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Ibanez RG550BK
What can you do to improve a classic?
Well, we upgraded the Wizard neck by adding a reinforcement of bubbinga in the back.
The thinnest, fastest neck in the business is now one of the strongest and most reliable.
Ibanez jem7dbk
Back in the mid-80's, Steve Vai wanted his own model guitar. Not a custom, hot rodded, one-of-a-kind. No, he wanted one that he or you or anyone else could go into a music store and play right out of the box. Easy enough. The hard part was he wanted it to do everything.
The JEM started out as a pretty standard body with a standard 25 1/2 scale neck. Then 24 frets were used for greater range and a wider 43mm nut was used for wider, more comfortable string spacing. Instead of moving the bridge so compensate for these changes, the neck was set deeper into the body which also increases playing comfort. Cutaways were made deeper and more accessible.
Because many players were used to non-locking trems, the bridge was also sunk lower into the body. That provides more playing room and makes it easier to palm the bridge while picking. Steve wanted the tremolo to pull up as well as down, at least a third and preferably a fifth. Doing that to a standard trem would cause the springs to shoot off, so Ibanez invented the Block Lock.
Since Steve didn't want to switch guitars in the middle of a tune, a hum/sing/hum configuration with Split five wiring was designed so any kind of guitar tone could be quickly and easily accessed.
Did he get what Steve get the guitar he wanted? Well, Steve's been using JEM's for over ten years and getting every sort of sound imaginable. And he can still walk into any store with Ibanez JEM's and get just what wants. Right out of the box.
Ibanez JS1000BP Joe Satriani Series
Reduced to the basics, what Joe Satriani wanted from Ibanez was pretty simple: an instrument with a vintage feel and modern features.
But when you consider how exacting Joe is in getting just the right tone, it's no surprise that the "simple concept" went on to be one of the longest design projects in Ibanez history. (Joe's Chrome Boy Limited Edition was the longest).
First of all the neck on the JS had to feel like home. After a huge (and we do mean huge) amount of experimentaton, this turned out to be a neck with a rounder fretboard radius.
Joe also wanted frets that were harder and a little higher then standard vintage issue. With the 240R fretboard radius, it takes some of Ibanez's most skilled luthiers to properly install and dress these frets. Otherwise the higher notes can choke.
Inspiring Ibanez' talented luthiers to new heights wasn't enough for Joe. He was also busy working over with the pickup designers at DiMarzio. That resulted in the DiMarzio FRED pickup which matches the basswood body material that Joe chose for its pleasing "sponginess.' Then Joe went back to Ibanez to make sure that every ounce of tonal variation could be acheived from the DiMarzio's.
For a vintage set-up, Ibanez designers used the standard three way switch--but combined it with two coil taps so each humbucker can also produce a single coil twang. Some other interesting differences: when the pickup selector is in the center position with both coil taps engaged, the humbuckers work in parallel which produces a very intresting tone because each coil is located at a different position under the strings. The other push / pull pot on the volume engages a high pass filtering 331pf cap. Wide open there's no different, but roll the volume back and the highs and clarity remain.
We could go on and on about how much the JS can do, but a listen to any of Joe's albums for the last ten years will attest to that better. But if you get a chance, pick up a JS1000. Engage the coil tap and high pass filter and roll back the volume to four or five. That's just one of a slew of cool sounds Joe made possible after years of dedicated work on a truly classic guitar.
The JS1000 model, available in BP (Black Pearl) and WH (White).This model has the same basic features as the original JS1000 including Dimarzio® PAF PRO® and Fred® pickups, the Low-Pro edge tremolo system and the defined JS body.For 1999 we digitized Joes favorite neck and using our advanced computer controlled routers we can reproduce the same neck including any wear on the front and back from his playing style.
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