The Guitar That Got Away: Making a Replica of the Ibanez JEM777SK

You know, I'm something of a luthier myself.

A long time ago, when I was a teenager, I had my dream guitar: a Shocking Pink Ibanez JEM777SK. It was my most prized possession, and I carried it with me everywhere for several years. I still vividly remember being blinded by its bright neon color the first time I opened the guitar case. Unfortunately, I had to sell it to finance other purchases. That decision haunted me for years until I decided to do something about it and embarked on a mission to find a similar guitar.

As it turned out, these guitars have become quite rare, and finding one in good condition is extremely difficult and far beyond my budget. So, I decided to go with my Plan B: to build one myself. It’s basically just a piece of wood, right?

When in Doubt, Build a CNC

This guitar has details I wasn't willing to do by hand, like the mosaic pyramid inlays made of clear acrylic pieces with neon green, yellow, and pink layers of paint underneath. So, I started by building a simple CNC machine from phenolic resin plates, V-slot aluminum extrusions, and other standard parts.

After finalizing the machine and running several tests, I was ready to begin the actual work.

Crafting with Precision

The materials are the same as those used in the original Ibanez guitar: a maple neck and a basswood body. I purchased the materials, cut them to size, planed them flat, glued them together, and began milling them out, starting with the acrylic inlays, then the neck, and finally moving on to the body.

I have to say that aside from some very accurate details where a CNC machine really shines, I probably could have finished this guitar a lot faster with a traditional handheld router and a set of templates.

As always, I got too focused on the actual work and forgot to take process pictures, but here are some.

Here’s the end result. It certainly looks the part and plays and feels like the original, at least as I remember it.

And finally, a comparison between the original JEM777SK and the finished replica. Not too bad, considering I had no access to the original and mainly worked on details based on pictures and some measurements kindly provided by friendly people on the internet.