Bushings on Edge bar wearing out too fast.

MicJustMic · #1 03-03-2003, 10:29 AM

Okay, I know the nail polish trick and making sure everything is tight . . . here's the problem . . .

I have two Ibanez guitars, both with original Edge trems, and with both of them within a week or two of using them, the bars (specifically, the bushings) get very loose. You can actually see how thin they are compared to new ones.

On my first Edge, I replaced the bushings, only to have them wear out just as fast. I didn't know about the nail polish trick back then, so I scrounged and found more bushing, only to have them wear out just as fast. Eventually I started using model paint on the thing, same as nail polish trick but doesn't seem to last nearly as long.

I don't believe it's use that's wearing them out, however, I believe it's pushing the bar in and pulling it out that is causing this. I had left my old guitar, with fresh bushings, in a studio on a stand for a month while recording demos and it stayed nice and tight, but as soon as I started "casing" it regularly again, the bushings wore right out.

I've read on here that people's bushings, or nail polish job, will last "a few months", mine never seem to last a week, maybe two.

Any idea what I'm doing wrong here?

I can't leave them out, with the bar in, since they are kept in the basement and it's dusty and dry down here (humidity packs are used in the cases), so that's out, I'm at a loss.

Thanks,
Mic

CrossingStar · #2 03-03-2003, 06:16 PM

After putting the nail polish on try heating it with a blow dryer. I did that on one bar and the stuff hasn't worn off. Plus I put fresh bushings over it. It was REALLY tight going in the first time, I leaning on the thing hard, and when it did go in it shaved some of the bushings off. But it's been tight for me ever since, a few months now.

MicJustMic · #3 03-03-2003, 06:46 PM

Okay, let me 'splain.

I have tried the nail polish thing, and I let them dry over a couple of days, I have 2 extra bars so that's not a problem.

Even when I have them to the point, with new bushings, that I have to really lean on it to get them in, I STILL have a swinging bar within a couple of weeks. And no, it's not the polish wearing off, it's the bushings getting thinner and thinner.

Could it be that sometimes I'm pulling the thing out, and pushing it in several times a day, sometimes?

Like I said in the original post, on the one occasion that I left it in for a month it stayed tight the entire time, then when I started taking it out and putting it in often, as I normally do, it simply wore out as fast as it usually does for me.

Thanks,
Mic

frankfalbo · #4 03-03-2003, 07:37 PM

It sounds to me like you might want to kiss off the inner edge of your arm holder with a round file. There may be burrs or a roundover that shaves a little off your bushing every time you go in or out.

Also, the bushings have a top and bottom. Not one for the top and one for the bottom, but that they have a slight conical shape to them. It's explained in an Ibanez instruction manual. If the fatter part is towards the bottom, you could be shearing off the part that provides friction every time. It is meant to have the narrow part go in first. I don't know if there's a scan of it on this site but it's illustrated quite well in the booklet I have. Lastly, check for very small rodents or termites in your arm holder that are eating the bushings away

MicJustMic · #5 03-03-2003, 07:52 PM

Checked the arm holders on both guitars, all seems well in there.

And yes, I know about the bushings having a top and a bottom, but can anyone actually tell what is the top and the bottom? I always have trouble. I THINK I have them in correctly though.

Oh, no bugs or rodents in there either.

Mic[/quote]

MicJustMic · #6 03-03-2003, 07:52 PM

Hey, where did that quote part come from behind my name? LOL

CrossingStar · #7 03-03-2003, 09:28 PM

Are you sure the bolt that keeps the arm holder tight isn't coming loose? I've had that problem before. You have to take the trem out to see it, it's underneath.

MicJustMic · #8 03-03-2003, 11:27 PM

As in the original post, everything is tight.

Besides, putting nail polish on the arm wouldn't tighten that up, now would it?

(putting nail polish on the arm does indeed work for me, for about a week)

Just teasing, have to joke since this is a little frustrating.

Thanks though, it's nice that people are trying to help me.

Mic

CrossingStar · #9 03-04-2003, 12:19 AM

Well, I'm out of ideas!

MicJustMic · #10 03-04-2003, 12:25 AM

Thanks for trying though.

I'm trying a new color nail polish, not that I think it's going to make a difference.

I'm going to be a little more careful about what direction I put the bushings on, as I said, I THINK I've put them on with the narrow end going in first, but I have a hard time telling what end is "up" on the damned little things. It would be nice if they marked the narrow end somehow to make it a little easier to tell.

I'll see if that helps, but I doubt it.

Mic

littlegreenman · #11 03-04-2003, 01:46 AM

I don't know why you're having this many prob's, but try this, instead of the nail polish trick, before you put new bushing on, soak the entire bushing in CA (instant glue, like crazy glue, but buy a good brand, like ZAP, or FLASH, or HOT STUFF) let it dry completely, then put the bushings on, and see how that lasts, that stuff gets hard, it might help. I don't know, I've never had that many problems.

MicJustMic · #12 03-04-2003, 02:11 AM

I'm sure it's something I've done, or am doing, wrong.

I'm hoping it's simply that I've put the bushings on upside down, but I don't know. I've always tried like hell to make sure they were on correctly, and that also wouldn't explain why a brand new bar, with the bushings on it already, would wear out so fast.

As I said, I have two extra bars . . . one of them is less than a month old and it still has the original bushings on it, didn't get around to nail polishing that one yet.

I'm stumped.

Thanks again,
Mic

Rich · #13 03-04-2003, 02:14 AM

If they're old the inside of the holder just wears bigger. If they're not, check and make sure the shaft isn't greased up. If it's greased even a normally tight bar will start spinning.

MicJustMic · #14 03-04-2003, 02:17 AM

Same trouble on a brand new guitar as the old one, and I checked for grease, that's not it either.

The bushings wear, it's tight for a while and it doesn't just spin when it gets loose, it rocks a little.

At first I thought it was the holder getting loose, but like I said, everything is tight so that's not it.

Maybe I'm just stupid, I don't know.

Mic

CrossingStar · #15 03-04-2003, 06:05 AM

Regarding those nylon bushings, I was having a hard time believing you guys that there is a certain way that they go on, but indeed the manual does state "Make sure the right side of the new bush(ing) is face up." And there is a way to tell, the graphic of the bushing shows 3 little circles or dots on the edge that faces towards inserted end, meaning the side with 3 dots would be facing downward as you push the bar in. Looking at a real bushing, I can see that the 3 dots are only on one side of it. It's weird though, looking at the bushing from the side it doesn't look conical in shape like frankfalbo said, but the manual graphic does show it to be conical. Love the Ibanez minutiae! OK, so I had some constructive info finally!