Changes: Portal:Tremolo bridges

Revision as of 03:31, 23 May 2018

Portal:Parts
Portal: Tremolo bridges

Tremolo bridges installed in Ibanez Guitars

Timelines of Ibanez tremolo bridges

Double locking tremolos

Ibanez has a rich history of offering some of the finest quality Double locking tremolos offered by any guitar manufacturer. Many people consider Ibanez's Edge tremolos the best Floyd Rose style bridges produced.

The lineage of Ibanez double-locking tremolos can be a bit overwhelming. You'll get differing opinions about which trem is "best" but let's start with some generalities. First rule of thumb is that the best trems are the ones without a number in their names (e.g. an Edge Zero II is NOT better than and Edge Zero).

Here's a simplistic breakdown of the major Ibanez double locking tremolos:

High-end trems (all of these are rock solid):

Edge (a.k.a. Original Edge or OE)
Lo-Pro Edge (LPE)
Edge Pro (EP)
Edge Zero (EZ)
ZR/ ZR2 (stands for Zero Resistance, but are referred to most often by the initials)

Mid-grade trems (these are all quite capable, but a notch below the best):

Low-end trems (these are generally fine at least when new, but suffer from cheap materials which compromise their longevity):

This list is not exhaustive, but that covers the majority of what you'll find.

Among the high-end trems, each one has its differences and its adherents who will tell you it's the best. The truth is that ALL of them are very good and among the best Floyd Rose style trems you'll find anywhere.

The Edge, which was Ibanez first Floyd Rose licensed tremolo, was introduced in 1986. Initially it was surface mounted, but with the introduction of the JEM777 and RG550 in 1987 a cavity was routed below the tremolo to allow the player to manipulate the tremolo either by pushing down (to lower the pitch) or pulling up (to raise the pitch).

The Lo-Pro Edge is a low-profile version of the Edge, as its name suggests, which came along around 1991. The Edge Pro was introduced for 2003 as a replacement to the OE & LPE; it has a low-profile design similar to the LPE. The EP was created at least partially to avoid licensing Floyd Rose patents, but that goal was not really achieved. The OE/LPE returned around 2010 and the EP was soon retired. The only real weakness of the EP is that it didn't come with the locking posts of the OE/LPE, although those can be added as an aftermarket upgrade.

The Edge Zero came out in 2008. Its major innovation is a "Zero Point System" which is meant to help maintain tuning stability. The ZR also uses the ZPS technology, but differs from the other double locking trems in that it pivots on ball bearings rather than a knife edge.

Double locking tremolo timeline (1986–2018)

Single locking tremolos

Synchronized tremolos

List of all tremolo bridges

@@ Line 177: / Line 177: @@
 === Double locking tremolos ===
+[[File:Edge diagram.jpg|right|400px]]
 Ibanez has a rich history of offering some of the finest quality [[Double locking tremolo]]s offered by any guitar manufacturer. Many people consider Ibanez's Edge tremolos the best [[Wikipedia:Floyd Rose|Floyd Rose style]] bridges produced.
@@ Line 204: / Line 205: @@
 Among the high-end trems, each one has its differences and its adherents who will tell you it's the best. The truth is that ALL of them are very good and among the best Floyd Rose style trems you'll find anywhere.
+The [[Edge]], which was Ibanez first Floyd Rose licensed tremolo, was introduced in 1986. Initially it was surface mounted, but with the introduction of the [[JEM777]] and [[RG550 (1987–1994)|RG550]] in 1987 a cavity was routed below the tremolo to allow the player to manipulate the tremolo either by pushing down (to lower the pitch) or pulling up (to raise the pitch).
-The Edge was Ibanez first modern FR trem introduced in 1986. The LPE is a low-profile version of the Edge, as its name suggests, which came along around 1991. The Edge Pro was introduced for 2003 as a replacement to the OE & LPE; it has a low-profile design similar to the LPE. The EP was created at least partially to avoid licensing Floyd Rose patents, but that goal was not really achieved. The OE/LPE returned around 2010 and the EP was soon retired. The only real weakness of the EP is that it didn't come with the locking posts of the OE/LPE, although those can be added as an aftermarket upgrade.
+The Lo-Pro Edge is a low-profile version of the Edge, as its name suggests, which came along around 1991. The Edge Pro was introduced for 2003 as a replacement to the OE & LPE; it has a low-profile design similar to the LPE. The EP was created at least partially to avoid licensing Floyd Rose patents, but that goal was not really achieved. The OE/LPE returned around 2010 and the EP was soon retired. The only real weakness of the EP is that it didn't come with the locking posts of the OE/LPE, although those can be added as an aftermarket upgrade.
 The Edge Zero came out in 2008. Its major innovation is a "[[ZPS3|Zero Point System]]" which is meant to help maintain tuning stability. The ZR also uses the ZPS technology, but differs from the other double locking trems in that it pivots on ball bearings rather than a knife edge.