Edge pro setup question

[Knee Dragger]

I recently purchased an RG1570 and this is my first floating bridge instrument. I am discovering just how much of a nightmare these things can be. I attempted to follow a poorly written guide to tune the guitar out of the box and ended up pulling the bridge up more and more without having any luck getting it in tune. The guitar was going in for setup the next day so I just gave up on it and waited. I picked the guitar back up and all was well. I spoke with the tech briefly about floating bridges and how to do certain things which helped some. It appears that the bridge may be slightly raised at the back over what it should be even after setup, but I'm not sure how flush it should be or if there is any kind of standard for this. I'd like to get some feedback from those more knowledgeable than me...



The guitar seems to play perfectly and I can find no other issues aside from possibly this bridge level issue. I still can't tune the damned thing, but at least I can play it now! Hopefully I can find some better guides, since it would be nice to be able to tune my instrument.

Thanks for any input anyone can provide.

[Drow Swordsman]

http://www.ibanezrules.com/tech/setup/index.htm

Everything you'll ever need concerning a floating bridge.

[Mati]

You'd almost might want to raise the bridge humbucker a tad there, unless you like it that way.

[Rekuss]

Originally Posted by Drow Swordsman

http://www.ibanezrules.com/tech/setup/index.htm

Everything you'll ever need concerning a floating bridge.

Yeah, Ibanezrules.com is brilliant. I just got my first floating bridge guitar and that site has taught me so much. I'm normally really scared to fiddle with things but now I have a load of confidence to tinker with my RG now.

Reece

Oh, welcome to jemsite Knee Dragger!

[MetalZone]

Knee Dragger, check out that link they posted. Anyway on the other hand, your tremolo level is way high up. the edge pro trem should be perfectly straight to the direction of the strings/body. check out ur manual that came with the guitar, there's a diagram there i think. and check out ibanezrules for tips on how to tune it/setup.

[jb4674]

Originally Posted by Knee Dragger

Thanks for any input anyone can provide.

Dragger,

By looking at the picture, I can see that the front of the trem is sitting way too low..

1 loosen the top nut (by the headstock)
2 raise the trem enough so the top of the knife edge (little rectagle on each side of the trem), is parallel with the top of the trem cavity
3 unscrew the back plate for the trem
4 tighten the spring claw screws into the body so the trem is level (you'll know when it's level by looking at the knife edges (they will be totally parallel to the body)

Look at Rich's site for illustrations and refer to the trem page on jemsite for pics of the edge pro so you can see what the knife edge looks like. Here are a few of pics from the page:





Look at this one for an example of how the trem should look when is leveled and use it for comparison against yours



I hope this helps

Jimmy

[Rocker1]

In the back cavity are 2 screws, it is a matter of guess work, turn them and retune until the knife edge is parralell with the body, and the strings are in perfect tune, i did it all myself and i am only 14!

[AlkyHauler]

yep, front needs to be raised, back lowered, and overall leveled out

[Nesi]

A small tip, though, is to see that if your bridge is raised by more than just-a-bit tune the strings to be flat by several semitones (sometimes just a quarter-tone) or sharp if the bridge is too low.

That way when you set the screws, you have more chance that you get the rough tuning right. Otherwise, you might play endlessly with the tension balance. That's how I almost killed myself once

[Ironjose]

that link is the key to a perfect setup... read it like 3 or more times and you'll be a Rich padawan !!! haha

[Jeff_B]

In addition to Rich's site linked above, you might want to check Dan Erlewine's electric guitar setup DVD; he adjusts a Jem bridge on there on has some shortcuts...just fabulous info...

[nuno]

Originally Posted by Jeff_B

you might want to check Dan Erlewine's electric guitar setup DVD; he adjusts a Jem bridge on there on has some shortcuts...just fabulous info...

too bad he's adjusting a Lo-TRS trem in there, and he lowers the retainer-bar AFTER he tuned the guitar. but anyway he's got some nice tricks overall.

[Dee]

Nuno, how low do you personally set your retainer bar? I thought I'd ask because you're a setup guy. Mine goes out of tune when the nut is locked. Is the bar too high?

[Ironjose]

why does he lower the retainer bar...? what is the purpose of it?

[nuno]

Originally Posted by Dee

Nuno, how low do you personally set your retainer bar? I thought I'd ask because you're a setup guy. Mine goes out of tune when the nut is locked. Is the bar too high?

yep. you want the strings to *lay* right on t he nut's top, throughout its lenght, front to back. if your retainer bar isn't low enough, the strings would *take-off* while they reach the headstock side of the nut base. that's why they go out of tune when you lock the nut pads. and that's when you got to lower the retainer bar, and you do it until all the strings make contact with the headstock side of the nut.








anyway, sometimes happens that the strings would go out of tune when you lock the pads even though you've lowered the retainer bar low enough: that's because sometimes the pads (especially the low-E and A pad) would *twist* in place as you tighten their bolts. i'm sure Rich talks about it somewhere in his site.



he suggests to give the bolt a smooth "jerk" to minimize the twist on the pads. i usually slip something small enough to fit the air space between the pads, so that to lock'em in place while i tighten them, for example a small screwdriver flat tip, like that:

Originally Posted by Ironjose

why does he lower the retainer bar...? what is the purpose of it?

as above.