"The Number 7 Is Shrouded In Mystique" - Steve Vai

1988 Ibanez (Japan) JEM 77FP

This first year of production Steve Vai JEM 77FP guitar weighs just 7.70 lbs. One-piece 12 1/4 inch wide, 1 3/4 inch deep American Basswood body with a black based flower pattern design, contoured on top and back. Two-piece maple neck with a nut width of 1 11/16 inches, a scale length of 25 1/2 inches and a very fast thin profile. 'Slab' rosewood fretboard with 24 original jumbo frets. The last four frets (21-24) are deeply scalloped. Fretboard inlaid (the whole length) with a red vine and black outlined green leaves. Matching 'futuristic-shaped' headstock with silk-screened "Ibanez" in 'shocking pink'. Locking nut assembly and single-bar string retainer. Individual Gotoh 'Rotomatic' tuners with octagonal metal buttons. Four-bolt neck plate with "JEM" and serial number "883893" in the center. Two DiMarzio PAF Pro humbuckers in the neck and bridge positions with outputs of 7.86k and 7.99k. One DiMarzio JEM single-coil pickup in the middle position with an output of 5.02k. All five pickup covers in 'light pink'. Two controls (one volume, one tone) and a five-way pickup selector switch with 'shocking pink' plastic tip. 'Shocking pink' plastic 'Stratocaster' style control knobs. Ibanez Floyd Rose Edge tailpiece assembly with six individual locking saddles and vibrato unit. All hardware ebonized. This guitar is in mint unplayed (9.50) condition. Complete with the original tremolo arm, adjustment tools and case keys. Housed in the original Ibanez three-latch rectangular black hardshell case with gray plush lining (9.00).

[The] "Ibanez JEM is an electric guitar manufactured by Ibanez and first produced in 1987. The guitar's most notable user is its co-designer, Steve Vai. The Ibanez JEM series is heavily influenced by the superstrat to model name or bodyshape is called a soloist concept, a more aggressive guitar in terms of shape and specifications compared to the Stratocaster…  

Ibanez has not revealed much about the naming system of the JEM models (JEMxxx) but letters always refer to the name of the color pattern used for each models (JEM777LNG - Loch Ness Green). However, it is known that the number 7 came from Steve Vai himself as he likes the number 7. Steve Vai has also released an album titled "The Seventh Song" which contains ballad songs from albums before "The Seventh Song". Steve Vai stated on the CD cover, "Traditionally, I have made the 7th song on all my CDs the mellifluous guitar ballad that serves the melody on a silver platter. In numerology, the number 7 is shrouded in mystique. In a record sequence, it has always felt like the sweet spot. These songs are more devotional in nature than technical. They are a reflection of one man's desire to expose a glimmer of depth of his longing for spiritual communion."" (Wikipedia).