yea the bridge lockers were always taken off. At least I did. unnecessary as well unless you doing serious vibrato. this config wasn't used for too long. basically for one year then they changed it a lot for the 84's. I collect nothing but 83's roadstars and have 17. one of the most underrated guitar every made. I have two of those gold bridges with the pieces that i scored off of ebay. really rare. also the the necks on the RS 1010SL were much different that the RS 1000CS you are working on. Fatter with a flatter radius and ebony fretboard. Interesting to note that the 1000,1010,1100,(uber rare the 1100) all had the same body and cap. If you were to chip away at the black finish of a RS1300 or the super rare 1100, you would see under paint a birdseye maple top. Imagine painting over birdseye. great vid man. I just wanted to share some info on your roadie....
I love my Roadstar 2's as well and also own 17 guitars. Only 4 are Roadstars though. All 4 are from 1984 and have the pro rokr trem. RS430fg, RS440rv, RS530tr and a beautiful birdseye maple RS1300nt like the one you mentioned. The 430fg I have owned since 1985 and still is my fav studio guitar for shredding. String changing got a whole lot better with the pro rokr trem, albeit, it's still a pretty useless for vibrato in the floating position. The 430fg is blocked on the body and the 1300 and 440 are half blocked with a tremel-no. Great guitars and very underrated.
I find the easiest way to cut bolts is to use two nuts...screw them up about halfway and tighten them together. Now clamp the nut(s) in the vise. The three advantages are that you are clamping closer to where you are cutting (less torque applied to bolt as you are cutting); you wont damage the head; and you now have a "thread chaser" to clean up any messy threads. Love your vids!!
Julian Cavaleri ......If this would have been a 1964 guitar, I would have guessed John Lennon wrote "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (abbreviated "LSD") on this guitar. Good day.
The other benefit of this is when you remove the nut, it cleans off the thread and makes it easier to reinsert into the bridge. Just cutting off can leave a thread that is very hard to get it to 'bite'
If you put two nuts together and locknut them against each other, the screw can't move. Of course, I would reach for a junior hacksaw rather than the Dremmel.
My first guitar was a 1985 Roadstar II Deluxe. A seriously heavy guitar (especially considering I was 9 yrs old when I got it) I loved it as a kid but it had an even bigger bridge (of that same design) on it. I mean it was huge! With 3 different sized locking mechanisms on the bridge and the locking headstock you had to carry a freakin toolbox with you if you wanted to take it anywhere. It will always have a place in my heart as my first love but damn she was high maintenance!
My guitar teacher has a 1983 Ibanez AM225 with this bridge, we joke about it a lot. Absolutely bizarre. For anyone who's curious, it's called the Ibanez Hard Rocker Pro bridge. He also goofed significantly with it, because he mounted a Roland GK3 pickup on that guitar, which you do right between the bridge pickup ring and the bridge... which is where new strings are fed in. Needless to say, he doesn't change the strings on it very often anymore.
Tons of helpful information in this video, as I’m anticipating the arrival of my 1983 Steve Lukather model today. I feel prepared to deal with whatever may come my way. Ha ha thanks
I had an RS315 with the hard rock'r bridge and it was a version which did not lock at the saddles. I actually really liked that vibrato bridge a lot, one of my favorites
The reason it's resonant is those clamps on the saddles. It's Brilliant! They really couple the saddles to the trem bridge which should give killer sustain!
I have some questions about a couple Fender amps' footswitch circuitry. I don't have the footswitches and can't afford what anyone wants for them, so I figured I would just fabricate them, but I can't tell from the schematics I've seen, which version I'm looking at. Q2. - is there another place you would like me to post this question?
@@Tricknologyinc You can visit a guitar shop and ask an amp repairperson. They'll gladly show you which parts you need and perhaps even how to wire them properly. They might be busy, and may need a few days to get back to you. If possible, bring the amp along so they can be 110% sure which amp model you want to use the switch with. Bear in mind that there's a large variety of Fender footswitches from different amp models throughout the years, especially for fairly-recent models, and there's no single universal wiring for all of them. Some have channel switching functions & LED indicators, and some are just one or two on/off switches, etc.. You may find that the cost of the parts adds up to more than the $30 or so you'd pay for a new footswitch, but those prices vary, too, depending. If this kind of thing is your bag, I'd say just go for it & have fun making one, bro. But if cost is a real concern for you, do your research and make sure you find out which is the cheapest option. It may be cheaper just to search for a good used footswitch.
it's like the floyd rose system with the lockin top nut in the bridge. and the wrap around tail piece for a gibson. yep some 1 was fucked up thinkin this 1!! lol
*puff puff* Hey duuuuuuuude....you know that Ibanez bridge we were commissioned to develop...*puff puff* ...what if... *cough...cough...HACK* ... wait, what? Lost my train of thought............. OH YEAH!
I had this exact guitar when I was 16 years old in the mid 80's. Needless to say I could never manage a string change by myself and had to pay the local music store $15 - 20 every time I needed a new set. And boy did that old bastard guitar tech ever bitch & moan everytime I came in too. He hated this guitar almost as much as I did. I got a G&L with a Leo designed fulcrum bridge a year later and never looked back.
You know it doesn't surprise me. In the 80's Ibanez from Japan was making better stuff than most American guitar companies. I also had one of their ES-335 copies a few years later that played and sounded better than a Gibson for less than half the dough. But this was the bridge from hell! It had to go. Funny I just saw Adrian and the boyz on tour last month and they still rock the house. I was kinda pissed though because they didn't play Hallowed be Thy Name. Otherwise, a great show.
You hit it on the head. This was my first trem guitar and it was a horrible experience because I felt totally helpless when I broke a string or if they just needed changing because they were getting cruddy from playing. Turned me off to locking trem systems for life. Now I use primarily PRS and John Mann bridges and locking tuners so its all good. And I have a Reverend with a Bigsby which is a whole different animal but still very cool.
Amazing channel and I never usually never comment on youtube but just had to say i enjoy your vids and have got so many ideas from you in a little time ive been watching. I also repair and restore guitars and amps, radios etc. Keep up the great channel and just wanted to say thanks for sharing your knowledge and also you are not only a great tech but you care about the customer i can tell from your work and thats awesome. Im also a multi instrumentalist main instrument is guitar and songwriter and have a pro studio and record label and your also a very good player as well. Great to see people like you out there, Again thanks and good luck to you. I will be sharing your vids. Peace, mike
I have an 86' Kramer pacer Carrera that originally came with black strings (Kaman), ebony fretboard (no markers) & black pickups. After I restored it, I had a hard time finding those black strings.
Hey Brad, I seen the tuner you were using is like the old Sabine light indicator tuners. I have one and even though it is plenty sufficient for tuning to play, I have downloaded a tuner on my phone which turns out to be very accurate and excellent for intonation tuning. It is an app called gStrings. As you were tuning the E string I was watching my gStrings tuner and when you were in tune, it showed your tuner was 1.0 hz sharp, of course assuming there were no tuning alteration from recording, uploading to youtube and playback on my system! Anyway, try it you'll love it. gStrings Ps. It's free too (ad supported unfortunately.)
Thanks, Bub. (Funny that's actually your name since I call people that all the time. :D I really only use the tuner to get me pretty close. I do any fine adjustments with my ears using chords. Maybe I'll go more in-depth with that in a future video. Thanks again!
In '83 I bought one of these with a AA, bird's eye maple top. I remember that the tremolo system did an excellent job of keeping tune when divebombing, even though it didn't have a locking nut.
Hey, I have one of these. Thanks for the review. I agree that its a weird design. Picked mine up in a pawn shop in the 90s and honestly the weird bridge was a feature to me at the time, purely because it was something different. Never really saw the locks as effective for anything so I eventually just left them off. One little comment I will make that might help someone changing their strings for the first time on these. You don't actually have to push the saddle back and insert the nut into the channel. You can just leave the little nuts in the channel under the bridge, string and tune guitar and then drop the screw and lock into saddle. I found it a bit less fiddly than inserting the screw, nut, and lock as one piece while holding back the saddle, but either way works.
It looks like if you insert the trem arm, you may get some clearance with those slots if you bend the trem up. As in if in use you would pull those slots away from any wood/dirt/out of shape bridge slots.
I break strings on stage at church sometimes, I just put the new string on while the song is still playing. Usually I’m able to get the string tuned back up in time for the next song.
If the lower piece is forward in the slot, surely you can just fit the string, slide the tailpiece forward and drop the upper piece in and screw it down? If the lower piece is in the slot it can't turn.
niptodstan Yes it does work that way as well. Honestly the guitar sounds killer, plays pretty damn nice and is just about a perfect marriage between a Gibson and a Fender, BUT that bridge makes it suck for anything easy about string changes.
@@RokDAWG1 So easy to repla e the bridge, these bridges are straight up stupid. If it were a guitar i was going to keep and not sell, I would replace the bridge with something better and sell this rare bridge for a profit! Win - win!
@@TheGuitologist If you put a nut on a screw your cutting you can clamp to the nut but more importantly you can cut and polish the screw then when you take the nut off it will fix the threads and leave the screw perfect.
Put a drop of blue loctite on the bridge lock screws (it will only cure where the nut is threaded on), once it gets I the threads, it will give just enough tension to make the nut stay in line with the screw, which should make it easier to line up. . To hold a screw for cutting, take a nut that fits the screw, and cut a slot through one of the flats all the way into the hole/threads. Put the screw into the nut, now clamp the nut in the vise, and the nut will clinch on to the screw keeping it from moving. If you don't want to make a clinching nut, you can always use two nuts in a jam nut configuration. As a bonus to both of these methods, is when you screw the nut(s) off that you used to hold it, they will help re-form the threads you just cut.
I know this is a really old video but you asked for suggestions on clamping the screws I would do it the same way but add some leather in between to protect the threads
To cut screws like that I drill a hole that is just snug through a piece of scrap wood that is thin enough to let the screw protrude enough for what you need to remove.It also helps if you have a nut that size to put on first to clean the last threads after you cut.
Just when I thought the different methods were exhausted.... This one is actually quite brilliant. Simple. No clamps or vices necessary...kinda like missionary sex. :D
One good way to clamp screws is to put some sort of very soft wood like balsa that you don't care about in the jaws of the vice and clamp the head of the screw in it. If you keep squeezing down on it and also clamp the threads at the same time, it's very secure.
The wood trick and nut trick (which I'd forgotten about in the moment) are the prevailing ideas in the comments. There are some sharp people who watch this channel. I better stay on my toes.
I still have mine that I bought new as a student in Edinburgh many years ago. Those bridge inserts were gone within weeks of getting the guitar! What a bad bit of design on an otherwise nice instrument. Without them, it still stays in tune pretty well and is actually easier to restring on the fly than my strats. Early on I added a push-pull pot to reverse one of the pickups and get the Peter Green-ish tone. It still has those stock pickups and sounded great when I last gigged with it about a month ago.
I had an Ibanez Blazer Series as my first guitar. Some of the Roadstars and Blazers have some of the same DNA, but not with this one. That bridge looks like it has a lot of mass, but I would hate life if I had to fully intonate every time I changed strings...lol I know these are really nice playing guitars though.
Yeah, my 1st electric was a Blazer- SAw Adrian Belew saying how good a guitar it was in a GPlayer article, not an ad/endorsement. That plus its $450 price was all the convincing i needed.I was so green that i had no idea how good it was until i moved into a dorm in chicago full of music students and i watched guys with various blue-chip instruments and a lot of playing experince Get this sort of "what the hell?" look on their faces when they'd pick it up and give it a go.Favorite bit: a guy telling me with a smile how much better it was than my next door neighbor's very pricey coveted old Strat. I didn't really get that was a big statement at the time i was just glad that guys that knew thought i had a good guitar--hell, it was years before i would have dared call myself a musican. 1985? Aagghh! I'm so old
It sounds really good. You seem to pull it out when you want to tear it up. I've still got that Ibanez hoping to get it going again, but it's going to need a fret job, and a different bridge. It's a 1980 Blazer Series BL-300 It was made in Japan, wood grain with gold colored hardware, three singles, and an out of phase switch.
Jaw pads can really help since the head will sink in, but the threads won't get damaged. You may actually get more clamping area on tiny screws so they won't move around when cutting/grinding.
Bridges like this require a small amount of "getting to know you" before it all goes smooth. I remember the first time I changed strings on my Floyd Rose equipped Kramer Focus 6000. I literally dismantled the entire bridge. I was a learning experience that taught me how they worked. It didn't take me long to master the Floyd and my Kahler bridges. All these years later they are like old friends.
As decent as I am with setting up guitars i would have been in the same boat. I never had a chance to work on one of these before so I would have been doing some head scratching at first as well.
i remember, the first time ever when i changed strings on my first electric guitar (a squier strat - like) i dismantled the entire bridge too, only to realize, after i did it, that it was really simpler than i thought.
don't know if somebody already answered, but clamping the screw between a couple of pieces of wood works. the threads press into the wood without marring them.
I had a Roadstar back in the mid-80s with one of those bridges - a total pain in the ass. Re-stringing floating tremolos is a trial at the best of times, but those little string locks on the saddles just added another wrinkle. Over tighten a locking screw and you risk shearing through the string. I found that the string locks did little to keep the guitar in tune and eventually removed the locks completely.
I own one of these guitars and it has an amazing bridge. It is a pain in the ass to change a string but it stays in tune amazingly and the sway system in it isnt too bad either. Its a really fun light guitar to play with an amazing thin neck
hohner once made a guitar with a very similar bridge, which is almost impossible to find a replacement for when the aluminum(?) frame cracks near its lower corners. great sounding guitar though
clamping screws: Put the screw through a nut and clamp the nut. It's best to have two nuts and jamb them together, but tightening the screw head against the nut should be sufficient. An added bonus is that after you make the cut, removing the nut aligns any burrs on the cut end.
Also, I just block the bridge with a big piece of brass, and release the tension a bit on springs so it wedges it back there so the bridge is basically level with guitar surface, then I intonate and set up action based on that.
I have a 1983 RS-405. It has the same bridge and I agree, it must have been designed by a Clown! Mine is a project guitar, I am missing the saddles. Most people don't even use the string locks on these things. As a matter of fact, it's rare to even see them! I believe this bridge was only used in '83 in this format, after that Ibanez went to more of a true locking system. Pieces for this bridge are really hard to find and when you do find them, it will cost you! Nice guitar! I also have a RS-205 from 1983, this model is probably the most Strat-Like as it has the traditional Strat style Vibrato. Both will be up for sale soon though to make room for other toys! Thanks for this great informative video.
One may not find a fine thread nut for that saddle adjustment screw, though it's a fantastic idea. I do this kind of stuff at work all the time. I'll chop 6-32 and 8-32 screws (common in the electrical trade) with my Klein Kurve wire cutters by threading them in their designated spots, or chop it with my sidecuts (Linesman pliers) and file it a tad. Another thing you could do is protect the head of the screw from the mighty grip of the vice with a couple pieces of thicker cardboard.
handy trick: when trimming threads on a screw or bolt, thread a nut on past the point you're cutting off. Then you'll be able to get a wrench on it take the nut off and it will straighten out the threads. Makes threading the screw through the nut easier when doing final install on whatever you're working on.
I know the bridge leaves a lot to be desired, but EVERYTHING else about this guitar is classic. The pickups are incredible. I've seen them go for $1000 today
The Guitologist - Maybe someone already mentioned this, but I use 2 nuts to hold the screw in place in a vise and then cut the screw/bolt. That way the first nut also clears the threads when you back it off.
When you cut off a screw or bolt, screw one or two nuts on there. They will help cut the thread on the end back when you take them off in case you cut it too rough. Also they help clamping the screw in the vice.
When cutting off screws, I like to run two nuts up on the screw and clamp to them instead of the screw head. Doubling up the nuts locks them in place on the screw and provides a flat surface to clamp to.
I gave up trying to add up all the parts on that bridge. By then, I'd gotten up to 49, including the main body but not its mounting screws. Brad, to cut off a machine screw, tighten a hex nut down on it securely & use that to take up the jaws of the vise. Since you asked. My overall take on the design of the bridge is that there are a lot of designers & engineers who want for something they make to work well. However, in this particular instance, they may have focused more on how securely the strings are held & how well they keep their intonation & height adjustments while playing, but perhaps they missed out on giving proper consideration to how easily the strings can be changed, and especially onstage when a broken string might be holding up the show. So, aside from changing strings, does the bridge seem to be superior in any way to its competition?
Great video dude. I do all my own work. Yes be one with your guitar and you seem to have the knowledge and know how. I watch hours on hours of video before I attempt to do stuff and pick out do's and dont's. Every time it's a learning experience. That's what got me to where I am now. I like your style cause you don't come off as a know it all. I know a lot but not all. I love to be schooled. We play guitar because it somehow chose us but to Know the guitar and how it works is just as much fun for me. Again excellent video and keep on rocking brother.
You could try bracing the screw between two pieces of tire rubber at least a half inch thick or more. It's firm enough to hold the screw and soft enough to not damage the head or threads. Just make sure the rubber has full contact with the vise jaw.
First time I’ve seen another road star I like mine! I have a black one bought 2nd hand in the early 90s it’s never had the screw in plugs on the bridge and has always been fine for me, Never knew they existed. Also I’ve never known what model mine is so thanks for showing this
The best way to cut screws & bolts is >. Bolt Cutters, you put the proper Nut on said screw or bolt passed the cut point then cut the screw with bolt cutters, then unthread the Nut off the end of screw. That leaves threads untacked . If you need the end more perfect, while nut is still on use a bench grinder to flatten screw end then as before unscrew the nut off end leaving threads perfect .
I’ve had an RS1010SL since 1985 - the Steve Lukather model. It was my main gigging guitar for years. Pro tip. Take the locking bits in the bridge, carefully place them in a box for safekeeping. Then lose the box. Seriously, the guitar stays in tune perfectly without them. I’ve not seen the damn things for probably 25 years.
When you have to cut off a bolt run a nut up past where the cut will be. After cutting and grinding the end down take the nut off. It will act as a die and straighten any threads that are burred or rolled over.
To avoid damaging the head either use a nut slightly larger than the head and thread it up the length of the screw and clamp the nut or use a small piece of square or rectangular aluminum or steel with the proper thread for the screw and clamp that. ... addendum: metal filings and shards in coffee are actually kinda tasty
Groovy Music Lessons 9 years ago @hansolo989 I LOVE the bridge. It was a real pleasant surprise to get it today and then to restring it and tighten everything and give it a setup. The bridge was a real joy. They should make a lot more of those. Even if a hardtail, the bridge itself and the way it strings up was just too cool. Ibanez Hard Rocker Bridge in reference!
I don't think you need to remove the "ball" piece in the bottom of the bridge. It seems like you can lift the saddle and run your string with it in place. Just remove the screw and top piece to access it. To cut screws and bolts, I always put a nut (or double nut) where I want to cut. It also gives you a nice place to clamp it in the vice. However, you might need to clamp part of the head to keep it from spinning if you don't double nut it. The nut also allows you to cut straight and "clean" the threads when you take it off making it easier to use in its intended place.
man yer uploads is like the best TV show that was never produced , I haven't watched tv in 8 years but you make great content better than any TV shows.
Btw whats up w/the black string? Is that a old Black Diamond string JK haha remember those? Worse strings ever like hay bail wire, but that was all we could get unless we went to the big city to but other strings. Thats all the Pawn shops carried back in the day. I've got a set of DR that have black coating on all the strings haven't used them yet.
I'd try pushing the screw through PTFE tape, into the small cylinders, so it adds a bit of grip on the threads and stops the cylinders moving around when you have them correctly aligned with the crossheads on the screws. An alternative to cutting the screws is to thread a small nut on the rear of it so you can use the nut to pull back, rather than the screw. Looks more like a Floyd Rose than a Fender but saves time.
I got one of these new in 83 or so and I loved it. I lost it (and everything else) in a fire a few years later. I had an Artist before that, which was an amazing instrument. Ibanez made some great guitars around that time, ime.
When cutting screws, find a matching nut (Better yet, two) and run them down on the screw. Clamp to the nuts instead of the screw head. When you remove the nuts, you'll also "Chase" the threads where you cut the screw off. - or- maybe just install washers / spacers under the screw head ?
To cut the screw put the dremmel in the vice. Take the screw and grab a power drill. Place the screw in the chuck with the Philips end down below the chucks jaws so they'll tighten up high on the screw threads. Just tighten enough that's needed. Not much. Turn the dremmel on, spin the drill as you would in a lathe and cut it off wherever you want. Make sure when cutting the direction of the spinning drill is towards the cut off wheel not away.
The coolest, and best tuner that I've used for intonation adjustment is a mechanical strobe tuner. I haven't tried the modern digital strobe tuners. But, my restored 1969 Peterson 520 works great for intonation adjustment. The moving visual indication it provides allows for very quick and precise adjustment. Usually, before starting a practice session I'll turn it on and let it run while playing. Then, whenever I want to tune, I only need to look over at it and strike the note I want to tune. There is no need to plug-in to it. And, the rotating strobe display is quite large with plenty of indication as to what is going on. So, you can quite accurately tune from across the room.
In reality, the tuner is just there as a rough guide. I finish off with my ears. Strobes are nice, and they work very well with woodwind and brasswind instruments. With fretted instruments, you are going to vary your pressure with each and every chord or note you play naturally. No such thing as perfect temperament on a guitar. It'll be a little different for every player and every chord. You will, no doubt, have noticed that on your Peterson.
Sure, that's the nature of equal temperament; close has to be close enough. My biggest problem with intonation is because I like quite high action on my strat. But, it makes intoning the instrument a bear. I usually have to cut, or in some cases completely remove some of the saddle intonation screw springs to get the saddles back far enough. It's not uncommon for the low E to hit the back of the bridge. At that point, it's as close as it's going to get to intone. I have often thought of marketing a set of normal/short/extra short length saddles, screws, and springs to accommodate such situations. I wonder how well they might sell. Who knows? I seem to encounter the subject in the guitar forums quite often.
I had one of these that I purchased in 83. It was the first decent guitar I owned. They were a bit of a nightmare to re-string, but once you got used to it, it was ok. I probably didn't realise how good it was at the time. It was basically a pre PRS hybrid of a Strat and a Les Paul. I was a big Gary Moore fan at the time and he used one briefly. The bridge was no looker and it wasn't really great for big dives despite the rhetoric in the Ibanez adverts of the time.
I've had good luck cutting bolts to length by clamping on the threads with some shop towels folded up and wrapped around the bolt. It helps clamp it in place without flattening out the threads.
Ibanez didn't use that bridge for very long, because along came the Floyd Rose company... I still have a MK II RS-1000 in metallic black with a black anodised Floyd Rose tremolo bridge which, for it's age, still stays in tune pretty well.
If you set it up with like a floyd rose you could do it one and done..via loosening the spring tensioners, block the bridge spring block with something..i use a 9v battery. Tune to pitch tighten the spring tentioner till the battery falls out.. easy peazy
I was gifted an "83 Artist model w/this same bridge & was puzzled by the bizarre bridge & all of the small parts that it has but once I figured out it..it was ok & the guitar sounds awesome. I have also used these type of strings but they were DR Black Beauties & I liked them.
I always put a nut or two on first, cut the screw with a dremel or any way you want, then remove the nut. This way I avoid damaging the threads especially if the screw winds-up slipping around in the vise.
Hey bro just a tip. You can use wire strippers to cut small screws like that. If your pair doesn't have the hole for that size screw another trick is screwing the screw into a nut with what you want to cut protruding out the other side and cut it off then when you back it out to use it on whatever. The nut will ensure all your threads are perfect.
I think the bridge is super cool because you use the string tension to get rid of springs like in a fender bridge. Id probably get rid of the locking pieces though lol
First guitar I bought off craigslist for $25 and rebuilt. I do remember that bridge being a total PITA but that guitar sounded and played great. Sold it for $225.
That IS strange.. I had the 1985 tremalo version... The string also went in ball end.. with a screw tightening do-hicky.... Different because it went down into (or along side) a trem block.. they did away with that system when they switched to the RG series in 1987.. my body and Neck were VERY similar... Except mine was 24 fret also.. yours is 21
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Screw cutting: Method 1. (Preferred) if you can find a couple nuts that fit thread the screw into them and clamp the vice on the nuts. You can tighten the nuts to each other to keep the screw from turning while cutting. It also allows you to support the screw closer to the cut point. When the nuts are removed it will help straighten any threads damaged in the process. Method 2: (Much faster, but less safe) Wrap (or roll) the threads in several layers of paper to protect them and clamp directly into the vice.
I have the same model I bought in the 90's, still use it at some gigs. First thing I did with it was fit a standard strat style bridge, had to drill new post holes to get it lined up, ended up fixing it like a hard tail. Sounds great and plays great though.
I have one of these exact guitars and I love it but hated the bridge so I replaced it with a Kahler Flyer which works great! The neck is amazingly stable and has never needed adjustment in decades. The finished was chipped on mine too when I bought it and the color had gotten a little greenish so-very slowly and carefully-I picked all of it off the face in tiny little chips with an exacto knife. The natural birdseye looks great with some oil on it.
yea the bridge lockers were always taken off. At least I did. unnecessary as well unless you doing serious vibrato. this config wasn't used for too long. basically for one year then they changed it a lot for the 84's. I collect nothing but 83's roadstars and have 17. one of the most underrated guitar every made. I have two of those gold bridges with the pieces that i scored off of ebay. really rare. also the the necks on the RS 1010SL were much different that the RS 1000CS you are working on. Fatter with a flatter radius and ebony fretboard. Interesting to note that the 1000,1010,1100,(uber rare the 1100) all had the same body and cap. If you were to chip away at the black finish of a RS1300 or the super rare 1100, you would see under paint a birdseye maple top. Imagine painting over birdseye. great vid man. I just wanted to share some info on your roadie....
Thanks for the great comment. Pinned.
I love my Roadstar 2's as well and also own 17 guitars. Only 4 are Roadstars though.
All 4 are from 1984 and have the pro rokr trem. RS430fg, RS440rv, RS530tr and a beautiful birdseye maple RS1300nt like the one you mentioned.
The 430fg I have owned since 1985 and still is my fav studio guitar for shredding.
String changing got a whole lot better with the pro rokr trem, albeit, it's still a pretty useless for vibrato in the floating position.
The 430fg is blocked on the body and the 1300 and 440 are half blocked with a tremel-no.
Great guitars and very underrated.
I understand why you collect them. With this kind of bridge you surely want a spare in case you break a string in the middle of a set.
123spleege, Thanks Cliff Clavin! lol
They painted over birdseye????
I find the easiest way to cut bolts is to use two nuts...screw them up about halfway and tighten them together. Now clamp the nut(s) in the vise. The three advantages are that you are clamping closer to where you are cutting (less torque applied to bolt as you are cutting); you wont damage the head; and you now have a "thread chaser" to clean up any messy threads. Love your vids!!
As a representative of the international circus clown association I find his title very offensive
Julian Cavaleri heheheh, didn't the circus close down? Double slap in the face.
Julian Cavaleri ......If this would have been a 1964 guitar, I would have guessed John Lennon wrote "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (abbreviated "LSD") on this guitar. Good day.
As a representative of the Anti international circus clown association committee I have reported your comment.
As a former enthusiastic advocate of LSD, I'm sure an acid-head could have been cosmically inspired to design a better one ...! ;)
Julian Cavaleri 😂😂😂
Best title ever, and so appropriate.
Subbed instantly.
Put the screw through a nut and clamp that, alternatively (and possibly more solid) squeeze it between two pieces of reasonably hard wood.
you could even take two nuts and clamp the first one and then use the second as a guide for the cutoff wheel.
Yeah, the nut trick! Good call. Forgot about that one.
The other benefit of this is when you remove the nut, it cleans off the thread and makes it easier to reinsert into the bridge. Just cutting off can leave a thread that is very hard to get it to 'bite'
I would use vise-grips & popsicle sticks on the screw, plus a bench grinder. Takes like 10 seconds to get it any length you want.
If you put two nuts together and locknut them against each other, the screw can't move. Of course, I would reach for a junior hacksaw rather than the Dremmel.
My first guitar was a 1985 Roadstar II Deluxe. A seriously heavy guitar (especially considering I was 9 yrs old when I got it) I loved it as a kid but it had an even bigger bridge (of that same design) on it. I mean it was huge! With 3 different sized locking mechanisms on the bridge and the locking headstock you had to carry a freakin toolbox with you if you wanted to take it anywhere. It will always have a place in my heart as my first love but damn she was high maintenance!
I found that changing brands of "9's" always jacked up that guitar as well. I ended up sticking to D'Addario strings & bought them by the case.
My guitar teacher has a 1983 Ibanez AM225 with this bridge, we joke about it a lot. Absolutely bizarre. For anyone who's curious, it's called the Ibanez Hard Rocker Pro bridge. He also goofed significantly with it, because he mounted a Roland GK3 pickup on that guitar, which you do right between the bridge pickup ring and the bridge... which is where new strings are fed in. Needless to say, he doesn't change the strings on it very often anymore.
Adrian Smith had the Roland GK built into his white Charvel dinky
Tons of helpful information in this video, as I’m anticipating the arrival of my 1983 Steve Lukather model today. I feel prepared to deal with whatever may come my way. Ha ha thanks
I had an RS315 with the hard rock'r bridge and it was a version which did not lock at the saddles. I actually really liked that vibrato bridge a lot, one of my favorites
The reason it's resonant is those clamps on the saddles. It's Brilliant! They really couple the saddles to the trem bridge which should give killer sustain!
No complaints with the tone or sustain. You're right about that one.
I have some questions about a couple Fender amps' footswitch circuitry. I don't have the footswitches and can't afford what anyone wants for them, so I figured I would just fabricate them, but I can't tell from the schematics I've seen, which version I'm looking at. Q2. - is there another place you would like me to post this question?
@@Tricknologyinc You can visit a guitar shop and ask an amp repairperson. They'll gladly show you which parts you need and perhaps even how to wire them properly. They might be busy, and may need a few days to get back to you. If possible, bring the amp along so they can be 110% sure which amp model you want to use the switch with. Bear in mind that there's a large variety of Fender footswitches from different amp models throughout the years, especially for fairly-recent models, and there's no single universal wiring for all of them. Some have channel switching functions & LED indicators, and some are just one or two on/off switches, etc.. You may find that the cost of the parts adds up to more than the $30 or so you'd pay for a new footswitch, but those prices vary, too, depending. If this kind of thing is your bag, I'd say just go for it & have fun making one, bro. But if cost is a real concern for you, do your research and make sure you find out which is the cheapest option. It may be cheaper just to search for a good used footswitch.
it's like the floyd rose system with the lockin top nut in the bridge. and the wrap around tail piece for a gibson. yep some 1 was fucked up thinkin this 1!! lol
*puff puff* Hey duuuuuuuude....you know that Ibanez bridge we were commissioned to develop...*puff puff* ...what if... *cough...cough...HACK* ... wait, what? Lost my train of thought............. OH YEAH!
haha I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Exactly!
These videos are so cool. Thanks for sharing all this!
I had this exact guitar when I was 16 years old in the mid 80's. Needless to say I could never manage a string change by myself and had to pay the local music store $15 - 20 every time I needed a new set. And boy did that old bastard guitar tech ever bitch & moan everytime I came in too. He hated this guitar almost as much as I did. I got a G&L with a Leo designed fulcrum bridge a year later and never looked back.
It did sound pretty good though as recall. Super 58 pickups I think they were called. It did a very passable Priest/Maiden tone
Only one of these pups is still stock, but yes, it does sound great. Nice guitar, just s an iffy bridge.
escargotomy Adrian from Iron Maiden actually rocked one of these and the version before with one humbucker in the bridge and a maple neck.
You know it doesn't surprise me. In the 80's Ibanez from Japan was making better stuff than most American guitar companies. I also had one of their ES-335 copies a few years later that played and sounded better than a Gibson for less than half the dough. But this was the bridge from hell! It had to go. Funny I just saw Adrian and the boyz on tour last month and they still rock the house. I was kinda pissed though because they didn't play Hallowed be Thy Name. Otherwise, a great show.
You hit it on the head. This was my first trem guitar and it was a horrible experience because I felt totally helpless when I broke a string or if they just needed changing because they were getting cruddy from playing. Turned me off to locking trem systems for life. Now I use primarily PRS and John Mann bridges and locking tuners so its all good. And I have a Reverend with a Bigsby which is a whole different animal but still very cool.
Amazing channel and I never usually never comment on youtube but just had to say i enjoy your vids and have got so many ideas from you in a little time ive been watching. I also repair and restore guitars and amps, radios etc. Keep up the great channel and just wanted to say thanks for sharing your knowledge and also you are not only a great tech but you care about the customer i can tell from your work and thats awesome. Im also a multi instrumentalist main instrument is guitar and songwriter and have a pro studio and record label and your also a very good player as well. Great to see people like you out there, Again thanks and good luck to you. I will be sharing your vids. Peace, mike
Thanks, mike!
I have an 86' Kramer pacer Carrera that originally came with black strings (Kaman), ebony fretboard (no markers) & black pickups. After I restored it, I had a hard time finding those black strings.
I think they discontinued the GHS Infinity strings. I looked and couldn't find them. Maybe the coated Boomers are black? I don't know.
DR black beauties & Black Diamond is what I found.
Hey Brad, I seen the tuner you were using is like the old Sabine light indicator tuners. I have one and even though it is plenty sufficient for tuning to play, I have downloaded a tuner on my phone which turns out to be very accurate and excellent for intonation tuning. It is an app called gStrings. As you were tuning the E string I was watching my gStrings tuner and when you were in tune, it showed your tuner was 1.0 hz sharp, of course assuming there were no tuning alteration from recording, uploading to youtube and playback on my system! Anyway, try it you'll love it.
gStrings
Ps. It's free too (ad supported unfortunately.)
Thanks, Bub. (Funny that's actually your name since I call people that all the time. :D
I really only use the tuner to get me pretty close. I do any fine adjustments with my ears using chords. Maybe I'll go more in-depth with that in a future video. Thanks again!
In '83 I bought one of these with a AA, bird's eye maple top. I remember that the tremolo system did an excellent job of keeping tune when divebombing, even though it didn't have a locking nut.
Hey, I have one of these. Thanks for the review. I agree that its a weird design. Picked mine up in a pawn shop in the 90s and honestly the weird bridge was a feature to me at the time, purely because it was something different. Never really saw the locks as effective for anything so I eventually just left them off. One little comment I will make that might help someone changing their strings for the first time on these. You don't actually have to push the saddle back and insert the nut into the channel. You can just leave the little nuts in the channel under the bridge, string and tune guitar and then drop the screw and lock into saddle. I found it a bit less fiddly than inserting the screw, nut, and lock as one piece while holding back the saddle, but either way works.
Agreed.
It looks like if you insert the trem arm, you may get some clearance with those slots if you bend the trem up. As in if in use you would pull those slots away from any wood/dirt/out of shape bridge slots.
Don't change a broken string on stage unless your singer knows a shit load of jokes!
He'd have an HBO Special after the first few gigs and leave the band.
Lmao best comment
I break strings on stage at church sometimes, I just put the new string on while the song is still playing. Usually I’m able to get the string tuned back up in time for the next song.
If the lower piece is forward in the slot, surely you can just fit the string, slide the tailpiece forward and drop the upper piece in and screw it down? If the lower piece is in the slot it can't turn.
That is another way of doing it, yes. And probably easier.
niptodstan Yes it does work that way as well. Honestly the guitar sounds killer, plays pretty damn nice and is just about a perfect marriage between a Gibson and a Fender, BUT that bridge makes it suck for anything easy about string changes.
@@RokDAWG1
So easy to repla e the bridge, these bridges are straight up stupid.
If it were a guitar i was going to keep and not sell, I would replace the bridge with something better and sell this rare bridge for a profit!
Win - win!
@@TheGuitologist If you put a nut on a screw your cutting you can clamp to the nut but more importantly you can cut and polish the screw then when you take the nut off it will fix the threads and leave the screw perfect.
That was my first thought when I saw this, looks like a case of not being able to see the forest for the trees on Guitologist part.
Put a drop of blue loctite on the bridge lock screws (it will only cure where the nut is threaded on), once it gets I the threads, it will give just enough tension to make the nut stay in line with the screw, which should make it easier to line up.
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To hold a screw for cutting, take a nut that fits the screw, and cut a slot through one of the flats all the way into the hole/threads. Put the screw into the nut, now clamp the nut in the vise, and the nut will clinch on to the screw keeping it from moving. If you don't want to make a clinching nut, you can always use two nuts in a jam nut configuration. As a bonus to both of these methods, is when you screw the nut(s) off that you used to hold it, they will help re-form the threads you just cut.
I know this is a really old video but you asked for suggestions on clamping the screws I would do it the same way but add some leather in between to protect the threads
To cut screws like that I drill a hole that is just snug through a piece of scrap wood that is thin enough to let the screw protrude enough for what you need to remove.It also helps if you have a nut that size to put on first to clean the last threads after you cut.
Just when I thought the different methods were exhausted.... This one is actually quite brilliant. Simple. No clamps or vices necessary...kinda like missionary sex. :D
Can a floyd rose replace this bad boy?
One good way to clamp screws is to put some sort of very soft wood like balsa that you don't care about in the jaws of the vice and clamp the head of the screw in it. If you keep squeezing down on it and also clamp the threads at the same time, it's very secure.
Put the screw in a nut and then put it in a vise. That way you straighten the threads taking the bolt off when you're done.
The wood trick and nut trick (which I'd forgotten about in the moment) are the prevailing ideas in the comments. There are some sharp people who watch this channel. I better stay on my toes.
I still have mine that I bought new as a student in Edinburgh many years ago. Those bridge inserts were gone within weeks of getting the guitar! What a bad bit of design on an otherwise nice instrument. Without them, it still stays in tune pretty well and is actually easier to restring on the fly than my strats. Early on I added a push-pull pot to reverse one of the pickups and get the Peter Green-ish tone. It still has those stock pickups and sounded great when I last gigged with it about a month ago.
I had an Ibanez Blazer Series as my first guitar. Some of the Roadstars and Blazers have some of the same DNA, but not with this one. That bridge looks like it has a lot of mass, but I would hate life if I had to fully intonate every time I changed strings...lol I know these are really nice playing guitars though.
Totally. Plays awesome. Love the guitar, just wouldn't want to change strings too much on it.
Yeah, my 1st electric was a Blazer- SAw Adrian Belew saying how good a guitar it was in a GPlayer article, not an ad/endorsement. That plus its $450 price was all the convincing i needed.I was so green that i had no idea how good it was until i moved into a dorm in chicago full of music students and i watched guys with various blue-chip instruments and a lot of playing experince Get this sort of "what the hell?" look on their faces when they'd pick it up and give it a go.Favorite bit: a guy telling me with a smile how much better it was than my next door neighbor's very pricey coveted old Strat. I didn't really get that was a big statement at the time i was just glad that guys that knew thought i had a good guitar--hell, it was years before i would have dared call myself a musican. 1985? Aagghh! I'm so old
Brian York yeah, the guitar is so good, the bridge doesn't ruin it.
Wm Perry William the refrigerator Perry, 86 world championship, go bears
It sounds really good. You seem to pull it out when you want to tear it up. I've still got that Ibanez hoping to get it going again, but it's going to need a fret job, and a different bridge. It's a 1980 Blazer Series BL-300 It was made in Japan, wood grain with gold colored hardware, three singles, and an out of phase switch.
Jaw pads can really help since the head will sink in, but the threads won't get damaged. You may actually get more clamping area on tiny screws so they won't move around when cutting/grinding.
Bridges like this require a small amount of "getting to know you" before it all goes smooth. I remember the first time I changed strings on my Floyd Rose equipped Kramer Focus 6000. I literally dismantled the entire bridge. I was a learning experience that taught me how they worked. It didn't take me long to master the Floyd and my Kahler bridges. All these years later they are like old friends.
Definitely, this was my learning curve moment caught on camera for the world to see. :P
As decent as I am with setting up guitars i would have been in the same boat. I never had a chance to work on one of these before so I would have been doing some head scratching at first as well.
i remember, the first time ever when i changed strings on my first electric guitar (a squier strat - like) i dismantled the entire bridge too, only to realize, after i did it, that it was really simpler than i thought.
Bridge by Rubik
hahaha...same timeframe too. They were probably listening to Devo at the time.
I'm laughing all the way through this. When the adjustment screw hit that hold down piece i lost it.
More like bridge by Rube
I played an RS with one of these bridges for a long time with no string locks in place... and it played fine surprisingly.
don't know if somebody already answered, but clamping the screw between a couple of pieces of wood works. the threads press into the wood without marring them.
I had a Roadstar back in the mid-80s with one of those bridges - a total pain in the ass. Re-stringing floating tremolos is a trial at the best of times, but those little string locks on the saddles just added another wrinkle. Over tighten a locking screw and you risk shearing through the string. I found that the string locks did little to keep the guitar in tune and eventually removed the locks completely.
I own one of these guitars and it has an amazing bridge. It is a pain in the ass to change a string but it stays in tune amazingly and the sway system in it isnt too bad either. Its a really fun light guitar to play with an amazing thin neck
Marc Gorski I like how thin and light it is.
hohner once made a guitar with a very similar bridge, which is almost impossible to find a replacement for when the aluminum(?) frame cracks near its lower corners. great sounding guitar though
I remember those. The had a very soft frame and couldn't take much pressure. The design was cool but the quality was poor....
clamping screws:
Put the screw through a nut and clamp the nut. It's best to have two nuts and jamb them together, but tightening the screw head against the nut should be sufficient. An added bonus is that after you make the cut, removing the nut aligns any burrs on the cut end.
Then take those nuts to the lathe and cut the slots all the way around.
To clamp screws you could use plastic mouth brackets. That white sturdy stuff.
Also, I just block the bridge with a big piece of brass, and release the tension a bit on springs so it wedges it back there so the bridge is basically level with guitar surface, then I intonate and set up action based on that.
I have a 1983 RS-405. It has the same bridge and I agree, it must have been designed by a Clown! Mine is a project guitar, I am missing the saddles. Most people don't even use the string locks on these things. As a matter of fact, it's rare to even see them! I believe this bridge was only used in '83 in this format, after that Ibanez went to more of a true locking system. Pieces for this bridge are really hard to find and when you do find them, it will cost you! Nice guitar! I also have a RS-205 from 1983, this model is probably the most Strat-Like as it has the traditional Strat style Vibrato. Both will be up for sale soon though to make room for other toys! Thanks for this great informative video.
Thanks, Brent. This one is for sale too. Not because I don't like it, just because everything I own is for sale. ;)
One may not find a fine thread nut for that saddle adjustment screw, though it's a fantastic idea. I do this kind of stuff at work all the time. I'll chop 6-32 and 8-32 screws (common in the electrical trade) with my Klein Kurve wire cutters by threading them in their designated spots, or chop it with my sidecuts (Linesman pliers) and file it a tad. Another thing you could do is protect the head of the screw from the mighty grip of the vice with a couple pieces of thicker cardboard.
handy trick: when trimming threads on a screw or bolt, thread a nut on past the point you're cutting off. Then you'll be able to get a wrench on it take the nut off and it will straighten out the threads. Makes threading the screw through the nut easier when doing final install on whatever you're working on.
I know the bridge leaves a lot to be desired, but EVERYTHING else about this guitar is classic. The pickups are incredible. I've seen them go for $1000 today
The Guitologist - Maybe someone already mentioned this, but I use 2 nuts to hold the screw in place in a vise and then cut the screw/bolt. That way the first nut also clears the threads when you back it off.
use your electrical pliers that strip your wires most have a screw cutter on them and they do a perfect job with no damage to the screw at all
When you cut off a screw or bolt, screw one or two nuts on there.
They will help cut the thread on the end back when you take them off in case you cut it too rough.
Also they help clamping the screw in the vice.
When cutting off screws, I like to run two nuts up on the screw and clamp to them instead of the screw head. Doubling up the nuts locks them in place on the screw and provides a flat surface to clamp to.
I gave up trying to add up all the parts on that bridge. By then, I'd gotten up to 49, including the main body but not its mounting screws. Brad, to cut off a machine screw, tighten a hex nut down on it securely & use that to take up the jaws of the vise. Since you asked. My overall take on the design of the bridge is that there are a lot of designers & engineers who want for something they make to work well. However, in this particular instance, they may have focused more on how securely the strings are held & how well they keep their intonation & height adjustments while playing, but perhaps they missed out on giving proper consideration to how easily the strings can be changed, and especially onstage when a broken string might be holding up the show. So, aside from changing strings, does the bridge seem to be superior in any way to its competition?
On a 2-point bridge, always set the posts equal height. Whaver height works best with the saddles.
I have kahler tremolo, this can be sometimes also challenging, but this ibanez had the hardest changing procedure. I hope at least it stays in tune.
It does a passable job. STill not perfect.
Thank you for the detailed video. You have saved me a lot of frustration setting up one of these
I use old frisbees to keep project parts together, the minis are great for the smaller stuff.
Abraham Lincoln said "I would never trust a man who claims to have no vice," you have two vices - Well Done
Micha-el Cleveland da dum rush, yo!
Great video dude. I do all my own work. Yes be one with your guitar and you seem to have the knowledge and know how. I watch hours on hours of video before I attempt to do stuff and pick out do's and dont's. Every time it's a learning experience. That's what got me to where I am now. I like your style cause you don't come off as a know it all. I know a lot but not all. I love to be schooled. We play guitar because it somehow chose us but to Know the guitar and how it works is just as much fun for me. Again excellent video and keep on rocking brother.
You could try bracing the screw between two pieces of tire rubber at least a half inch thick or more. It's firm enough to hold the screw and soft enough to not damage the head or threads. Just make sure the rubber has full contact with the vise jaw.
Thanks so much for this video man!! Saved me!!! what a crazy bridge..
First time I’ve seen another road star I like mine! I have a black one bought 2nd hand in the early 90s it’s never had the screw in plugs on the bridge and has always been fine for me, Never knew they existed. Also I’ve never known what model mine is so thanks for showing this
The best way to cut screws & bolts is >. Bolt Cutters, you put the proper Nut on said screw or bolt passed the cut point then cut the screw with bolt cutters, then unthread the Nut off the end of screw. That leaves threads untacked . If you need the end more perfect, while nut is still on use a bench grinder to flatten screw end then as before unscrew the nut off end leaving threads perfect .
Wow, I totally forgot about those. I had a Roadstar RS440 with the same bridge. Makes a Floyd Rose seem like a cake walk!
Thanks for sharing!
In 1984 I had an Ibanez Steve Lukather guitar. Loved it! Played it through a Peavey Special 130 and couldn't figure out why I didn't sound like Steve!
I’ve had an RS1010SL since 1985 - the Steve Lukather model. It was my main gigging guitar for years. Pro tip. Take the locking bits in the bridge, carefully place them in a box for safekeeping. Then lose the box. Seriously, the guitar stays in tune perfectly without them. I’ve not seen the damn things for probably 25 years.
haha...probably good advice.
I grip the screw by the thread end, then you can accurately measure the length required without damaging the head. Sits better in the vice too.
When you have to cut off a bolt run a nut up past where the cut will be. After cutting and grinding the end down take the nut off. It will act as a die and straighten any threads that are burred or rolled over.
I had one of these, it was a beautiful crème color. If there was ever a guitar that needed to have a Floyd Rose installed onto it, this was it.
To avoid damaging the head either use a nut slightly larger than the head and thread it up the length of the screw and clamp the nut or use a small piece of square or rectangular aluminum or steel with the proper thread for the screw and clamp that. ... addendum: metal filings and shards in coffee are actually kinda tasty
I drank it. It was yummy.
Groovy Music Lessons
9 years ago
@hansolo989 I LOVE the bridge. It was a real pleasant surprise to get it today and then to restring it and tighten everything and give it a setup. The bridge was a real joy. They should make a lot more of those. Even if a hardtail, the bridge itself and the way it strings up was just too cool.
Ibanez Hard Rocker Bridge in reference!
I don't think you need to remove the "ball" piece in the bottom of the bridge. It seems like you can lift the saddle and run your string with it in place. Just remove the screw and top piece to access it.
To cut screws and bolts, I always put a nut (or double nut) where I want to cut. It also gives you a nice place to clamp it in the vice. However, you might need to clamp part of the head to keep it from spinning if you don't double nut it. The nut also allows you to cut straight and "clean" the threads when you take it off making it easier to use in its intended place.
Tools needed:
Feeler Gauges: amzn.to/2w74KZO
Allen Wrench Set: amzn.to/2uZRHtn
man yer uploads is like the best TV show that was never produced , I haven't watched tv in 8 years but you make great content better than any TV shows.
Btw whats up w/the black string? Is that a old Black Diamond string JK haha remember those?
Worse strings ever like hay bail wire, but that was all we could get unless we went to the big city to but other strings. Thats all the Pawn shops carried back in the day. I've got a set of DR that have black coating on all the strings haven't used them yet.
The Guitologist I didn't see the strings you got?
They don't make the GHS Infinity any more I guess. I looked for them.
One last thing, what's your guitar story. I get it, i just wanna know how you got bit by a guitar fairy.
‘Four more of these bastards to go’ 😂 classic
I'd try pushing the screw through PTFE tape, into the small cylinders, so it adds a bit of grip on the threads and stops the cylinders moving around when you have them correctly aligned with the crossheads on the screws. An alternative to cutting the screws is to thread a small nut on the rear of it so you can use the nut to pull back, rather than the screw. Looks more like a Floyd Rose than a Fender but saves time.
I got one of these new in 83 or so and I loved it. I lost it (and everything else) in a fire a few years later. I had an Artist before that, which was an amazing instrument. Ibanez made some great guitars around that time, ime.
When cutting screws, find a matching nut (Better yet, two) and run them down on the screw. Clamp to the nuts instead of the screw head. When you remove the nuts, you'll also "Chase" the threads where you cut the screw off. - or- maybe just install washers / spacers under the screw head ?
To cut the screw put the dremmel in the vice. Take the screw and grab a power drill. Place the screw in the chuck with the Philips end down below the chucks jaws so they'll tighten up high on the screw threads. Just tighten enough that's needed. Not much. Turn the dremmel on, spin the drill as you would in a lathe and cut it off wherever you want. Make sure when cutting the direction of the spinning drill is towards the cut off wheel not away.
I had a purple roadstar II given to me when I was 16 . what I would give to have that heavy beauty back . was a wonderful guitar
what a beautiful superb quality guitar..These stand the test of time...
The coolest, and best tuner that I've used for intonation adjustment is a mechanical strobe tuner. I haven't tried the modern digital strobe tuners. But, my restored 1969 Peterson 520 works great for intonation adjustment. The moving visual indication it provides allows for very quick and precise adjustment. Usually, before starting a practice session I'll turn it on and let it run while playing. Then, whenever I want to tune, I only need to look over at it and strike the note I want to tune. There is no need to plug-in to it. And, the rotating strobe display is quite large with plenty of indication as to what is going on. So, you can quite accurately tune from across the room.
In reality, the tuner is just there as a rough guide. I finish off with my ears. Strobes are nice, and they work very well with woodwind and brasswind instruments. With fretted instruments, you are going to vary your pressure with each and every chord or note you play naturally. No such thing as perfect temperament on a guitar. It'll be a little different for every player and every chord. You will, no doubt, have noticed that on your Peterson.
Sure, that's the nature of equal temperament; close has to be close enough. My biggest problem with intonation is because I like quite high action on my strat. But, it makes intoning the instrument a bear. I usually have to cut, or in some cases completely remove some of the saddle intonation screw springs to get the saddles back far enough. It's not uncommon for the low E to hit the back of the bridge. At that point, it's as close as it's going to get to intone. I have often thought of marketing a set of normal/short/extra short length saddles, screws, and springs to accommodate such situations. I wonder how well they might sell. Who knows? I seem to encounter the subject in the guitar forums quite often.
I had one of these that I purchased in 83. It was the first decent guitar I owned. They were a bit of a nightmare to re-string, but once you got used to it, it was ok. I probably didn't realise how good it was at the time. It was basically a pre PRS hybrid of a Strat and a Les Paul. I was a big Gary Moore fan at the time and he used one briefly. The bridge was no looker and it wasn't really great for big dives despite the rhetoric in the Ibanez adverts of the time.
I've had good luck cutting bolts to length by clamping on the threads with some shop towels folded up and wrapped around the bolt. It helps clamp it in place without flattening out the threads.
Ibanez didn't use that bridge for very long, because along came the Floyd Rose company... I still have a MK II RS-1000 in metallic black with a black anodised Floyd Rose tremolo bridge which, for it's age, still stays in tune pretty well.
If you set it up with like a floyd rose you could do it one and done..via loosening the spring tensioners, block the bridge spring block with something..i use a 9v battery. Tune to pitch tighten the spring tentioner till the battery falls out.. easy peazy
Fantastic guitar
My first electric was a Roadstar Two,but I'm pretty sure it had a hardtail,could well have had that Trem,maybe I'm romanticising the memory?
Yep. Had one. The trem actually worked very well. Not too hard to change strings. Lotsa missing parts on yours....
And here I thought a Floyd Rose was the most annoying bridge I've ever encountered.
I was gifted an "83 Artist model w/this same bridge & was puzzled by the bizarre bridge & all of the small parts that it has but once I figured out it..it was ok & the guitar sounds awesome. I have also used these type of strings but they were DR Black Beauties & I liked them.
I always put a nut or two on first, cut the screw with a dremel or any way you want, then remove the nut. This way I avoid damaging the threads especially if the screw winds-up slipping around in the vise.
Hey bro just a tip. You can use wire strippers to cut small screws like that. If your pair doesn't have the hole for that size screw another trick is screwing the screw into a nut with what you want to cut protruding out the other side and cut it off then when you back it out to use it on whatever. The nut will ensure all your threads are perfect.
anyone know where I can find the saddles for the RS315? I inherited the guitar from my dad and unfortunately, I am missing 3 of those saddles..
I think the bridge is super cool because you use the string tension to get rid of springs like in a fender bridge. Id probably get rid of the locking pieces though lol
Huh, so even in Kentucky, it's called a vice? I would've expected it to be a "squeeze-ummup" or some shit like that.
Hahahaha. Pinch-O-Rama
"Honey, grab my squeeze-um-ups and cumalongs and start the go-go-cart, we got a job to git dunn!"
Don't forget the boom-boom sticks, in case we run into some highway men.
I was literally tracking guitars when this message popped up. Time to start all over. I reckon. Mmm-Hmmm.
Adam Rainstopper some folks call it math, I call it 'rithmetic.
If you can find one of those with the single coil pickups that have the flat, 1/4” pole pieces, buy it. Those pickups are amazing.
What about trem spring tension.. And it looks like the slot bolts didn't need to be removed..
You can hold the screw from the end opposite of the head, and tight strongly it's going to be cut anyways
First guitar I bought off craigslist for $25 and rebuilt. I do remember that bridge being a total PITA but that guitar sounded and played great. Sold it for $225.
That IS strange.. I had the 1985 tremalo version... The string also went in ball end.. with a screw tightening do-hicky.... Different because it went down into (or along side) a trem block.. they did away with that system when they switched to the RG series in 1987.. my body and Neck were VERY similar... Except mine was 24 fret also.. yours is 21
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Screw cutting:
Method 1. (Preferred) if you can find a couple nuts that fit thread the screw into them and clamp the vice on the nuts. You can tighten the nuts to each other to keep the screw from turning while cutting. It also allows you to support the screw closer to the cut point. When the nuts are removed it will help straighten any threads damaged in the process.
Method 2: (Much faster, but less safe) Wrap (or roll) the threads in several layers of paper to protect them and clamp directly into the vice.
I have the same model I bought in the 90's, still use it at some gigs. First thing I did with it was fit a standard strat style bridge, had to drill new post holes to get it lined up, ended up fixing it like a hard tail. Sounds great and plays great though.
The bridge is definitely designed by a sadist, but the pickups are gorgeous.
I have one of these exact guitars and I love it but hated the bridge so I replaced it with a Kahler Flyer which works great! The neck is amazingly stable and has never needed adjustment in decades. The finished was chipped on mine too when I bought it and the color had gotten a little greenish so-very slowly and carefully-I picked all of it off the face in tiny little chips with an exacto knife. The natural birdseye looks great with some oil on it.