Red Bishop Magik Arm

The Magik Arm addresses one of the most common issues that many players have with their favorite tremolo system. The wobbly arm. The Magik arm design is courtesy of someone that had been in-house at Ibanez and knows the benefits of an opportunity to elevate the game on tremolo arm design.

Many players like to remove the arm when transporting the guitar in a case or gig bag. Nothing wrong with that. It’s your guitar to do with as you want. Don’t ask, don’t tell. LOL! The thing with that convenience is that there can be a give and a take. Typically speaking, you get the easy removal but it takes a bit of stability.

Mechanical Resonance

When the arm isn’t stable, there can be a little wobble. That can come from a few sources. One is that it can be from the collar. Another is the bane of my existence when it comes to my old 1990 Ibanez, which is that it’s never been snug down in there where it seats.

A loose arm can mean a bad connection. The slop between the arm and the socket can bleed off the energy of the vibration and lose sustain. If you’re just in to dive bombs, that might not even matter. But the more meticulous tremolo styles of Jeff Beck and Brad Gillis and Steve Vai requires that precise fit.

Finding The Edge

Many players swear by the Ibanez Edge. It had not been my thing all that much, but that’s just me. Why? The arm is always swinging loose. Nylon washer? Yep, I went that route too. And it was not long before it’s all back in the same old situation. The floppy arm is a significant reason that the Ibanez 7-string Universe doesn’t always get as much attention.

Thankfully, the Magik Arm solves all that. How? Glad you asked! LOL! Let’s take a look!

Installation

Start with removing the old tremolo and the related mounting assembly. Red Bishop even includes some tools do help do that. The steps for installation for all the arms are basically similar. It’s pretty much the same thing, just designed to fit the respective tremolo system

The only thing to really pay attention to has to do with the alignment and installation of the snap-in spring. And the included instructions go through all that. If have the inclination to change your own spring, you’ll be fine with the spring install.

Up And Running

The most dramatic improvement for me had to be with the regular Edge tremolo system, so that’s what I’m going to reference for the most part. All the parts you will deal with are going to be familiar. The arm drops down and pops into the snap-in connection. Some of the characteristics of some of the “push-in” style arms that are on the market.

Once in place, you can adjust the collar. Leave it untightened for the most unrestricted movement from the arm to swing around. Or screw it down to your happy place for a more solid connection and firm control of the arm. The trade-off between the amount of play when loose is greatly diminished when in comparison to most stock arm assemblies.

For me, the uncertainty of the traditional Edge arm is a thing of the past. No more wondering and concern about if the little nylon bushings will keep the arm in place this time. This is an incredible and most welcome situation to finally be able to trust that the tremolo arm will be right there where I left it.

Demo

To clarify what you are seeing here, this is a bit of a comparison. In the beginning, the intention is to display a stock trem arm that has play in it. You can hear the rattle from the extreme release of the arm. And then the tighter fit of the Magik Arm, keeping a firmer connection to the collar and baseplate.

Conclusion

The double-locking tremolo market is one of the most tribal that is possible within the guitar gear realm. In many ways, it can be a bit of a closed-loop approach in some ways that might unfortunately keep players from trying good stuff. Don’t hesitate to pick up a Magik Arm for your favorite tremolo system if you might be having some of the hassles mentioned here. It’s easy to install, easy to operate, and easy to pack away for load-out.

The Red Bishop Magik Arm is available for Floyd Rose, and Ibanez Edge, Lo-Pro Edge, Edge-Zero II, and for Gotoh 1996T, 510T. Available colors include gold, black, cosmo black, and chrome. Spare replacement arms for the Magik Arm system are also available. You can buy directly from the Red Bishop website as well as through places such as Amazon.

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