Ibanez Jem 7v "MNB"

Ibanez Jem 7v "MNB" is probably the most stock among all my guitars. Pretty much free from my terror of modifications. However, none the less, there are still little modifications being done to it. I had to make it "MINE" right? So I went ahead and changed the capacitor to Orange drop as per all my guitars. The 5 way switch has also been upgraded to a Dimarzio 5 way switch (Switch craft). As I am a huge fan of Steve Vai, it is a must for me to own his signature model. However that aside, this guitar is very playable and I would honestly consider it a class of it's own.

This guitar was also "Souvenir" I got for myself from the land of the rising sun. I went to Tokyo with the intention of getting an Old Ibanez Jem 7v (Ebony fretboard + Lo-Pro) but unfortunately wasn't able to find one. As a matter of fact, second hand Jem seems to be really rare. After going through many guitar stores in Japan, I finally found one Jem, made in 2007 in Tachikawa Ishibashi branch. I immediately requested to test the instrument and after tweaking around the amp and "abusing" the guitar as much as I could, I decided to buy it. My reasoning being that since Edge Pro has already phase out and I prefer Rosewood and Steve's main Jem is equipped with rosewood anyway, this piece, like it's previous incarnation will become a limited edition piece soon enough. In-addition to those cognitive dissonance reasoning, I actually like the feel of the instrument.

The neck measures 19mm on the first fret, 21mm on the 12th fret and sports a 430mm radius. If you have played an Original Wizard or Super Wizard neck before, it has the same radius. However, the main difference being, the Original Wizard or Super Wizard has a way thinner profile to compensate the "feel" of the neck while the Jem neck's thicker profile is much more "unforgiving". That being said, the neck however, surprisingly doesn't feel chunky and actually feels thin. Probably due to it's flatter D shape back and less meaty sides.

The last four frets are scalloped for both easier access and bending. The inlays of the current (any Jem that is made after 2002) has improved routing for the "Vine of Life", meaning you can see less wood filler being used to fill up the extra routing.
The Jem is also one of those few rare RG-ish guitar that sports a non Basswood body which in my opinion compliments the Dimarzio Evolutions really well. Instead of getting the mid bass dominant basswood and add it with more mid bass dominant Dimarzio Evolutions, Steve chooses an all time favourite Fender Tonewood, Alder, which is pretty balanced, allowing the warm bass of of soft wood but retains more highs than basswood. Couple with the mid bass dominant Dimarzio Evolutions, the guitar sings out pretty balanced and sweet.

This guitar is name "MNB" because recently, while I took it out of the hardcase to do maintenance on the guitar, I realized that, the guitar has yellowed due to humidity. However, the previous owner had written "MNB" but after selling it to the shop, the shop cleaned the guitar with alchohol or something. So it was sparkling clean when I bought it. After the paint has yellowed, the "MNB" spot remained white. So, imagine one day, "MNB" miraculously appeared on the guitar. I called it "Mana Boleh" which losely translate as "How can" in Malay. It's the first thing that came up to my head when I saw "MNB".

Ibanez Jem 7v "MNB" neck type: 5pc Jem neck fingerboard: Rosewood with Vine of Life inlay body: Alder fret: Jim Dunlop 6105 frets bridge: Ibanez Edge Pro Bridge neck pu: Dimazio Evolution Neck middle pu: Dimazio Evolution Single bridge pu: Dimazio Evolution Bridge Neck Specs Scale: 648mm/25.5" a : Width at Nut 43mm b : Width at Last Fret 56mm c: Thickness at 1st 19mm d : Thickness at 12th 21mm Radius: 430mmR