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ZR w/ D-tuner bridge?

7851 Views 12 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  Chroma
I was looking at the Ibanez site today and it was the first time I noticed that a d-tuner was listed with the ZR bridge but only for the S2075 model. When I looked at the pic there I saw that the fine tuner on the 6th string was different than the other 5 so I guess it just replaces and modifies that fine tuner?

Does anyone have any info on this? If it is something that can be ordered seperately and added on to a ZR I'd like to try to find one.
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You can add it on ... if you can find the part ...
For anyone watching this thread with any interest, I''ve talked the wife into picking one up for me as a x-mas gift so when I get it I'll take closeup pics of the downshifter during and after installation and try to type up a short review and post it.
I'll give you a review. Clunky, drops to D "something" and needs further fine tuning, is a major hinderance to free hand movement across the trem, otherwise, it's super easy to install and I guess has a use some people would like. ;)
Ah, Thanks for that review Rich. I was searching for info on the ZR D Tuner.

From what I can see here it appears to be little more than an extension of the fine tuner screw, covered for aesthetic purposes by a sheath thingy, is that fairly accurate or no?
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I think Rich is right in that it would be more trouble than it's worth because since it's just on the fine tuner you'd still have to re-tune all the other strings if you dropped the tuning. Granted, that might be faster than unlocking the neck and going through all the motions of changing the tuning but at the same time you don't buy a guitar with a floating trem if you want to change your tunings frequently.
I think the idea is to use it with the trem set type unit that is installed stock with the bridge. I'm sure I saw somewhere that you could break a string and it wouldn't go out of tune, so I don't think just duting a string by a tone should affect your tuning unless you remove the tremset device.
Is the Peavey D-Tuna on the wolfgang any better?

Do they only work on trems that are flush to the body and don't pull up?
The ZR has the reversed springs set to keep the bridge in place if you break a string. Personally I think it feels too stiff and like the ZR a lot better with it free floating, but that's what all of these devices do.

All it does is allows the saddle tail to raise about 1 whole step with a 90* turn. You do still have to fine tune. Reverse is the same. It's not hard, but it does stick up and can be a hinderance to free hand movement.
The EVH D-tuner has a small allen screw so you can adjust to tuning change for it, so in that respect it should be better. But as you might have guessed it can't be fitted to low profile trems due to how it is fitted to the bridge.

I think the only way you could have it on a floating Floyd is to have a OFR type bridge and then either float it above the body with the neck angled back to get the action low or to route some extra space out behind the bridge to fit the D-tuner in the cavity as it sticks out from behind the bridge saddle.
Not sure how well that would work though.
Thanks for the answer Rich, and I agree that the backstop is quite stiff. I removed mine shortly after I got the guitar, and it still has the best stability of any trem iIve ever played, even after hours of Vai / Mattias Ia Eklundh type madness, perfect pitch.

On the other hand tho, the backstop nearly hardtails the bridge and could be bery useful for someone who doesnt need whammy theatrics, or who wants to change tunings alot without worrying about trem angle.

Imo A fantastic trem all in all. ;)
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It does sit higher than the rest of the bridge, but I haven't bumped it so it's not in the way of my playing. You also don't have a straight shot at the locking screw on the bridge but the curved end of an allen wrench does just fine.

As far as dependablitly goes I thought it was a piece of crap when I first put it on. I kept screwing up the tuning trying to get it to drop and it just seemed like a pain in the ass. I left it on a few days though to get past my first impressions and am very happy I did. The best way I found to work it is like this : push and hold the saddle down just in front of where the fine tuner normally sits. then just give the d-tuner a quarter turn and release the saddle. voila, it hits dropped d everytime for me.
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