Hey there,
I have a JP 7 string EBMM with the piezo and the inlay etc - full trim (red burst - looks 100% better in real life than in the photos). As far as I know they all come exactly the same - the only difference being the colour (and maybe the gol hardware - never seen that myself). Try one out in a shop if possible then see if you can pick one up from a power seller on E-Bay (that's what I did).
Re the neck - yes it is unfinished (as in not varnished) but I have to say that it feels better than any other neck I have ever played, including my Jem. It is very slim and flat but has the obvious width increase to cater for the 7 string, this takes a no more than a couple of hours to get used to.
My only complaint with this guitar is the tuning system. There are no top locks and contrary to what you read on the JP forums this guitar does not stay in tune after reasonable trem work. I posted about this on the JP forums and got flamed to hell and back again after I suggested there should have been a top lock. I was told that I didnt have it set up properly or that I should bring it to a guitar tech.... load of crap. The guitar has been professionaly setup and I still have this problem - I also had the guitar looked at by an engineer and producer at a local recording studio (both guys are as good if not better than a guitar tech at a shop) and they loved it but identified the lack of top lock as the problem. The real issue is that if you use high guage strings if one slips slightly they all slip and it is almost impossible to identify which string is at fault - we wasted a LOT of time retuning! My Jem for example stays in tune throughout an entire recording session even with reverse trem dives and extreme vibrato - if I'm unlucky I may have to te4ak the fine tuners once or twice but this is rare. Anyway, I am willing to put up with this for recording with my JP because the tone and feel is so good. BUT for live work I would definitly want to check out how well it stays in tune with a lighter guage like 9's (I'm currently using 11's). After all, unless you are JP himself you probably won't be changing guitar after every song and the last thing you want is to end up tuning in on stage!
The pros for this guitar are many though - the neck is amazing - the 7th string (I work off low B) adds a new dynamic and the pickups are the tightest for high gain that I have ever played. At very high volumes there is little or no hum or hiss even playing through a Mesa rig - something I have only ever experienced with this guitar (amazing that I don't have to use any noise gate or suppression - great for preserving the tone). The various pup settings provide a huge variety of tones including blues and jazz sounds. If you want to know exactly how this guitar sounds through a straight forward Mesa high gain setting, check out track 1 of Liquid Tension Experiment 2. That's how it sounds in my home studio now! Very impressive. Overall I score this guitar 9 out of 10, it would get a 10 but for the top lock.
