Product: Ibanez 77BFP
Price Paid: US Dont ask used
Submitted
10/06/2000
at
09:31am
by
Jay Northrop
Email: jay_northrop<at>yahoo dot com
Features
:
9
This guitar is a 1991 or 1992(?) Ibanez Jem 77BFP made in Japan. 24 frets, basswood super-strat style body, 1 Vol, 1 tone, 1 way selector, Dimarzio PAF Pro's (passive) in a H/S/H configuration. Maple neck and fretboard with gorgeous vine inlays. The back of the neck is unfinished, or maybe just has some stain on it...either way, it feels like bare wood. The tailpiece is an Ibanez Edge LoPro Trem (I believe) that is Floyd Rose licensed. The finish is a blue floral print that really looks nice. The neck is very wide and thin and flat. Came with hardshell case.
Sound
:
6
For it's purpose, which is heavy style playing in the style of Vai, it's perfect. I agree with the previous review that this guitar sounds better with signal processing. I play through a Johnson Millennium 150 and it's really happy sounding through the dual recifier with chorusing and delay. However, the sound is very compressed. Highs and lows seems to be clipped. I think the PAF Pros are to blame. I have a bugaboo about the pickup selector...you can get the humbuckers alone or the middle single coil alone, or tap the humbuckers when combined with the middle single, but you can tap the bridge or neck pickups by themselves! This is an annoyance that takes away from the versatility of that guitar. I would at least like to tap the neck humbucker by itself. The single coil setting don't really have a whole lot of single coil character...meaning they don't "quack" like a strat does. There's nothing offensive about the sound, it's just not totally what I was looking for.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
She's the best looking guitar I've ever owned. Absolutely beautiful. Everything is as it should be. I was sold on the looks of the guitar.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
This guitar is a players guitar and Vai is pretty rough on his axes. I think this guitar could survive a nuclear war.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Can't comment here.
Overall Rating
:
7
I've been playing for over 20 years. I also have a wonderful Tacoma DM9 (see my review elsewhere in HC). I wish I had taken the time to hear the guitar through my own gear before I purchased. If it were stolen or lost I would probably buy something else, although I love the guitar. It's beautiful and plays great, but the sound just isn't me. I wish the bridge and neck pickups tapped individually. I won't modify it because 1. It's somewhat collectable and I don't want to hurt the value and 2. I have the idea of having to modify a guitar I paid so much for. Bottom line: I love it, but I'd sell it for the right price ;-)
