RGA8 : The bridge anchor actually broke! Where can I find a replacement?

[What is Sleep]

To make a long story short, I had the same issue everyone else has been having with the RGA8, the bridge anchor ripping out of the wood when adjusting the bridge. It wasn't just the tension, as I'm sure I bottomed out the allan screw, and it being pretty soft wood, it popped out, taking a chunk of wood with it. Of course at this point, I had already replaced the pickups with EMG 808s, replaced the mid scoop switch with a tone knob, and filed down the nut for higher gauge strings. At this point, my warranty is long gone.

Luckily, I have a good luthier who routed out a large chunk of the wood under the bridge, placed a piece of rock hard rosewood in there, glued it in, screwed it in, then mounted the anchor into the rosewood. This was great.

So, yesterday I put some new strings on and was lowering the action a bit, when I heard a "KACHUNK" and the anchor pulled out again. But wait, the wood didn't split! What?

Well, it seems the POS "threads" the "wood thread insert" anchor had busted off, while inside the rosewood. So, the fix seems easy enough, find a new anchor. I went to home depot, and they unfortunately had a very small selection of "hardwood thread inserts", and none of them would have worked.

It seems that Ibanez has since fixed the problem, as the anchor that comes with the purchase of a new RGA8 bridge looks beefy, and has thread running down the entire length of it, not like the whopping 3 wraps of thread the default insert has. I might call Ibanez and see if I can buy just the anchor, but I have a feeling I can't.

So, does anyone know anywhere online I can find a replacement anchor so I can get my guitar back into action? I need to finish my solo album! Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Edit : I can't seem to find a phone number for Ibanez, and I can't order the part online. Any suggestions for a replacement found elsewhere would be awesome! Some proper dimensions of the screw would be nice as well, since I don't have access to a decent ruler right now!

The part I need replacing is the piece in the upper right. The bolt is there as a size reference.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Call Ibanez, or more specifically Hoshino USA. If it broke, and you're the original owner they should be able to help you out.

 

[jymellis]

keep in mind. if its hard to turn, stop turning

 

[What is Sleep]

keep in mind. if its hard to turn, stop turning

I know, I know, I'm still kicking myself, hehe.

I'll try and give them a call tomorrow morning. I work graves, and I'm a bit too tired to call anyone right now. I'm off to bed soon.

Edit : Any clue where I can find a number to call? I can't find anything on their sites!

 

[What is Sleep]

So, I talked to an Ibanez rep over on the Ibanez forums, and he said the new thread inserts that would work amazingly are on order from Japan. Who knows when they will be in, or how I can go about ordering it online. He gave me a part number, but alas, I can't look it up through their parts site yet.

Any suggestions on what I could use in its place?

Edit : Also, before I took the bridge off last night, it was still playable with the bridge depressed all the way down to the bottom of the bridge cavity, but there was definite fret buzz on the 4 lower strings on anything above the 11th-12th frets. Do you think it would hurt the guitar if I cut a tongue depressor or popsicle stick to size, then placed it at the front of the bridge cavity, and tightened down the bridge to lift the front end of the bridge a bit?

 

[What is Sleep]

UPDATE : Guitar is still not fixed, unfortunately.

I went to every guitar shop in a 50 mile radius, none of which had a replacement part for the bridge anchor's hardwood thread insert. I called up Ibanez after getting the part number for the anchor thread insert for the 2011 edition of the RGA8, but they said they would have to order it from the Japan and it would take no less than 9 weeks to get here, and at this point, I really don't want to wait another 2-3 months minimum before I can play my 8-string again.

So, my current question is :
J-B Weld?

The hole in the wood that the anchor sits in is completely fine, and like stated above is made out of rosewood, so it is damn strong. When I put the broken insert in the hole, there is not a whole lot of wiggle room, so if I coated the sides with some J-B Weld, placed the insert in there and let it set for 48 hours to cure, do you think it will stay in place when I put a new set of strings on it? I'm pretty sure J-B Weld is pretty damn strong, but I'm just wondering if it can hold up to the pull of the string tension.

Any advice would be appreciated! I'm gonna delve in with the J-B weld in about 48 hours unless someone tells me otherwise! This is my last hope...

 

[idunno]

I say wait for the part. once you get that goo in there its going to be a pain to get it out and replace with the quality part when they arrive. Is this your only guitar?

 

[What is Sleep]

I say wait for the part. once you get that goo in there its going to be a pain to get it out and replace with the quality part when they arrive. Is this your only guitar?

No, but it is my only ERG, and I have an album I'm recording that is sitting on the back burner until this is completely fixed.

 

[Explorer]

No, but it is my only ERG, and I have an album I'm recording that is sitting on the back burner until this is completely fixed.

Since you're on the fence about this, I vote you accept that you may completely fuck up the chance to do a quality repair, and forever live with the consequences of being impatient, including ruining the instrument's resale value.

 

[What is Sleep]

Since you're on the fence about this, I vote you accept that you may completely fuck up the chance to do a quality repair, and forever live with the consequences of being impatient, including ruining the instrument's resale value.

In all reality, if it doesn't work, it won't be hard to reverse it. All I would need to do is use a drill press with a bit the same size of the hole and bore out any of the J-B weld that is left. Resale value doesn't mean much to me either, as I've never sold any instrument I've ever owned. And, even if by chance I do mess up the wood, it was a custom inlay that is screwed in. I could unscrew it and cut a new rosewood piece to fit and place it in.

Yes, I'm a bit impatient, but life is short...

 

[Cheesebuiscut]

Dont think it would hurt if you put something under the bridge to prop it up so it doesn't lean forward under the tension.

It'd be no different then people shoving random things under a typical floyd style bridge to block it.

 

[sage]

I would stay away from using the JB Weld also. It's not a substitute for wood in this instance. Your real best bet would be to drill out the hole, glue in a hardwood dowel, drill a hole the entire depth of the adjustment screw, drill a wider hole for the machine nut/tang that fell out, and reinstall the nut.

Sounds easy, probably a job for a luthier.

EDIT: Crap, just noticed the part where you said the threads fell off...

 

[What is Sleep]

I would stay away from using the JB Weld also. It's not a substitute for wood in this instance. Your real best bet would be to drill out the hole, glue in a hardwood dowel, drill a hole the entire depth of the adjustment screw, drill a wider hole for the machine nut/tang that fell out, and reinstall the nut.

Sounds easy, probably a job for a luthier.

EDIT: Crap, just noticed the part where you said the threads fell off...

Well, a few of the threads fell off. I was messing around with it a bit tonight, and some of the threads are still gripping, allowing me to screw it back into the wood. I got to work a few hours ago (yay for graveyard shift, ugh) and one of the milwrights brought me some clear epoxy that he said should hold it in place forever. I've got a new set of strings on order, so I've got a good 6 days before they get here, plenty of time to get this thing ready.

 

[idunno]

epoxy is a billion times better than jb weld. If you feel you need to do it, its your guitar, go for it. If it doesn't work drill it out and try again!

 

[Hyper-Rob]

I hate to be a negative nancy about anything, but I just have to chime in. I've worked on a lot of guitars. I repaired for 3 guitar centers for a while, and now I'm a touring tech. My Friend got one of these recently, and I've rarely ever worked on a guitar that I thought was a bigger hunk of junk. In the first 10 minutes of setting it up, the bridge anchor ripped out, a saddle bolt stripped, a second one almost went, and I realized that the way the thing was made meant that it would never play properly. He's returning it.

The hardware is made of the softest, most unsuitable metal I've ever seen on a guitar. Couple that with the worst bridge concept I've ever come across, and you've got yourself a terrible instrument that I'd have trouble spending any money on at all. Never mind a whopping $800. Oh, and let's not forget all the mods that EVERYONE seems to want to do to these things- like changing out the pickups- which are just terrible. And losing the ridiculous mid scoop switch for something useful- like a standard tone pot.

And not to harp on the bridge thing too much, but really- all the hassles of a floating bridge, and NONE of the benefits? It's hard to intonate, setting the action is a pain in the butt, it actually goes out of tune if it's not set properly, the pieces fail- I mean really, Ibanez? Why the hell wouldn't you put a RIGID, BOLTED DOWN, FIXED bridge on a guitar that has way higher than average amounts of tension, on a very wide neck. The bridge is overly complicated, and with absolutely no justification for being so. Floater, or fixed... PICK ONE.

I don't care what your price point or demographic is- for $800 what you buy should be QUALITY. $800 is a LOT of money to most people. There's no excuse for this IMHO.

Granted, I've only played/ serviced one of these things, and some people seem to really like theirs. So no offense to those people. However, with all the complaints about it I've seen up here, the fact that everyone wants to upgrade it as soon as they get it, and my own experience, I would have to suggest staying away from this thing completely.

 

[sage]

^^^ fuckin' A rights... now, who wants to buy my RGA8 with no mods that the bridge screw hasn't ripped out on yet?

hahahahaha...

 

[Nonservium]

This kind of shit is why I returned my RGA8. 48 hours in and the anchor screw pulled out of the wood with no turning what so ever. I hadn't adjusted anything. I noticed an oddball ringing chime and I couldn't figure out where it was. Broke down and took it to GC, their tech found it, the damned anchor had come completely out of the wood. I got a refund and use the cash to buy a Taylor. Needless to say none of the other 8 string options available from GC or MF are worth what they want for them and since I can't pay off an Agile, I'll just do without.

 

[What is Sleep]

So far, so good. The Epoxy seems to be holding it in place! I slathered the top of it with Epoxy as well, so it has a thick layer of stuff holding it in place. I let the epoxy dry for 48 hours before I even thought about putting strings on it.

 

[b7string]

So far, so good. The Epoxy seems to be holding it in place! I slathered the top of it with Epoxy as well, so it has a thick layer of stuff holding it in place. I let the epoxy dry for 48 hours before I even thought about putting strings on it.

Glad to hear you have fixed it for now, now go record your album!

 

[vampiregenocide]

This is why I saved up for a used 2228 instead. If I got an RGA8 I would've ended up spending the same amount to get it into a decent, good sounding condition.