2020 Ibanez JEM-JR Rehab | Part Two

Part One | Part Two | Part Three

In the previous post, we perused some of the JEM-JR's noteworthy features. Now, in this segment, we'll talk about what was done to get it back into fighting shape. For starters, all the hardware was removed for cleaning and servicing. Meanwhile, the electronics were treated to a generous spritz of contact cleaner.

Bearing in mind that the owner had complained of fret buzz all along the neck, my next task was to determine the condition of the frets. To do this, I'd have to first straighten the fretboard. As predicted, there was way too much relief. Thankfully, the fretboard was as straight as an arrow after some judicious truss rod tweaking.

Following this, a fret rocker was used to locate high spots on the frets; if any. Sad to say, there were just too many high spots for spot leveling. And so it came to pass that a full fret dressing was carried out on the JEM-JR as per my usual SOP. Extra time was was also taken to create adequate "fall away" in the upper frets.

After the frets had been recrowned and polished, the fretboard was cleaned with naphtha and reconditioned. I was surprised to see that almost all of the lemon oil I'd applied had been absorbed into the fretboard; it was that dry!

With that taken care of, the JEM-JR was reassembled, strung with 9s, set up, put through its paces; and tweaked as necessary. For the finale, I took a couple pictures of this pure white beauty; which may be viewed in Part Three.