Ibanez JEMJR-WH

I always loved the look of the jem guitars but the increasingly up creeping prices of them made me put them away from buying. Ibanez went smart and introduced the jemjr.-version along with a very competitive price. What attracted me to this guitar too is the fact that it's body is made out of mahogany. Almost all other jem guitars are made out of basswood or alder or the like. As with all Ibanez guitars nowadays, wherether it's one out of the more cheap series or the premium of even prestige series, the fretwork is quite inconsistent; I've played all types of ibanez guitars and nowadays, the're prone to improperly levelled frets. It's kind of hit or miss. This has nothing to do with the pricerange, as I've also seen improperly levelled frets on prestige necks. But again, on this particularly guitar, the fretwork is fine. Not superior but fine. I can set the action the way I want it without severe fretbuzz. The electronics were a bit of a surprise! I didn't expect too much of the quantum pickups but there're actually great! The floyd rose trem along with the top lock is not of the greatest quality. Considering it's price, you more'n less can expect this. It stays in tune in general but especially with pull ups on the trem, you can expect some tuning instability. The quality of the locknut comes also into play with this. Good news with this is that these kind of worries can easily be solved by changing out these parts for upgrades. Yes, the guitar will eventually cost more money but considering the price you'd have to pay for another, more "higher quality" jem, you're better of just upgrading this!

Als erstes mal dank an Thomann für die einwandfreie abhandlung meiner bestellung. Auch der feine kundenservice mag hier noch mal erwähnt werden. Dabei hat es auch keine rolle gespielt das ich in Holland wohne.
Zur Gitarre (Auch habe ich sie erst seit drei tagen)
Beim empfang durfte ich mich über eine makellose gitarre freuen, selbst unter der Lupe gab es nichts zu meckern. Lack war einwandfrei, mechaniken und andere unterteile arbeiten so wie man das wünscht. Nach 15 minuten feinjustierung hatte ich dan auch ein perfect bespielbares instrument in der hand.
Da ich selbst auch Gibson und Fenders habe kann ich feststellen das diese Ibanez sich durch die bespielbarheit und aussehen nicht verstecken muss.
Wenn man dann doch möchte, könnte man sich einen Floyd Rose leisten und vielleicht den einen oder anderen Pickup mit einem DiMarzio EVO umtauschen.
Dann aber hätte man eine Gitarre der Spitzenklasse für den sensationellen preiss von 1000Euro !!!. Aber auch in orginal (Für unter 500Euro) klinkt die gitarre viel besser als der preiss es vermuten lässt.
Ich habe meinen beschluss keine sekunde bereut...und freue mich jedes mal wenn ich sie spiele.

I considered returning the guitar after a few days because it just didn't feel "right" for me.
After a string change and a lot of messing around with the tremolo to get it sitting right there was something about this guitar that just makes it feel cheap..
The paint finish is as good as it can be, no blemishes or noticeable imperfections - all OK there.
The balance is nice, so it stays wherever yo point it.
It's also a lot lighter than any of my Jackson guitars so it's quite comfortable to use on a long session.
The pickups are well matched for progressive tone changes through the five switch positions but the single coil in the centre is a different colour to the humbuckers and the pickguard. Another indication of cost cutting I guess, or a lack of quality control..
Sadly there are a few other bad points.
I swapped out the tremolo arm from one of my Jacksons because the one that came with the guitar had a tendency to come unscrewed as it was used.

I have played 8 gigs with the guitar and the lacquer on the bridge is already worn off on the bottom "E" through to the "G" strings - how bad is that ?
The "Jatoba" fingerboard is nasty.. even after a copious amount of "Doctor Duck's" oil it feels cheap. Would rosewood have been much more expensive ?
The frets were rough as hell straight out of the box and required a fair amount of polishing before they started to feel smooth enough to handle pitch bends without producing a lot of scratchy noise.

All in all I guess that I can get used to it enough to keep it, but it is unlikely that I will use it as my main workhorse.
As soon as I have my Jackson DK2S re-fretted it will be demoted to being my backup.