybe I was looking at a budget model? It was $1700. I ended up trying out a (lame in my opinion, to have a worn look that you didn't create yourself) "relic'd" Wild Guitars Wildmaster (France) and was blown away by the sound. I noticed it because it was at half price (MSRP is $4200, but it came with a generic hardcase. They lost the original branded hardcase.) bringing it closer to the JEM's price so I had to take a closer look and see why the MSRP was so expensive. It was made when the "relic'd" fad was fresh. Everybody laughed and passed it up when they looked at it, so worn looking, with a silly manufacturer name few had heard of, and a high price tag. Few people gave it a chance (not even me when I saw it there previously) and it sat in the store for 5 years and also lost the case, making it get clearanced at $2000. I played it and then couldn't walk away from it, despite the relic'd finish I usually don't care for. It has a super sexy blues tone to it, you've got to check this thing out. I usually play metal, I also have a Dean Dime Razorback, Chapman Ghost Fret Pro(explorer body), Gibson Firebird, BC Rich Ironbird Extreme Platinum, and a Legator Ninja 8string. I would LOVE to see you demo a Wildmaster HSS, that way I can compare your tone demo to my playing and also get a chance to hear you play on my best guitar, while promoting a great boutique brand. They have a $60,000 guitar available, but even their cheapest models usually at $3500, are absolutely soulful, amazing craftsmanship, and incredibly easy to jam. The $60,000 one-piece guitar comes with the block of premium wood it was cut/carved from, built as a case/stand. I don't think you can afford to demo that puppy, but the "cheaper" models are still amazing.
Cool guitar and like I said on one of my other comments ,the can CAN play
That point with the longest production run of a signature guitar is not right. The Ibanez GB (George Benson) is available since the early 80ies. Steve always forget this one… anyway: I love the JEM and the poor man’s JEM - the RG Series. I play these guitars now since 29 years
Interesting. I have an s series with the low pro term and I love it. The S series is just so comfortable. I want to try the new Ibanez trem that work on bearings instead of knife edges.
Love the wear!
Great video, keep up the good work 👍👍👍
Basswood isn’t known for being a very nice looking wood and it’s quite common for it to have greenish streaks running through the grain. So it’s surprising to see a basswood body done in a natural finish, but nevertheless this particular model looks very nice even if the finish has a tendency to rub off- Many modern poly* finished guitars will never develop a classic aged look over their lifetimes due to the opaque, hardwearing topcoat.
I got one of these new, what a great guitar it was
I'm 47 so I remember when these were new - It was bonkers when it came along, and I remember thinking how crap my Washburn with red crackle finish looked against it. I couldn't afford one though, so it was an RG-550 for me.....
I'm not a JEM fan but that's just personal taste. It's undeniable how influential and unique that guitar is, and that's not something you can say about a lot of instruments. That case is well shabby though - Can't believe that Ibanez are still shipping it in that thing. For a company of Hoshino's size they should be able to business in a specific LH or RH case rather than one that does both, but fails in its primary purpose.
I like the way the finish degrades, but I can see why an owner wouldn't. It'd develop a personal patina so it's got character.
wtf is that frame at 2:14
Not my style but awesome guitar. Great info 😊.
The monkey grip apparently is a contentious thing. I don't care either way; it doesn't bother me (I am not interested in these kind of guitars anyways) but I think that it is really weird because the top horn of a strat is the perfect handle.
I wonder if that hole affects the tone in the guitar? I suppose not a lot in a solid body slab guitar
0:13 is that a titanium floyd rose?
No, it’s just chrome that’s dulled over the years.
The BSB Jem’s Lo-Pro was finished in a kind of a gunmetal finish. It’s not chrome that’s dulled over time no, it’s the intended industrial aesthetic of the guitar
Ben Pegley it is called the cosmo powder
@@harimauvortex - yup that's it Powder Cosmo. In any case it's not 'dulled chrome'
not bad, but I'm convinced those bends aren't bendy enough...
Awsome! I can tell he's in Walker😂😂😂
Wow a guitar that wears out easily with few playtime? This must be hated by guitarists of the early days.
I've been looking for this guitar to buy. Sickening I'm only seeing this now. I literally am getting the same county you are from too 😑
2:23 What albums or songs is he talking about?
Sex and Religion I guess...
Good stuff man
Why tf so many dislikes. This video is good quality lol
chapman bootlickers
Modern day guitar aka shredder guitar
I could’ve got this new when it came out. Big regrets.
...... why does this vid have so many dislikes!?
Bushings on the trem arm, not bearings. ;)
I knew I’d get something wrong lol
@@KDH If that's all you get wrong, you're doing better than most. ;)
I seriously am obsessed with this guitar given that I am also a huge Steve Vai fan. Unfortunately, the JEMs are super expensive and you hardly get them in India. So got myself a JEM Jr. Btw I love Ireland 🤘🏽
Awesome
2:14 ----M A R K----
You’re a damn fine guitarist sure better and more tasteful then mister online power
👍👍
Me too don't give a shit what anyone says... LOVE your vids!! Keep telling the TRUTH!!
cool
I want that guitar lol
I used to own one of these. Bad quality. The cheap basswood could be scratched by only accidently pressing with your thumb into it. That guitar produced tones without playing it by just touching the neck and grabbing it. Aweful. Never again, not for that kind of money!
Does not have a volute.
None of them did until the change to the (current) 5-piece Prestige Jem neck in 2005
I love the finish. Wish they'd done a fixed bridge version of the BSB. (I hate floyds)
This video is just a marketing tool.
You're too young for this guitar lad 😜. Come back in 20 years
Now we know that you are just an Ibanez shill