Steve Vai at the Ibanez booth at NAMM
(photo by Jarrod Vrazel : zrock.com)
To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Ibanez JEM, Steve Vai unveiled his new JEM20TH signature model at NAMM in Anaheim. 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. Only 500 will be available worldwide with just 200 being available in the United States.
Steve Vai at the Ibanez booth at NAMM
(photo by Jarrod Vrazel : zrock.com)
Steve Vai at the Ibanez booth at NAMM
(photo by Jarrod Vrazel : zrock.com)
Steve Vai 20th Anniversary signature model
(photo by Jarrod Vrazel : zrock.com)
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.
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.
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.
The JEM20TH Anniversary Steve Vai signature model retails for $6,666.65.
source: Ibanez
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