Ibanez ZR
Encyclopedia
Tremolo arm
A whammy bar, tremolo arm/bar, or vibrato arm/bar is a component of a guitar, used to add vibrato to the sound by changing the tension of the strings, typically at the bridge or tailpiece...
is a double locking tremolo system that was derived from Ibanez Edge
Ibanez Edge
The Ibanez Edge Tremolo is a double locking tremolo system for the electric guitar very similar in design to the original Floyd Rose. It first appeared in the Ibanez product line as of the 1986 model year, however, they have appeared on guitars with 1985 serial numbers...
and Floyd Rose
Floyd Rose
The Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo, or simply Floyd Rose, is a type of locking vibrato arm for a guitar. The first of its kind, Floyd D. Rose invented the locking vibrato in 1977, and it is now manufactured by a company of the same name...
, but it functions closer to that of a Kahler Tremolo System
Kahler Tremolo System
The Kahler Tremolo System is an electric guitar bridge with a cam operated vibrato arm system. It was invented in 1979 by Gary Kahler and Dave Storey...
. The ZR tremolo offers a number of improvements from the Original Floyd Rose; it contains a heavy sustain block, a pop-in arm and most importantly, a ball bearing-based pivot point and a removable stop-bar. This is also known as the Zero Point System.
In a traditional Floyd Rose (and vintage tremolo), the pivot is a knife edge against the pivot post; when sharpened, the pivot provides zero rotational friction. However, like any knife edge it can become dulled over time and the result is the tremolo cannot return to the zero position. In the ZR tremolo, the pivot is a ball-bearing based joint, which provides greater stability over time.
The Zero Point System acts like the Hipshot Tremsetter, in that it provides additional spring tension that is needed to return the string to the zero position. Normally both the spring tension and opposing string tension is equal, when a tremolo bar is used for a very long duration (such as excessive dive bombs), the spring tension may be compressed to the point that no tension is provided for the string. Thus, the ZPS, which equips with two additional springs, provide the needed tension and the fact that it is a stop-bar allows extreme tuning stability at the cost of having very limited scope for up-bends. Another important renovation of the ZR tremolo is that, unlike other locking tremolos, even with a string break, the other strings can still stay in tune to an acceptable level.
First installed on Ibanez S
Ibanez S
The Ibanez S Series is a guitar series produced by Hoshino Gakki. Introduced in the late 1980s, the S Series is notable for being a streamlined mahogany bodied guitar with a maple neck that plays comfortably while retaining the resonance of mahogany...
and replacing the Floyd Rose licensed Edge Lo-TRS, its ZPS system is also being used on the Ibanez Edge Zero
Ibanez Edge
The Ibanez Edge Tremolo is a double locking tremolo system for the electric guitar very similar in design to the original Floyd Rose. It first appeared in the Ibanez product line as of the 1986 model year, however, they have appeared on guitars with 1985 serial numbers...
.
An example of the tuning stability and rigidness of the ZR tremolo can be seen in the video for British band DragonForce
DragonForce
DragonForce are an English power metal band from London. Formed in 1999, the group is known for its long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-based lyrics, and electronic sounds in their music to add to their retro video game-influenced sound. Guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman are the only two...
's song "Through the Fire and Flames
Through the Fire and Flames
"Through the Fire and Flames" is a song by English power metal band DragonForce. The song is acclaimed as the most successful song by the band. The song is a single as well as the opening track from DragonForce's third album, Inhuman Rampage, and features rapid twin guitar solos by Herman Li and...
", in which Herman Li
Herman Li
Herman Li is a British Chinese musician, best known as a guitarist for the power metal band DragonForce.-Playing style:Li draws influences from rock, all sub-genres of metal as well as video game music and often mimics sounds from popular retro games from the late 80s, early-90s arcade, and PC games...
held onto his S Series guitar with only the tremolo arm, forcing a sharp upbend as the entire guitar's weight was handled by the tremolo system alone. During the recording of the song, guitarist Herman Li snapped one of his guitar strings, explained at time: 2:58 of this BLENDER.COM interview, but can still continue to play through his entire parts without going out of tune.
In 2008 models, Ibanez introduced derivatives of ZR Tremolo:
- ZR-II, the successor to ZR tremolo; This system is the same as the original ZR tremolo, with the only differences being the use of a different alloy in the spring assembly, and a new design of arm holder. These changes were made to address the problems that the original ZR removed too much wood for its back route, and that the arm holders on original ZR tremolo systems are prone to breaking. first introduced on S Prestige series 2008
- sychroniZR, a single locking tremolo with ZPS-FX springs (only react when tremolo is pulled), first introduced on the SV Prestige series
- Edge ZeroIbanez EdgeThe Ibanez Edge Tremolo is a double locking tremolo system for the electric guitar very similar in design to the original Floyd Rose. It first appeared in the Ibanez product line as of the 1986 model year, however, they have appeared on guitars with 1985 serial numbers...
, a knife-edge based tremolo tremolo with ZPS3 springs, first introduced on the RG Prestige 2008 line and Ibanez E-GenIbanez E-Gen- Origins :The Ibanez E-Gen was introduced in 2008 as Herman Li’s signature model. It is derived from the Ibanez S prestige models. - Features :...