Ibanez Jemjr Steve vai Signature

KEY FEATURES: Maple body, maple
neck (bolt-on), 647mm (25.5") scale,
maple fretboard, 22 jumbo frets, 1x
Seymour Duncan JB humbucker
(neck), 1x master volume w/coil-tap,
Floyd Rose vibrato
FINISH: Diver Down (as reviewed),
Banana Yellow, White Bullseye, Red
Bullseye, White
CONTACT: Gibson kramerguitars.com
At A glAnce
KEY FEATURES: Poplar body, maple
neck (bolt-on), 647mm (25.5”) scale,
rosewood fretboard, 22 jumbo frets,
2x Squier Active humbuckers (neck
and bridge), three-way pickup
selector, 1x master tone, 1x master
volume, Floyd Rose Licensed vibrato
FINISH: Olympic White (as reviewed),
Flat Black
CONTACT: Fender EMEA 01342
331700 fender.com
At A glAnce
june 2018 ToTal GuiTar
the tg test
101
What’s the deal with the active pickups?
Well, they’re there to serve a purpose, and that purpose is high-
output with zero hum, and these Squier humbuckers are a hugely
impressive budget alternative to the more celebrated EMGs you
might  nd on a pro-spec instrument. They’re powered by a
nine-volt battery, which is stored in the rear of the instrument and
accessed via a plastic clip.
So this makes for a very different type of Strat.
It sure does. That single-coil bite, the bright twang Strats are
Did Eddie Van Halen play this one, too?
Yes, in fact, he did. During the 80s, Kramer was the archetypical
Eddie guitar – a hot-rodded S-style that ushered in the arms race in
shred guitars. Van Halen hooked up with Kramer in 1981, only to
switch to Ernie Ball/Music Man a decade later.
Why is the paint job different?
Kramer’s ‘Diver Down’ paint job is a not-so-subtle homage, the
white strip on red a cultural reference to EVH’s now-trademarked
black and white stripes on red.
renowned for has given way to a more pugnacious tone, with great
bass and treble response. It’s super-articulate (a Strat quality, come
to think of it) in clean and overdriven tones. But, goodness gracious:
 re up the gain and this thing wails.
Aren’t there faster electrics on the market than a Squier Strat?
You’re probably right, but the Stratocaster’s easy C maple neck is
more than shreddable. With its satin-smooth  nish, you won’t  nd
your fretting hand gumming it up when you’re sweating bullets, and
the heavier fretwire helps to make it super-playable.
We like it, but doesn’t this need a second pickup to justify the
price tag?
There is no denying that the 84 is a specialist instrument.
Think sparkly, harmonically-rich rock tones. Some might want
more, but with the coil-split, it has some single-coil snark that only
the JEMJR can compete with, and, even then, it doesn’t have the
snap and bite of the 84. Indeed, with that headstock and  nish, the
84 might not be the  rst guitar you’d rock up to the Grand Ole Opry
with, but there sure is a rich seam of country twang to be mined
from it.
SQUIeR CoNteMPoRaRY
aCtIVe StRatoCaSteR
A bargain-buy Superstrat
KRaMeR
tHe 84
For the discerning Atomic Punk
£420
£569
TGR306.gear_test.indd 101 25/04/2018 12:19