Little bit of a problem...

Pyr0

Okay, so there I was taking my strings off to give the fretboard a clean and change the strings. I was wiping down the headstock with a cloth to get rid of dust and such, i'm not good with the names of the seperate sections of the guitar so deal with me here !

I'm playing a J-Custom with a flyod rose style trem and locking nuts, the section that houses the locking nuts at the top of the headstock just slid off !! I haven't had the actual nuts on the guitar for awhile now, so it just looks like a normal nut without the locking parts if ya get me. But i hadn't any problems when I changed my strings a month ago, so I must have lost two little screws that are needed to hold it in place since then, I haven't a clue how either ! The guitar wasn't thrown around or bashed against anything, no one has been messing with it or any of that jazz.

What i'm getting to is, are these two little screws easily to replace ? Would I be able to walk into say Musicians Inc and get the screws ? Or would I have to order them online, that kinda stuff ?

http://www.azmusicales.com/catalogo/catalog/images/ln-bk%5B1%5D.jpg

This is the part the slid off (not my actual part)

fguihen

the locking nut is held in place by two screws that you never have to remove, so i dont know why you removed them, see it mentioned in the below diagram as a "neck mounting Screw"




if im wrong, above, and you actually lost the string clamp screws, then dont sweat, unless your doing some serious whammy on the guitar, you dont need the string clamps. i dont use them on my guitar at all.

You can order the parts from stewmac here. ive ordered parts from them before and find them great.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailpieces/Floyd_Rose_tremolos_and_parts.html

Pyr0

See thats the thing, I've never actually removed anything other than the string clamps ! The neck mounting screws are not there ! Not even on my floor or bed I've never had this problem before and I haven't the slightest clue how the neck mounting screws went missing in the first place !

Voodu Child

The screws are 'standard' in the sense that most front-loaded floyd nuts will use the same ones. They're just a very short flat headed screw.

That said, I doubt any of the guitar shops in town will have what you're looking for.

See if you can find the specs for the screws (I suggest posting on Jemsite for quickest results), and you might be able to see if one of the hardware shops has exactly what you're looking for. I'll have a look around myself, but I don't think i have any of what you need.

I'd wager that playing the guitar without the locking nuts attached has just caused the screws to vibrate loose. They won't do that with the nut pads on because the nut pads are pressing down on them, so can't move at all. They're very short screws, with the nut pads not attached, they'd vibrate themselves loose easily enough.

Pyr0

I found one of them under my Pc desk, so it must have loosened up over time as you were saying, I've screwed it back and attached the other part, its on tight enough and isn't moving around, so it'll have to do for the time being until I get the second one, or find it.

Trial and error, won't happen again ! Hopefully :P

Cheers for the info.

Voodu Child

If you have one, hopefully you can just bring it along to a hardware store and see if they have an equivalent. Or, the other might turn up on the floor too

Don't overtighten it, it doesnt need to be that tight, and you don't want to strip the holes. Usually I do a maintenance check every two or three string changes - alongside the usual action, intonation, cleaning switches etc, you'd want to be checking for loose screws and all that guff.

Also, I can't recall if that nut was shimmed or not. If it was, you might want to check the shim hasn't fallen on the ground as well. It'll just be a thin brass plate. Might be half a shim on one side or something. Actually I think it was unshimmed and i'd left a couple of spares in a zip bag in the case, I can't recall exactly. Just something to check.

Also, on a completely unrelated note, in case you don't know, the trem posts on Ibanez RGs of that era are locking, meaning they've got a tiny allen screw inside the post, that needs to be opened before making any adjustments to the posts. Thats what the tiny (1.5mm i think) allen key is for. If you don't open the screws, you'll bust them....and the posts won't be locking any more

Pyr0

Aye I've got a few bits and pieces in that little box alright ! I'll have to look up all this shiz so I can get my head around it ! Would you be able to tell me the specs of the guitar itself ? So i know for future reference, as in what type of neck it has, woods etc

Voodu Child

JCRG1608, made in 1998.
Color SLBFSilky Blue
Body Top AAA Flame Maple (7.0mm) (this is MUCH thicker than the usual Ibanez maple top)
Body Back Mahogany
Neck 3pcs. Maple
Neck type J-Custom ('98)
Fingerboard Rosewood
Position Inlay Abalone Off-set Dot
Fret Custom Jumbo (SBB216-195)
Neck Joint All Access
Scale 648mm/25.5inch
Neck width 43mm(Nut), 56mm(21F)
Neck thickness 19.5mm(1F), 21.5mm(12F)
Fingerboard Radius 430mmR
Bridge Lo-Pro Edge
Pickup(neck) DiMarzio FRED(H)
Pickup(center) DiMarzio Blue Velvet(S)
Pickup(bridge) DiMarzio Super 3(H)

I sold it around 18 months ago, so I don't know what kind of condition its in now (i'd hope its still great :pac:). The neck is a lot thicker than your typical RG, and the flame-top is one of only two or three RGs Ibanez have made with 7mm, most are around 3mm.

Gimme a PM if you have any trouble with it, or need help on the setup etc.