Question about my 1989 H&S 540r

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Author Message Jeetarist Username: Jeetarist Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Friday, May 20, 2005 - 1:23 pm:    Hi Jim. I'm wondering if you can help with some details on this guitar. I just picked up an Ibanez 1989 540r with EMGS (HSS). It is an H&S guitar out of the HOSHINO USA factory. I paid $250 and it's in great shape. Anyways the only complaint I have is that it looks like the nut and maybe the trem are a little too narrow for the neck. There is a generous amount of space in between the high E string and the edge of the neck. There is a proper amount of space in between the low E string and the edge of the neck. Is this the way they were designed? Also, It looks like the nut might be a little too flat for the radius of the neck as well since I get some buzz on the middle strings when playing them open. I will shim the nut to see if that improves it. I'm considering a wider nut. What I'm wondering is... Did the H&S guys just throw parts together to make these guitars or are they any good? At the very least I think it is a collector's item. Are H&S radius guitars rare? Are the EMGs original? Here are the specs: Ibanez H&S 540r black body with HOSHINO Bensalem neck plate. Blank serial number on the plate. Ibanez Ultra neck with Jumbo frets and dot inlays, Gotoh tuners. Serial 91xxxxxx Emg HSS pickups, battery is loose in the control cavity. Had foam wrapped around it that was disintegrated from age. The battery was oxidized (original? Edge tremolo with recessed rout, no backstop. This guitar has a very firm feel when bending. Takes more muscle to bend than my RGs. The trem stays in tune perfectly. Thanks Jeetarist Username: Jeetarist Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - 11:30 am:    more questions regarding this guitar.... In the 1989 catalog one picture of a 540r has the conical knobs, but another has the "RG style" (for lack of a better word) knobs. Mine does not have the conical knobs. When did the backstop system start going into this guitar? Mine does not have it. My lock nut is about 1mm narrower than the neck. Did Ibanez not have nuts to fit the 42mm neck? My middle two strings buzz open. Does the nut not match the fretboard radius? The nut is very low which I like except for the two strings buzzing. I have some extra nut shims that I might try. The 5 way switch is missing the knob. It is much wider than my other Ibanez switches so none of the knobs I have fit. Maybe it is not original. It almost seems impossible to get a tapered knob on this switch. If I replace the switch do I need a special low profile switch to fit in the narrow body? Thanks alot, hopefully you will have some time to answer my question. Jim_donahue Username: Jim_donahue Registered: 04-2004 Posted on Monday, June 06, 2005 - 10:39 pm:    1) Ibanez never installed the EMG pickups at H&S only for Basses, So these are installed after the fact. 2) H&S had two nut widths, 42mm and 43mm, But you could order the 540R custom with either a 42 or 43mm neck width. 3) The standard for Ibanez nut width and string spacing is as follows, Nut width - 3.5 X 2 / 5 so 43-(3.5)X(2)=(36/5)= 7.2mm string space with 3.5mm from edge. 4) If the nut is buzzing maybe someone replaced it with another after market, If the hardware is CK than I doubt it. The smallest nut width Ibanez had was 42mm? Did you try to loosen the back two mounting screws and move the nut to a more comfortable position side to side then tighten it back up. 5) Back stops started from what I remeber on the first 540R,540P and 540S models that came in from Japan, This would have been late 1986 or 1987, They came in but the factory did not adjust them they just sat there. By 1989 they stopped installing them. Still to this day many model still have the rout for the back stop. 6) The feel on the tremolo is mainly caused by the longer block, An RG has a short tremolo block 31mm in length. This and the neck angle change the feel of the tremolo when bending strings. You can try to change the neck angle but the feel of the trem is in the design. 7)The Conical knobs are these like the Maxxas ones. I don't understand this question? The standard for the H&S models was standard knobs the only ones that used the Maxxas knobs in the US other than that was Rubber ones for bass and the Frank Gambali model. Some of the 540PII models showed this knob in catalogs. The 5 way that came stock on these where YM50's. The new switch cap Ibanez has has two slots in it and fits both size Ibanez switches. You just turn it 90 degrees. The 540R can fit most switches they make nowadays. The S was always the big problem. Jim

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