If i bend my bar will it snap?

[Andy Logan]

Hi,

I have the bridge on my RG550 set up pretty much perfectly, however the tremolo arm isnt quite high enough for my liking. The trem has to be pulled right back before the bar is at a decent height...which makes it unusable!

Im pretty sure it has something to do with the barrel in which the bar sits, not being perfectly alligned(?). Anyway, ivd decided that bending the bar in a vice would be the easiest answer to my problem....but im worried incase i snap it!!! Has anyone had this problem..or tried to bend the bar? It would only need bending a fraction or so.

Thanks for anyones help

[nuno]

i wouldn't bend it, i think you'll end snapping it.

[jemsite]

check the setup first, the arm holder offers no adjustment for this so that is an unlikely problem.

i've bend trem arms in a vice for similar reasons a while back. you should not have a problem. insert the end of the bar w/ bushings into the vice leaving a half-inch or so room to bend then pull slowly to expand the angle.... glen

[Rich]

I have to agree, if the bar isn't high enough I doubt the trem is set at proper angle

[JEM10th]

Hi!
I use to bend my bars, but in the end, itīs not good to do too many bends on them. Always ended up bending them back again, as they felt too high..
Itīs only cheap iron in them :P

[steve]

I bend each and every one of my Ibanez bars - I like them quite high, for whatever reason. I change the angle so that the end is offset upward about 1/4", which is quite a bit...
You have to make sure to clamp the bar so that it's secure, and that you'll focus the re-bending at the 'elbow' that already exists - if you don't isolate it this way, you stand a chance of breaking the bar in the most prone spot, the channels for the bushings.
I use small blocks of wood around the bar, clamp the vise so that the bar is very tightly secured in there, and then bend gradually - I keep a tracing of the bar on paper to compare start vs. desired bend... caution is advised.

[Rich]

I always bend mine so it would be closer to the body and ride easily in my hand as I picked, it's all ice cream

[chrisf]

I had this same problem on my RG 570. While looking at the trem setup section here at the jemsite I also found instructions for tightening the trem arm holder. After tightening it ( I didn't even know it was loose ) I found that my bar was at the perfect height and it fluttered much better.

http://www.jemsite.com/tech/t_3other.htm#tremarmholder

[steve]

The snugger the bar, the better the flutter.
... there's a joke in there somewhere, I'm sure...

My hand kinda' sticks upward when I pick sometimes, it seems... so that puts the bar right into my hand - probably looks a bit like George Lynch's hand looks most of the time, but I'm not sure.
I also have it set to stay firmly in place - so my hand's over my bar a lot.
(Joke in there, too, I'd guess. =])

[jemke]

don't bend them many times ar bend it back because of metal fatigue.