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Replaceable Knife Edges, why?

17K views 34 replies 12 participants last post by  CrossingStar 
#1 ·
Why can't they go back to selling these? Now when I screw up my knife edges I have to take a file to them and risk screwing them up even more, or I have to buy a new trem or used trem in it's entirety in order to get a replaceable set.

How hard is it to send 50 pairs of knife edges to the ibanez shop a year, sell them for $30. Why would they discontinue this?

I can't imagine they would be so incredulous to think we would just buy replacement trems when we wear out our edges.

I feel it is a major fail in their services to not offer replacements of the NAME of the most important hardware of their guitars ;)
 
#4 ·
It should be more a service on their part than a profit. I can't imagine they sell a lot of replacement screws or string trees.

It should be the most practical thing on earth for them to have replacements of the pinnacle of the trem action, one of the most important and flagship things on their guitars.

How would I order a stock if these from a supplier? How do I get de mentions and such. And how much more would it cost
 
#5 ·
It should be more a service on their part than a profit. I can't imagine they sell a lot of replacement screws or string trees.

It should be the most practical thing on earth for them to have replacements of the pinnacle of the trem action, one of the most important and flagship things on their guitars.

How would I order a stock if these from a supplier? How do I get de mentions and such. And how much more would it cost
Dont gripe. Japan doesnt even have anyone like Rich to do ANYTHING... and this is their HOME MARKET. Be lucky living in the US you can get stuff from Rich for cheap, whereas I have to either have him send it to my mother's place or direct to japan and pay international shipping fees. Be lucky Rich is there.
 
#10 ·
Why can't they go back to selling these? Now when I screw up my knife edges I have to take a file to them and risk screwing them up even more, or I have to buy a new trem or used trem in it's entirety in order to get a replaceable set.

How hard is it to send 50 pairs of knife edges to the ibanez shop a year, sell them for $30. Why would they discontinue this?

I can't imagine they would be so incredulous to think we would just buy replacement trems when we wear out our edges.

I feel it is a major fail in their services to not offer replacements of the NAME of the most important hardware of their guitars ;)
This is a sore spot with me because I have pleaded with them to make them available, and Japan just will not do it. They want you to buy the new trem, unfortunately it might not be in the same color as the one that needs it, discontinued 10 years ago. It's like the tensioned arm holder on the Edge Zero as a swap to the Lo Pro holder, they will not sell it.

I have thought about having a batch made. Small batch would cost too much, but if Ibanez sold them they'd probably be stupid priced anyway.

It should be more a service on their part than a profit. I can't imagine they sell a lot of replacement screws or string trees.

It should be the most practical thing on earth for them to have replacements of the pinnacle of the trem action, one of the most important and flagship things on their guitars.

How would I order a stock if these from a supplier? How do I get de mentions and such. And how much more would it cost
The fact is they're selling lots of screws and string trees, replacement parts programs are expensive for companies to run and makes the price of the parts expensive. They make proprietary systems so you have no other choice but to buy their parts, [until somebody starts knocking off copies of ZR/EZ T blocks].

I had a guy call a couple weeks ago [not a customer, just out of the blue], and he was complaining [ranting] about the bushing that was under his trem arm, that isn't in the manual, and he lost it, and called the company and they charged him $8, plus shipping, for the bushing. After a lashing at Ibanez I finally realized he was only calling to rant and get it off his chest. Thankfully he did, because I had the bushings priced at $3, and that meant list more than doubled! Granted, these same bushing were $1 no more than a year ago. 800% increase, you do the math 8O
 
#14 ·
Titanium is not stronger than steel when worked into the same physical dimensions. This is a common misconception.

If you have a half inch tube made of steel, and a half inch tube made of titanium, with the same wall thickness and length, the titanium tube will bend and buckle under less force than the steel one, however the steel one will weigh much more.

You can make a titanium part with the same structural strength as the steel one, but you'd need to use a greater volume of titanium and almost certainly you would need to use a larger diameter of tubing with a different wall thickness - however in the end your titanium part would still be lighter (though by less than the titanium part made with the same dimensions would have been), once the necessary steps had been taken.

Simply replacing a steel part with an identical one made of titanium will make the part weaker, not stronger.
 
#15 ·
Bushings, the only thing I don't like about the Edge and Edge Pro bridges.
I've tried the nail polish trick, the lighter trick, squeezing plastic film in with the bar.......none of these are satisfactory. Nail polish wears off pretty quickly, the heat didn't seem to work and I was afraid to go too far and fry the little thing, and the plastic film was crazy tight, even though it was the thinnest I could find. And besides, Jeff teased me about "putting a condom on my 'wang bar'" :x
I didn't even realize the knives were replaceable. Why even make them as a separate part if they aren't going to offer replacements for sale?
 
#16 ·
They were a replaceable part, until ibanez stopped selling them

And I don't bother ****ing with the bushings anymore, I like it tight with literally no clicking in holder, and no matter how new the bushings you can never get the bushings to keep the arm from clicking.

Just take one of those thick ziplock bags (the big ones with the thicker plastic), and cut out a rectangle, put it underneath the tip if the bar when sticking it in, and it'll be tight for at least 3 weeks. There's also no residue left in the holder because the plastic is thick enough to stay together.
 
#18 ·
The knives were never meant to be replaceable. The only reason some were even available was because I found a distributor willing to sell me some [Australis] So the policy is no different today than it ever was, and in all honestly 95% of you would be completely unqualified to replace them if they were available.
 
#19 ·
I was looking at my 550 OE earlier after reading this thread.
I see no 'easy' way of even getting them out. A pair of grippers and a lot of force, maybe. Then getting the new ones in, I imagine, would be hell without a press, and even with a press if you don't really know what you're doing I could see easily damaging the knives, the bridge, or both.
 
#29 ·
Hmm zero ethics and no conscience..... were you the one who who stole my resume??

Lol try living here, there's one Ibanez dealer in this city about 10 minutes from my home, they know bugger all about the guitars and just want to sell Gios to kids. Parts are a joke, I can get the bars and brushes, but they only stock generic wanky switches and pots. They don't stock the trems, know bugger all about them, nor do they stock the locking nuts AND not one bastard in this whole country sells Dimarzio. There's a deluge of EMG and Seymore Duncan, but asking for a Dimarzio set is like asking permission to make love to their grandmother, usual response is surprise followed by "why don't you go for a nice Duncan?". Sorry rant over, on the other hand breads we have lots of mainly thanks to the Polish and Jewish bakeries. But neither bakeries know anything about Ibbys.

You also have a national treasure in the form or Rich there who you can order guitars and parts from. If I order from Rich I may as well bend over and ask the delivery guy to insert the guitar to limber up for the rapeage I'm going to feel when I see the import duty and VAT bill from my useless government. Erm.. sorry rant and digression over.
 
#31 ·
If I want bushings I'll have to order from Rich. I asked about them and they gave me this dumbfounded look, "Oh, you mean the sleeves for the bar? Nope, don't have em."
We're planning on getting to Jersey late August, I wonder how Rich would feel if I dropped by his place to buy a few things. :)
 
#30 ·
I live 40 mins from one of guitar centers flagship stores. I went there one time and they had all the jems there, with uvs. I got to play the Jem evo.

It's actually the same location as where Steve shot the "two cellos" video. I missed him by 1 day. The day after my Vai concert I went to GC and they told me I missed him the day before. And he brought evo. I have been kicking myself since.
 
#33 ·
Well for those of you who don't use the bar a ton, the bar would probably seem like a waste of money. I use the bar a lot, so it would probably make quite a difference for me. It's not at all a stupid product, I would live to have one. It's just a high price, but haven't we gotten used to ibanez and their high prices? ;)
 
#35 ·
I remember that Australian guy that had the knives Rich mentioned. (Spiro?) I contacted him myself & got no response. I bought 2 sets from Rich, that I still have. I have only ever taken out one knife edge, the straight one, and it was really difficult. I took a sliver or two of the trem body out with it. Not fun. I epoxied the knife back in place but the trem was not the same after that.
I must agree, these were never meant as a replacement part. Least of all by the consumer. Possibly, maybe a factory or tech procedure.
 
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