Ibanez JEM Junior Steve Vai Guitar Demo! 

hope it comes in some offensively bright colours

I was mega into Vai for several years about a decade ago. I'll always have mad respect for him as a musician, guitar player and human being.

I have friend who personally knows and hangs out with Steve Vai. Apparently he's a really cool dude.

Rob really knows how to get a wide range of tones out of that guitar! It's highly impressive to see what this instrument is capable of tonally.

Clean, blues, rock, metal, it's all you need. One of the best bang-for-buck guitars out there IMHO.

How does it sound through an affordable amp? You should review budget guitars through budget amps, because that's what budget guitarists use.

Ordered this JEM from the Andertons site 3 days ago and apparently, it was the last display one Anderton had in the window of store! Possibly even the one Rob is playing in this very video! 😍 Absolutely love it, I haven't stopped playing it since I bought it. I even carried it all the way to my audio engineering course today BY THE HANDLE and played it there too! xD It's so goddamn comfortable to play and I can't believe the quality for the price! :D

Something Rob didn't talk about... maybe he didn't even notice because he's so good... The Ibanez is super-easy to play. I've had an RG-470 (essentially the same guitar without the look) for 2 days and it has already convinced me I'm a better player than I am. If you want a recommendation from a dub player instead of somebody who knows what they're doing... get one!

Props to you Rob for looking after your cat.

Had one of these for 7 or 8 years and in all honesty they are excellent axes, and look soooo cool.

love this guy, his playing and his love for steve vai! ROCK ON!

First Andertons demo that actually makes me want what they're playing, you can just tell that this is an amazing guitar!

got this guitar, think the jem is the coolest looking guitar i’ve ever seen, however can’t spend that much so bought the JR version, and it’s amazing for the price honestly it’s so easy to play if anyone’s looking for a guitar around that sort of budget i recommend this one

So tempted to get one of these tbh...

I've been waiting forever for this. Thank you guys :).

Thanks u too guys for giving me such a passion and happiness on weekly date! tkx so much!

00:10 3:49 5:56 7:11 8:28 10:08 10:48 11:15 12:18 15:13 15:24

I noodled on one of these at the local shop. Really surprised by the quality, although I've never had the pleasure of playing a full blown JEM. Great vid!

Your video sold me. I bought one last week and love it. Very versatile and excellent sounds.

Been waiting to see a review of one of those! Love what I see and hear! Definitely buying one! Thanks Chappers!

im a bluesy type player and i play a strat and an SG but ive always wanted a jem , this is very affordable and a very nice guitar.

THE RED DWARF!

I can tell Rob is truly into that axe. His shred shows it! Sounds excellent bro!

Saw Steve Vai live a couple of weeks ago. Will DEFINITELY be saving a little to grab this guitar and some serious pickups, I'm super inspired

Dude can play!

I bought the exact same one for the express purpose of cutting off the lower horn and putting vintage fender single coils in it. I absolutely love it! It sounds like a vintage Mahogany Strat from the early 60s but it stays in tune after I decked the bridge. I also added a diabolic mod of my own creation😁. I have owned a blue floral print for Almost 30 years. A Jem is hard to beat🎸🍀🕊

Just bought one of these, don't hesitate they are spot on!

Rob is awesome player. Every guitar sounds awesome in his hands...

Can you do a video on the line of Jim Root signature Fenders please? I haven't found any side by side or proper reviews on the line and I cant figure out how they compare.

I just got one, they are much better than the older JEM JRs (333). Older ones had a cheap basswood body instead of mahogany, and did not have the tree of life inlays. It's often mentioned that Ibanez created the JEM JR in response to the fact that it's the most counterfeited guitar out their. Obviously, the JR is not as great as the standard JEM, but it's certainly miles better than the JEM knockoffs out their. It's a great option for those of us who can't afford a standard JEM. Thanks Ibanez!

Thanks for this. Been waiting ages for this review! :)

This is not how the guitar sounds, this is how it sounds when played by you. It´s not an exhibition of the guitar, but of the guitarrist.

Still waiting for that John Petrucci's Majesty guitar review :( it's been a year. You should have those in the shop.

Rob really shouldn't let his cat drive.

The local guitar shop had one of these for a short period of time. It was the first guitar I ever picked up and thought, "this is a super nice guitar". I loved how it sounded and felt. The only guitar that I've really felt the same about since was a schecter omen.

Just bought this and I love it

Ibanez in general make great guitars

Love how he shreds after screwing up for the love of god 😂

ive been waiting for ever for this!

I've never seen a guitar get you that inspired Rob! I hope you took it home. That sucks about your Jem. At least it was for a good reason, so you never have to fret about it, you did what you had to do.

Now just for the js junior!

You guys better review the Satchel Signature Kramer Pacer Guitar coming out later this year.

Got one on the way im so pumped

Thanks for the video. I didn't even know this version of the JEM guitar existed until now.

6:25 For the Love of God

Can you tell that the Captain really is not excited about this guitar at all?

Just picked one of these bad boys up absolutely love it!!!

Gotta love a jem! Epic

Have one of these, it’s well worth the money, might throw some different pickups in it( honestly not sure if I’d be able to to tell if I didn’t have a uv70p to compare to) Don’t be shy it’s a great guitar

Don't talk about the secret amp that we could have hidden with editing and left out of shot. I think we should fill the comments with amp speculation and hype up the secret amp so a few of us fixate on it :)

I love you guys and your guitar reviews. Will come to the UK someday just to get a guitar from you guys

I love these guys

Chappers, WE WANT THE BANDIT BACK!!! Sincerely, An old, Indian minion of yours.

Idea for a new feature: "TEST THAT FLOYD!" Where you compare all the various floyd style trems on all the guitars.

I used to have an Ibanez Silver Series Bass, and I LOVED IT!!

Great video! Brit-Rob has got mad skills! 👍

I own two different Jem's the original floral from 1988 and a 1998 in white; and I am really pleased ibanez have produced this guitar, it makes buying a knock-off chibanez a total waste of time and money so hopefully they will vanish from the market.

is there any difference between this one and the standard one for 550

Great demo!!

super mystery amp that may or may not be red dwarf prototype, oh how I love your tone

I feel like I'm completely alone on this. But I find the grip hole on JEMs to be so ugly.

This video has gained the same amount of views in one minute as one of mine gets in about 4 days XD

I just got one I love it it don't matter how much you pay you should be able to get it to sound great.it's in the hands and ears

It's been only 5 years but this video already looks like it's from 90's.

captain lee doesn't like vai lol I can tell.

Another JEM of a Video review!!

Thanks for covering clean tones as well! ;)

Thanks for a well-played demo! There are few players out there who can put an instrument like this through its proper paces. Thanks to you, Rob, Ibanez just sold another guitar. Well done, lad!

I wish this amp didn't sound so bad. Unclear cleans and mushy distortion... :( Just my 2 cents, no hate please.

8:54 I hear Big Trouble

I want one of these so much, this was a fantastic demo (as most of Rob's are :P)!

Ordered this today ❤

I wouldn't mind grabbing one of these just to have a Floyd guitar lying around... great price.

Captain is miserable here. Probably the only time I've seen him act like this. Super negative the whole time.

HELL YEAH GUYS.HEY ITS LINN FROM PORTLAND OREGON HOW ARE YOU GUYS!you guys are my new favorite channel!

I’ve been playing for 4 months. I started with a cheap bcp fender knock off that broke within 3 weeks. I went out to my local Music Store and I ended up getting the gretsch duo jet g5222. It’s an absolute unit, but it doesn’t have a Floyd rose bridge, and the bcp I fixed and drop tuned for fun and learning drop tuning. Anyways, I finally got myself a jem jr in yellow and black. It took me about 3-4 hours to get it into tune and hold it and then today I’ll be spending about an hour or so on raising the saddles just a bit. Everyone kept saying that a Floyd rose bridge is a pain to restring or to get in tune is half lying. Restringing it is easy, getting it to stay in tune is also pretty easy once the strings have stretched out. For the money both guitars costed me 500$ a piece and they are both a steal for the money. I kept looking online at the jem and watching Steve play on the nicer versions, all I can say is, after months of hyping my self over this guitar, it exceeded all my expectations. I already knew Ibanez was one of my favorite brands behind gretsch but I’d say this signature guitar from Ibanez is now my personal favorite. It sits extremely comfortably while you stand or sit, I’d say if you are interested in this guitar buy it. It’s an absolute jem of an axe. I’ve heard some people say that the bridge and something else is prone to failing, so when that happens I’ll just replace it with a solid one. Other than that I can’t believe it was only 500$ for this, it even came with a gater case. My gretsch didn’t come with anything lol. Also if you like the gretsch sound they’re fantastic. I’ve been doing 3 and 4 step bends on the strings and so far 3 months later it still holds its tune and I almost never have to tune it. I have a feeling that my jem will be the same way. It took hours yesterday before it fell out of tune.

Rob you sexy beast please please in your next video say the word "Staunch" me and the boys will love ya so much if you do it won't hurt to try aye.

A bit controversial this Rob but I would have kept the guitar and got rid of the cat :o

This is just proof of how much difference their amps make on the guitars they play

Great review, and loving Big Trouble @ 8:53 :)

What is the deal with the secret amp?

Sounds great, although it is Rob playing it :-) I just wish Gems didn't have that horrible hole in the body. As if anyone's gonna carry it like that :-)

Great sounding amp. Nice tone.

I love that Rob judges amps based on how quickly the tube harmonics cascade into feedback. If there was one classic amp that did that the best, its the AC30, which is an EL84 machine. Makes perfect sense then that the Red Dwarf is EL84 powered.

I didn't even know that they made budget versions of the JEM. I was in my local music store buying strings and looking at gear, when I saw a used JEM in its own stand, like a showpiece. I thought, "Hey look, they finally got a used JEM." I checked out the price tag, and I saw $350. I thought, "Holy fucking shit, a JEM for $350?! I've got to snatch this right away!" That was followed with sheer disappointment when I noticed the "Junior" on the tag, which translated it all to me as "cheap imitation, Edge II-equipped piece of shit."

I'm sorry, but I would've let the cat die to keep that guitar.

I really love JEM ♥️

Yes you are so right i bought one and i'm in the process of moding the shit out of it. I'm so happy Ibanez put this model out.

if steve vai is not playing that guitar then is being played wrong lol

He made sooo many mistakes while playing “ For the love of god “ 😂😂

this is by far the best guitar you have ever played. i suggest you get rid of the others and just go with this one and i highly recommend it to anyone. fenders can't do what this can.

The reference to Knees in Trowbridge has just made my day

i dont know if its the guitar or the amp but tone wise it sounds DISGUSTING! metallic and lifeless!!!

Ugliest guitar ever

awesome guitar!!

I got one, and it's awesome, and i love it!! :D

I have 2 Jem's they are great guitars. That looks good, sounds good, looks like a bargain! Wish they'd been around in the mid 90's!

Nice vid rob

Have played this guitar for one week, its pretty good for the price and keeps tune ok even with whacking the whammy.

Dammed that's a sad story and god knows where it is now and how much it is worth. Feel sorry for you Chappers. I sold my RG 750 yrs ago which my dad bought me when he had heard I was getting rather good at playing the guitar. I must say it was the Best RG type guitar I had ever played and it sounded utterly gorgeous with stunning balance and just warm overdrive. I craved for that guitar for yrs afterwards but could never find another one that felt so wonderful to play. It had the pressed lettering on the heel plate and not one with the embossed lettering or relief lettering as it is technically called. I bought over 13 RG750 guitars searching for its replacement but they all felt wrong to me with average tone or that neck didn't feel right until I suddenly found one with the same pressed heel plate lettering which I bought immediately. At last I had the same guitar just a different colour. The heel plate lettering was from 1993 where these very few necks and bodies were destined to go to America at the time to be built as custom shop Ibanez however there was a falling out in the business and the USA custom shop never took place at that time and so these selected bodies and necks just went out as normal RG750s but with the heel plates having this unique lettering. I will never sell my RG750 ever again as lesson well and truly learned. Since then I have found myself a Floral Jem from 1990 in almost new like condition and you can even see the cross pattern in the fabric of the material underneath the clear top coat. Its so beautiful I can't believe I own it lol. I wanted one for well over 25 yrs so I thought its about time. The guy I bought it from bought it new but only played it for about 18 months before his interest for guitar just dwindled away however he just kept the guitar in its case because he thought it looked nice at Christmas or when he had family and friends around ect...lol. Great for me because I got a really old guitar that looks like new which as we know 30 yr old guitars usually have lots of scratches and a few dings especially around the corners and headstock. Because it has seen not much light the plastics have not faded whatsoever and the green inlays on the neck still look ultra vivid against the ebony fretboard which is very dark black and after I polished up the quite murky looking frets its like a piece of jewelry. The case is pink inside just like my Gibson M-III case which was a shocking surprise too. Now I want a re-issue from around 2000-2006 or so I believe. Till then I will enjoy my Jem and RGs:)