I have no idea whether or not this will help my situation, as I am not situated anywhere near the USA, but here it goes:
Ibanez, package the right parts. Please.
I own a MIJ RG470 that has been thouroughly modded, OFR, Duncans, Feiten, etc. One of the few items that I kept stock was the original
locking nut. I figured that if its not broke, don't fix it. The nut was the wrong radius to start off with - when lowered by a lot, every string besides the two E strings buzz on the first fret - its flatter than the 400mm Wizard II necks. Can't really blame anyone here, its a 470, its a budget model, and its called cost cutting.
Eventually, the locking nut strips on me, the low E nut pad won't stay. Fair enough, I go to the dealer, and put in an order for a 2TL1BR43B, described as a Top Lok III w/ 43mm locking nut. This is the part specified on the Ibanez USA parts webpage for the 470, with the exception that I ordered mine in black, since they had that in stock in the warehouse, meaning no 6 month wait required for the next shipment of parts from Japan to come to my local dealer. Just a side note - the Edge equipped models also have this part number listed for the replacement, but I know for one thing that the factory installed system on the 470s are definitely not the same as the 5xx and above systems - the string
retainer bar design is slightly different, and I suspect the 470 ones are made of the same TRS metal, possibly by Takeuchi.
Picked up the parts a few hours ago. Instead of getting the proper item, I got a Schaller R2 locking nut assembly stuck in an Ibanez bag. The R2 is a) 41mm (too narrow) and b) 10" radius (way off from the 16" Wizard II, let alone the 17" Wizards). I highly doubt the dealer swapped parts behind the shelf, as they are a reputable chain store dealer (Tom Lee Music in Hong Kong), and as far as I know, do not carry Schaller parts either. Which leaves me to believe that one of the International distributors have been shipping out incorrect parts. A 41mm 10" radius nut proved to be near un-usable on my RG - I'm taking it back tommorow, and hope that the dealer will honor a refund for what is obviously a mispackaged part.
Whether its a problem with the international distributors, or my dealer, its not doing the company any good in terms of PR. I paid good money for that nut, and was expecting to get my axe ready for playing again today. Now I have to order one off the net, which means an even longer wait until I can have my axe "roadworthy" again. Its the first time that I seriously felt that "Ibeenhad"
Any response would be appreciated.
Jono Lam
