Chords for Steve Vai introduces the Ibanez JEM-EVO

[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Bm] _ _ _ [F] _ _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ [F] _ _ _ [Dm] _ _ _
[G] Hey folks, Steve [Dm] Vai here, and I had the wonderful [D] gentleman from Ibanez trudge on all the [Em] way
from Sun Valley to come to my house here in [A] Encino and bring me these guitars to sign
[Dm] for a very [A] special project.
I think you're going to get a kick out of it if [D] you're a gem [E] aficionado.
_ [F] It's [G] sort of an [E] Evo project where we're making 100 _ _ _ Evo sort of replicas, but [N] _ I saw a prototype
of this Evo replica and it's just amazing.
I can't even believe how [G] close _ [Am]
Ibanez [Dm] got all the little nooks and [G] crannies of the guitar. _
So at this point, [Ab] I'm [D] just signing a few, [F] and then they undergo [D] the restoration treatment,
[Dm] and then they become [Em] _ Evas.
_ _ [N] _ _ _
_ [Bm] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [G] Hey _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [D] folks, Steve Vai here, [G] and I wanted to tell you about this guitar.
This is my [Em] Ibanez Gem Evo guitar, and I designed this guitar with [Am] Ibanez about 25 years ago
to fit [G] some of the idiosyncrasies of my playing.
Things like a big cutaway, _ 24 frets with a scale length, a little scalloped frets in
the end here, two [Em] humbuckers, a single coil, [N] and a floating trim system that allows you
to really pull up on the notes and dip down without going out of [G] tune.
It's got the original Edge tremolo system on it.
I like very, very thin necks, and it's got a rosewood fretboard.
_ _ [Am] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
[D] _ _ [Em] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [E] _ _ _ [Bm] _
[N] You know, I was very fortunate that I [E] could get a guitar with all these [Gbm] things in it.
When I had these pickups made by DiMarzio, they were [Gb] wound a particular way, and they're
signature pickups called Evos, and hence the name of the guitar.
And this particular guitar I've been using [Em] for many years, it's just kind of like, _ you
know, you [E] imbibe a guitar with a personality, [Am] and [N] _
it's [E] _ _ [C] kind of like a friend.
It's [D] kind of like somebody you can [Gm] tell your secrets to or something.
[Bb] So, as a result, _ it develops its own sort of aura, so to speak.
And this is the one that I just go to all the time.
I don't know why.
I try [C] so many other guitars, but this is like a warm place that I [B] call home. _
_ _ [G] [Ab] We're coming over [Gbm] here, and we're [Bm] coming over here, and we're coming over here, [A] and we're coming over here.
_ _ [Bm] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [C] We've decided to [Gm] make [Cm] an [Bb] Evo-inspired [Ab] guitar, _ [Eb] which is basically, [Ab] you know, a [Eb] clone [Bb] of this, so to speak.
_ [Gb] _ And, [Fm] you know, _ [E] some of the [G] things I really like about this guitar that I'm thinking are
going to be [Fm] very difficult for these guys [Bb] to duplicate is just the beat-up nature of it.
I [Eb] really like [Bb] having my guitars [Ab] beat up.
_ [Db] _ [Eb] You know, things [Db] like I [Ab] put this [Bb] little piece of tape here to keep the [Eb] strings from going [Bb] loose.
[Eb] You know, I do a [Abm] couple of little things [Gb] like Velcro, [Abm] and this keeps the springs [Bb] from rattling.
[Gb] Technology. _
_ And [Ab] it's got _ [Bb] these [Ab] sort of [Gb] like trem stoppers.
_ [Ebm] And, _ [Bb] _
yeah, so I'm very excited because today [Gb] I get to see _
[Ab] the Evo-inspired guitar that's going to be [Bb] available.
And I'm really a little nervous because what if it's no good?
You know, what if it's not right?
[Eb] So, [Bb] which I don't suspect is going to be the case, but let's check it [Em] out. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [E] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Bm] _ I'm here with us today [E] at the Harmony Huts studio from Ibanez, the one and only [D] Mike Tapp, [C] who has the piece of [D] gold in his hand.
[B] Hi, Mike.
Hey, Steve.
How's it going, buddy?
Good.
[Bm] Hey, what do you got there?
So here [E] we have number one, Gem Evo.
[Bm] Oh, yeah, this is_ [Em] _ [Bm] Do it.
This is a nice case, actually.
Is this the case that it comes with?
That's shipping with each [E] guitar.
[A] Okay, so let's [E] see what the _ [Bm] _ _ [E] _ [Bm] _ _ [D]
[B] geniuses of Ibanez _ [Bm] have created. _
[Em] _ [D] _ [E] _ Wow.
_ [Bm] _ _
[E] _ _ Wow.
[B] Wow, this is great.
[Bm] _ _ Oh [Em] my gosh, you even got the tape.
You put the [Bm] tape on there.
[Em] Tape.
And [Ab] that looks perfect, the [Bm] Evo.
And you got all the nicks and stuff.
Wow. _ _ _
_ _ _ [Em] _ _ How on earth did you get_
it's not actually cracked [E] like Evo.
No, we just replicated the crack.
The body [Gb] has integrity.
Oh my gosh, you got all these little nicks and [Em] stuff.
What, they sit there with a little ball-peen hammer?
Yeah.
[Bm] Let me see how the neck feels.
Wow, this is as thin as [Gb] Evo, which is [Em] actually a little thinner than most Gems, right?
Yeah, it's based on [E] your [Db] well-worn neck that you've been using [Bm] over the years. _
And you got the_
_ Oh, that's nice.
And you even put the little [E] _ mark where I keep the_
because I don't have any [B] numbers on it.
_ _ _ _ Oh, look at this.
You got the backplate with Velcro.
Evo.
And when you put the_ Backstop.
The backstop.
Yeah, great.
_ [A] _ _ I'm really, really going to love this.
_ _ [B] Amazing amount of dedication and work to get this.
Look at this.
_ They got the_ _
Oh my gosh, they got the [E] little thing that Thomas [B] put on there.
And you put the Evo_
When the guitar is in the rack, [Bm] Thomas [C] writes the name of the guitar so he can [G] just grab it real quick.
[Em] And they got that on there [Bm] too.
_ And even the strap?
Yeah.
[A] Marzio made those [E] straps for us just [G] for [C] this run of guitars.
All [B] right.
Well, it's [Db] _ _ [Bm] _
amazing.
I mean, well, I'm interested to see what it sounds like.
But it feels perfect.
[B] _ _ Well, thank you so much.
It's great.
You look great.
Enjoy.
I'm really thrilled with this.
[Bm] And there you have it.
_ _ Evo.
Inspired.
[Db] Thanks, man.
And this one's mine. _
_ [Ebm] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Dbm] _ _ _ _ [N] _ _ _ _
_ [B] _ _ _ [C] _ [Db] _ _
Done? _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ Look at it.
_ Oh.
Oh.
_ _ You should get this reaction.
_ _ _ _ Wow.
Oh my God.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _