User Reviews at zZounds

"This thing sounds as great as it looks.." submitted July 6, 2007

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Music Style: Rock

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Sound: This is the best guitar I have played in 40 years of playing. I have 4 other Jem guitars and they all play great, sound like a dream and play exceedingly clearly. They each have separate, distinctive tonal qualities and I love them all. The Jem 20 is a whole other level tho.. It is like crystal and imparts that quality into the tone. It accommodates one's playing style and tonally elevates. The clarity is surgically precise. Feature: All Ibanez Jems that I have played were well thought out and all are useful. The parts... the Jem 20 is art married to music in high style Ease of Use: The difficulty is getting bad sounds out of it. It brings out nuance in other devices (like Eventides), allowing for more sonic extraction. The only learning curve might be cleaning up one's touch on the insturment, as it's high level of clarity displays as well, the nuance of your touch. Quality: Perfect Value: I think so, considering it's astounding quality, and that it was made by artists Manufacturer Support: Never needed service... The Wow Factor: It's hot Overall: I am 100% satisfied with this guitar.

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"JEM 20TH ANNIVERSARY, AS A 50TH BIRTHDAY PREZZIE" submitted November 8, 2008

By a customer from btinternet.com

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Sound

Features

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Value

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Musical Background: active musician

Music Style: many !!!, classic rock ,pop,blues,country,throughout the last 50 years !!

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Sound: I own a 10 year old jem 7vwh,which i have used as my main guitar for those 10 years,and hadnt found anything to match,let alone surpass the sound in that 10 years,,,,up until now !!,my wife bought that jem 7vwh for my 40th,and for my 50th,she surprised me with the jem 20th !!,i gigged it for the first time tonight,and boy what a fantastic sound,with gr8 sustain,and a big,almost les paul sound !! Feature: good tool kit with the guitar,beautiful case with plaque, the guitar itself is versatile,the whammy comes back in tune,no problem,the led,s, could do with being a little more powerful,as its not as bright as i would,ve liked. Ease of Use: it plays fantastic,having had the jem 7,for 10 years,with the warm ebony fretboard,which i love,i was dubious about the rosewood,but it feels fine,i set it up myself using the tools provided,after regardless of what strings came with it,i put on a set of ernie ball 9-42,with the top e, swapped out for a 10,so its 10-42 Quality: it is a solid,blemish free,working perfectly,high quality guitar !!! Value: i think all jems and other manufacturers "signature model" guitars are overpriced anyway,having said that,my 7v has earned its keep many times over.my wife paid nearly £4000 for it,but it is a rare beast.what i would say,is that,for £4k,i would,ve expected a more ornate neck and headstock,like the jem 10th had Manufacturer Support: none of the above !!!,i do not for see any problems,as i havent had problems in the 10 years owning the jem 7vwh,yes excessive use of the whammy,will eventually wear the knife edges,i replaced the bridge and top nut after about 8 years !!!,and a new volume pot,and a couple of jack sockets in its time,but this is maintenance stuff,not problems associated with poor quality. The Wow Factor: I dont visualise guitars as sexual,but this is a collectors item,which is part of the reason for my wife buying this for me,and i will be selective as to which gigs i take it to,as not to devaulate it,with chips,and dinks which my white jem has got over the years. Overall: i will be satisfied for ever !!!,i played my highly customised washburn rs-8v for 10 years,before making the jem 7vwh my main guitar,for the last 10 years,although i still use the black rs 8v,for drop d tuning !!,certain guitars are "keepers", and the jem 20th for me at least, is no exception !!

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"This hugely hyped guitar promised much, but delivers little, and I feel we've been had somehow; it's a bitter bill to swallow!" submitted July 18, 2007

By a customer from btinternet.com

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Sound

Features

Ease of Use

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Active

Music Style: Up for any and every thing!

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Sound: It doesn't reach where I want to go, acrylic just doesn't give you an improved or comparable tonal quality, it absorbs rather than releases it; give me limba, swampash or mahogany any day. I appreciate they have tried to design a 'new' sound, but they failed to give me an improved or even acceptable one which is the whole point. Feature: Usual good quality tool kit and paperwork. Components, acrylic is a gimmick, the 'tendrils' I was told were originally to all be illumiated with changing colours; what happened? Not practical in day light, kinda STUPID that!!!Case, nice and sturdy, but why white inside, it looks pathetic; a colour or black would have been a great improvement. Some of these have big gaps in the pattern too, and I notice those bought independantly from Japan seem to be worse on that score. The weight really gets to you after a couple of hours, but what is most disappointing is the COP OUT on the neck. For $6666 there should have been a custom neck especially built considering that price tag; I have had to get one custom made I was that Peed, and I even wrote to the company president, no reply of course! Ease of Use: As a musical instrument it works but it disappoints; it is a half hearted attempt at achieving what could have been something incredable, that's why they are struggling to reach $4000 now. It says Mr Vai has had his day,he has lost the desire and passion to impress, personally support, and astonish his instrument buying followers. It is the could have been, should have been guitar that never was anything but a shadow of it's potential. The disappointment is intense. Quality: Ibanez quality is normally very good, but in this case it involves the aestheticas and the theme as well. The fact is in daylight it is laughable, at night.In darkness it's ok, but it soon gets boring because there is no colour change or movement; it is comparable to a traffic light stuck on three colours, with todays technology that is simply a joke, what were they thinking???? It will last a long time I am sure, but I think people will move on swiftly to something more credable. Value: Worth half it's retail, no question about that! Manufacturer Support: Yes, contacted company head, and requested seperate response from Mr Vai. Neither are interested it would seem! The Wow Factor: It gets worse every time I look or think about it; however with a new custom neck, and some more interesting lighting features it will be much improved. Why didn't Ibanez make that effort $6666 is a hell of a lot of dosh to play with if you are going to make an anniversary guitar!!! Overall: Will probably replace this at a loss of about $2000 equiv, (from UK); even if they recalled and improved I feel Ibanez have personally let me down, they have cut corners despite a HUGE price tag! I have maybe 20 plus Ibanez guitars; alot of high end/J Craft,swirls etc. I'm moving to another brand, it's that bad!

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Ibanez JEM20TH Steve Vai Jem Electric Guitar (with Case)

User Ratings

"This thing sounds as great as it looks.." submitted July 6, 2007

"JEM 20TH ANNIVERSARY, AS A 50TH BIRTHDAY PREZZIE" submitted November 8, 2008

"This hugely hyped guitar promised much, but delivers little, and I feel we've been had somehow; it's a bitter bill to swallow!" submitted July 18, 2007