Ibanez Edge Tremolo vs. Floyd Rose/FR Licensed

[ehdwuld]

didnt Ibanez have a version of the zero with bearings instead of knife edges?
if I remember that failed really bad

[Masta' C]

didnt Ibanez have a version of the zero with bearings instead of knife edges?
if I remember that failed really bad

You're thinking of the "ZR" (aka: zero resistance) Edge trem. It wasn't a failure, but the early ones with screw-in arms were prone to the arm/mount breaking. This was fixed with a move to the regular Edge Zero's pop-in arm assembly in the late-00s. They were discontinued in the mid-10s over a patent dispute as I recall, not because they were bad in any way. In fact, the ones I had were excellent, just a little different feeling than the regular Edge Zero, which I still own to this day.

[muttznmongrelz]

The Floyd Rose Original is made of better material...especially the older early 80s/early 90s ones up through the ones that had the word "Original" under the "Floyd Rose" Logo on the Low E side of the trem. You can find one in good shape on eBay or Reverb or various forums if you're patient and at a reasonable price. They provide a much better feel and control and I prefer the Old School Threaded Screw In Arms for feel and staying in place over the crappy Collared Arms that come loose and feel sloppy and loose. I also like the "1984" Model that came into production a few years ago as they are repros of the early 80s model that I mentioned initially above.

Edge Original has a propensity to actually "rip/tear" on the side of the trem base itself due to the material from which it is manufactured and it has that awful push in arm. Just my opinions...worth about two cents...take 'em or leave 'em. LOL

[Top-L]

Original Edge or LoPro Edge are SUPERIOR to OFR and Schaller. They are Gotoh MIJ afaik. Extremely well made and an improvement on the design.

Most modern Edge#s are licensed contract built stuff from other countries and can be considered the Ibanez answer to Floyd Special and Floyd Licensed

I have extensive experience with all of them.

From a players perspective, the Edge/Lo Pro bar is a bit longer and has a smoother action, easier to get a mild trem, but its also easy to completely drop all the strings. On the converse of this, the shorter OFR bar is easier to grab and is in a better position for my hand.

The Edge/Lo Pro push in bar design is horrible. After a couple weeks the bar always goes loose and you need to replace the shims or remove and shim the insides so they push out further. The screw in collar design of the FR means you can choose what tension you want. Tight, wont move at all, or will hang loose.

The Edge/Lo Pro posts have a locking insert, but also the threads are much larger so the posts have much more play when unlocked. IOW, they need the locks. The FR posts have really tight threads and dont need to lock.

All of the Edge/Lo Pro trems can easily clear the body and be removed when the springs are removed. On FR, usually also have to loosen the strings to get the FR to clear the body. This might be an issue of how they do the route.

FR parts are interchangeable, more affordable and easier to get.

I like the flat base plate of a FR trem in a recessed route. Its really sharp looking when the base plate is parallel with the body. Ibanez trem base is angled and never looks quite as well integrated.


In summary, I would say the action of the Ibanez Edge trems are slightly better, but availability and price of parts makes FR and variants better. They can all stay in perfect tune. Some of the supposed advantages of the Edge is completely offset by the ****ty push in bar design.

Ibanez usually only puts these trems on Japanese guitars, which means they are harder to get. You want to avoid their lower priced trems. Floyds are available in guitars that cost much less. The FR special can be swapped with an OFR if you want to upgrade. Ibanez trems are not interchangeable.

I prefer FR for these reasons.

[Adieu]

Disagree, the Ibanez push-in trem bar is my favorite feature of the LoPro Edge

it is far superior to the collared Floyd junk

[Obsessive Compulsive]

The Edge/Lo Pro push in bar design is horrible. After a couple weeks the bar always goes loose and you need to replace the shims or remove and shim the insides so they push out further. The screw in collar design of the FR means you can choose what tension you want. Tight, wont move at all, or will hang loose.

The Edge/Lo Pro posts have a locking insert, but also the threads are much larger so the posts have much more play when unlocked. IOW, they need the locks. The FR posts have really tight threads and dont need to lock.


Ibanez usually only puts these trems on Japanese guitars, which means they are harder to get. You want to avoid their lower priced trems. Floyds are available in guitars that cost much less. The FR special can be swapped with an OFR if you want to upgrade. Ibanez trems are not interchangeable.

I prefer FR for these reasons.

You sure you don't get it mixed up? The collar design of the FR makes it impossible to for the bar to stay put where you want it to. After a few jerks it gets loose dangling like a flaccid dick.

The bar of the Edge stays wherever you want it to stay. As long as you don't remove the bar too often, the little white plastic thing will remain intact.

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Disagree, the Ibanez push-in trem bar is my favorite feature of the LoPro Edge

it is far superior to the collared Floyd junk

If it's able to sustain Steve Vai's acrobatics, then the Edge must be the shyte. Starts at 3:29

[devastone]

Like I said, I like both, and haven't had any major issues with either. The Edge if a fine system, and FWIW, I much prefer the push in arm to the collar thing, but again, I can live with either. FWIW, I like my arm to fall out of the way when I'm done. As far as the bushings, they only need replacement rarely, and they are cheap and easy to get.

[Top-L]

Disagree, the Ibanez push-in trem bar is my favorite feature of the LoPro Edge

it is far superior to the collared Floyd junk

If you are a player like me, who expects the bar to stay where they put it, the Ibanez edge will always be a disappointment. When the bushings are fresh, the bar stays put. Play it for a week or two then it will start to droop. After a couple months, it will be loose in the pocket and need new bushings.

If you like the bar to hang loose, the Edge push-in is a good fit, The problem I have with it is that there is effectively NO adjustment.

Conversely, I can take any of my FR guitars, back off the collar a little bit, and the bar will hang down. If the bar loosens a little bit, it is usually addressed by tightening the collar.

The Ibanez design is non-adjustable. The only solution is to have a selection of extra bars with fresh bushings. (Swapping bushings is a PITA and if they go in the middle of a session you are SOL.)

If you like it hanging, then the Edge is not as much of an issue.