Ibanez Unveils The JEM20TH 20th Anniversary Steve Vai Signature Guitar
January 29, 2007
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To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Ibanez JEM, Steve Vai will personally unveil his new JEM20TH signature model at the NAMM musical instrument convention in Anaheim. While the first Ibanez JEM's were lightweight basswood and later the more traditional alder, the new JEM20TH body is fashioned of hand-crafted premium grade clear acrylic with a 3-D interior design which can actually be illuminated by internal green LED's.
The JEM20TH lists for $6,666.65. Only 500 will be available worldwide with just 200 being available in the United States.
The first Steve Vai Signature models, the JEM Series, debuted at the Chicago NAMM show in 1987. The JEM's were the spearhead of the rebirth of Ibanez that year and the eventual status of Ibanez as one of the top three electric guitar companies in the world.
DiMarzio Pickups for the JEM20TH
The density of the TransJem body is greater than that of traditional wood guitars. To work best with this construction, DiMarzio designed the TransJem pickups to have greater transient response than standard humbuckers, and the neck and bridge pickups each have individual coils tuned to different frequencies. This combination produces a sound that is both powerful and open. The middle pickup design is based on the DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues 2. This design works well with the dense TransJem body, and balances very well in split mode with the neck and bridge pickups. All five TransJem switch positions are hum canceling.
Acrylic Body
The JEM20TH's beautiful acrylic body is made by a Japanese company that fabricates the clear tank walls for the more prestigious aquariums in the world. The actual process is a closely guarded trade secret. Each body is gone over by hand extensively by a highly skilled veteran of acrylic arts.
JEM20TH
List: $6,666.65
Body Material: Hand-made premium acrylic resin with 3D multi-color design inside illuminated by green LED's
Neck Material: Maple/ Walnut 5ply
Neck Scale/Type: 25.5in/JEM
No. Frets/Type: 24/ 6105
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Inlay: Tree of Life
Bridge: Edge Pro tremolo
H/W Color: Chrome
Neck Pickup: Trans JEM Humbucker
Middle Pickup: Trans JEM Single
Bridge Pickup: Trans JEM Humbucker
Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 5-way pickup selector switch(Split-5)
Case: Special JEM20TH Hardshell Case
Case List: Included
For more information, visit their web site at www.ibanez.com.
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