Custom HotRod Strat Build.

[Simon Barden]

Cheers mate, I used to own an Ibanez S420WK (Weathered Black) Superstrat Guitar, it featured Ibanez's then-new ZR Trem system ( basically a re-designed Double-Locking Floyd system) which used a ball-bearing system instead of knife-edges for the bridge pivots, Ibanez said that the new system included features designed to improve tuning-stability, well try as I might, I could never get the S420WK's trem to reliably come back perfectly in tune, if I did a dive bomb, the strings would come back flat, if I did a pull-up the strings came back sharp, I tried disabling the ZR system and the result was only marginally better, this was with a ball-bearing pivot system that should have eliminated any of the issues with knife-edge pivot systems.

My mate Max (see above) has a whole range of Ibanez S types of different ages (he moved to them from Jems and RGs because of a worsening bad back and their reduced weight), so has a mixture of Edge, Edge Pro, LoPro and ZR trems. He prefers playing the Edge style ones over the ZR, but the one he plays the most does have a ZR on it and it stays in tune for him. I'll ask him if there are any special tips on setting it up.

[DrNomis_44]

My mate Max (see above) has a whole range of Ibanez S types of different ages (he moved to them from Jems and RGs because of a worsening bad back and their reduced weight), so has a mixture of Edge, Edge Pro, LoPro and ZR trems. He prefers playing the Edge style ones over the ZR, but the one he plays the most does have a ZR on it and it stays in tune for him. I'll ask him if there are any special tips on setting it up.

Cheers mate, that would be much appreciated because I have a white Ibanez RG350DXZ which features the ZR system, but it uses knife-edge pivots and it tends to come back flat after a dive-bomb, and sharp after a pull-up, I've tried lubricating the knife-edges with lip-eze but it makes no difference, there is very little wear on the knife edges, I also tried replacing the locking nut, tried making sure the neck screws were tight, and also tried making sure the string-retainer bar was adjusted properly, the locking nut screws are nice and tight too.