Jem Guitars
This section is only for GUITARS only, other instruments are here.
Most of Jem's guitars to my knowledge were modelled after real guitars, most not surprisingly from the mid-eighties period (not one of them plays a Les Paul... for various reasons) and most are heavy-metal guitar styles (for maybe less obvious reasons)  The main thing to remember about Jem guitars is that they are essentially accessories, and with the sole exception of Roxy's bass, the number of strings didn't correspond with the number of tuning pegs (which is rarely the usual 4 or 6), and if you REALLY want to get technical, there should be more frets, as well as more reasonable alignment of pick-ups, but really, I think given the limitations, the toy designers did really well with Jem's guitars and they are very easy to spot among fakes/Barbie's because of their high quality.  Generally, if they have a sticker on them, they are from the 1st year, and if they have the design printed right on them and/or are made of transparent glitter plastic, then they are 2nd year, except in the case of the Music Is Magic fashions, which have stickers and are 2nd year only.  As well, it should be noted Mexican dolls came with the glitter guitars, but also have a clear sticker on the top that the frets/etc, are printed on and are usually a different shade from the American counterpart.

Thanks to Laura (Badgerprincess) for the scans of the Mexican Stormer & Spanish Pizzazz guitars.
 
Aja certainly was the lead guitar player of the Holograms on the cartoon, but was sold with a guitar that seems to be a bass more than anything (did any guitar ever come with only 3 strings? ^_^) 
1st Edition Aja; Light Aqua blue guitar with three tuning pegs, darker aqua glitter decal on  front, silver cord.
2nd edition Aja's guitar; Almost exactly the same as the first year guitar, except was made of transparent blue glitter plastic.  The markings are printed directly on the plastic.
Mexican Aja's Guitar:  She got the same colour as Mexican Shana, and Mexican Roxy's guitars, a deep purple colour.  Glitter plastic, like the regular 2nd edition instruments but the strings, etc are printed on a clear decal, not directly on the plastic. 
  • Scan courtesy of Floortje.
  • Shana.  Again, they kinda goofed with the string number, it should have 6, not 5.... as well, the number of tuning pegs doesn't correspond with the number of strings (there are 4), but had there been only four strings, this would certainly be considered a bass guitar, and would make sense, since Aja is the guitar player already.  This guitar is very obviously "influenced" by the Mockingbird guitar, made by the BC Rich company.  I love this style, personally!   A prototype of Riot was shown holding a black version of this guitar.
    1st Edition Shana Dark pink plastic with a sparkly decal on it, silver cord.  2nd Edition Shana: Basically the same as the first edition, with the obvious difference of being made of clear glitter-y plastic in a much darker purple shade.  Mexican Shana: Very similar to the 2nd edition, the most obvious way to tell them apart is the presence of a clear label with the design printed on it, as opposed to being printed directly on the plastic. 
    Pizzazz
    Has 6 tuning pegs (yes! You got it guys!) but only 4 strings (well, I suppose Pizzazz does probably play rather violently & is bound to break a string or two habitually enough ^_^).  I'm pretty sure the design has been changed enough to qualify her guitar as being original but it's definitely got shades of  the Warlock by BC Rich.
    1st edition Pizzazz's guitar, is made of an iridescent grey plastic, and is topped with a holographic decal (no one else got one of these!).  The design of the decal is variable.  Comes with a gold cord. 2nd Edition Pizzazz's is virtually the same, again made of transparent grey glitter plastic & no label. 

    Thanks to Chlokie for this scan 

    Mexican Pizzazz comes with a uniquely blue-shaded guitar- glitter plastic, but with a clear decal.  Spanish Pizzazz's guitar is a pink colour, instead of grey. 
    Roxy
    Actually came with a bona-fide bass, 4 tuning pegs, 4 strings, this is the only guitar they got right in that sense.  Roxy seems like a bass person to me ^_^.  Is similar in design to the Explorer guitar (made famous by Metallica) or the Hamer Standard.  A prototype of Rapture was shown with a black version of this guitar. 
    1st Edition Roxy: Plum bass guitar with a gold cord, matching glitter sticker. 2nd Edition Roxy: virtually the same as the first edition, but made of transparent plum glitter plastic & no label. Mexican Roxy; Similar to 2nd edition, except a much darker/bluer shade, gold cord, & clear plastic sticker label on the front.
    (thanks to Thumper for this scan)
    Stormer
    OK, this is where the fun really begins.  Believe it or not, Stormer is playing her guitar upside down in every drawing/photo (at least that I've ever seen) of her, the "handle" should be on top, as this is really a right-handed guitar.  The way the strap holders are put on, it's near impossible to orient it correctly on the doll though :\  Anyway, this guitar does exist in real life, and is actually an interesting Synthesizer/Guitar hybrid, the short-lived (1983-1986) Roland G-707, which combined aspects of an electric guitar and synthesizer, very '80's, and I'm guessing would produce a rather unique sound.  So for all of those fans out there complaining that Stormer should have gotten a keyboard like she did on the cartoon, this is a bit of a compromise. Unsurprisingly, they gave it 6 tuning pegs, but only five strings (with the exception of the Mexican version, which has 6 and 6)
    1st Edition Stormer
    Fluorescent Yellow plastic with matching glitter sticker decal, gold cord. 
    2nd Edition Stormer: virtually the same as the first edition, but made of transparent yellow glitter plastic & no label. 
  • scan courtesy of Rhonda Robinson
  • Mexican Stormer: Similar to 2nd edition, except a greener shade, gold cord, & clear plastic sticker label on the front.  And believe it or not, has 6 strings, not the usual five! 
    Music is Magic Fashions 
    This was a deluxe line of fashions that came with instruments, (most often guitars).  The colours and patterns are made to match the outfits exactly.  These guitars don't really follow the "label = first year" rule, as they are all second year instruments and all or 3 out of 4 have labels.  These are among the harder-to-find Jem guitars. (All Scans courtesy of Rhonda Robinson) 
    24 Carat Sound: White plastic with plain (not sparkly) paper label, gold cord.  Has 4 tuning pegs, and 3 strings.  No pick ups (hmm!) Could arguably be considered a bass guitar. Rockin' Roses: Shiny blue designed label placed on matte blue plastic guitar, silver cord.  4 strings and 4 tuning pegs, it's nevertheless referred to as a guitar on the back of the package for this fashion. Splashes of Sound: White plastic with plain paper label.  It is based on a real-life guitar, called a Steinberger, thus no head. It has four strings, & it's actually classified as a bass guitar on the package. Star Struck Guitar: Made of bronze (slightly sparkly) plastic, with a matte & glitter label,  Depending on the angle, the glitter appears red, green or yellow. Gold cord. It has 6 tuning pegs & four strings.