One of Ibanez’s most successful signature models does not bear the artist’s name, but any guitarist familiar with the Ibanez JEM knows it was designed by Steve Vai.

In the mid 1980s, Ibanez was scrambling to compete with Kramer and Jackson’s “Super Strat” designs – basically a Stratocaster with a bridge-position humbucker and a “dive bomb” vibrato. At the same time, Vai was emerging as one of the most gifted guitarists in rock’n’roll, with hotshot technique from the Berklee School of Music and eclectic on-the-job training with Frank Zappa.

Vai and Ibanez created a personalized model featuring Dimarzio pickups (including humbuckers in the neck and bridge positions) and the “monkey grip” hole in the body. However, he felt his name would not sell enough guitars, so he suggested JEM, the name of a company owned by Joe Despagni, Vai’s childhood friend and longtime guitar tech.

Vai introduced the JEM playing on David Lee ROth’s 1988 album “Skyscraper”, and the JEM’s monkey grip remains a familiar sight in Ibanez’s solidbody line.