Getting rid of my Ibanez Jem 555... For something better?

[SamR]

Hey all, first off this is my first post, so let me introduce myself, My name is Sam, I'm a m8 of Sambo... im sure some of you know him cos he has something like... 2800 posts on these forums (i hate to think how much time he spends on here  :P)

Anyway im a self taught guitar player, been playing for about a year and 2 months now i think, inspired by random guitarists on youtube, i started making my own vids about 5 months ago...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA9Jfdvggnw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CEwAGNMUBY

Ok here's my predicament, I have an Ibanez Jem 555, to be honest i bought it without looking at many other guitars, After a while i began to notice the quality and sustain of the guitar is... to be honest... kinda poor, even compared to my £150 ebayed Kramer!! Also i dont get on well with the flatness of the neck... So i would like to sell it...

Heres where things get fun... i have around £1500 saved up (including the sale of my Jem555, up for sale at £500)
Dont get me wrong im not made of money, i would also like to buy an amp and a couple more leads, but if i see a guitar for £1500 that i simply cant turn down, then i suppose i can push the boat out a little...


WHAT IVE LOOKED AT SO FAR...
Ive been looking at Jackson PC1's... downside... i play guitar for 6 hours a day and i would forever be buying 9v batteries for the sustainer, also i have heard mixed reviews from harmoy central about the quality.

Ed Roman Pearlcaster... Again mixed reviews on Harmony central

Esp Horizon FRII... Love the guitar, very hard to find one around these parts, Machinehead dont seem to stock them.

Musicman Axis... Gotta love Van Halen, im a little worried about the unfinished neck though...

Building my own guitar on Warmoth!! sounds like fun, but i hear they dont hold their prices well.

Ibanez RGT220a, i love the through neck on this guitar, but could i get something better for the price? Also the feel was also much like my Jem 555, a very flat neck.

Tom Anderson? someone said theyre overpriced

Suhr... i dont know much about buzz feiten tuning.

and last but not least...

An American series fender strat, which i would like to put dimarzio HS-3, and YJM pickups in.


Anymore suggestions would rock. Cheers

[Afghan Dave]

Welcome SamR! Any friend of Sambo's has got a lot of friends round here.. (plus a little bit of explaining to do)  :lol:

I'm gonna cut to the chase and say that with the region of £1500 at your disposal and no clear idea of which guitar you "really" want your best bet is to talk to a luthier and get a custom guitar that you will love till the day you die.

A few guys on the board have made the jump to a custom and the results are like a tailored suit.

I'm not going to only suggest my usual recommendation of Feline Guitars (most people know that I am friends with Jon @ Feline).

For me - when I'm gonna spend that kind of money - I want to get everything.

I want neck radius / woods / craftsmanship AND Bare Knuckle Pickups.

The alternative is to buy one Jon has ready to go (I'm sure he would be happy to install your choice of BKPs if they weren't already in there)

Here is a pic from the London Guitar Show and some of the "stock"  :lol:



Good luck and welcome again... I AM NOT ON COMMISSION!! :?

Here is another pic featuring Jon (left) and a couple of talentless fools from this board.. Johnny Mac and Davey - never listen the their advice  

[SamR]

Cheers for the reply, Does Jon have a website? The guitars are really what im into, something with a touch of class and a vintage look without sacrificing the quality of sound, as you said... with £1500 to spend i can afford to be fussy, and i doubt ill have this much money to spend on a guitar ever again. Also having bought a £800 Jem, and then prefering a £150 Kramer, i can also appreciate that the cost of the guitar isnt a deciding factor as to which guitar is better than the other.

*Edit*
Oh nvm i found the website! Cheers

Liking these two...

[gingataff]

Also check out Bob Johnson's Legra guitars (he'S a poster on this site too) and there are also a few private guitar builders here who may be able to do something for you if they have the time/inclination :)

[_tom_]

If I had that money I'd go right for a custom guitar, probably from Feline Guitars as his work looks awesome, as does the work of Bob at Legra.

Dave, any idea how much Jonathans superstrat-style guitars cost?

[FELINEGUITARS]

Ok - must be the Xmas spirit, but we are having a Xmas sale too

We do have rather a lot of nice guitars in stock and are starting to need t make some space (for new guitars to be built)

So if you see a guitar that you like the look of - gimme a yell and we will discuss a great price for it.

Also as next year is our 10th anniversary so we want to make a few choice bits (time permitting ) and maybe show them at next years LGS

[SamR]

Cheers for the help. I can never turn down a christmas offer!  :D I may be able to come down to Surrey and check some of these guitars out, ill drop you an email when i can arrange a time.

[Kilby]

Sam, friend of Sam it sounds a bit Tolkein to me ;)

I would also suggest trying out every guitar you can get you hands on, that way you can say I love the Axis (or Peavey Wolfgang) body and loathe then neck (or whatever).

Even try the guitars that you wouldn't normally think of buying, you may find a neck style that you really like.

Rob...

[Crazy_Joe]

Haha i know you too, you are a mate of Ell Howards, i'm a mate of his brother Jonny, you would recognise me if you saw me.

[Afghan Dave]

Haha i know you too, you are a mate of Ell Howards, i'm a mate of his brother Jonny, you would recognise me if you saw me.

Haha I know you are a mate of Elf Howards, I'm a mate of Aragorn, you would not recognise me if you saw me.....

From this day forth ye shall be known as "Sam, Friend of Sam!"    :roll:  :roll:

[SamR]

seems that most of the Hertfordshire's guitarists are in these forums, craazy! haha.

I just read a topic on harmony central about alternive fender strat... strats... Basically things that look like strats but arent actually strats, like GandL, Pearlcasters, Esp Superstrats etc...

Eventually they came to the conclusion that if u want a strat thats well built and with great sustain... then you might aswel get a strat and do it up... new pickups and trem. Some guy on the Jerry C forums wanted to make a replica ESP snapper from a Fender standard strat, it worked out quite well.

What you guys think of this...

Fender American Series Strat - Chrome Red - Maple neck - Chrome Hardware

Dimarzio HS3 - Neck Position - Black

Dimarzio Tonezone S - Bridge - Black

Chrome Pickguard - Chrome volume and tone Knobs


PMT said they can do me a VOX AC30 twin speaker amp, and all of the above for £800... and my Jem 555 in part exchange.

Good deal?

[Muso]

So SamR do you have some bareknuckle pickups?

I'd reccomend a fender strat or something along those lines, don't put shitety dimaziios in it neither, you want some proper english hand made pickups.

So yer from Hitchin, how are those wanK*rs at machine head, if you see the guitar tech Barry give him a slap on his big bald head from me  :D

[Afghan Dave]

What you guys think of this...

Dimarzio HS3 - Neck Position - Black

Dimarzio Tonezone S - Bridge - Black

Oh dear Sam, Friend of Sam.... You have opened the gates of Mordor and will be overrun by orcs if you ask for advice on Dimarzio in this forum..

We all love the "precious" BKPs!

You have been warned...      :lol:  :lol:

[SamR]

Lol ah dont worry im looking at the BKPs at this second, i wasnt impressed with the evolutions with my Jem...

[Crazy_Joe]

BKP all the way.