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Ibanez RGT42- Which Floyd?

12K views 28 replies 10 participants last post by  RGTFanatic 
#1 ·
Hi, I just bought an old green RGT42 off craigslist. It has a great action and fast neck, but the pickups and tremolo leave much to be desired. I am going to try and replace the Lo TRS II trem with some type of original Floyd, but am unsure of what will fit easiest in my guitar with minimal routing and hassle. I hear Gotohs are nice, but that the block may not fit without a trip to a machinist. What do you guys recommend?
 
#11 ·
I'd go with the Gotoh. Drops right in but the block is longer so you do have to leave the back plate off, as already stated... or you could get a shorter replacement block (or mill the stock block down a bit, but be prepared for a bit of drilling for the spring holes) and you can keep the back plate, but sustain and tone will suffer, VERY slightly, with the smaller block.
 
#16 ·
@ Fanatic: Thanks! But yeah, there's a few scratches and dings, and the current finish is a drab green color. If you google image 'RGT42' you'll see a pic of the model, except mine is more worn.

@ Loyalist: I would like to check those out, could you shoot me a link? My plan was to try and paint the guitar one color, then another, and sand it in places to make the first color show through in patches. I am completely new to re-finishing and am open to any suggestions as to how to go about it.
 
#20 ·
if a floyd isn't setup right it will feel really tight. Try pulling the floyd back out, cleaning the knife edges and posts then try to get the floyd to neutral position. Also check to make sure the guitar doesn't need a truss rod adjustment. In my experience if a guitar has already been setup correctly neck bow is really the only thing that will mess it up aside from changing string gauge.
 
#22 ·
the lo trs II isn't the greatest, the only advantage is that it will swap out with an original floyd. Like i said try popping the springs off and pulling the trem out cleaning the knife edges and see if you notice any difference. It seems like sometimes the cheaper floyds can get in a bind and not return to neutral, or simply not function as smoothly.

you don't have to do another setup as long as the springs go back on the same way they came off.

If that doesn't work, the rgt42s are an amazing guitar with an OFR
 
#25 ·
To fit an Edge you'll have to widen the cavity out. Both bridges you'll want to pull the old studs and anchors and replace with the bigger, better ones used with the Gotoh or Edge trem. They are locking too, so much better stability.

Gotoh makes the Edge too, but the original Gotoh is made of much better materials. ;)
 
#26 ·
To fit an Edge you'll have to widen the cavity out. Both bridges you'll want to pull the old studs and anchors and replace with the bigger, better ones used with the Gotoh or Edge trem. They are locking too, so much better stability.

Gotoh makes the Edge too, but the original Gotoh is made of much better materials. ;)
Is that difficult? Any honing out needed or will the Gotohs fit in the original holes.
 
#27 ·
Both bridges will fit the existing post spots, but you really want to replace them with the higher quality posts and studs. Pull the old anchors out, drill the hole to accomodate the new anchors, and install.

The Gotoh bridge itself "should" fit the cavity in most cases. If it doesn't it's just a small sanding job to fit properly. The lock screws at the back may be a little too long for the cavity.
 
#29 ·
I'm currently putting a Lo-Pro into a TRSII equipped RG450. As soon as the new studs and anchors show up I'll be doing a mod thread for it. If you can wait, you can see the whole process. This particular body needs VERY little work to fit the Lo-Pro into it. The trem actually drops into place and has free pull-up/dive travel but with the larger locking studs installed I'm pretty sure it's not going to make it.
 
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