Ibanez RGR8270

Another October release by Ibanez but it's Japan-only in the mean time: RGR8270. I'm still not into the tree-of-life inlay; too excessive for me, will confuse my fretting hand movements. Also, I'm bothered by the covered bridge humbucker but the neck counterpart remains exposed. The neck humbucker there is a PAF 36th while the bridge & middle are True Velvet & Tone Zone respectively, the usual Ibanez favoured DiMarzios. 

Also not my thing - locking tuners when there's already a locking nut.

Pics: Ibanez Japan

The locking argument

The default tuners of this guitar got wonky. The pegs & shafts were wobbly. Tuning wasn't stable when the guitar was in use. Decided to spend some money (saving up to buy a new computer, actually) to get locking tuners. Didn't go premium, just a set of decent ones to see things through. This episode is my attempt to understand if locking mechanisms, in this case the ones at the tuners, contribute to tuning stability or the purported belief in these contraptions got misconstrued along the way.

To be continued...

Aged

Bacchus has relic'd models in their lineups. This one here is the TACTICS24 AGED/RSM, available now at Davis GMC ($1,100). The price is a little steep for something equipped with in-house locking tuners & pickups but it's definitely a winner with that roasted maple neck / fretboard + steel frets. Yes, that's a Wilkinson bridge. 

 

Pic: Deviser

Unlocked

These are the locking Gotoh tuners that came default in my Ibanez SIX6FDFM. They did the job well.

I have removed them & got these instead; same Gotoh brand, just the non-locking version.

I am a fan of locking tuners, regardless of the brand / manifestation but they have to serve a practical purpose. The ones in this guitar have no issues but they add significant weight to the neck / headstock & neck dive was inevitable. This affects playing & leads to mistakes. The Ibanez S-Series is a lightweight guitar & very resonant, adding unnecessary weight to the neck / headstock just kills the essence of this instrument. By the way, if you wish to replace tuners on a reverse headstock, just go with the set meant for a lefty.  

Might be special (2)

Replacement tuners for my SG Special 2015. The robo-tuners were done away with, you are looking at a set of locking Ratio tuners. The thing about locking tuners, it's a love / hate affair. Many dislikes for locking units go to the fact that they add more weight to the neck. Be informed that Gotoh makes light-weight ones without the locking wheels you see here, it's a matter of knowing what are the available options out there before being dismissive.

Some people feel strongly against locking tuners, they feel these cumbersome contraptions take away the rigour of stringing / tuning the instrument up. If that's the case, then it's clearly missing the point. Locking units do not take away the fact that re-stringing & tuning need to happen. It's a little more convenient to re-string with locking units on board & for the novice players, it helps build confidence when dealing with non-locking ones. The locking tuners won't replace the traditional ones for sure. Traditional ones work but some of them manifest issues & we need to be patient with them. 

If you don't fancy locking tuners, it's totally your choice. Nobody is compelling you to embrace them. However, keep your opinions educated, the locking units were not invented to replace traditional tuners per se. They work for those who believe in what they offer - convenience, effectiveness. Yes, we learn much by dealing with our instruments sporting traditional hardware but we can learn from the ones featuring contemporary hardware as well. It's like driving - manual vs auto gear transmission, they co-exist.

Locking

Folks, this is a simple improvement that you can do yourself. The guitar here is my Epiphone SG Muse featuring the default set of tuners (L). These are non-locking units, some of them are stiff & rather unresponsive when in use. I decided to swap them out (the label on the tuners: MARVEL) for a set of Gotoh Locking ones (SG381 MG-T). As you can see (R), they are a perfect fit, no additional routings required, even the screws lined up nicely. 

Immediate benefits: 1) Tuners are more responsive - smooth operations for all six units 2) Holds tuning better. In general, locking units require less windings round the post so there's lesser issues when it comes to grip / slippage. If you are interested, these are available at Davis GMC ($60 +/-).

Ibanez: RG521 (Part 2)

Here's an initial appraisal of Ibanez's RG521 which is one of the members in the Genesis series. 

I'm just pleased that there's no Prestige label on the headstock despite being made in Japan; telling people your product is of a certain high standard through shameless tagging simply reeks of desperation. Kudos to Ibanez for keeping standards high. There are no blemishes to report, not even a hint of skimping.

The scary thing is, the Indonesian standards are currently, in my opinion, as imposing as the Japanese ones. We have the Premium models to account for this progress. Even the Standard models, albeit not entirely, are manifesting good production standards. These models were made second fiddle only because of material grade & definitely not on grounds of workmanship.

The Genesis models return to the block heel of yesterday. If you are a proficient player, this joint type becomes an issue only because it discomforts you, nothing to do with impeding ability. Thank you, Ibanez, for keeping the Super Wizard neck carve true to form despite the alternative approach (neck construction is neither a single piece nor 'skunk striped). The biggest Ibanez selling point is definitely its patented neck carve.

This isn't a detail disclosed at the Ibanez homepage but the RG521 is equipped with a set of locking Gotoh tuners. It seems that the Japanese hands got the Math right as these don't contribute to a neck-heavy episodes; certainly not when I was handling it both in the store & at home.

Also, the string posts are the staggered type to wisely supplement the absence of a string retainer at the headstock- in case you didn't notice that. 

Everything is top notch here, arguably like the good ol' days when the RG was king in Shred Land. Some people like to be transported back to familiar territory & this is that escape. The default V7/V8 pickups are bland-sounding units, nothing stellar, nothing too disappointing as well. I have better use for these for clean tones, surprisingly, but not that inviting when it comes to distortion territory. The pots here are good stuff, very smooth unlike the ones in the Indonesian models.

To be continued. 😐

Round the post

These are posts from non-locking tuners (machine heads to some of us). Note the number of string turns.

These are posts from non-locking tuners. There are obviously more turns seen here.

I recently came across a guitar sporting locking tuners but the owner wrapped rounds of string at the posts & when queried, the answer was, "To promote grip."

FYI, if the tuners are of the locking variety, there is already a mechanism in there to grip/clamp the strings, to make them stay put so there will be no slippage when you tune your instruments. The non-locking version requires more turns round the posts to emulate this grip. If you insist on doing rounds of strings there for the locking version, to put it simply, you don't know what you are doing. So how much string length is good for the locking version? My simple answer to this will be: Enough to address any sharp/ flat responses during tuning. From my personal experience, one round is enough. :-)