Kahler Users?

[junk notes]

Gibson Lyre Maestro Vibrola Tailpiece?

 

[NoelH]

I have two guitars with Kahlers. One as you see in my pic is an '83 Destroyer II I turned into a 'Phil Collen'. The other is a 1980 Dean E'Lite.
Kahlers undeservedly get a bad rap. The main thing I use the Kahler for is faux slide guitar licks. The is no better whammy for that purpose. I have a Floyd routed into my '76 Destroyer. The Floyd is much harder to do that with.
Probably why Frank Marino played SG's with Gibson vibrola's on them. And no they do not negatively affect tone. I do have teflon/glass rollers though.

 

[belleswell]

del

 

[Exotic]

floyd rose frx is the new kahler?
noel h ,can u please post a photo of ur 1976 destroyer?

 

[Relic61]

I do feel that it would only be fair to say that despite my previous obvious show of affection & appreciation for Kahler trems, truth be told the Kahler trem on my white '86 Flying V

(yes it's white. back in 86 we could smoke in bars and everywhere else for that matter even literally including hospitals! so in this case white looks a bit bananas, lol)

(here's that Kahler close up next to that vintage bridge position Dirty Fingers pickup)


anyway, like I was saying, I still have to say that in my case this 2300 series Kahler (I think it's actually a 2330 Black Flyer flat mount model) does not work as well or feel as smooth or refined as the big chrome stud-mounted 2200 series Kahler on my '78 Les Paul.



Forgive me father for I have sinned through flagrant omission!

There, I feel.. purged

 

[Exotic]

does the kahler stay in tune ? even if u dive bomb alot?

 

[SkyMonkey]

Mine doesn't like dive bombs at the moment.
I think I am going to get a locking nut installed to replace the nut + string lock setup. (see post #11)
I did get a new nut cut from Black TUSQ shortly before lockdown, but it isn't a very good example of the craft!
Still, I haven't the heart to demand he do it again.
Guitar shops and luthiers are suffering badly enough with loss of business as it is.

 

[Rudy v]

Here is a 2011 flying v floyd and a 1985 flying v kahler

 

[Rudy v]

Here is a ad from gibson

 

[DaDoc]

Does anyone use Kahler tremolo units any more?
They are still up and running, but have been comprehensively pummeled by Floyd Rose.

The first locking tremolo guitar I had was an '86 Charvel Model 4 with a Kahler fitted.
Despite the "behind the nut" lock, it worked fine and was very comfortable on the palm of my strumming hand.
Palm muting hardly sends them out of tune either.
I liked it so much I installed one in the copy I made of the Model 4 (below).

I know they are now virtually extinct on current production guitars, but are there any other MF'ers that use them?

View attachment 72473

Hanneman and King both used them throughout their Slayer careers, but they are the only devotees I can thnik of.
You just know it's a Kahler when you hear the trem arm dive and hit the guitar body, like the end of Seasons in the Abyss:

I had one put in my '75 Strat back in the 80's..I tried to like it, but neither it or the Floyd Rose ever really suited me..They seemed to dull up the tone, for lack of a better description. I wound up taking it out, gluing a Block in the ugly hole it left, and re-installing a stock trem..MUCH better! Now the only sign of the horrible mutilation I did to that poor guitar is four little holes in the headstock, and a sticker over the repaired hole in the body.

I had a similar experience with my '74 Strat and a Floyd Rose..But I did have the good sense at the time to use a Kahler nut instead of drilling two big holes through the neck! But it also seemed to affect the tone in a bad way. I restored that one to stock specs as well..My experience has been a stock Fender tremolo will stay in tune just as well as a locking one if it's set up right. And in hindsight, I spent at least as much time tuning those locking trems back then as I do the stock ones now! Go figure..

I still have both trems, and have been thinking about selling the silly things..A lot of folks love them, but they're just not my cup of sunshine.

 

[DaDoc]

I would install my 80's relic Kahler, but I need a couple of replacement pieces.

Any idea of where to get a bar and locking nut assembly?

I have an extra Kahler locking nut (from the 80's), if I can find it I'll let ya know.

 

[steveb63]

I have an extra Kahler locking nut (from the 80's), if I can find it I'll let ya know.

Thanks
Anything you looking for?

 

[Exotic]

i have 3 solid state marshalls, lead 12 ,vs100 head ,vs30 combo .all need pots cleaned been in the garage .
black kahler flat mount , emg passive ,2 seymour duncans , a zakk wilde overdrive ,and one more over drive digitech metal master , 2 celestion g12t-75's ,2 marshall vintage speakers . for sale ,los angeles area .

 

[Exotic]

one of the guys is going to get the pickguard ,and he is a genius ,supposedly he will tell them not to drill the holes for the screws ,cuz this way he can use the original to make them perfect to avoid the dreaded second set of holes in the body for a pickguard that didn't come out exact!
here's the photos
ok so what's left? electronics are done btw .
sending it to the other guy ,mr secret, undisclosed location for security purposes hahah .
he hopefully will be able to level the frets a bit to avoid a costly refret ,don't want any unneeded buzzing ,gotta get this right .
so what's the deal? and what's gonna get done?
the deal is the frx won't go low enough for the required action ,which really sucks .
so what's gonna happen? we're gonna get a duplicate pickguard (to preserve the original)and cut holes in it to allow the frx to drop way low to get the action low enough to play like it should .
where to store the original pick guard? in the case? gotta keep it with the guitar but i don't think there will be enough room .
guitar 2750 usd
paypal conversion 150
swap pickups 125
electronics and pickguard deposit 100 (30/70)
upcoming cost of frets getting leveled 100
frx 328
total so far $3,553.00


additional unforseen costs possibly
drilling of the holes in headstock and pickguard setup 100
possible upcoming taxes and fees from dhl? 500 ?

could come out to around 3,653 or 4,153

final step would be the headstock ,those holes will only be drilled if the pickguard,frx and guitar all jive to get desired action ,this could take anywhere from 3-5 weeks approx .

pickguard will be white/black/white sandwich with edges at 45 degree angles?
btw the open book pickguard is white/black/white/black ,go figure.

 

[More is more!]

I'm an outlyer, I love kahlers and have some still, I don't like floyds.

The kahler (origional) was a development of the bigsby, while the floyd was a development of the fender strat trem.

I love that you can pull up as far as down. They take some tweaking, maybe that's why some don't like them...

Agree totally

 

[Exotic]

omg this thread is like a billion years old ,what is a kahler and what is a floyd rose?
btw i am unaware of the dive bomb co-efficient

 

[mark123]

It’s just like the VHS vs BetaMax. Beta was better but VHS won by a mix of good business moves and luck. Kahler is the better vibrato but Floyd made better business decisions and Kahler flaked out for a bunch of years.

I prefer a fixed bridge but if I have to have a vibrato, I prefer Kahler over Floyd Rose. I installed a Kahler Pro on two guitars.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

Kahler is the better vibrato

 

[mark123]

K.

 

[jmp45]

Oops, already posted the HM Strat on pg 1...