Steve Vai Guitar

[Wizard of Wailing]

    Yesterday I went my local Guitar Center and played a Steve Vai Ibanez for the first time ever, and I quickly found myself doing some full on BEAST MODE SHREDDING.  I never play that good in public, but for some reason on that guitar I was laying down Yngwie licks flawlessly. Now I'm wondering why.  I understand that guitar has a 16-17 straight radius fretboard.  Could that be the cause?  I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this, because I might order the 16 straight radius on my next neck.  Then again maybe it was just the 8 strings, instead of the 10s I normally play.

 

[Cagey]

Warmoth compound necks end up at a 16" radius, so I doubt that's it. But, if you're used to 10s and move to 8s, it'll feel like you're playing spiderwebs and you'll have all sorts of control. Maybe even lose control, because the thing won't fight you. Plus, the frets might be a bit taller, which lets you get a better grip on the strings.

A lot is made of heavier strings, but if you listen to ZZ Top, you're hearing Billy Gibbons playing 7s and 8s. He's hardly hurting for robust tone, so I'm not sure what the need is for some of the guy wires some folks play. I don't know that I'd go that light, but 9s have been working for me for a long time.

 

[Dan025]

i think there is real scientific research saying lighter is better on an electric, remember the sound comes from the strings and lighter strings have less mechanical losses. heavier is louder on an acoustic so you have that to consider but electrics are a different animal. lighter is also brighter so you may need to tailor the the amp to the string choice a bit. or just pick what sounds good when you play it. if you think you sound good your playing gets better.

i play 10s but more for the feel. i've played heavy strings and at one time it was thought to be the way to go. i have an old repair book by dan earlewine (spelling) and he talks about the pros setups and shows a lot of the great guitar players using heavy strings. most notably stevie ray vaughan. but he also has a page where he says you should set slotted adjustable pole pieces slot orientation diagonally. so while there is a lot of good advice in there on mechanical things there is also some nonsense in there as well.

 

[swarfrat]

With heavier strings you have a lot more dynamic range that isn't available playing lighter strings,  simply because you can bang the heck out of em.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

It's possible the radius may have played a part, depending on how low down the neck you were playing. For example, a Warmoth neck's radius in only about 12-13.5 between frets 5 and 9, so a 16" radius there would feel a bit different.

It's probably just that the guitar was set up really well for shredding though - low action, light strings, high, smooth frets, and so on.

 

[croquet hoop]

It's probably just that the guitar was set up really well for shredding though - low action, light strings, high, smooth frets, and so on.

That's what I thought too.

 

[drewfx]

i think there is real scientific research saying lighter is better on an electric, remember the sound comes from the strings and lighter strings have less mechanical losses.

Actually I believe the science has shown that for steel strings (vs. nylon strings) the internal resistance of the string is a negligible factor. The overriding factor is air resistance. This of course would be greater for heavier strings, but the question is whether the initial amount of energy put into the string when plucked is the same. Otherwise when you strummed a chord, the thicker bass stings would die out much faster than the treble strings.

 

[stratamania]

I have a Jem7V and an Yngwie strat in my small collection. The Jem 7V is a nice guitar but I prefer the scalloped Yngwie neck for that type of playing, and of course my Yngwie strat has 8 - 46 guage and is tuned to Eb.

My Vai guitar is concert pitch with 9 - 42. My Warmoth has 9 - 46

It's probably no more or less than you found a guitar with neck shape etc that just feels right to you and that's probably the important factor.

The guitar I play the least at the moment is the Vai Jem7V, it just depends on what I am playing.

 

[MikeW]

It's probably just that the guitar was set up really well for shredding though - low action, light strings, high, smooth frets, and so on.

This. I played a Jem6 the other day at the GC near my place. The setup was comparable to my Warmoth Strat in both action and feel of the bridge and tension on the strings. I played a few other guitars while I was there and, hands down, the Jem had the best setup, finish on the frets, and playability. Plus, I really dig the new Surf Green color scheme.

 

[bagman67]

I'm having serious cognitive dissonance over this whole "I played a remarkably well set-up guitar at Guitar Center" thing, myself.


:icon_tongue:

 

[DangerousR6]

I've had a simular situation with my Jackson Dinky's, my Warmoth necks feel great, play great and I cherish them all. But there's just something about the necks on my Jacksons that are just incredibly easier to play...I don't turn into Yngwie by any stretch, they just have a playability all their own.

 

[Cagey]

It's always surprising to me how much really small differences in necks make. If you look at them from a purely dimensional standpoint, you'd think you'd never notice. But, .100" in thickness seems to be the difference between playing a broom handle and a baseball bat.

 

[DangerousR6]

It's always surprising to me how much really small differences in necks make. If you look at them from a purely dimensional standpoint, you'd think you'd never notice. But, .100" in thickness seems to be the difference between playing a broom handle and a baseball bat.

Yip, Jackson's and Ibby's necks are super thin. Even the Warmoth Wizard necks, which I have several, don't compare. It maybe just the flatter radii that the others use on the fretboards... :dontknow:

 

[Tom]

My 2 cents ... I think you have to be very careful not to generalize that all Jems will turn you into Yngwie (or whatever axe you happened to play that day at GC). After you shred on the Jem at GC, drive down to the Mom & Pop music store and see if the Jem there plays the same. Sure there will be general characteristics attributed to a guitar that make it a better fit form one person to another, but sometimes very small differences in how a guitar is set up can make or break how it feels, even between two identical models.

My advice ... if you played a Jem at GC and it was an out of body experience ... then buy that guitar. Last year I played 4 different Deluxe Teles in the music store, and one of them just melted in my hands... it was absolutely unreal how that thing felt and played. I had a few hundred bucks less than the ticketed price in my pocket and made an offer ... but the guy turned me down and I walked out of the store without that guitar. To this day I still kick myself in the ass for not ponying up the extra cash and buying it. I have yet to play a Tele (or any guitar) that comes anywhere close to feeling like that one did.

Footnote ... worst feeling / playing guitar I ever owned was a Jem... and I even had my first wife walk down the aisle to Steve Vai's "Liberty" (true story), so that should tell you how much I really wanted that guitar to work out for me.

 

[DangerousR6]

My 2 cents ... I think you have to be very careful not to generalize that all Jems will turn you into Yngwie (or whatever axe you happened to play that day at GC). After you shred on the Jem at GC, drive down to the Mom & Pop music store and see if the Jem there plays the same. Sure there will be general characteristics attributed to a guitar that make it a better fit form one person to another, but sometimes very small differences in how a guitar is set up can make or break how it feels, even between two identical models.

My advice ... if you played a Jem at GC and it was an out of body experience ... then buy that guitar. Last year I played 4 different Deluxe Teles in the music store, and one of them just melted in my hands... it was absolutely unreal how that thing felt and played. I had a few hundred bucks less than the ticketed price in my pocket and made an offer ... but the guy turned me down and I walked out of the store without that guitar. To this day I still kick myself in the ass for not ponying up the extra cash and buying it. I have yet to play a Tele (or any guitar) that comes anywhere close to feeling like that one did.

Footnote ... worst feeling / playing guitar I ever owned was a Jem... and I even had my first wife walk down the aisle to Steve Vai's "Liberty" (true story), so that should tell you how much I really wanted that guitar to work out for me.

Exactly, very few times have I ever picked up a guitar(pre-made) and it just fell into place. And I've bought everyone. And I also agree setup is a very important key. All of my 5 Jacksons are setup as close as I can get them to each other, yet they all feel different. And I do have several guitars built by me that just fell into my hands and feel like they were made especially for me(no puns were harmed in this episode)... :toothy12:

 

[Wizard of Wailing]

    It seems like I might just have to order a Warmoth Wizard neck on my next build.  All I've ever played for 24 years have been Fender style guitars.  I'm not sure I ever played an Ibanez until a few days ago.  I've always scoffed at 80's style guitars with pointy headstocks, but I may have to get full shred features on my next Warmoth.

 

[Tom]

    It seems like I might just have to order a Warmoth Wizard neck on my next build.  All I've ever played for 24 years have been Fender style guitars.  I'm not sure I ever played an Ibanez until a few days ago.  I've always scoffed at 80's style guitars with pointy headstocks, but I may have to get full shred features on my next Warmoth.

Funny ... throughout the 80's - 90's I always played Ibanez and scoffed at the Fender necks. After playing the Ibanez, the Fender neck always felt like playing a 2x4. Anyway - I play a Strat now, but I do have the wizard profile neck (22 frets). It's pretty close to the Jem I suppose.

 

[cyrus]

I will second/third buying the guitar that clicks with you.
I think they have the "JEM Prestige" neck. It is very thin and somewhat wider than standard strat necks. Not only wide in the nut, the whole neck length is wider from nut to the last fret. 

 

[stratamania]

The width of the neck is determined by the neck pocket of the body which is a standard measurement whichever profile you go for. The width at the nut end is determined by the choice you make. An Ibanez Jem neck has a 1 11/16 neck width but the Warmoth wizard profile can be ordered in 1 5/8 for example. By the time the taper gets to the body end there is not any appreciable difference.

The he Ibanez Jem profile is very similar to an Ibanez RG as I had both to compare. No idea how they compare to the wizard neck as I don't have one to make a direct comparison. But certainly the wizard will be the closest profile to the Ibanez. They don't feel particularly wide, just flat.

 

[cyrus]

The width of the neck is determined by the neck pocket of the body which is a standard measurement whichever profile you go for. The width at the nut end is determined by the choice you make. An Ibanez Jem neck has a 1 11/16 neck width but the Warmoth wizard profile can be ordered in 1 5/8 for example. By the time the taper gets to the body end there is not any appreciable difference.

The he Ibanez Jem profile is very similar to an Ibanez RG as I had both to compare. No idea how they compare to the wizard neck as I don't have one to make a direct comparison. But certainly the wizard will be the closest profile to the Ibanez. They don't feel particularly wide, just flat.

Standard strat is 2.18"(55.6mm or so) last fret, JEM Prestige neck is 2.28" or so(58mm) last fret, close to a les paul I guess. The difference is close to 1.5 times the difference between a 1 11/16 and 1 5/8 nut, but in the last fret. Very little difference I agree, hard to tell. Looked it up here: http://ibanez.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_neck_types
I don't know if this makes a difference in playability(haven't played them), many other more important factors in play.