Can an Ibanez Jem Jr make me happy? 

Ibanez upgrade comparison video -- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-f6FyGecTd3c.html

All I ever wanted was a guitar to have my back... as far as I can tell, they have always conspired against me! Those Vai licks brought back memories... nice work.

In 1988 myself and a few friends played jems. Between us we had all the colors available, even the rare rootbeer one. I wish I had the insight back then to buy a few and store them untouched. Thanks for making this video on the jem jr!

Very cool to have a old Via cab in the fold , and very time i hear you play , i'm reminded how good of player you are !!! Great video !

I bought my Jem in 2002. The wood, and instrument have really aged well, and its finally bloomed into an awesome shred machine. Nice Vai appreciation there my friend! Good Stuff! Keep em comin mate!

Great riffs, helpful video thank you!!

When I was a teenager taking lesson's. My guitar teacher/mentor/advisor, taught me how to play using a Ibanez Jem. I'm not by far an Ibanez fan,but that guitar sounds, play's amazing. Keep up all the great work.

Always loved the JEM guitars but never got one. Saw Steve play a few years back. That was the loudest concert I've been to in my life. It was glorious

The first Jem I saw was in a music store just before the Sam Ash and Guitar Center boom it was a "Passion And Warfare" model with the trapezoid inlays being a Steve fan myself, I just had to plug one into a Fender Chorus combo. Fell in love with it right away. The one I tried had awesome clean tones anywhere you threw the pick up switch, threw some chorus in there too. Same deal on the dirt channel. If I would've had the money I would have brought it on the spot. Fast forward to about 1999, I had the money for a new guitar and ended up getting a white Jem with the Evolution pickups and a brass Floyd and brass nut. Paid $1600 for it at the time of course they're a little more expensive now for a good one but if you have the money it's worth it.

After seeing you play The Audience is Listening, I'm tempted to go get my old Passion and Warfare tab book out😆

Greatly appreciate your channel. This guitar sounds excellent.

Thanks man! I've been hunting for electric guitar #2, and have a chance to grab this used for $275. I'll be giving it a test run Sunday 😊. Thanks for the review!

Awesome review. Thank you

Great video! I have considered one of these for a long time.

Great to hear it played through that cab ! Good value guitar too , those factory pick ups aren't bad either.

I love how you nail riffs from all of these different players!!!

I had a mid 90’s Jem Jr or Jem 555 as they were called back then. They cost about $1k and came with Dimarzio Evolution pickups… LO trs trem and a basswood body. The vine inlays were nice but only went the 12th fret. It was a great guitar and I wish I still had it!

Not a bad sounding guitar for the price. Your playing certainly makes it sound great. Can't wait to hear the story about the Vai cab!

I have. Jem jr and I love it. Gotoh 1996 trem upgrade and jb and jazz pickups have it sounding and playing great!

That sounded ridiculously good Michael!! Awesome guitar

I picked up one of the hot pink ones a couple years ago just for fun (and partially to annoy Scott because he has an irrational fear of the color pink). It’s not bad at all! Totally a fun guitar and gives me a smile every time I see it there in the rack and pick it up to play.

MN i love it when you play IBANEZ guitars!! great review greeat Vai lix! looking to p/u your vai IR cab pack🔥🤘👏

I have a Jem Jr, but the white one, I think it's the first year Ibanez switched to the "DL" trem's. Which are horrible. But, I bought the Jem Jr. cause I had some extra hardware and electronics laying around and wanted to put it in something cool. So, I installed a real Floyd (which fits perfectly ) which is black, and I had black locking tuners, so I threw those on there as well as a black pearloid pickguard and I threw in a Dimarzio SD3 I had laying around as well as an EVO neck. It plays and sounds amazing...

Great tone Micheal!!! That sounded great!!! That may be a cheap guitar but you sounded just like Vai from the DLR days.

I changed out the stock bridge for a Gotoh (took minor mods). Instantly, the guitar sounded better with a ton more sustain. I had plans to switch out the pickups, but I’ll wait until I need to switch out the pots etc. Fortunately, my frets were not that scratchy.

Epic intro riff. Man, that's still my favorite tune from the Skyscraper album. Absolutely nailed the sound.

I used to own several jems many years ago. One of which was the Yellow. Life got in the way. Jesus Michael is there anything you can’t do? Gardening? Car maintenance? . Fantastic episode as Always 🤘

I have a yellow one also. I would have preferred the green, but they don't make that one anymore. I got it for $424 as a factory blemished item. The "Blemish" was the monkey grip not being sanded smooth. I had every intention of swapping the pickups for DiMarzio Evolutions, but I ended up really liking the stock pickups. The trem, however, sucked. Wouldn't hold tune and the bar never stayed tight in the collar. I was constantly having to tighten the Allen screw so I just left the back plate off. I ended up getting a Gotoh GE-1996T and that thing is heaven compared to the stock unit. I also added green knobs and a pink cap on the pickup switch. I just need to find a matching pink paint for the claw area. I use an old Korg AX-1000G effects processor and a BOSS 7 band EQ. Pinch harmonics galore with the right EQ setting. 😃 EDIT: I paused the video and typed this comment just seconds before you held up the bag with the knobs and said you really like the pickups. lol

I love my jem jr, I swapped the trem for a gotoh, it stays in tune no matter how hard I use it. Also polished the back of the neck with steel wool, it feels smoother, it actually even made it shine. The pickups are surprisingly good. My first ever HSH guitar, the tones you get with this pickup configuration are really good, clean and overdriven.

I wish they would come out with a green jem jr, i always thought that was the most cool jem color

I'm lucky to have gotten my jem7v in the early 2000s for a great price, these days I couldn't afford one either. That said.....some elbow grease on the fretwork and pop in that PAF pro and you're in business. I wanna see another video with an update on how the green knobs affect the tone 😋

Really great playing dude!

I’ve got one of the mid priced Premium Jem’s in Sea Foam Green - double the price of your Jr, half the price of a Japanese 7V - and it’s a great all round guitar. I’d certainly have no qualms recommending it. Good to hear the Jr’s are decent value for money.

Man I think the driven tones on here are great! Killer amp. I bought an RG450DXB which seems similar to the Jem Jr. and put a Dimarzio PAF Master in the bridge, Thornbucker in the neck, and a Tex-mex single in the middle. The PAF Master is unreal. One of the best humbuckers that I’ve tried.

0000 grade steel wool will definitely fix that fret problem! Had my eyes on the same guitar, this is definitely the best colour.

I love my jem Jr the first thing I did was get a pearl like scratch plate, now it actually plays even better 👍

I picked up a 2012 white one a few months back off Reverb. Was from a store but the previous owner had stuck in green and pink Evolution pups, which I think put most people off as it was only £350, which considering it seems pretty mint, I at least can't find any dents etc is pretty good deal. I was reading the Ibanez wiki and it seems I got lucky, the 2012 was the last year it was manufactured before the current offering started in 2015. Mine is the 3 piece neck, also while not an expensive trem it stays in tune and I guess the fine tuners are different as they feel fine. The woods are different too so if anyone fancies one, I'd scan for a decent second hand one first and see if you can get the old ones for a good price.

I bought this guitar for my son for Christmas and its a lot of bang for the buck. Same yellow and everything

I just bought the JEM Jr in white and bought an Amp Smasher t-shirt as well. :-) I just had to have a Jem. I can update later if I have to with new trem system.

Yes!!! Perfect timing!!!

I love mine, great video.

Nice review. Steve Vai is a favorite of mine for sure. Kids today have it so much better when it comes to gear and learning tools. You know what I mean. 😂🤓🤟👍

I got the 'Pink',JemJr. and it's my main 'go-to' guitar,at this point!It has some issues',but overall,I really enjoy playing it!🍺

Great video.. what else are you using besides the Friedman BE 100 and Cab to get those great late 80s tones?

I hope Steve called you and said thank you for this Review 🤟🏻😜🎸. Ive been all into Glam again lately and want one of these Jackson Dk3xrs. (Which look identical to this lol) they perform PRETTY Well* … but im finding almost every affordable guitar has that “scratchy” type thing going on. This Vai looks & sounds pretty sick for $500 though! Proof there ARE Deals out there

that sounds great! but would love to see you upgrade to paf pro and demo it. heck, would love you to demo some dimarzio pups cuz most of dimarzio demo videos suck lol. you got a great sense of tone and great hand tone

I bought one for...well curiosity really and it was okay. I wasn't overly rapt in it though and ended up giving to a friend and bought a 70v, which is very nice to play.

Rub the back of the neck with some 00 steel wool, it will lessen that cheap feeling matte finish and make it slick as ice, then a full fret polish will really make a huge difference. The trems are good new but with the lack of hardened knife edges, they wear out super fast.

I was going to get one of these when they first came out, but ended up getting the Sea Foam Green used (mint) for a great price. I played a JR after that and there is no comparison for quality. The neck felt very rough…but I wonder could it be sanded a bit and cleaned up so to speak.

PERFECT, PERFECT, PERFECT TIMING

*Edit - I saw it. Sorry bout that. BUUUTTT.... A Q-Tip with2 drops of 3-In-One Oil lightly rubbed on the threads of this fine tuners will make a WORLD of difference. 1200 grit, good quality sandpaper will smooth out those janky frets as well. It's light enough to take off the surface schmooo but removers very little, if any, metal. I would LOVE to see a Feature Presentation on that cabinet! Ultra-detailed. Down to the screws holding the corners on, what kind/brand/gauge of wiring and how it's wired. Congrats on getting it!

Love the color

I really want to do a swirl custom build at some point. You can find some custom jem bodies and necks online. Not sure how that compares to a jem jr.

I like your content. Make more and I'll watch more.

That's actually a decent looking case for that guitar. My RG550 didn't even come with a basic gigbag.

Wow, Steve Vai cab🥳🥳 I hope i can buy the ir's of this cab 👍

Hang on to her bro. The yellows went quick, very hard to find these days. The white ones and pink ones are all over though.

Love mine to death, but! Fret polishing was a must! Tremolo Block had to be replaced with big ol’ Bell 🔔 Brass 37mm trem block, and fresh set of .008’-.038 Rotosound’s and a complete set up! My baby is the Friggin Bomb now! The next upgrade will consist of Hot rails single position, one EVO neck pick-up and one Tone Zone at the bridge. Then maybe a pleck job on the fretboard along with a slight scallop of the fretboard along the edges, to give it that played in feel. All things considered, it’s way less than Jem!

Just a shame they don't do them with maple fingerboards and disappearing pyramids

I don't know how these compare to the late 90's version of the jr, but I played one whilst I owned a Jem 7bsb, and other than the visuals they had nothing in common at all. I would like to like this guitar, as I couldn't buy a Japanese Jem now, but I am skeptical. Plus is there a guitar that wouldn't sound awesome with that set up? Saying that, I got myself a Squier Jim Root Tele to use a mod platform and I absolutely love it

I had a RG550 Genesis last year. I thought J-Craft quality, so just did the deal without test driving. Wrong. The downsides you describe for the JEM were much the same on the RG, e.g., stuff felt cheap and the five way selector was junk and faulty out of the box. I was really surprised. I sold it a week later and got a mexi Strat that I love the neck on, but some stuff on it is a little meh (pups, trem and tuners). Some kid had bought two of them. One for him and a matching one for his friend. He had never played it. Not once. He was selling because he was off to cop school to learn how to arrest people. An Ibanez fanboi could not buy it off me faster enough, so I did not lose a penny.

HI Micheal, I have the same exact guitar with green knobs, change the bridge pickup for a Dimarzio Breed and replace the bridge with a Ibanez Edge tremolo with FU Tone big block. Its WWOONDERFUL, The breed pickup is a hotter version of the PAF Pro

I have the pink Jem Jr. Plays good not the Best trem but it does the trick. Still trying to find the perfect bridge pup. I put a JB in it but I'm not feeling it.

I wonder if a proper fret job would help that neck. Or if an original Ibanez edge trem would fit

Michael, what do you think of the Carvin Vai Legact V30 2x12 with the removable back?

Thanks for the review, what about the weight?

Hey Michael, where did you order the green knobs and green pickup selector from?

I want the pink one!

excuse me but you just had me at DLR Steve Vai ' Perfect Timing" riff.

those monitors are bad ass :D

Ppl say they are great for the price, so it’s good! Ppl seem to stay away from these because of the “jr” but I’ve been looking into these

This particular guitar made in Indonesia, not in Japan as original Ibanez Jem. Recently my student bought this model but asked for return due to manufacture fault. The 1 st string was too close to the edge and always slipped out of fingerboard.

Wish they did the disappearing pyramid inlays on maple.

Vai EEAS tour cab??? Did you also grab the Lee Jackson modded head?

I have a Jem Jr but I felt it needed a bit of TLC. The nut seemed a bit too high so I got out the router - not for the faint-hearted. I may look at replacing the pups at some point but it does seem like a nice guitar.

i have had my '88 FP Jem since new in '88, still solid as a rock, but has some serious mojo and bite marks, hahaha.

If you had to recommend one guitar that was worth paying the money (within reason, no $14k PRS), what would it be?

It made me happy ..yesss

Michael, maybe you covered this somewhere, but which guitars/necks do you have that you would say "got your back"?

It's that cab an early Carvin Cab? I have one from that time frame with V30's, and it also sounds massive and thick!!!

Well, people who are not, be well aware, Michael is playing two of the most amazing amps on the planet.

But do you have the Digitech Harmonizer with your SPX90?!

my biggest concern whether the trem is up to heavy use and can the trem arm stay where left it. You mentioned that it stays in tune well which huge for a floating system like this. Thanks!

student-grade instruments can be a lot of fun.

How did you get the Vai cab? I noticed he signed it, nice! I’ve played a couple of Jem Jr’s & honestly thought they were terrible. I couldn’t get past the awful neck. I like a worn unfinished maple neck but these felt, as you said, cheap. Glad you’re digging it though, to each his own.

nice color same as my RG did you happen to glance at my video where i displayed my new RG hmmmmmm?

Harry Cody of Shotgun Messiah knew how to shred on this guitar🎸😎

I'd switch the pickup Mike, im certain it's better than the stock one for only being a 500$ axe....green knobs will look cool man!

You know what they say " every days a school day " regards mic charging. Tip, oil the fine tuner threads

Did John Ou used to own that Vai Alien Cab?

Did you ever end up putting the green knobs on?

Your yellow is brighter than my jem Jr

Would you say it's like an RG450? Or better, or worse?

Hi, Mike! Can you please make a review of the new TriceraChorus from Eventide? Would be cool to hear it against the Inspire and your TC 1210.. Hi 5's!!!

All the JEM necks are small feeling, in my experience at least, it's not just this import version.

Can you please tell me which guitar is better the Ibanez Jem jr white or the Ibanez Jem jr yellow colour? Thank you

I hope you have better luck with the trem than I had.... I went through 3 $500 Ibanez' guitars and none of the trems would stay in tune. Found a nice old S540 with an Edge trem and its rock solid. Anything less than the top shelf trem hardware is a crap shoot in my experience

For the algo & me: How'd you land such a supreme score with that cab?

The inlay is not Mother Of Pearl (MOP) but MOTS (Mother Of Toilet Seat) ;)

New to the modeling world here. If I buy your IR pack of off the two notes site i can use those as cabs for my head rush board right?