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?
I am also installing a pretty hot pickup into the bridge, a Lace Alumnitone Deathbucker. Do you think there would be a problem with shielding if I left the cavity plate off?
RGT42 has the Edge Pro II or Edge III unless someone modified it for Lo TRS (Oh God why). Unless it was modified the Edge Pro is a direct replacement. Congrats by the way because these are outstanding guitars. I have 2 and am always looking for more.
So is Gotoh the general consensus? Sorry but I hesitate to drop a couple hundo (almost as much as I paid for the guitar itself) unless it is the right choice.
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.
Just ordered a black gotoh licensed floyd off of Aamp's Electric Guitar Store. I will have to sand and repaint my guitar before I add any of the hardware though. D:
@ 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.
Is this the one everyone is talking about? What I prefer to do would be to add an original Ibanez Edge. My apologies if I missed it but does anyone know if an original Edge will fit. It has the Lo TRS and this thing sucks!!
So I take her out last night. I have tendenitis so I prefer a very light gauge I would prefer a light gauge regardless. I like the feel. This has the same gauge as the other RGs but the string tension is so much stiffer. Is that a product of this Lo TRS? Hope so.
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.
I set all my guitars up and they all play the same. Neck is perfect and the bridge is dead level. Same as the others. The defference being the different bridges ad bolt on necks. I was hoping it was the bridge.
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
Thanks J. I will give that a try but I will probably replace it with a Gotoh. (Thanks LonePhantom) I would rather not because the hardware is pewter but in this case I dont think I will have a choice. I don't know if a Edge off of a 500 or 700 series will work.
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.
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.
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.
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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