Ibanez JEM7VWH doesn't comply with Steve's sound quality

[bagadoo]

Hi people.

I have a big problem with the Ibanez JEM 7V I bought less than one year ago.

While I needed to use some sustained notes for a solo around the 15th and 17th fret on my G string a week ago, I noticed a weird noise ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAmkwapdABY

So I removed my ME-70 and plugged my guitar directly to my mesa boogie road king head. Same noise !

So I took my little VT30 to see if the amp was involved, but exactly the same noise

I went back to the dealer's store (really professional one) to check if the other guitars were doing it, and some of the good ones (LAG, gibson etc...) were doing it but really less obviously so it's acceptable. I checked on the internet and some others have the same issue... http://music.stackexchange.com/question ... rble-sound

2 month ago I went to a luthier's workshop, and after checking the radius, the frets, the bridge, the floyd rose tremolo, moving down the pickups to avoid an unwanted induction problem, he decided to call the french ibanez service to know why this is happening because obviously there is no unwanted contact with a fret, and no electrical issue.

Finally the dealer and I decided to call the Ibanez Salesman to return the guitar to their workshop.

After a huge time spent (2 months) in the french workshop working for the ibanez after sales service, my JEM 7V finally comes back to me as bas as it was before so I'm really pissed off ! (and so is the dealer)

The Ibanez Salesman say they can't do anything more but sending a new JEM 7V to me to see if the sound buzz is less obvious.

They sent the new one and it has exactly the same problem but it's a bit less obvious...

I forgot to mention that instead of the ME-70 i now have a GT-100 so as the bad sound is there whatever the multieffects unit is, it's definitely coming from the guitar...

How can Ibanez cheat on the JEM7V quality as Steve gave his name to promote their guitars ?

[Jeries]

Lets see-

A lot can cause this- or give off random noises/issues

1- when i buy a guitar or acoustic- you have to hit the body and neck like punch it- and knock on it- its easier on an acoustic- but the body and neck should have a pleasent resonant frequency- if the frequency the wood naturally vibrates at is off or a bad interval the guitar will not sound good and resonate. that's why vai tries out 100 necks on a guitar before he changes the neck on a guitar.

2- if you get 20 JEMS in the same room (and i did this with Taylor acoustics when i bought one) they wont resonate the same- the wood wont have the same pitch to it- how do you make sure you get one that resonates well other than what i said above? strum the strings and feel how heavey the guitar headstock vibrates on the tip of the headstock- so strum hard with one hand and feel the vibrations with the other at the tip of the headstock- i guarentee out of 20 jems you'll find one that vibrates the hardest and the ringing and sustain in the guitar is so good it blows away the rest- because it goes through the body and neck and sounds amazing.

3- EVOLUTION pickups aren't great in every guitarists hand

4- you may be pressing the g string down too hard- contributing to some of the warble

5- your pickups are probably too damn high- and the magnets are screwing with the strings

6- A floating trem does have some give up and down- and can cause something like this

7- intonation sounds bad- this may help the guitar resonate better

8- maybe your neck pocket needs a shim so the strings hit the nut and bridge at a better angle

9- if Ibanez or a dealer offered to exhange the guitar for a new one- do it- but be very particular about the new one- do what i said above- and if possible pick one out of 10000 guitars. (I picked my taylor acoustic after playing 300+ and literally buying 4-5 taylors then selling/returning the ones that weren't the best)

10- you may be getting some noise from behind the nut- try a hair scrunchy or peice of tape on the strings behind the nut

11- sometimes guitars behave weird around certain strings and certain frets- i know this especially because i use a sustainer system- on one guitar around frest 9-14 on the g string - no matter what i do- it always feeds back into harmonic notes no matter what i do- i think its just how that guitar resonates and how it reacts when vibating those notes.

Guitars across all brands are pretty bad today.
When i needed another sustainer guitar- i bought about 10-15 guitars to show to my guitar repairman before he said "THIS ONE" is good enough quality to have a sustainer put in.
(I did not do this with the first sustainer guitar and had years of trouble/neck pocket cracking/bridge problems/etc)

When I got my white JEM- I told the guy i bought it from 'hey i'll buy it- but my guitar guy needs to say it's good first' we met there- and he said it was good- and i bought it- this was a few days after i bought a JEM DBK from a friend- and the neck was bad on it.

Gibson/PRS are some of the most expensive guitars out there- and quality wise- some of the worst

hell- if you want ebony on a gibson in 2014 the cheapest guitar is $7000 now- a gibson supreme les paul with ebony fretboard.

OH and last
12- Jam some tissue in the back cavity where the springs are then cover it up with the plate- that might help.

13- replace the springs with genuine floyd rose springs- or fender american springs- along with the tissue that might help..

anyway- enjoy my rambling nonsense

[bagadoo]

Thanks a lot Jeries.

I'll use this checklist wisely as I'll test the new JEM they sent to the dealer tomorrow

[fyrie]

I recommend trying #12 first if the issue is present on the next guitar.

[bagadoo]

Unfortunately the new one has the same issue, and I had all Jeries solutions tested and i can say :
- My pickups are now so low they almost disapear behind the pickguard.
- It's definitely not a problem of finger pressure as I had it tested from the really light pressure (almost muting) to the heavy one. I can now say my fingers are most of the time in the really slightly way to press the string down, not in the heavy way...
- Intonation is good, and so are the neck settings (action etc...)

- I had some tissue jammed between the springs and the back plate. It's not fixing the issue but don't you think I might want to try to jam it between the springs themselves ?

- The only thing I have to try tonight on my JEM is the hair scrunchy behind the nut...

[Jeries]

maybe floating trems aren't for you.

i love them- i need them- but they cause lots of trouble.

if you can live with just diving DOWN then you can have the bridge blocked so it only goes down and not up- and it will be the most stable thing you'll ever play

[Andrew J Dampier]

That's the sound of a string hitting a fret. Had the same problem on my 7V on the high E string around the 19th fret. I just took a cloth and a hammer and hammered the fret back down, problem solved. Find a good fret guy in your area, a simple fret level should make the problem go away.

[crowdman]

hi all. I own a jem777 sk (91) , a jem 77 FP (91) and a jem 7 vwh . All 3 guitars have the same "wobly" sound on the high e to g strings from frets 12 to 17. It is not noticable in a band environment, but in a studio setting where every note is cristal clear it is very present. My others guitars (gibson, jackson, ltd) don't have this issue.
But .... I love the look and feel of the Jem, so i take it for granted.

[orlandopunk]

you cant expect that overpriced jem to sound like an evo lol

jems are overpriced for what they are, your just paying for the name, and it wont even sound like evo

[miker]

I realize I'm a few years too late here... but anyways.

I've also got a 2014 JEM 7VWH, with the Edge Pro trem. I notice the warble on the top 3 strings sometimes... I've found the trem arm can contribute to it.

So... just based on my experience, if I move the arm down and away from the strings I'm able to make it go away. It seems like a balance issue on the trem. If I keep the arm up and close to the strings, it will be more likely to cause the trem flutter that produces the warbling.

When I'm done using the trem, I push it down away from a comfortable grabbing position and I get no warbling problems.

Just my experience.