DrewJD82
Well-known member
They announced this model a few months back and I just about shit due to the obvious JEM777LNG hat nod and the inclusion of the Sustainer pickup. I’ve been wanting a 24-fret shredder to replace my JEM7V (needs some serious work) and I was salivating at this, but couldn’t justify it as I’m not currently gigging and while the JEM needs work, I can still play it fine, it’s just not as awesome as it once was.
A few months back I got my vaping habit in check, I was blowing $160 a week on fucking Juul refills like a dumbass, I’m now down to $10 a week and just keep the vape around to hit when my stress level jumps at work. I’ve been putting the money saved in my fun money account, so when Solar had a sale and offered to ship the US while eating the tariffs on their end, I had enough saved from not vaping to buy it.
This is my 2nd ‘legit’ Solar, I have one of their S By Solar’s as well I got cheap last year, but I don’t consider that ‘legit’ as it’s essentially their Squire line.
If I listed all the pros of this, I’d go over the whole guitar, so I’ll just list my gripes-
Strap button placement on the back of the top horn. I just don’t dig it there.
Pickup is way too much output. It’s a Duncan Solar + and I get why it’s a high output pickup, but it’s too much for me. It doesn’t even sound bad, it’s just too much. I’m using a IIC++ model in that vid above, I had to dial the input gain back due to the bees in a can aspect it was pushing the amp into.
Everything else is fucking STELLAR. I’m holding these things against Fugijen/MIJ guitars, FWIW. I grew up with MIJ Ibanez, I learned on MIJ Ibanez and have seen nothing but consistent quality there so I don’t feel wrong using them as my measure of quality and I’d have zero problem putting either Solar right up against a new Prestige or 90’s Ibanez. The kicker- this thing was $1100.
Gotoh 1996t fans, have they changed that bridge over time? That’s what’s on this (another reason I wanted it, because it’s not an FR-1000) and it seems a lot thinner and nearly as well built as the Ibanez Edge/LoPro. For some reason I don’t recall them being this thin.
I’m going to put an actual neck pickup in place of the dummy coil. Vai also has a signature Sustainer pickup coming out sooner than later that I’ll be looking into. His gripe was that they don’t always sound that great when they’re not doing the Sustain thing and you can hear in that vid when I turn it on/off how it effects the sound. I’m anxious to hear the Vai version.
A few months back I got my vaping habit in check, I was blowing $160 a week on fucking Juul refills like a dumbass, I’m now down to $10 a week and just keep the vape around to hit when my stress level jumps at work. I’ve been putting the money saved in my fun money account, so when Solar had a sale and offered to ship the US while eating the tariffs on their end, I had enough saved from not vaping to buy it.
This is my 2nd ‘legit’ Solar, I have one of their S By Solar’s as well I got cheap last year, but I don’t consider that ‘legit’ as it’s essentially their Squire line.
If I listed all the pros of this, I’d go over the whole guitar, so I’ll just list my gripes-
Strap button placement on the back of the top horn. I just don’t dig it there.
Pickup is way too much output. It’s a Duncan Solar + and I get why it’s a high output pickup, but it’s too much for me. It doesn’t even sound bad, it’s just too much. I’m using a IIC++ model in that vid above, I had to dial the input gain back due to the bees in a can aspect it was pushing the amp into.
Everything else is fucking STELLAR. I’m holding these things against Fugijen/MIJ guitars, FWIW. I grew up with MIJ Ibanez, I learned on MIJ Ibanez and have seen nothing but consistent quality there so I don’t feel wrong using them as my measure of quality and I’d have zero problem putting either Solar right up against a new Prestige or 90’s Ibanez. The kicker- this thing was $1100.
Gotoh 1996t fans, have they changed that bridge over time? That’s what’s on this (another reason I wanted it, because it’s not an FR-1000) and it seems a lot thinner and nearly as well built as the Ibanez Edge/LoPro. For some reason I don’t recall them being this thin.
I’m going to put an actual neck pickup in place of the dummy coil. Vai also has a signature Sustainer pickup coming out sooner than later that I’ll be looking into. His gripe was that they don’t always sound that great when they’re not doing the Sustain thing and you can hear in that vid when I turn it on/off how it effects the sound. I’m anxious to hear the Vai version.
