I could never get used to the shark tooth inlay (I had a purple sparkle 550 from about 1999), but I'd still love to own it!
@fredericadda3 күн бұрын
Ha ha yes I see what you mean! Actually the shark tooth inlays were what decided me to buy this guitar 🤘
@gawentaylor68383 күн бұрын
@@fredericadda I got a JemJr and I'm hoping to replace the bridge with the Gotoh 1996t, the early RG's had great hardware
@fredericadda3 күн бұрын
@gawentaylor6838 oh yes, I replaced the FR Special on a HM Strat by a Gotoh 1996T. Excellent bridge!
@ytsertd3334 күн бұрын
Might as well have added copper shielding while you were at it. Otherwise, good job!
@fredericadda4 күн бұрын
Yeah I thought about it. But since there was no buzz whatsoever I didn't deem it necessary. Great idea for a future upgrade though!
@Theblindbassplayer5 күн бұрын
Leav it alone It was find the way it was
@fredericadda2 күн бұрын
Yeah, some upgrades were not mandatory (like the electronics). But polishing the frets and changing the pickups made a huge difference. It plays and sounds better.
@marcemusic8826 күн бұрын
Creo que instalaré este micrófono. Buen video, gracias!
@fredericadda26 күн бұрын
¡Es un gran micrófono! Lo recomiendo.
@dtantsikianАй бұрын
One of the most beautiful things I've ever seen 🤩
@fredericaddaАй бұрын
Ha ha I agree completely 😄
@royt7857Ай бұрын
She is Hot…Hot…Hot… enjoy!
@donniejeanАй бұрын
I have two RG 370 DX both in near mint condition. One is made in Indonesia and the other is Korean. I don’t know much about them. Are they recent remakes for beginners? They at least sound good to me, but that’s about all I know….
@donniejeanАй бұрын
Oh neither have a pick guard, and one has the circles on the pickups, and the other hotrail style with the Vnumber on them. Both are SSH and same inlays as yours.
@donniejeanАй бұрын
Ok did some research and got my answers, thanks!
@fredericaddaАй бұрын
I'm not so familiar with the Ibanez lines but they look like the little brothers of the RG550 😄
@ladrian6341Ай бұрын
Nothing to say 🔥
@fredericaddaАй бұрын
I love Angra!! I discovered them in Paris in 1999 when 2 countries recognized their talent before the rest of the world: France and Japan.
@XPhantomLordАй бұрын
I have this same guitar, 1994, it's a masterpiece. It was quite beaten up when I got it, but I tried to give her a new life. Still needs some fretwork, and maybe I will install a set of v1-v2 because I like them better, but man, what a guitar.
@fredericaddaАй бұрын
Indeed it's a piece of history. You can feel it when you play. Feels like driving an old Mustang 🚀
@EmmanuelVassilianАй бұрын
very nice job my friend! that RG550 is, as you said, indeed a piece of art, the old made in japan era just hits different. keep up the good work. subbed!
@fredericaddaАй бұрын
Thanks a lot! Will do!
@paulsarodh5460Ай бұрын
ROCKIN 🎼🎶🎸🎸🎹🔊
@bluehappyscrapАй бұрын
What Strings On Your Jiva?
@fredericaddaАй бұрын
Either Elixir or NYXL 9-46
@zappasmoustache23Ай бұрын
Unlike a standard Floyd rose, Edge floating tremolos are not meant to lie flat.
@fredericaddaАй бұрын
The saddles of the Edge vibrato indeed look not flat because the top of the vibrato has an angle. But the base plate should lie flat no matter what.
@JohnLloydDavisАй бұрын
I had an RG550 DX in a blue sparkle finish from about '94 and it had the lowest action of any guitar I have played. Great guitars.
@fredericaddaАй бұрын
I agree! I was shocked by how low it could go without a buzz! Great build quality.
@TheGalilee416Ай бұрын
33:45 I share the joy of restoring guitars. I purchased my 1989 RG760 in a used shop and restored it like new. Love from Philadelphia PA USA. 🙏
@fredericaddaАй бұрын
Amazing! So you know how this feels when you finally get to play a restored / cleaned/ repaired instrument 🥰
@SCOTTSEXPLODINGGUITAR-wc9toАй бұрын
i did the exact same job to my brothers charvel and he sold it for big bucks thanx to me nice video
@fredericaddaАй бұрын
Thanks man! I'd love to find an old, battered 2000s Charvel so I could restore it.
@no1beatsjАй бұрын
I'm sure it was the sugar/syrup content in Coke that did the cleaning, Zero is different
@fredericaddaАй бұрын
I have to try with Pepsi. The screws may like the taste better 😋
@brandonjackson5865Ай бұрын
I’ve had the same guitar black and mirror since 96 and it’s my number one still to this day. I think it’s the bound fretboard that makes these necks so comfortable and I know it’s an unpopular opinion but I love the AANJ heal. Mine has been through it all with me. Through the best of times and through the worst lows. It’s the one I will never let go of. I’ve modded it a little over the years it’s got FU big brass block, neon Green distortion trembucker in the bridge, a hot pink pearly gates in the neck and the stock single in the middle. I put a regular 5 way switch in it and push pull volume and tone pots to switch from series to parallel. I put Gotoh cosmo black locking tuners, to aid in quicker string changes. I put a cheap white pearloid pick guard on it and seem to have misplaced the original mirror guard, it’s around here somewhere and when I find it, I’m going to build back a stock appearance with black pickups in it, as I’m aging I think I’m getting less fond of high output pickups, so I’ll probably go back with a 59 or Custom, possibly a PAF pro and get it back to looking like it did out of the factory. I went through a spell that I thought the mirror guard looked cheesy and I was inspired by Kirk Hammets black Fernandez with the pearl guard and black pickups, but had gotten a decent deal on the wild colored Duncan shop floor custom colored PUPs on eBay. Anyway these in my opinion are the best RGs next to the OG original ones from the late 80s early 90s. I had an Indonesian 920QM premium that was fantastic as well and the build quality was probably as good as if not better than the Japanese guitars of Ibanez, the problem was the newer bridge design it had on it, if I’d kept it I would’ve put an edge lo pro like these LTDs had or an Original Edge on it. Anyway killer guitar and I don’t see many in the wild or for sale much so either they were all fantastic and everyone keeps them or they’ve been parted out, I suspect a little bit of both. Oh yeah mine has Dunlop strap locks, strap locks aren’t necessary on these because they had those huge strap buttons but I put locks on everything else and wanted to be able to use the same strap on several guitars. The springs were replaced recently on mine too, I think after 30 years the original springs just gave out, however it’s important on the edge bridges that you set them up with the knife edges parallel to the body not the baseplate like on Floyd Roses, the baseplate on the edge is actually wedge shaped, you can set them up a little higher or lower and they will return to pitch but they perform best with the knife edge parallel to the body this is it’s true zero position and it can be tricky to get your action right if it’s jacked up or sunk into the body too far. There’s a cut out on the baseplate where you can see the knife edge inserts to set the trem angle correct.
@loleksk82 ай бұрын
Those old necks gives really nice feel in hand .
@fredericadda2 ай бұрын
I agree! They are sooo comfortable!
@harumann2 ай бұрын
Congratulations! Legendary guitar, indeed. My old RG550LTD is still the guitar with the best resonance and playability, against all the ones that I've owned so far: J-Custom, Prestige, JEM, JS2450, Tom Anderson, Suhr, Charvel...
@fredericadda2 ай бұрын
I still love my Charvel though 😄
@brandonjackson5865Ай бұрын
I’ve got the same guitar in this video 94-95-ish RG550 LTD black with mirror guard and everything. I’m the second owner bought it in the fall of 96. It’s been my number one ever since. My guitar playing buddy since about 97 until now has always said it has mojo , I’ve had other nice guitars since but something is special about these mid 90s RGs.
@fredericaddaАй бұрын
I couldn't agree more. My first guitar was a 1995 Jackson Kelly made in Japan, it has an incredible neck too. These Japanese guitars are so underrated.
@brandonjackson5865Ай бұрын
@@fredericadda one of my buddies got a dinky MIJ around the same time and another friend got a Kelly XLR now that XLR was the best Jackson I’ve ever played including a custom ordered soloist that XLR felt better.
@skyline43942 ай бұрын
I have this bridge, please tell me how you set the scale, I am wondering whether to replace this bridge with a Schaller Lockmeister 6
@fredericadda2 ай бұрын
Hi! I'm not sure, which scale are you referring to?
@grimora-dg3vq2 ай бұрын
Schecter for me hands down!
@ursa812 ай бұрын
Great review! How heavy is your guitar? I see on Sweetwater that these seem really light, However i am afraid i could get a heavy one (the weight changes a lot between each one)
@fredericadda2 ай бұрын
Hi Andreas! Thanks for your nice comment. My Jiva Jr weighs 3.2 kg / 7.1 lbs. Pretty light! It's very thin, and the body wood is Meranti (a variant of Mahogany if I'm not mistaken). I see 5 right now on Sweetwater, 4 of which are between 6 and 7 lbs.
@chrislang9303 ай бұрын
I was in the Navy and have that hot pink Charvel also. I looked for over a year and found one on eBay finally. Cheers and nice playing!
@fredericadda3 ай бұрын
Yeah I looked for this one for almost two years, they are quite rare now. Thanks for your kind words!
@bruno15553 ай бұрын
😍
@deanlockamy20873 ай бұрын
Never owned an Ibanez before but I've got the itch for new axe so maybe.
@fredericadda3 ай бұрын
The Jiva Jr was pretty good for the price, but from what I heard the RG550 Genesis MIJ is amazing
@jettschenker3 ай бұрын
On the cleans the Schecter sounds very nasal whereas the Charvel sounds very open and full.
@fredericadda3 ай бұрын
Yeah the coil split allows for a greater variety of clean sounds on the San Dimas
@bluehappyscrap4 ай бұрын
AWESOME!!!🌍💯
@fredericadda4 ай бұрын
Thanks 😊
@bluwng4 ай бұрын
I don’t like binding on Super Strat guitars glad this doesn’t have it.
@fredericadda4 ай бұрын
Agreed!!
@juliemollica93164 ай бұрын
I appreciate that you played an actual metal riff to show what the Jiva can do. So many reviewers will only do a hard rock/blues riff using the humbuckers, which makes it hard for a metal player to determine if the guitar will suffice or not.
@fredericadda4 ай бұрын
Thanks Julie! I actually bought this guitar because I felt this was the first real metal guitar in the S series, not a fusion one (and also because Nita kicks a$$ 😂)
@rareskatepunk4 ай бұрын
Hey Mr. frédéric, where did you buy that Fret Kisser?, please let me know I’d really appreciate that, I’ve been waiting for this tool since forever, thanks many thanks 🙌🏻
@fredericadda4 ай бұрын
Hey there! I bought it at StewMac. AFAIK they are the only ones to sell it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpbKq6CVfNyor8Usi=PabLZ_N7mhvHvMR2 Also this video by Philip McKnight: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpfVomOqft-hhc0si=Ze53CUQettx0I-G4
@rareskatepunk4 ай бұрын
@@fredericadda Thanks my G 🙏🏻
@davidc.arenas70324 ай бұрын
Where did you buy the fret kisser from, Frédéric? I was thinking, I need that now!!!
@fredericadda3 ай бұрын
From StewMac!
@davidc.arenas70324 ай бұрын
Antisocial during the tone test. 😄
@fredericadda4 ай бұрын
Of course 😂 je perds mon sang-froid
@GetIntoYourLife4 ай бұрын
Est ce que les quantum pickups sont pas pire?
@fredericadda4 ай бұрын
Les Quantum sont les micros d'origine et ils sont ... fades. Pas mauvais, mais pas géniaux non plus. Ils n'ont aucune personnalité, alors que les Di Marzio Pandemonium ont une vraie méchante patate.
@robertmenzies69394 ай бұрын
Great video, thank you. I have an Ibanez GIO and I upgraded the Ibanez pickups to DiMarzio, had a decent set up done and also changed the pickup selector to something more robust. Really happy with the results and have turned a cheap guitar into something great to play.
@fredericadda4 ай бұрын
Yes I'm quite happy with the result too! I always wanted an Ibanez S, and the Jiva Jr was in the range of price I wanted to invest. And for the price the specs are pretty good.
@robertmenzies69394 ай бұрын
I really appreciate this review. I currently have an Ibanez GIO with upgraded DiMarzio pickups and a great set up. I was considering an upgrade to one of the Jiva models after getting some disposable cash but will now be contacting Kiesel to get something of a lot higher quality.
@fredericadda4 ай бұрын
Thanks a lot! Kiesel are amazing! Custom shop quality!
@pbboeye10124 ай бұрын
Just bought a Schecter from NY to NV. Yeah it will require a set up. But what is a downer for the JivaJr is his comments on the frets but especially the nut placement. That is sloppy. The frets - I don't like the idea of re-fretting early, but whatever. Overall it looks to be a good fit for me. But yeah, it will go straight into the shop for a tune-up after I receive it. Long-term, I might do the pots and pickups.... Feels like upgrading a car lol
@fredericadda4 ай бұрын
Congrats!
@joh19965 ай бұрын
i tried basicly the same option 3 as you did and was not happy with it. my guitar had ofr studs installed with stainless steel. the 1996 worked somehow but you directly noticed that the awesome flutter that the tremolo is known for was not really there. tuning stability was also bad. i dont think it was because of the tremolo and guess its because of the wrong studs. if you look closely to the studs you also notice, that the gotohs have a different shape. seems not compatible for me if you want to utilize the maximum potential of your trem.
@fredericadda5 ай бұрын
Thanks for your feedback. For sure if you want the maximum potential of this bridge you'll have to drill holes to fit the Gotoh studs. Personally the difference to me and my playing style is not noticeable, so I was happy with this compromise. I never noticed any issues with tuning stability. Maybe I lost 5% in flutter and sustain compared to a full Gotoh install, but since I won 200% compared to the FR Special...
@immanuel_cunt76885 ай бұрын
Super video, because other youtubers who change their trems recommend keeping the old mounting studs + inserts and that's totally fatal! You didn't mention the locking nut, if you wanna do it properly you have to change the nut as well! Also, for some reason no one cares about the radius of the gotoh bridge and its nut, because it mostly doesn't match the neck radius. I love the Gotoh, it has lots of cool features but: -in most cases the nut is not included, you have do buy it as well as... -mounting studs and inserts -maybe shorter string locking screws accumulated that's almost the price of a Schaller Lockmeister, which I highly recommend!
@fredericadda5 ай бұрын
Thanks for your feedback. I will address 2 points: - the locking nut is not subject to the same mechanical constraints as the bridge. That is to say, there is close to zero chance that the nut is causing tuning issues. What could happen is warping the nut screws if they are made with soft material. I didn't think this was the case on that guitar. - the radius on a FR style bridge cannot be adjusted saddle by saddle like on a traditional bridge. You can only add a shim under them (one is provided with most FR / Gotoh bridges). For a neck as flat as this one (17"), you will just not put any shim. There's no way you get any string choking with such a flat fretboard.
@XPhantomLord6 ай бұрын
Got the same bridge on my "ibanez" project. Great quality for the price, tho I'm used to the edge lo-pro of my rg 550.
@marcoroberge60307 ай бұрын
Bonjour j'avais la même guitare qui me rappelle mon père j'adorerais cette guitare mais malheureusement quand mon père es décédé j'ai été obligé de vendre ma guitare pour enterrer mon père plusieurs années après j'ai essayé d en trouver une j'ai jamais eu la chance d'en trouver une tu as faite une superbe job sur ta guitare bravo sa ma fais rêver et revivre des moments bravo encore 😢😢😢
@fredericadda7 ай бұрын
Très émouvant, merci de l'avoir partagé !
@Aditya_Paliwal_97 ай бұрын
Warm Greetings from India! 🙏. Thank you so much for your excellent demonstration, much appreciated. I am genuinely considering a San Dimas guitar with ebony fingerboard in Lime green finish. Should I go abead? Also I am worried about the sustain as I am more of a Les Paul guy. Do you recommend upgrading the trem block to a brass block or upgrading the entire trem system to a Gotoh 1996T ? I believe, the stock Floyd 1000 should be good enough. If the sustain becomes an issue, we can always upgrade the stock Trem block to a Brass one? Yes, please keep making such videos 🙏. Really helps ⭐🎶⭐. Cheers!! Best regards
@fredericadda7 ай бұрын
Thank you for your kind words! Yeah the San Dimas is a wonderful instrument. I highly recommend them (my favorite guitar is this blue Charvel in the video, and since this video I had many more guitars in my hands but the San Dimas has something special for me). The FR 1000 is in my opinion a very good bridge and doesn't require to be swapped. The sustain is very good but to be honest it will never be the same as a hardtail bridge. However I read that you can do the following to improve the sustain: change the block indeed, and also change tuners to locking ones. Apparently the sustain gets better if the head is slightly heavier. I'm not sure if that's true, but it's worth checking. But anyway I would recommend trying the San Dimas as it is and begin changing things only if required.
@Aditya_Paliwal_97 ай бұрын
@@fredericadda My apologies for a delayed response Boss ! 🙏🎸🙏. Thank you so much for your feedback, much appreciated. Actually I have always been a Les Paul guy for almost 10 years now and was looking for a 2nd electric with a Nice Hard Rock Tone with a Floyd Rose. Trust me, I earlier considered Epiphone Ritchie Faulkner Flying V, Epiphone Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess and Epiphone Brendon Small Explorer model, but they were going out of my budget. Guess what is common in between these three models? Floyd Rose 1000 series 😎🤟. Haha yes, the same Floyd Rose 1000 series which we have on the Charvel San Dimas! So it is that good 😊. I think, I am definitely convinced on this bridge and we can always go for a Trem block upgrade if we want to increase the sustain. Yes, Tuners too as you said 🙌. I was earlier considering a So Cal as well, but liked the more punchier sound of the San Dimas model. When I hear the sound of the San Dimas model, I feel as if I am listening to a Hard Rock Tone of a Les Paul. I don't know what it is, but it is thicker like my Les Paul and has balls like it. I am going to order a San Dimas HH FR Ebony fingerboard very soon in Line Green finish. Should I go ahead or should I consider some other model from any other brand or series? Ibanez never did it for me. Jackson is more or less the same as Charvel. Never really tried Schecter so can't say. MIM Charvels are really professional sounding instruments with good QC giving you really nice features. I doubt there is any instrument around US$1000 that can compete with them. Thank you so much for your support 🙏. Warm regards
@fredericadda7 ай бұрын
@Aditya_Paliwal_9 the Charvel DK 24 or 22 are also good candidates, for around the same price.
@Aditya_Paliwal_97 ай бұрын
@@fredericadda Thanks a lot for your support 🙏. Much appreciated. Best regards
@brodym6617 ай бұрын
Where did you get that wiring diagram? I’d love to have that as a reference for my own JIVA Jr. upgrade
@fredericadda7 ай бұрын
I wrote it myself 😂 (hence the weird colors). In the channel information you can see my email: write a message to me and I'll send it to you as a PDF.
@brodym6617 ай бұрын
Will do! Thanks so much!
@Shockyfel7 ай бұрын
Hi! I have the same guitar and the same question about upgrading its "horrible" floyd rose special to the original floyd rose or gotoh. As I can see, you didn´t choose the original floyd rose, which could have been a solution, allowing you to use all original floyd rose stuff, instead of mixing gotoh bridge with floyd rose stud (in my opinion, gotoh studs are better). After playing this guitar for a while. What is your opinion about the gotoh bridge? Is the same quality as the original floyd rose, better...worse... Thank you!
@fredericadda7 ай бұрын
Thanks for your comment! I chose the Gotoh over the Floyd Rose original (which is undoubtedly the best Floyd Rose type bridge out there) for 3 reasons: - the Gotoh bridge is $100 cheaper for a comparable quality - I was attracted by the idea of an all-Japan guitar (the tuners are Gotoh ones out of the factory) - during Covid I couldn't put my hands on an OFR (Floyd Rose were severely back ordered) For sure it would have been much easier to replace a FR Special by a FR Original or even 1000. But I discovered that a lot of people were actually interested by the exact same project (same guitar, same replacement bridge).
@Shockyfel7 ай бұрын
@@fredericadda thank you so much!
@gabibonza7 ай бұрын
Awesome review 👏👏👏
@fredericadda7 ай бұрын
Thank you!
@linuxjay7 ай бұрын
Thanks for sharing this! I have this guitar in the stone finish. I love it!
@fredericadda7 ай бұрын
Amazing! It's more rare than the black one!
@celvira727 ай бұрын
Bonjour Frédéric, merci beaucoup par ton video. J'ai la même guitare avec le même problème mais je ne trouve pas le pont 33mm. en Europe. Où vous avez acheté le pont? Je vais choisir aussi ta solution complete (studs + inserts Original FR).
@fredericadda7 ай бұрын
Bonjour @celvira72 Je l'ai trouvé sur Reverb pour environ 150$ et il faut compter environ 30$ de port.
@hughmansfield64707 ай бұрын
I have a lefty of this guitar (also black) which I got new in '97, nice guitar, very light
@hydorah7 ай бұрын
This is a very good video there's some misinformation out there about the the various Gotoh 1996 trems, saying they have a potmetal baseplate! Which clearly they do not! By the way you're right calling the threaded inserts for the studs 'bushings' the words are synonyms. Guitar looks factory, new trem is very well chosen! Ready for shreaddy!
@fredericadda7 ай бұрын
Thanks for your comment. I just re-listened to the video, I'm saying they have a stainless steel baseplate. If at one point I'm talking about soft metal, I'm referring to the FR Special. Happy I didn't make a mistake with the different parts, because as you can guess my native language is French 😅