This video is a review and Demo of the Joe Satriani Ibanez JS 140M along with a pickup upgrade that was affordable and transformed this guitar into an even more wonderful sounding instrument!
Agreed!... Bought a JS100 years ago, took it appart, painted it, put FRED And PAF JOE in it... Its an incredibly good guitar. Satriani/Ibanez does a really good job with the budget end of the line.... few tweeks and your there.
I have this same guitar (same color) and one of my favorite things about it is the stock pickups. They have a sound all their own and it’s a great sound. I’m leaving mine as they are. For anyone that’s never played a JS I highly recommend this guitar for anyone that is intermediate and up. I have several from the JS100, to JS2480 and many (not all) in between and they are all great. Another big plus with the 140 is the Edge ll bridge that is now discontinued from what I understand. It’s a fantastic bridge.
You can never go wrong with Dimarzio! I remember back in the 80’s Ibanez had the DBZ Dimarzios in all their guitars. They made a much better quality product back then. Anyway, major sound improvement with the upgrade! The originals sounded like they were breaking up whether clean or distorted. Nice playing too.
Great vid! Just as an aside, the neck for the JS is known as the Tilt-Neck, same as the RG550. It and the scopped back for higher fret access were part of the Ibanez Radius series from 87-92/93. The JS series is pretty much how thst guitar lives on, but those features haven't changed since the JS1 was created prior to recording of Flying in a Blue Dream and The Extremist.
P.S, you’re right about buying a guitar with a solid quality foundation at a low price to upgrade the pickups later. I put a Dimarzio hot rail Super Distortion in the bridge of my Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster and now Mow it not only gets that beautiful classic 50’s Strat clean tones from the the remaining stock Tine Rider pickups but now I can get that killer metal Randy Rhodes sound. If you’re handy with a soldering iron and willing to put in some work, you can still get a really great versatile guitar 🎸 without breaking the bank.
Love this video ....... Have this same guitar ... I put a Dimarzio PAF Pro in the bridge (yes the Bridge but it's actually awesome in the neck as well) and a Cruiser in the neck and it sounds awesome!. Fav Dimarzio pickups are the PAF Pro, Super Distortion, Super 2 and the Fred. Love the Heavy Blues 2 and the Injector for single coils in the neck. Your setup sounded great and so much better than the stock pickups that were in there. I have always enjoyed buying mid priced or used guitars and doing this sort of thing. It's fun. Great video! It's always amazing how just a simple electronics change makes the guitar so much better. 💪
Thanks for watching man! I really love the pickups and play this guitar regularly. It is amazing how these little changes can really turn a mid range guitar into a monster!
Great video Marty, congrats on a great deal getting that guitar. I got a brand new JS100 from 2010, it was new old stock. Got it for 500€, sweet deal. And btw, has anyone ever told you, you kinda look like Reb Beach. 🙂
Thanks man! Wow sweet deal man! Great guitar for sure. They are built great and play amazing. Awesome whammy bar and tuning stability. Reb? Not until not, I’ll take it though! Thanks for the comment and support man. I appreciate it. 😎🥂
what's even better than the guitar and upgraded pickups. you're playing is really awesome and the tone is epic. that little riff there from raspberry delta jam v, ohh yeahh. sounds legit man. diggin it. edit. just finished watching till the end. wow nice playing, that was really cool such a versatile guitar and tone possibilities i wish i could play like that, any tips what to learn to be able to play like that?
Thanks man that's a super nice comment. My suggestions to get better: -if possible.. get a teacher for in person lessons that knows how to play the stuff you want to learn. Have him or her show you riffs and tricks from your favorite songs that match or push your skill ability. - find a way to start recording yourself. Get a bass and a drum machine or plug-in for you computer DAW it however you record. Make songs and solo over them. Play rhythm. Write what you like but keep doing it. You will progress. And you can hear it in your recordings. Which is rewarding. - listen to a lot of music. Don't just gravitate to one thing. You don't have to listen to stuff you hate. But seek out music and stuff from lots of genres. Enjoy it and understand why it works and sounds that way. Try to write in various styles and play in those styles. - put together a small band. And practice and play live. Even if it's in your garage. This teaches you how to play and interact with live musicians. It's a different beast. It also guides you in developing your tone and playing chops. Have fun man!
@@Ranch5150SkinWalker Hey bro, WOW! Thanks man for the honest and long detail answer. I think as simple it may sound or be obvious to some. For most of us that haven't committed to spending as much time on the guitar. This is big eye opener that and really clear direction how to improve. Thank You sincerely. Gonna use your directions for my new years resolutions and goals ❤️😎 That's really kind of you and I the you nailed it. Thanks again. I've just discovered your channel yesterday so I'm gonna learn a lot from there too :) really awesome channel and you're really a cool dude. So glad I came across. P.S. : you remember the 1st back to the future movie? your name is Marty and the evh amp 5150, thats wicked. Marty in the movie plays a really cool jam there with his band called pinheads. do you think you'd be down making a lesson how to play that part? and how to get that tone? nostalgia right there . make an extended version of that song that would be sweeet. take care man, wish you a wonderful day and keep rocking and having fun! later
I have a JS Series from 1990, stock with Fred and PAF Pro Dimarzios. Had the 22 fret neck though so the neck pickup is a humbucker. I switched to a Super Distortion for the bridge and sounds similar. I am surprised Dimarzio does not push their iconic first ever custom pickup. You often find their Tone Zone as standard equipment in most Ibanez and its not as good.
I came for the humbucker, stayed for the single coil….I don’t remember a single coil that has jumped out at me for awhile, but this one did ! Maybe the “nicer feedback” is part of the way Joe helped design them as he always has that great controlled feedback ? 😎🎸
I was really pleased with both pickups. The neck is really sweet. I find myself playing this guitar far more often now. It’s inspiring to play. Pretty much can handle anything. This swap really made it come to life!
The Fred is really bright compared to the Mojoe which I use and it has more meat on the bones and still has the harmonic clarity. The Satch track is a wonderfully expressive but extremely powerful pickup. I just run them in full humbucker mode.
Never tried a MoJoe. I can see why Joe liked the Fred for so long. It is bright but it cuts through well. It’s certainly not harsh, but it’s a soloist pickup for sure. 👍
seem like it is a good deal a real good guitar for the price i would say even with the factory pick ups, could you tell me something about the neck profile is it small or big i have a hard time with the ibanez neck profiles if it were a fender i like the c or v is this simular
Great video, and it's got me considering a FRED for my S670QM-DEB. I've only had the guitar a week, but I'm finding the the Quantum bridge humbucker sounds too jangly and Tele-like for my liking. In a high-gain amp, the Quantum pickup tends to compress the notes, giving them a fast attack but then letting notes slowly "bloom" into that Eric Johnson "Cliffs of Dover" tone. Not what I want for hard rock and metal. My favorite humbucker in thick mahogany body guitars is the Seymour Duncan JB, but since the S Series body is so thin, I'm wondering if the JB's "vocal" midrange will sound too thin in the bass frequencies. The Prestige S guitars include the Tone Zone, which seems to be a pretty warm and balanced tone (but hot). I also like the Duncan Distortion in my Jackson Soloist (mahogany). Decisions, decisions...
Thank you! This was my first experience with a Dimarzio Fred. It sounds great in my opinion. Quite a versatile and responsive pickup. Both split and humbucker mode! You can of course adjust the height of the magnets to taste as well if you want to get experimental. I thought the Quantum’s sounded ok but in a live setting and with a band they just could do what I needed them to do. I felt like I was fighting them and playing really hard, digging in. I felt like the compression was an issue as well with the Quantum pickups. Good analogy.
Those new DiMarzio's really made that guitar SING! Stock pickups were so 'meh'. I may have to add one of these to the collection and change out the pickups.
Thank you! Glad you could hear the difference too. I have pickup replacements before that did t make a big difference, but this was a total transformation!
Great Video Thank you for sharing. I have the same guitar and I’m looking to swap out my pickups as well. Do you have any suggestions or tips on the process or links to wiring diagrams? I appreciate any help you might give. Thank you!!
Thank so much, glad you liked the video. My best advice is take photos with your phone of the wiring as is before you start. When you get your new pickups make sure you get a humbucker that is 4 wire because that is required for coil tapping. If you get a 2 wired humbucker it will cool tap. Google the wiring diagram for the pickup you get. Typically the images will have a clear shot of which wires are hot, ground etc
Great demo of that guitar and pickup configuration 🤟🏼 can’t stand when a guitarist will just shred constantly instead of playing nice sounding chords etc
I would love to have a first edition JS guitar. I really loved Flying in a Blue Dream when it came out. I didn't have a clue who Joe Satriani was when I got the album.I listened to it everyday, over and over again. I thought he's sound was just awesome.
The JS Series were a series from Ibanez called the Radius series. Same body, but had several different pickup configurations. Fun fact, Flying In A Blue Dream was the first record he actually used a Radius on, and the JS1 - which became the JS1000 in 1994.
The ''M'' stands for the maple fingerboard, usually Joe has rosewood fretboards on his guitars. The Ibanez Quantum pickups are pretty meh overall, definitely worth upgrading them. Maybe also upgrade the pots.
Amazing video for guitarists. Thank you very much. Please, can I ask you for help? Recently I bought new quitar Ibanez JS 140M Soda Blue. From production quitar has this bridge pickup: Pickup Quantum, Bridge, Flat Black, Nickel PP, for any saddle pitch (52.5mm). Is it possible to replace with a pickup DiMarzio Satchut 8 (pickup string spacing F)? I'm worried about the different pickup string spacing. Ibanez bridge pickup has 52,5 mm and DiMarzio Satchur has 51,05 mm. Which pickup DiMarzio do you recommend for Ibanez JS 140M Soda Blue? Thank you for answer.
Love to see you have made in Indonesia Ibanez Joe guitar, cause i am indonesian and also big fan of Joe Satriani, as well as plan to up grade the pick up for my joe series signature ibanez with dimarzio as what you have, thank you for the review, keep on rock and roll
I'm looking to cover a fair amount of Satriani songs. Would you still recommend the js140 even with replacement pickups or would you happen to have an other suggestion?
The JS140 is overpriced for what it is. I have read numerous stories about the build quality being poor. You would be better off buying a used Ibanez RG Prestige model from ebay. Also look at FGN guitars they are the same Japanese company who make all of the high end Ibanez guitars including the Satch and Vai models . Ibanez S series is your other option as they look very much like the Satch models. Doing some research is the key to getting what you want for a good price. An S series with a pickup upgrade would do the job if you found a good one.
I think the quality is great. I was not happy with the stock pickups but other than that, everything else is very high quality. The neck and frets are perfect. Paint is flawless. The hardware works fine no issues with bad volume pots or a bad input jack. The trem is smooth as well. Good quality overall at a moderate price point.
@@Ranch5150SkinWalker thank you i like that maple neck,looks cool🙂they make new japan blue model but its so expencive🙄its crazy.thank you for your answer
@@przemyslaw1235 I think the maple neck is pretty nice too! The guitars coming from Indonesia these days are really good quality. I feel that Ibanez does a nice job with quality control and inspection.
Joe’s tone is in his hands and he would sound like that with a Les Paul. Maybe some people do, but I didn’t buy the guitar to sound like JS. I bought it because it is a great playing guitar for $800. Great neck, body and whammy bar. Just needed better pickups!
I have an old Epiphone that i would have gotten rid of a long time ago. My dog Milo who is gone now 😢put his teeth into it on the headstock. That cheap barely playable guitar is one of my most valued possessions now....
Sounds ice pickey. Probably have some high frets or frets that were not crowned properly. The Dimarzio Mo-Joe is an amazing pickup...it's like a Fred with more balls.
