Bridge & Tailpiece issues on 1983 Ibanez AM-50

[GregMath]

I have two problems going on with my Ibanez 1983 AM-50 semi-hollowbody. I was going to ask on an Ibanez forum so that I don't bother everyone here too regularly, but it looks like the Ibanez forum I was thinking of was shut down a few years ago. So, once again, I'd appreciate some sagely advice.



The two problems can be seen in the pictures below. First, the studs for the tailpiece are leaning toward the neck. Second, the bridge saddles no longer have the correct radius. Over time, they've flattened out, so I'll probably need a replacement bridge.


I would like to try to fix these on my own. Here are my questions:


1) How should I fix the leaning tailpiece studs/bushings? Outside of plugging the holes with dowels and redrilling, I've read that some use Titebond to slightly reduce the size of the hole and reinsert the bushings/studs.


2) Also, are there any knowledgeable Ibanez folks that know if it is possible to purchase a copy of the exact bridge that comes on this guitar? I believe it's called a Gibraltar II bridge. See this link:


Gibraltar II | Ibanez Wiki | Fandom



If it's not possible to get the same bridge, does anyone know a suitable substitute?


3) Lastly, could these issues have been prevented? Did I do something foolish to cause this? The guitar currently has Thomastik Swing 11's on it, but I would hope this guitar would be able to handle that string tension.


Thanks in advance for your help!


(Sorry! I can't get these pictures to orient correctly.)

[Franz 1997]

It's unlikely those problems have been caused by TI 11s, which are not a particularly heavy string.

The stud bending is annoying, and could be fixed by re-drilling if the studs themselves aren't bent, but it's not strictly necessary, it just looks off.
The bridge seems to have lost its radius as you say. If the loss of radius isn't too bad, you could try to bend it carefully back to currect radius with dowels in a well padded vice, or alternatively, cut the outer saddles a little deeper to compensate, with nut slot files.

Obviously it would be better to replace the parts, but i don't know where or if these are available.

This is a common problem with Gibson ABR1 bridges which are made of a zinc alloy ( pot metal), but surprising to see with such massive castings as this bridge.

[jim777]

This is the place you're looking for: Login

[Crm114]

Yes Jim is right do you want to head over to the Ibanez collectors world forum and look for a fellow named porkpie

Also I think you could find the Gibraltar bridge parts on eBay or reverb with a little looking

AM50s are fabulous guitars

A quick look under Ibanez bridge and I found what is called a quick change it’s the set the bridge and the tail piece at 45 bucks

[GregMath]

Franz, thanks for your suggestions! I actually did cut the saddles in the outer strings further to compensate and raised the bridge a bit (as I started to get a little buzzing on the D and G strings). This helped. I can live with the look of the slanted studs, but I was afraid that the problem could worsen. For example, it looks like the bushing on the bass side has started to work it’s way somewhat out of the hole: comparing it to the bushing on the treble side.

I was wondering if this was somehow my fault because my tailpiece posts are also starting to slant slightly on my only other semi-hollowbody too (an early 2000’s Heritage H555).

[GregMath]

Thanks, jim777 and Crm114. I’ll check out that Ibanez forum and try to contact the member porkpie.

I also did a quick EBay search before my original posting, but I didn’t include quick change in the search. I think I was including Gibraltar II and wasn’t finding what I was looking for. Is this the set you found, Crm114?

Gold Ibanez QUICKCHANGE III Tailpiece with Roller Bridge Fit AGS/Artcore/AM/AGS | eBay

I wonder how this Quickchange III bridge and tailpiece compares to the Gibraltar II. They look very similar. I wonder if the bushings are the same dimensions.