I just got a Ibanez S with the ZR trem and i am really liking the trem. It is as good as any floyd i used all those years. once you learn how it works it is incredible.
I HIGHLY recommend taking tension off of the strings before attempting to adjust the action. Failure to do so can result in stripping your bridge studs. The allen key holes on these studs are stupid fragile. They’re also very expensive and hard to find. I found this out the hard way. These bridges are an absolute nightmare.
If this had been up when I had my S420, I probably would have kept that guitar! Not a single person at GC could tell me how to use that intonation screw!
Thanks for posting this video. I just recently got the Ibanez S470dx and I'm trying to familiarize myself with how everything works on it, this was very helpful!
No worries, so if the string is under tension and you lossen the bolt holding the saddle it will be pulled toward the nut. On a normal floyd system you would have to take all the tension off the string before you made adjustments to the saddle. The intonation tool on the zr bridge lets you make thoses adjustment without removing the tension on the string. It really just saves you time on your setup.
Good question, your right about the floyd. The zr system can be adjusted and intonated without taking off the strings. It's one of the nice things about this trem.
The intonation changes by tuning down, changing string thickness ect. The intonation is set to make sure the exact note is in position to the fret of that note for each string. I use a strobe tuner and check the octave of each string (open string and twelfth fret of each string). Make sure the open string and the 12 fret note are exact by moving the saddle back or forth. Once the intonation is set for each string keep a note of your string gauge and replace with same gauge.
If you had problems moving the saddles with the intonation tool try this. I couldn't move mine so I removed the string and the fine tuner then loosened the small Allen nut to take off the saddle and give it a clean. Mine had a bit of old Greece from the factory that had gone sticky.
I agree not to adjust the studs on a knife edge trem (like floyd rose) with string tension because you can damage the edges. With the zr trem the stud holes are seprate from the moving part of the trem so it won't get damaged with adjustments.
I'd agree here, BUT - the later indonesian ZR I studs are rather weak and easily break under string tension. So losening the locking nut is the prefered way to go for me:)
Actually, on some Ibanez guitars, the stock Ibanez-made pickups are slightly smaller than EMG's, Seymour Duncan's, ETC. Only way to fit them in is to sand the inside walls of the pickup slot about 0.5-1mm to fit them in.
i think mine is a little bit hard to twist. is it okay if i use something like wd-40 so i can adjust the intonation on the zr? or will it make it break or something?
I still feel like I have alot of trouble getting the low e with perfect intonation without throwing everything else out. I can definitely see where the patience comes into play any tips. Thinking about just getting it set up at my local music store
hello jason i have a ibanez s320 guitar and my tremolo is pretty high not straight where the fine tuners are. that side is pretty far up what do i wrong ?
So I jus got a s970cw same ZR II bridge. This is gna drive me crazy thinkin I messed this up. I Don't think mine has those stud bolts tho. I've tried to look inside and dont see but 2 teeny tiny little holes in there. They are Def smaller than 2mm as the ZR guide says. Are they not on the ZR II?? The pics in the guide are vague to me.
Please someone help me out here! I was wanting to change my original floyd rose to the zr, but I'm not sure if it's doable. I know there will be some routing needed, but would the studs line up in order to attach it?
This video makes it appear as though the saddles are adjusted by TURNING the "screw tool" more tight and/or LOOSENING it back out. Are you sure that they're not adjusted by PULLING and/or PUSHING the tool once it's screwed in? I couldn't get them to move anywhere, until I proceeded doing it the latter way.
I was trying to adjust my intonation but the saddles won't move at all. :( I'm going to try taking off the strings and cleaning it up. Hopefully that gets them moving. I just bought mine off craigslist and it looks pretty dirty so I'm hoping cleaning it will work. I could reuse my strings right? I just put new ones on.
after you screw in the adjustment tool you have to loosen the little screw that holds the saddle down. after you dial in the correct intonation tighten the screw back down.
I don't know if you did this or not? But its good practice to loosen the string tension before adjusting the pivot screw for the action height. Its possible to damage the knife edge on the pivot point of the tremolo. However I do like the intonation tool saves a lot of time not having to loosen string tension to move the saddle.
a few questions to start, is the buzz happening only on the one fret? if so than it sounds like a high fret wire, If your getting buzz from a few places you might have to adjust your neck tension.
I recently got myself a new S series Ibanez with this bridge and I did exactly what you described to fix intonation and the saddle will not physically move. Have you got any suggestions for what may be wrong?
you said that you don't need to adjust the tension of the string but you actually have to... Either ways, doesn't this change of tension of the 6th string change the tuning of the others? what happens to the springs on the ZR system?
Question. My Low E string feel a little loose. If i move the saddle back it will tighten the string, but then will it be out of tune? If so that means i have to tune again which loosen the string again right? But i dont see another way to tighten my strings
If you loosen the Allen bolt to adjust the intonation with out putting the special tool into the back of the bridge will the string saddle zero its self to its longest position? Thanks.
VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION; With the floyd rose system, when you adjust your overall height of the strings with the STRINGS STILL ON, I heard you can damage the knife edges pretty severely, IS THERE ANY PROBLEM OF THIS SORT WITH THE ZR SYSTEM or can everything be done while the strings are still on. THANK YOU PLEASE ANSWER :)
thanks for getting back to me mate, i havnt lost the tool or anything and i have no experience of a regular floyd either. i just cant get my head around how the saddle works. when you say the saddle will be pulled forward do you mean towards the nut or away from it? thanks again.
In question 1 by intonation do you mean the intonation is out or the saddle is further up than the rest? For question 2 try taking the tension off the string than turning the screw back and forth.
Yeah, the solderless kit has an insane amount of excess wiring and a little hub to connect all the wiring which takes up a good deal of space. Think I'll be taking a solderable kit from another guitar and transferring it over. Any tips for getting it all to fit?
Hey man, when I put the allen key into the slot to adjust the height on the treble side (the side with the actual bar), the post doesn't move. How can I fix this? >
Hi, I have one question for you, I just got a second hand S520EX BK and I would like to know for the high for the bridge does it need to be at the same high each side. is just because mine one side is lower(the one where the whammy bar). that normal or I need to have the high at the same high. thanks again and sorry for my English and I hope you will understand my questio
Hi Jason, Your video is very nice. I've got a RG 2570, with a slightly different tremolo (Edge Zero w/ ZPS), but it works the same way. The issue with my guitar is the intonation mainly on the thinner strings (e, B, G). Pitch of the freted string on the 12 fret is lower than the 12th fret Harmonic, so the saddle has to move towards the neck. The problem is the saddle is already all the way to the stop towards the neck... What can I do now? Any help? Thank you! Miguel
Was wondering What model is your axe is that a S series like maybe a S570 or is it a Rg series it is a sweet guitar am in the market for another guitar would like one in that color Thanks for the info
Hey man. sweet guitar first off! I bought an Ibanez s570 which comes with the same bridge as far as i know. so i lowered the action cause it was around 3mm when i got it. So now, on the low E string it's around 2.5mm above yet still i get fretbuzz noises from the 8th fret on the (low) E and A strings. the rest of the strings sound fine. Would be really great if you could help me out! I really dont know what to do.
The shop I put it into said it wasn't possible by any means (Using a soldered or solderless kit) but from what I've gathered online it is very possible just needs a bit of squeeze and creative construction! Thanks man
If you don't use the tool the saddle would be pulled forward. If you lost the tool just set it like a regular floyd by taking the tension off the string. hope that helps.
1. Yeah, I'll private message you with a link if you want to look at it ^^ 2. Should I loose the tensión of the string from the tuning peg? Just to clear out, the screw I mentioned before (the locked one) is actually the screw that makes the fine tuning, not an "allen" screw of the bridge. Is still valid what you told me after this clarification? Also, I noticed that the fine tuning screw of the 6th string has more movement way tan the others, is that normal? Thanks! :)
Hey Jason: Nice video. I just bought an Ibanez S420 with ZR Bridge. I've been learning a lot since this is my first floating bridge guitar. I have 2 questions: 1. My guitar came from the store with the 4th intonation a little bit up (0.5 cm). If the guitar is new, shouldn't they all be lined up like yours? 2. The Micro Tuning (Fine tuning) tool of my 4th string is locked. The "screw" doesn't rotate at all. How can I fix it? Thanks again!
I will never understand why Ibanez even sells Tremolo bridges anymore WITHOUT the intonation set screw thing -- that is the best idea they have ever come up with. Unreal. NONE of their new guitars have this -- NONE! Even the Prestige and J.Customs which cost thousands of dollars.
Hey Brave thanks for letting me know the model they are hard to find looks like the new model S570 replaced the 470 doesnt come in red viking bummer I did find a few S470s on E-bay not sure i trusr buying a guitar from there well anyway sweet guitar thanks
I've only adjusted the intonation on this thing once so far, but it was god damn impossible to turn the little intonation screw without slacking the shit out of the string first. Which was really annoying. Was that me doing something wrong, or is that just how the shit works? Either way that guitar stayed perfectly in tune afterwards. I also think I used this video for reference lol so thanks for that.
buy a new one (or 2) or use a Dremel with a fine cutting disc to make a groove so you can use a flat screwdriver. But always loose the counter nut first before adjusting the trem height!
intonation. how do i know if im doing it right? what am i looking for? ive got 0.13's on my s420 in drop D. ive lowered my bridge abit so the action is abit better (bout 1.5mm at 12th fret when holding 1st and 8th fret). im just learning how to do a proper setup. so any info could go along way.
I just tuned mine (which is the exact guitar in the video) to D# standard and I cannot get the B and high E strings intonated. I have the saddles on both moved all the way up (towards the neck) and it's still way too flat. By flat I mean the high D# is about 425-430 hz and the A# is about 430-435 hz.
So.... if you cannot get a string intonation correct, there might be one thing that helps. There are actually two threaded holes for each intonation set screw. I would try putting the set screw in the other hole and trying it.
thank you because he didnt say that in his video i tried really hard to turn them without loosing the counter nut. i hope i didnt destroy anything. tomorrow im going to buy the tool to losethem :)
Quick question: Do you remove the ZPS Bar before changing strings? Also, do you remove all the strings at once or one at time when replacing them? I want to know if keeping the ZPS Bar while all the strings are out will still keep the trem at level? I just don't wanna screw up my bridge! Thnx!
I would keep the bar in to change strings, if your just changing strings you can do it one at a time. if your cleaning the guitar as well then take them all off.
Wow. Great video. I've had this my ibanez for around 4 years, and diden't know, that that screw was an intonation too! Thanks!
I just got a Ibanez S with the ZR trem and i am really liking the trem.
It is as good as any floyd i used all those years.
once you learn how it works it is incredible.
I HIGHLY recommend taking tension off of the strings before attempting to adjust the action. Failure to do so can result in stripping your bridge studs. The allen key holes on these studs are stupid fragile. They’re also very expensive and hard to find. I found this out the hard way. These bridges are an absolute nightmare.
Confirmed. I damaged one stud this way.
Agree
If this had been up when I had my S420, I probably would have kept that guitar! Not a single person at GC could tell me how to use that intonation screw!
Thanks for posting this video. I just recently got the Ibanez S470dx and I'm trying to familiarize myself with how everything works on it, this was very helpful!
Thanks for the video !
Other videos of yours are very helpful too,
You deserve more views !
Very beautiful guitar, I've oddly never been a fan of Ibanez but have seen that they produce some very sharp looking guitars.
No worries, so if the string is under tension and you lossen the bolt holding the saddle it will be pulled toward the nut. On a normal floyd system you would have to take all the tension off the string before you made adjustments to the saddle. The intonation tool on the zr bridge lets you make thoses adjustment without removing the tension on the string. It really just saves you time on your setup.
Brilliant, easy to follow. Thanks man.
Good question, your right about the floyd. The zr system can be adjusted and intonated without taking off the strings. It's one of the nice things about this trem.
It's good to hear to fixed the problem, old strings can cause all kinds of problems.
very useful video, thanks for uploading !
Amazing and thanks for that!!!!
Very informative video, thank you.
thanks for making this simple not talking too much like others do :p
Great tremolo system¡¡¡ thank you very much¡¡¡
The intonation changes by tuning down, changing string thickness ect. The intonation is set to make sure the exact note is in position to the fret of that note for each string. I use a strobe tuner and check the octave of each string (open string and twelfth fret of each string). Make sure the open string and the 12 fret note are exact by moving the saddle back or forth. Once the intonation is set for each string keep a note of your string gauge and replace with same gauge.
Glad it helped, You can put EMG's in this guitar, the battery is a tight fight but you can fit them.
If you had problems moving the saddles with the intonation tool try this. I couldn't move mine so I removed the string and the fine tuner then loosened the small Allen nut to take off the saddle and give it a clean. Mine had a bit of old Greece from the factory that had gone sticky.
Soooo coool!!!! I am buying an S470 DXQM and this tells me what I needed to know :) Thank you soooo much!!! Best Regards!
awesome! Also thanks for defending my videos. My wife put a few on her channel for me lol
I agree not to adjust the studs on a knife edge trem (like floyd rose) with string tension because you can damage the edges. With the zr trem the stud holes are seprate from the moving part of the trem so it won't get damaged with adjustments.
I'd agree here, BUT - the later indonesian ZR I studs are rather weak and easily break under string tension. So losening the locking nut is the prefered way to go for me:)
This video is a god send. Now if only I could squeeze EMGs in to it, I'd be on my merry way!
i love that guitar colour
Thank you REALLY helpful!
I like the TOOL in the background
Actually, on some Ibanez guitars, the stock Ibanez-made pickups are slightly smaller than EMG's, Seymour Duncan's, ETC. Only way to fit them in is to sand the inside walls of the pickup slot about 0.5-1mm to fit them in.
thank you for the video
Character In the video It's great, I like it a lot $$
i think mine is a little bit hard to twist. is it okay if i use something like wd-40 so i can adjust the intonation on the zr? or will it make it break or something?
what do i do if that scrue is stuck so hard that i have to use a leaterman to scure it back and forwards?
My d and g fine tuners are really hard to turn. The guitar is in "like new" shape. They only turn 1/4 turn without great difficulty. Any ideas?
Thanks for the info !!!
Yeah, I had a set of emg 81 in my s and I had no problem getting it all to fit. The soderless system might be another story though.
I still feel like I have alot of trouble getting the low e with perfect intonation without throwing everything else out. I can definitely see where the patience comes into play any tips. Thinking about just getting it set up at my local music store
hello jason i have a ibanez s320 guitar and my tremolo is pretty high not straight where the fine tuners are. that side is pretty far up what do i wrong ?
So I jus got a s970cw same ZR II bridge. This is gna drive me crazy thinkin I messed this up. I Don't think mine has those stud bolts tho. I've tried to look inside and dont see but 2 teeny tiny little holes in there. They are Def smaller than 2mm as the ZR guide says. Are they not on the ZR II?? The pics in the guide are vague to me.
Please someone help me out here! I was wanting to change my original floyd rose to the zr, but I'm not sure if it's doable. I know there will be some routing needed, but would the studs line up in order to attach it?
I have a s series prestige with this trem and everyone I use the bar the g string goes out of tune. How can I fix this?!
This video makes it appear as though the saddles are adjusted by TURNING the "screw tool" more tight and/or LOOSENING it back out. Are you sure that they're not adjusted by PULLING and/or PUSHING the tool once it's screwed in? I couldn't get them to move anywhere, until I proceeded doing it the latter way.
do you lose balance when changing the intonation?
I was trying to adjust my intonation but the saddles won't move at all. :( I'm going to try taking off the strings and cleaning it up. Hopefully that gets them moving. I just bought mine off craigslist and it looks pretty dirty so I'm hoping cleaning it will work. I could reuse my strings right? I just put new ones on.
after you screw in the adjustment tool you have to loosen the little screw that holds the saddle down. after you dial in the correct intonation tighten the screw back down.
I don't know if you did this or not? But its good practice to loosen the string tension before adjusting the pivot screw for the action height. Its possible to damage the knife edge on the pivot point of the tremolo. However I do like the intonation tool saves a lot of time not having to loosen string tension to move the saddle.
How hard would it be to replace my edge zero 2 with one of these?
Are the strings in tune when you are adjusting the saddle? Or have you taken all of the tension off of the string?
the zr trems stay in tine ? are they as good as original edge trem ?
a few questions to start, is the buzz happening only on the one fret? if so than it sounds like a high fret wire, If your getting buzz from a few places you might have to adjust your neck tension.
I recently got myself a new S series Ibanez with this bridge and I did exactly what you described to fix intonation and the saddle will not physically move. Have you got any suggestions for what may be wrong?
you said that you don't need to adjust the tension of the string but you actually have to...
Either ways, doesn't this change of tension of the 6th string change the tuning of the others?
what happens to the springs on the ZR system?
Muito bom, Obrigado....abraços...
VERY NICE,THANKS.!!!!!!!!
Great 👍
Question. My Low E string feel a little loose. If i move the saddle back it will tighten the string, but then will it be out of tune? If so that means i have to tune again which loosen the string again right? But i dont see another way to tighten my strings
If you loosen the Allen bolt to adjust the intonation with out putting the special tool into the back of the bridge will the string saddle zero its self to its longest position? Thanks.
VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION; With the floyd rose system, when you adjust your overall height of the strings with the STRINGS STILL ON, I heard you can damage the knife edges pretty severely, IS THERE ANY PROBLEM OF THIS SORT WITH THE ZR SYSTEM or can everything be done while the strings are still on. THANK YOU PLEASE ANSWER :)
thanks for getting back to me mate, i havnt lost the tool or anything and i have no experience of a regular floyd either. i just cant get my head around how the saddle works. when you say the saddle will be pulled forward do you mean towards the nut or away from it? thanks again.
In question 1 by intonation do you mean the intonation is out or the saddle is further up than the rest?
For question 2 try taking the tension off the string than turning the screw back and forth.
Hey mate did you upload the video on the ZPS system ??
Yeah, the solderless kit has an insane amount of excess wiring and a little hub to connect all the wiring which takes up a good deal of space. Think I'll be taking a solderable kit from another guitar and transferring it over. Any tips for getting it all to fit?
Hey man, when I put the allen key into the slot to adjust the height on the treble side (the side with the actual bar), the post doesn't move. How can I fix this? >
Hi, I have one question for you, I just got a second hand S520EX BK and I would like to know for the high for the bridge does it need to be at the same high each side. is just because mine one side is lower(the one where the whammy bar). that normal or I need to have the high at the same high. thanks again and sorry for my English and I hope you will understand my questio
Hi Jason,
Your video is very nice. I've got a RG 2570, with a slightly different tremolo (Edge Zero w/ ZPS), but it works the same way. The issue with my guitar is the intonation mainly on the thinner strings (e, B, G). Pitch of the freted string on the 12 fret is lower than the 12th fret Harmonic, so the saddle has to move towards the neck. The problem is the saddle is already all the way to the stop towards the neck... What can I do now? Any help? Thank you!
Miguel
Thank you very much
That's a problem, so you can't move the saddle enough to get proper intonation?
Please sir, what is the name of that beautiful finish
genious
is my guitar supposed to have a string tree on my floyed rose guitar
I got an S5470SOL in a trade, and my intonation screw is missing. 😔
Was wondering What model is your axe is that a S series like maybe a S570 or is it a Rg series it is a sweet guitar am in the market for another guitar would like one in that color Thanks for the info
Hey man. sweet guitar first off! I bought an Ibanez s570 which comes with the same bridge as far as i know. so i lowered the action cause it was around 3mm when i got it. So now, on the low E string it's around 2.5mm above yet still i get fretbuzz noises from the 8th fret on the (low) E and A strings. the rest of the strings sound fine. Would be really great if you could help me out! I really dont know what to do.
do you mean it's to hard to turn or that you turn it and nothing happens?
guitar player: yea i want to raise the action for each string
ibanez: lol why would you want to do that?
This guitar is a s470dxqm in red viking finish. It is a great guitar!
🔥
Thanx kid now I know
thx bro
The shop I put it into said it wasn't possible by any means (Using a soldered or solderless kit) but from what I've gathered online it is very possible just needs a bit of squeeze and creative construction! Thanks man
If you don't use the tool the saddle would be pulled forward. If you lost the tool just set it like a regular floyd by taking the tension off the string. hope that helps.
Can you do a video on adjusting the tremolo attachment angle for the ones equipped with zero point system?
There are no knife edges on this type of ZR. It is on roller bearings. But thanks for the info about the damage you can cause to a floating bridge.
1. Yeah, I'll private message you with a link if you want to look at it ^^
2. Should I loose the tensión of the string from the tuning peg? Just to clear out, the screw I mentioned before (the locked one) is actually the screw that makes the fine tuning, not an "allen" screw of the bridge. Is still valid what you told me after this clarification?
Also, I noticed that the fine tuning screw of the 6th string has more movement way tan the others, is that normal?
Thanks! :)
Hey Jason:
Nice video. I just bought an Ibanez S420 with ZR Bridge. I've been learning a lot since this is my first floating bridge guitar. I have 2 questions:
1. My guitar came from the store with the 4th intonation a little bit up (0.5 cm). If the guitar is new, shouldn't they all be lined up like yours?
2. The Micro Tuning (Fine tuning) tool of my 4th string is locked. The "screw" doesn't rotate at all. How can I fix it?
Thanks again!
You were listened "Parabola".🤙
When adjusting the intonation, I am not able to turn the intonation screw. The part you are doing at 2:35
I hear Tool - Parabola in this video am i right ?
Don't need too loose strings whern adjust height? Smart stuff!
I will never understand why Ibanez even sells Tremolo bridges anymore WITHOUT the intonation set screw thing -- that is the best idea they have ever come up with. Unreal. NONE of their new guitars have this -- NONE! Even the Prestige and J.Customs which cost thousands of dollars.
Well my 2011 Prestige have it.
Because it is a feature that has not stood the test of time.
There are loads of intonation issues on this guitar.
Read about it.
Got some of that parabola playin in the background
Sorry wrong button, doesn't just turning the screw just take the screw out again?
It sounds like you have to adjust the neck tension, it's a little hard to say without see it, but i think it's the neck tension.
Hey Brave thanks for letting me know the model they are hard to find looks like the new model S570 replaced the 470 doesnt come in red viking bummer I did find a few S470s on E-bay not sure i trusr buying a guitar from there well anyway sweet guitar thanks
Would that really matter with a ball bearing system?
I've only adjusted the intonation on this thing once so far, but it was god damn impossible to turn the little intonation screw without slacking the shit out of the string first. Which was really annoying. Was that me doing something wrong, or is that just how the shit works? Either way that guitar stayed perfectly in tune afterwards. I also think I used this video for reference lol so thanks for that.
One of my allen key bolts to raise and lower the action has word down and now I can use any size allen key in it! Any tips???
buy a new one (or 2) or use a Dremel with a fine cutting disc to make a groove so you can use a flat screwdriver.
But always loose the counter nut first before adjusting the trem height!
intonation. how do i know if im doing it right? what am i looking for? ive got 0.13's on my s420 in drop D. ive lowered my bridge abit so the action is abit better (bout 1.5mm at 12th fret when holding 1st and 8th fret). im just learning how to do a proper setup. so any info could go along way.
that's not how you measure string height.
I just tuned mine (which is the exact guitar in the video) to D# standard and I cannot get the B and high E strings intonated. I have the saddles on both moved all the way up (towards the neck) and it's still way too flat. By flat I mean the high D# is about 425-430 hz and the A# is about 430-435 hz.
So.... if you cannot get a string intonation correct, there might be one thing that helps. There are actually two threaded holes for each intonation set screw. I would try putting the set screw in the other hole and trying it.
When you adjust the height you have to loosen the counter nut a bit!!!
thank you because he didnt say that in his video i tried really hard to turn them without loosing the counter nut. i hope i didnt destroy anything. tomorrow im going to buy the tool to losethem :)
It makes sense. But the manual does not say anything about loosening the counter nut.
Is there any documentation from Ibanez that explains this?
@@genischapinal2347 IN THE USER MANUAL
@@rareaudiofromouterspace231 user manual,,,, what's that? Lol
Quick question: Do you remove the ZPS Bar before changing strings? Also, do you remove all the strings at once or one at time when replacing them?
I want to know if keeping the ZPS Bar while all the strings are out will still keep the trem at level? I just don't wanna screw up my bridge!
Thnx!
I would keep the bar in to change strings, if your just changing strings you can do it one at a time. if your cleaning the guitar as well then take them all off.
I kept the bar and removed all the strings, replaced them and tuned my guitar! At this point the tremolo was already levelled.
Thnx!
whats the meaning of intonation?
Such a pain doing this in hot sweaty weather can't grip the damn screw thing properly...
That's right, I couldn't move the saddle enough to get the desired intonation...
But it's now solved!
NEW STRINGS!!!