Crossroads
Thump the Bottom
I picked up a used Jem 777 BFP over the holidays. I had the guitar for two weeks and did not pick up another guitar during that time. The action was dropped to the floor and the last guy had replaced the Gravity Storm bridge pickup, with the Evo in the Japanese Jems. His complaint was the GS was a little micro-phonic. Here is the good and the bad IMO
Good
The Neck The easiest guitar I ever played, albeit with 9's I've played guitars with skinny necks before, but this was just effortless. The fret edges were mushroomed but you didn't even notice unless you looked at them I cannot say enough about the neck. Skinnier than Twiggy and just melted in your hands. 24 frets with easy access. On a scale of 10 I give the neck an 11.
Edge II Tremelo
Up down, I wanged the wankers out of this thing, and it stayed in tine. I give it a 8.
Distorted tones
Very cool, a little dark but not overshadowing and I am partial to a slightly overdriven dirty tone, even for a lot of rhythms. Who am I kidding? I am a dirty white boy and mix in a little dirt in almost all my playing unless I can get that punchy in your face mid range to spank you. I give them a 7.5
Sustain
For such a light guitar I was surprised of the amount of sustain I got out of it. I would give it a 7.5 for sustain
Jack on the middle of the tailpiece not the bottom of guitar.
30 degree angled downward, Great for sitting and you will never pull your cord out with your foot. Convinced all guitar jacks should be there. I give this a 10.
Monkey Grip
Thought it was hokey at first, but very easy to pick up, carry and put down your guitar.. I give it a 7.
Now the Bad
Clean Tones
May be just me, or my amps but it was far too much work to clean this guitar up. Rolling back the volume wouldn't do it, although 4 other guitars I tried with the same amps no problem. In fairness 3 of those guitars were single coil, but I did adjust the amps for buckers. I would roll the neck or bridge back and would get muddy from the D string down. I found the only way to do it was to change 5 way to middle postilion. I found it far too much work to be constantly honking the 5 way, the volume and the tone to clean up, and then all 3 again to ge some grit. And even middle position tone on 10, was not bright and crisp enough for me. I give it a 2.5, not cause of the sound but all the fiddling.
Woman Tone
Sweet, especially above the 12th fret, but do not roll the tone below 2 and if you plan on going any lower, be prepared to roll the tone up or you're gonna get some mud D sting and below.
Tonal Variety
I expected a lot more. OK I get it, it's 24 frets so the pickups are closer together, but with 2 buckers and a single coil with a 5 way switch, I din't get the tonal variety I was a-lookin fo.
Appearance
Blue floral pattern is nice. Maple fretboard with TOL inlay nice, but maple is a pain in the ass to keep clean. I think a re-fret would cost as much as a used guitar and no one sells OE replacement necks for artsy fartsy TOL inlays. Clear plastic pick guard IMO looks cheap.
Craftsmanship
Good. Ibanez sent Japanese luthiers over to Indonesia to train them for quality sake.
Price
IMO As with all artist models not enough bang for the buck Before the 20% please match my coupon discount, IMO this guitar should be in the $1000- $1200 range. At $1600 new, it is overpriced, even with a nice hard case. At $400-$600 used I would have kept it but at $950 used, unless reworked it could only be used for limited jam situations, not what I would consider a very versatile, gig-able guitar,. What I don't need is another guitar to sit on the rack, I am looking to replace my main player.
Overall
Great playing guitar. Would be a great guitar to learn on, because it is so easy to play. Di I say the neck was great? The warm and distorted tones awesome, so if you an find a way to clean it up, or can live with the tones I would highly recommend it.
Here are the specs
https://www.ibanez.com/usa/products/detail/jem77p_1p_04.html
Good
The Neck The easiest guitar I ever played, albeit with 9's I've played guitars with skinny necks before, but this was just effortless. The fret edges were mushroomed but you didn't even notice unless you looked at them I cannot say enough about the neck. Skinnier than Twiggy and just melted in your hands. 24 frets with easy access. On a scale of 10 I give the neck an 11.
Edge II Tremelo
Up down, I wanged the wankers out of this thing, and it stayed in tine. I give it a 8.
Distorted tones
Very cool, a little dark but not overshadowing and I am partial to a slightly overdriven dirty tone, even for a lot of rhythms. Who am I kidding? I am a dirty white boy and mix in a little dirt in almost all my playing unless I can get that punchy in your face mid range to spank you. I give them a 7.5
Sustain
For such a light guitar I was surprised of the amount of sustain I got out of it. I would give it a 7.5 for sustain
Jack on the middle of the tailpiece not the bottom of guitar.
30 degree angled downward, Great for sitting and you will never pull your cord out with your foot. Convinced all guitar jacks should be there. I give this a 10.
Monkey Grip
Thought it was hokey at first, but very easy to pick up, carry and put down your guitar.. I give it a 7.
Now the Bad
Clean Tones
May be just me, or my amps but it was far too much work to clean this guitar up. Rolling back the volume wouldn't do it, although 4 other guitars I tried with the same amps no problem. In fairness 3 of those guitars were single coil, but I did adjust the amps for buckers. I would roll the neck or bridge back and would get muddy from the D string down. I found the only way to do it was to change 5 way to middle postilion. I found it far too much work to be constantly honking the 5 way, the volume and the tone to clean up, and then all 3 again to ge some grit. And even middle position tone on 10, was not bright and crisp enough for me. I give it a 2.5, not cause of the sound but all the fiddling.
Woman Tone
Sweet, especially above the 12th fret, but do not roll the tone below 2 and if you plan on going any lower, be prepared to roll the tone up or you're gonna get some mud D sting and below.
Tonal Variety
I expected a lot more. OK I get it, it's 24 frets so the pickups are closer together, but with 2 buckers and a single coil with a 5 way switch, I din't get the tonal variety I was a-lookin fo.
Appearance
Blue floral pattern is nice. Maple fretboard with TOL inlay nice, but maple is a pain in the ass to keep clean. I think a re-fret would cost as much as a used guitar and no one sells OE replacement necks for artsy fartsy TOL inlays. Clear plastic pick guard IMO looks cheap.
Craftsmanship
Good. Ibanez sent Japanese luthiers over to Indonesia to train them for quality sake.
Price
IMO As with all artist models not enough bang for the buck Before the 20% please match my coupon discount, IMO this guitar should be in the $1000- $1200 range. At $1600 new, it is overpriced, even with a nice hard case. At $400-$600 used I would have kept it but at $950 used, unless reworked it could only be used for limited jam situations, not what I would consider a very versatile, gig-able guitar,. What I don't need is another guitar to sit on the rack, I am looking to replace my main player.
Overall
Great playing guitar. Would be a great guitar to learn on, because it is so easy to play. Di I say the neck was great? The warm and distorted tones awesome, so if you an find a way to clean it up, or can live with the tones I would highly recommend it.
Here are the specs
https://www.ibanez.com/usa/products/detail/jem77p_1p_04.html
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