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Ibanez JEM20TH Steve Vai Jem Electric Guitar (with Case)

The Ibanez Steve Vai JEM20TH is fashioned of hand-crafted premium grade clear acrylic with a 3-D interior design that can actually be illuminated by internal green LEDs. Learn More...

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Overall User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10

Individual User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * . . . . . . 4 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10

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!

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!

Desirability:
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!!!

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.

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.

Support:
Yes, contacted company head, and requested seperate response from Mr Vai. Neither are interested it would seem!

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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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10

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

Quality:
Perfect

Value:
I think so, considering it's astounding quality, and that it was made by artists

Desirability:
It's hot

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.

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.

Support:
Never needed service...

Overall:
I am 100% satisfied with this guitar.

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