need some tuning instability diagnosis (long post)

[Homebake]

so i've had this old silver rg570 fixed up a bit.

i had to get the stud insert holes fixed up since the stud inserts were wobbling and were not 90 degrees to the guitar.. tech at local music store fixed it up. i don't know exactly what he did, but they're not moving (although they're still not quite level with the guitar). when i got the guitar back, i locked down the studs (of course he hadn't locked them down...) and gave the inserts and studs a bit of pressure back and forth with my fingers and they didn't seem to move so i didn't screw around with it too much TRYING to get them to move.

the guitar has weird tuning instability problems. after about 15-30 mins of constant playing, it's pretty out of tune. like, at least 2 or so of the strings will be about a quarter tone out and the rest will be pretty far past the "not perfectly in tune, but close enough" stage. i still don't have a whammy bar for it, so i haven't been able to play around with the bridge yet (although i have used my edge zero whammy bar to do pull ups and dives at a restring). so basically it goes out of tune from just normal playing. i've read rich's tuning instability problems list here:

http://www.ibanezrules.com/tech/setu..._stability.htm

and the things i've narrowed it down to are:

bad/worn out studs
stud anchors still wobbling slightly
something to do with the knife edges

for a trem made in 1999, the edge had pretty clean knife edges (from what i can tell from my limited experience). there was a small silver bit on the knife edges from wear, but it still looked pretty damn good, no huge grooves or anything, i mean the edges themselves were pretty damn straight and sharp. i took the whole thing apart and gave it a huge clean up.

the thing is, the studs themselves had a silver ring around the groove, which i'm guessing is pretty bad since i've never seen studs with that much wear, so i'm guessing the knife edges are binding in them.

in you guys' opinions, would a new set of studs solve the problem? i don't trust myself or anyone at either music store in my city with sharpening the knife edges of the trem.

also, on a related note, say i bought a replacement rg body from one of the vendors around here, how simple would it be whacking all the parts and neck from this guitar onto that? more specifically, how do the stud inserts fit into the body? could i just do it by hand?

thanks for any help.

[LuredMaul]

Stud inserts are hammered in, use a wood block so you don't marr the stud.
do you stretch the strings when you install them?
what strings do you use? have you tried tightening the spring claw a quarter turn in either direction, sometimes this alone helps stability. usually a quarter tighter.

Most often I find crappy strings or not fully stretched strings to be the main culprit if you aren't useing the trem.

as far as wobbly stubs ...use a drop of super glue in the stud hole to stabalize it (prolly all your tech did)

[Homebake]

yeah, strings stretched more so than i do on my 2550z (edge zero).

i use ernie ball 10-46 slinkies. and the spring claw is all the way in i think as far as it can go. 3 springs in the back.

can you go into a bit more detail about stud inserts? if i got an rg replacement body from say ET guitars, i'm assuming the stud insert holes would be cut exactly the right size to accept the inserts and it just be a matter of hammering them in?

edit: forgot to add, i emailed etguitars about the problem about a week ago, no response though.

[LonePhantom]

I wouldn't worry too much if the studs have some wear where you can see the silver. As long as there is no pitting or anything to catch on the knife edges so to speak you should be right. if there is any anything the knife edges could catch on maybe some fine sand paper will get you a smoother stud.

With regard to the knife edges, if you are careful and light with the file you should be able to smooth out any bits quite easily.

Did you go to Better Music? What was the problem you had that made you think they wouldn't be up to the task?

[Homebake]

Originally Posted by LonePhantom

I wouldn't worry too much if the studs have some wear where you can see the silver. As long as there is no pitting or anything to catch on the knife edges so to speak you should be right. if there is any anything the knife edges could catch on maybe some fine sand paper will get you a smoother stud.

With regard to the knife edges, if you are careful and light with the file you should be able to smooth out any bits quite easily.

Did you go to Better Music? What was the problem you had that made you think they wouldn't be up to the task?

yeah, i went to better music. well, the guy returned the guitar and the knife edges were not level with the studs, the studs were still not at a 90 degree angle (which i told him was one of the main problems) and the studs were not locked down when i got the guitar back. oh well. i think i'm going to get a new set of studs and a new body anyway, since the finish on this one is cracked all over the place and i've always wanted a natural finish guitar.