No, I didn't. Wanted too but too expensive to order from Rich. It will set me back like RM200 I think.

You did it to your RG right? I think I saw a pic of it somewhere before.

How was it? Big improverment?

Mine goes sharp during up pull but not too noticeable to the point where you will hear the difference but very obvious on the tuner.

Dive it works perfect.

Out of curiosity, have you ever broken your tremolo bar? I broke the fourth one recently and I honestly don't think I am that much of a whammy abuser. Either Ibanez bars are just plain crappy or I got a series of bad batches from Bentley.

I did however recently ordered a stainless steel one from one dude that makes different replacement stainless steel bars for various brands.

Costs me USD33 including shipping. That price can buy me three Ibanez bars but I had it with Ibanez bars. I rather have one expensive one that will last me forever than three cheaper ones that will break in less than a year.

must've knocked against something, but didnt realise...it feels like the paint comes off easily.. my previous guitar didnt get scratches easily.

Edit : it feels like a small chunk of the paint comes out whenever it slightly knocks against something.

This post has been edited by winkybear: Oct 22 2006, 02:01 AM

noisetrigger, 33 US$ is very cheap... is it 330 $ ?

i think he meant the whammy bar alone.
USD33? OFR bars are about USD11 and stainless steel too

and yes, ALL ibanez bars are crap.
its like a thin hollow metal tube filled with some clay like crap material.
the tremolos including ALL their high end ones are similarly built.

i've seen broken ones before.

unlike the OFR whos trems are pure steel etc.

This post has been edited by Everdying: Oct 22 2006, 04:51 AM

@noisetrigger
yeah i did that to my RG. well it did improve (partly probably also because of chapstick), the tuner can tell... but quite a costly mod like u said but i bought a few other items at the same time from rich. but I did it also because of a subconcious fear of widening the stud insert in the soft basswood in a long run. like yours, mine was also perfect from a dive out of the box, but returns slightly sharp from a pull up. the pic u saw was probably from my pic album: http://lp.pcmoddingmy.com/thumbnails.php?album=384
the non-locking studs may feel firm with the trem on, but if you take it off, there's no more pressure to hold it in, and i was surprised it was looser than i expected.
you broke the 4th bar? wow... I never realised it was that common... i haven't broken mine yet, but i'm also not a heavy whammy abuser. and i don't own this guitar as long as you yet.
stainless steel bar... is it from some website that also makes custom pickup rings? got a url or contact? if i actually do break mine i'll probably have to get one.

This post has been edited by MetalZone: Oct 22 2006, 09:03 AM

Ya, I was talking about the whammy bar alone. Sadly, an OFR bar won't fit the Edge Pro arm holder so it is either I change the holder to an OFR one or just change the bar to a stainless steel one.

I actually prefer the pop in arm so stainless steel bar is the way to go. Kinda expensive but he custom made them himself. I even specified a brushed steel finish.

Ya know, to be fair, I have seen lots of stripped OFR and schallers floyd too. Only fix is to replace the whole base. At least you can buy the base plate (knife edges) from Ibanez separately.

What else you bought from Rich? Is he ok do deal with?

Even after the mod, the trem still will not return to neutral after pull up? Kinda defeats the point of the mod right? Everyone in Jemsite was raving about how it will let your trem return to neutral after an up pull.

Ya, the studs on mine were quite loose without the trem but the widening of the stud inserts I think has been overblown a little.

After three years of abuse without the mod, mine sits there perfectly solid. No widening of any kind at all.

Even the knife edges are still as fresh as when I first got it. They will probably outlast me.

I do however lubricate them with Singer machine oil from time to time. This oil is magic and works wonder.

Yes, I got it from the dude that makes those fancy pickup rings. Here is the url http://www.fretsonthenet.net/index.htm

Dave is a nice guy to deal with. The bar is USD26. Shipping to Malaysia is 7USD.

Your guitar is a nice one. I always wanted the red one. But no money now. Haha, probably next year.

Hey... I was playing just now... my guitar was a just slightly off tune... retuned... and i found that my return from pull up is almost perfect! When I was on new strings last month it didn't return as perfect as it is now... I don't know why. I hope it still returns as good as this after my next string change.

I don't think it everyone will get a perfect return from pullup. but I can say that the locking studs definately improved mine, but perfect it did not... until now...

Anyway about the stud anchors widening, rich says its more like at least 10 years plus, coz he has encountered 20 year old basswood guitars with non-locking studs that had their stud anchors ovalled.

Rich is a nice guy to deal with, just that u may have to get used to his prompt way of replying ur mails, coz he replies tons of mails everyday, very busy man. What else i got from him? Air Norton, 12 nylon washers for the trem bar, 2x 47mm springs, chapstick (lol he was kind enough to sell me one of his spares).

Thanks for the link. I visited that website before but I couldn't remember it. Might wanna grab a bar in the future too.

Thx for the compliment. The red one looks nice too at bentley. You have an MIJ RG570?

btw, you know the cheapest place to get those nylon trem bar washers?

This post has been edited by MetalZone: Oct 22 2006, 07:18 PM

Your strings are probably not fully stretch, hence the less than perfect uppull. Now that it has been fully stretch, your uppull return is more perfect.

Next time you change your strings, try up pulling then diving (with the locking nut locked) 7-8 times, then retuning and repeating the same thing again until your tuning is stable on the tuner. From then on, your guitar should be in perfect tune until your nexy string change, at worst you might just need to tweak the fine tuners from time to time.

How much the mod set your back including shipping? I might want to get one later down the line, better safe than sorry.

You can't buy the washers from Bentley. They don't carry any at all. Never did, never will. You do get a pair of spare ones each time you buy a new bar though.

My RG is a weird one. It's a 2003 RG450LTD. That makes it the only non-Prestige MIJ RG series with the exact same hardware (Edge Pro, Gotoh tuners) and pups (V7-S1-V8) as the RG1550 and RG1570.

LTD also means that it is a limited model made only in 03-04) and comes with some fancy appointments (Binding on the headstock and fretboard, mirror pickguard)

It is pretty much an RG5xx series in a weird way. The neck profile is a Wizard II though. Ironically, as of 2005, all Prestige Wizard neck has the same profile as the Wizard II.

Actually thats exactly what I do when stretching strings, and I also pull on the string and slide along the full length a few times. But strings will still gradually stretch a little over time, even though they may be fully stretched at that time.

The stud mod set alone is USD40 excluding shipping if you wanna order other stuff from him. as quoted from his website: "The locking stud mod kit with Super Studs is $44 mailed in the US, $49 offshore. The kit includes one pair of the redesigned optimum profile 2LE2B locking studs, one pair of 8M set screws ground down to under 4mm thickness, and the 4mm and 1.5mm Allen wrenches you need to go with them"

A small part of the cost is also going to his workmanship of grinding down the 8M set screws. If you wanna save some money and get the other parts yourself, the locking studs alone are USD15 each. I'd rather pay him the extra USD10 to save myself the trouble of grinding down the end set screws myself. Btw, do tell me if you're ordering anything from him, I might wanna get another spare pack of washers.

Nice RG, i think u posted a pic of it with ur 5150 before somewhere in the gear thread. wierd that they called it a 4xx though, which is normally associated with MIK.

Yeah they upped the 1st fret thickness from 17mm to 18mm. but the j customs are even thinner than the original wizard. 17mm at 1st fret and 19mm at 12th (as opposed to 20mm on the previous and current wizards)

This post has been edited by MetalZone: Oct 23 2006, 07:25 AM

Wow. My unlimitate budget just got cut down another notch........
Had to do a massive 2.5k upgrade to my comp.
The good news is that I can play Battlefield 2142 at full res..... see you on the field Whacker!!!!!

i'm gonna hunt down blacktrix on bf2142 now

oh yea, today my line is extremely fast, all the idiots gone away on holidays, actually d/l at anywhere from 150 - 200k/s now.

This post has been edited by Everdying: Oct 23 2006, 08:00 PM

Any other musicians out there playing Battlefield...... just search for BlackTriX under your friends list. I should be there.

down one notch = 2.5k ??!!!!!

wow

im like totally broke now after my mp3 player broke down and had to spend to get an ipod nano. dont think i could get a new amp anytime soon.

how is the ipod nano by the way ? you like it ? is it solid ? i'm thinking about getting one for christmas...

love it. if only i had money for the video. lol. its definitely solid. better than the previous one which looks like its gona break anytime. im just afraid of scratching the screen.

Well, I guess it really boils down to what is more important for everyone at the end of the day.

Blacktrix=PC
echo=mp3 player

I had the choice of getting either a new phone (I was using Nokia 8310 until a few months ago), a new PC (still using my ancient Pentium III 5 year old PC until now), Ipod (never did get one), or a new amp last year.

Guess which one I pick?

I think you should try out Singer machine oil. They usually sell it to lubricate their sewing machine but it works wonders for tremolos too. My guitar at one point was going back flat after dive and going back really sharp after an up pull. One drop of the oil at the knife edges, let it sit for a while and woila, the guitar is back to normal.

I make it a point to lubricate the knife edges now each time I change my strings.

Ouch, almost RM200 for the mod. I probably won't be getting them anytime soon. I already gave up on replacing the washers a long time ago. They disinegrate after a few days anyway.

The RG4xx series has been a very confused one. During the early 90s, they were made in Japan and actually featured the Edge!!! Then sometime in the mid 90s they were moved to Korea and featured the horrid lo-trsII.

Then around the late 90s, production was moved back to Japan and featured the better lo-trs. This went on until 2003, where they introduced them with the Edge Pro until 2004 and before phasing them out.

Guess Ibanez wants us to pay a lot more for a Japanese axe, or just stick to the cheaper and lower end Korean or Indon axe. No more in between.

k guys need a little advice from u guys, friend might be getting a new guitar

theres this MIJ jackson
its got 24 frets
duncan designed pickups
rosewood fretboard, i think basswood body, maple neck, flame maple veneer top
what i think should be JT580 LP tremolo
only thing here is that its a bolt on neck n its a little uncomfortable to play the higher frets [i use a lp, my friend uses a strat so he might be ok with it]

for 1600

or

a JEM jr. MIIndon
for 1900

which is more worth the money??

im thinking the jackson

Of course the Jackson. Dinky right?

If it is the JT580, it is a fine tremolo. The same as the LoTRS that can be found on pre-03 RG4xx series.

Stay away from the JEM jr!!!

But wait, that price is used or new? Cause it will be too cheap to be a new MIJ Jackson. Used Price, if it is is very good condition is ok. Maybe want to lower to below RM1500.