Superstrat advice

[MDV]

Oh! While I remember, Ibanez ZRs are good. Their design somewhat nullfies the need for ultra-hard knife edges, and I daresay (an educated guess) that  they can tollerate much more wear than a normal fully floating trem.

Also, you can drop tune with them and they dont jack-knife and screw the other strings up.

Cleverly engineered bits of kit.

[dave_mc]

^ yeah, the zr is meant to be good... i've tried it a little, but not enough to really formulate an opinion. what i've heard too is that the quality isn't necessarily as good as the real high quality floyds, but as you say, the design means that it doesn't really need to be. you can normally pick up an ibanez s-series for around £300-£400 with the zr attached, though prices have been rising recently :( plus the zr doesn't really feel exactly like a floyd.

Thanks guys, you've been a great help. I'm thinking I'll go with your advice and track down a hardtail and refit it at a later date with quality hardware.

It's nice to be able to get quality advice without having to trawl through a thousand reviews by teenagers who've only been playing for 2 months or biased manufacturers advertising.

just to point out, it's going to be a pain to retrofit a trem to a guitar with a hardtail (assuming that's what you mean by "quality hardware"). there's going to be a ton of routing.

[noodleplugerine]

Oh! While I remember, Ibanez ZRs are good. Their design somewhat nullfies the need for ultra-hard knife edges, and I daresay (an educated guess) that  they can tollerate much more wear than a normal fully floating trem.

Also, you can drop tune with them and they dont jack-knife and screw the other strings up.

Cleverly engineered bits of kit.

In theory that's true, but I've heard rumours that all that clever design has been totally wasted due to the metals they've been using to make it, now it just wears elsewhere instead of the knife edge.

[WezV]

You don't like this one?  :D

i wish you wouldnt post things like that whilst i have the money in the bank!!!

[Philly Q]

the best superstrats are the ones you put together yourself ;)

You don't like this one?  :D

i wish you wouldnt post things like that whilst i have the money in the bank!!!

I'm putting together one similar to that Corgan.  White Warmoth body, maple Highway One neck, hardtail and torty HSS scratchplate.

(Which is pretty similar to gwEm's Jazzmaster, although that wasn't intentional.  :oops: )

[MDV]

Oh! While I remember, Ibanez ZRs are good. Their design somewhat nullfies the need for ultra-hard knife edges, and I daresay (an educated guess) that  they can tollerate much more wear than a normal fully floating trem.

Also, you can drop tune with them and they dont jack-knife and screw the other strings up.

Cleverly engineered bits of kit.

In theory that's true, but I've heard rumours that all that clever design has been totally wasted due to the metals they've been using to make it, now it just wears elsewhere instead of the knife edge.

Hmmmm, I didnt spend enough time with it to determine that. I just worked on one, set it up.

Thanks for the heads up.

[Dreichlift]

I looked into it and I can get a a OFR trem routed and installed for £200 - £250 including the price of the trem and nut.  That's kinda the way I'm thinking of going, it get's me something to play now that's not going to let me down and I can decide later weather to upgrade it or spend money one something better.

It may only be temporary anyway, and I'll be able to go back to my Greco. :)

[MDV]

No need for the routing if you get something with an LFR in it anyway. Might have to drill wider post-holes (5mm is pretty standard for LFRs, 8mm for good aftermarket LFRs and OFRs), and it'll save you money all told.

[dave_mc]

yeah, even 10-11mm for good aftermarket FRs' studs... i think my gotoh is 11mm, if i remember correctly. my lo-trs, and my kramer trem, are a lot less. like half the size (just by looking at it). :)

[MrBump]

the best superstrats are the ones you put together yourself ;)

Yeah, or customise - I guess my Charvel is a superstrat.  Modded through necessity really.