RG470 hardware upgrades

[Akirean]

Hi everyone, this is my first thread around here so I may as well take a quick opportunity to introduce myself!

I've been playing for around 5 and a half years and i'm currently in the last semester of a Creative Music degree, which is going well. Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, all the usual names, have been long term inspirations for me as a musician although recently i've been getting into different music forms such as electronica and post-rock.

Anyway, i'm just looking for a bit of advice:

My main axe is a Jackson Soloist SL2 (please don't ban me 8-) ) and for a live backup guitar I have an Ibanez RG470. The trem over the past year has been giving me merry hell, after a bit of research I found out that Ibanez didn't use hardened metal for the trem so it fatigues after a while; I installed a tremel-no to lock the trem off which solved the problem for a while.

Anyway, I would like to get rid of the current trem system and install an original floyd rose, which apparently fit in without any routing. When looking to buy one I have found different variations in the nuts available with these systems, such as "r2" and "r4", what does this mean and which one would be appropriate for my Ibanez? Or can I continue using the nut already on the guitar?

Also, i'm looking to replace the tuners, their travel is very unpredictable which makes tuning up after putting new strings on more stressful than it should be, especially compared to my soloist which is a joy to set up. Can anyone recommend a good replacement? Cost isn't really too much of an issue. Yes the argument here is that I could just buy a new guitar, especially with the price of the floyd and with the £140 spent on new pickups and the cost of the tremel-no, but I have quite an attachment to this guitar and it is only ever used as a back-up anyway.

Sorry for the long winded post, thank you in advance for any help with regard to my queries!

[Homebake]

edit:

thought it had an edge pro, i see now it has the lo-trs.

[Akirean]

Originally Posted by Homebake

edit:

thought it had an edge pro, i see now it has the lo-trs.

Sorry, I should have clarified that in my original post; it has the lo-trs trem.

[andrewgosline]

there is a list of the R numbers on their site:

floydrose [dot] com [slash] nutsizes.html

You usually have to shim the floyd bridge to match the radius of your ibanez. No biggee, but work. For the cost of a floyd, you might want to get a replacement edge or edge pro, as it will cost a bit more, but seems less work to get working.

[moebius]

Originally Posted by andrewgosline

there is a list of the R numbers on their site:

floydrose [dot] com [slash] nutsizes.html

You usually have to shim the floyd bridge to match the radius of your ibanez. No biggee, but work. For the cost of a floyd, you might want to get a replacement edge or edge pro, as it will cost a bit more, but seems less work to get working.

I might be mistaken but I don't think an edge or edge pro will drop into this guitar with out routing and perhaps new studs. I seem to recall this being discussed in multiple threads and that most people with a Lo-Trs II will replace it with a OFR. Might try searching other threads.

[andrewgosline]

ayeehaaa, that could be true, I hope that isn't the case! Post spacing certainly would be a pain to change. Please check the post to post spacing of your tremolo!! According to the floyd site, their routing template has a post to post of 2.91", which is just shy of 74mm. If and OFR fits in a lo-trs, well the post to post should be the same. I know my edge is 74mm.

Routing the cavity is a pain, but I've seen some good results with a small chisel, stikit sandpaper, and some patience. Shimming the floyd to match the ~16" radius is a pain, and re-radiusing the frets/fretboard to match an OFR radius is even more of a pain. Your choice!!!

[LonePhantom]

Just keep using the nut that the guitar came with, less headaches than trying to find the OFR equivalent. Also save some money and get yourself a Gotoh Licensed Floyd Rose. Cheaper and probably better than OFR. Comes with locking studs too.

[Akirean]

Thanks for the help guys, the Gotoh certainly seems a viable option, infact I may go for the Gotoh afterall.

I have however just purchased a new pedal, a Lovepedal Kanji Eternity, no longer made and at an a price I couldn't refuse!

That means I might put the new trem on hold for a while, however, I was thinking of installing some Sperzel locking tuners for now; as I mentioned, the ones on the guitar already are very unpredictable in their travel. Can anyone recommend a particlar model of Sperzel tuners that will fit the headstock of my guitar? I believe the pre-2003 rg470's have an original wizard neck if that's any help in identifying the correct tuners?

[andrewgosline]

my rg has 10.2mm holes for the tuners, so a sperzel will fit in no problem.. Obviously you'll need the 6 in line set. I usually buy mine from stewart macdonald. they're called Trim-Lok. You'll also need to drill a pilot hole for the hidden peg that sperzel has. If you want, stewmac sells a neat little jig to help you do the job. I love my sperzel tuners, cause it makes string changes much quicker. They're supposed to help with tuning stability, but if you have a lock-nut, that's a non issue

[Akirean]

Thanks for your reply!

Can you explain more about this hidden peg?

I'm hoping they will make the process of setting the Ibanez up a lot easier, it gets kind of hard when the tuners don't know what they're doing, let alone the lo-trs trem.

[andrewgosline]

I can't post links yet Go to stewmac [dot] com and look up the sperzel trim lok tuners. They have a picture there. Some tuners have screw holes that you can see on the back of the headstock, to keep the tuner from rotating. Others have little pins that stick out from their body and go into the wood, yet you can't see them when they're installed. The pictures will show you.

or just go to sperzel [dot] com, and there are some nice pictures too, and you can clearly see the peg.

[Akirean]

Ahh I see now.

I'm based in the UK so is there anywhere you know of where I can get hold of the forementioned jig?

Thanks for your help, it's much appreciated.

[andrewgosline]

ya man. It's a stewmac jig, and you absolutely don't need it. I used a jig that I made recently, and it make the job a little easier and safer, but really all you need is a hand drill. My first time installing sperzels I just taped off the drill bit to indicate the depth, and I pushed the tuner in the hole to make a little impression of where to start the hole. The pin will easily leave a mark in the maple or mahogany or whatever wood your headstock is made of. That worked just fine, but the holes weren't as even or accurate as they could be with the jig. The difference is really cosmetic, though, you just don't want the tuners to rotate

www[dot]stewmac[dot]com has the jig. It's called a "tuner pin drill jig". I'm sure they'll ship to the UK, but you'd have to pay VAT on it

Anyways, best of luck.

[Akirean]

I've taken a look on the stewmac website and it seems very useful! I've bookmarked the page for future reference. The wood on the Ibanez seems quite soft so it shouldn't be too hard a job with the jig as an aid.

Many thanks for your help!