Almost bought a JEM today

[PowerTube]

E-Bay has ruined the pawn shops, in my opinion. Back in the 80's in Austin, you could practically steal Jackson, Charvel, Ibanez, B.C. Rich, Kramer, etc.... because they only understood Gibson and Fender. But like leftykingv2 says above, those days are gone. I have literally seen instruments and effects priced higher than new, same as you.

But my biggest beef is their ignorance of what they're selling. They know zilch about guitars except how to run straight to E-Bay to get a price.

[PowerTube]

Just to play devils advocate:

there's been a lot of government regulation that has interfered with the ability to sell things cheap.
Their overhead is outrageous.

Can you explain?

[leftykingv2]

Just to play devils advocate:

there's been a lot of government regulation that has interfered with the ability to sell things cheap.
Their overhead is outrageous.

By "Government regulations" do you mean having to get Identification from patrons who sell them items now? Most of these people got rich as hell selling stolen merch for years considering most pawn shops didn't really start asking for Identification when selling an item until the late 80's. That's about all the government does when it comes to pawn shops being regulated. That and they're tougher on them about re-selling guns now. Most of these people own the buildings their shops are in. Other than property taxes they don't have shit for over head. Most these guys are robbing the shit out of people. Look at this guitar in the thread for example. They probably knew the guitar was a fake before Powertube told them! They lie, cheat and steal as much as they can on every item they have. They'll sell you electro-plated gold and tell you it's 24K. It's a regular occurrence and common pawn shop practice. That guitar is probably still hanging on the wall in the same spot right now still being passed off as a real Ibanez Jem. That CHIBANEZ cost $330 bucks and they're selling it for $600! They pay less than 25% of what an item is worth and usually sell it for more than the new price or damn close to it. They also lie through their teeth on their tax returns as well. If they sell a guitar for cash and get $1000 bucks for it they probably claim $400 at the most in their books. These places are making money hand over fist bro. Don't let ANYONE who owns a pawn shop fool you.

[Brandenburg]

i agree.. I check the local pawnshop for deals but their isnt too many good ones now aday..most music gear are priced too high with a few exceptions..

So if i see something interesting.. I break out my phone.. take a quick pick and google it when I get home ... mosty of the time its overpriced for stuff i dont need but would get if it was cheap enough..

I ussually just wait abit and if it sits long enough.. they mark the stuff down some

[JACKSONFREAK]

Another indicator of a fake Jem is the fine tuners will be gold on a fake and the standard black on the real thing. The Lions claw is often wrong, The body color wont match the headtstock color with the white one. The body will be more yellowish or almost cream colored. Where the headstock will be white. It wont have the Team J craft logo, serial number wont start with an "F" The gold color of the hardware will be too bright and may look clumpy or thick. The monkey grip may be wrong. I know some of this had been mentined already but Im just typing the things ive noticed n the fakes ive seen.
Gil

[leftykingv2]

Another indicator of a fake Jem is the fine tuners will be gold on a fake and the standard black on the real thing. The Lions claw is often wrong, The body color wont match the headtstock color with the white one. The body will be more yellowish or almost cream colored. Where the headstock will be white. It wont have the Team J craft logo, serial number wont start with an "F" The gold color of the hardware will be too bright and may look clumpy or thick. The monkey grip may be wrong. I know some of this had been mentined already but Im just typing the things ive noticed n the fakes ive seen.
Gil

+1. All good indicators of a fake as well.

[PowerTube]

Another indicator of a fake Jem is the fine tuners will be gold on a fake and the standard black on the real thing. The Lions claw is often wrong, The body color wont match the headtstock color with the white one. The body will be more yellowish or almost cream colored. Where the headstock will be white. It wont have the Team J craft logo, serial number wont start with an "F" The gold color of the hardware will be too bright and may look clumpy or thick. The monkey grip may be wrong. I know some of this had been mentined already but Im just typing the things ive noticed n the fakes ive seen.
Gil

Yep. I've gained a real education on this topic over the last week or so. I actually printed some comparison pictures from Jemsite (which I have now joined), but I never had to use them; I called and asked for the serial number and it's a bogus one that is on hundreds of fakes.

But this experience has had a certain effect on me; it's caused me to revisit Ibanez. I've ignored them for years, but..... just like with Jackson, my only real exposure to Ibanez in years is the cheap crap they carry at Guitar Center. It's actually a Prestige or Premium I'm interested in, more than a JEM.

So I'll re-tell a story I've posted on here before. I was in the GC a few years ago, playing (I think) a DK2 while trying out an amp. A guy walked over who I recognized from the recent Guitarmageddon competition. He was really nice and we talked for a bit. I handed him the guitar, he played a little bit, and said, "This plays pretty nice for a Jackson." I was a bit shocked that he would say that. But then it occurred to me that his only Jackson experience may have been Guitar Center, and that DK2 might have been the highest level of Jackson he had ever touched.

Likewise with Ibanez for me. I shunned them for years because I had only played the cheap crap in their line. I think it's time to revisit.

[leftykingv2]

Yep. I've gained a real education on this topic over the last week or so. I actually printed some comparison pictures from Jemsite (which I have now joined), but I never had to use them; I called and asked for the serial number and it's a bogus one that is on hundreds of fakes.

But this experience has had a certain effect on me; it's caused me to revisit Ibanez. I've ignored them for years, but..... just like with Jackson, my only real exposure to Ibanez in years is the cheap crap they carry at Guitar Center. It's actually a Prestige or Premium I'm interested in, more than a JEM.

So I'll re-tell a story I've posted on here before. I was in the GC a few years ago, playing (I think) a DK2 while trying out an amp. A guy walked over who I recognized from the recent Guitarmageddon competition. He was really nice and we talked for a bit. I handed him the guitar, he played a little bit, and said, "This plays pretty nice for a Jackson." I was a bit shocked that he would say that. But then it occurred to me that his only Jackson experience may have been Guitar Center, and that DK2 might have been the highest level of Jackson he had ever touched.

Likewise with Ibanez for me. I shunned them for years because I had only played the cheap crap in their line. I think it's time to revisit.

I'd say it's not a bad idea. You can get some great deals on used Japanese RG's and Prestige models. They're really nice guitars and the used prices are usually pretty reasonable. Shit bro I got a Japanese 1987 RG 550 off of a guy through my local newspaper about five years ago for $450 bucks. The guitar plays and sounds like it was 2K! It was a steal because it had an Original Edge tremolo and it was loaded with three Seymour Duncan Pickups and had a nice Ibanez hardshell case. The hardware alone was worth more than what he was asking for it.

[PowerTube]

I'd say it's not a bad idea. You can get some great deals on used Japanese RG's and Prestige models. They're really nice guitars and the used prices are usually pretty reasonable. Shit bro I got a Japanese 1987 RG 550 off of a guy through my local newspaper about five years ago for $450 bucks. The guitar plays and sounds like it was 2K! It was a steal because it had an Original Edge tremolo and it was loaded with three Seymour Duncan Pickups and had a nice Ibanez hardshell case. The hardware alone was worth more than what he was asking for it.

That's the type of deal I'm after. I'm proud to say that I've gotten great deals on my Jacksons; $799.00 (minus a trade) for my Snow White SL2H, $1100.00 for my Broken Glass SL2H, $299.99 brand new for my DK2M, and so on.

[leftykingv2]

I sent you a PM Powertube. Just check ebay bro. They're everywhere.

[Lorne]

I have two yellow with vine inlays Jems!!! :think:

You have 2 JEM 77DYV's ???? No wonder I can never find one LOL, I had to buy a 77FP instead, as A; it was CHEAP and B; I'm a bassist anyway

[pianoguyy]

*I figured it was better to revive an old post than to start a new one*



How good are these things?
I mean, I know they aren't the real thing. But are they decent guitars. Would they be worth, let's say, $200-500. Or are they Start-o-caster quality?
Could someone knowingly buy a fake and be happy with its performance, or would it be a dog. Even if you had to replace the frets and pickups and trem and had a decent setup done to it, would it be worth it?

I don't expect it to play like a Jem. Nor do I expect it to play like my 80's Jackson.
But would it play like my ESP/LTD, or would it be more like an Epiphone and Squier.