Why does the Kahler kill it?

[excon]

I think metal guitarists like kahlers because they provide a solid and stable bridge surface for palm muting. This makes them especially suitable for thrash picking because they can't be pushed out of tune when playing aggressively. I assume this is why Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman use them. In my opinion, they are like a Tunomatic bridge but with a trem.

Don't all trem bridges change the tone of the guitar? A lot of people probably don't notice enough of a difference for it to matter. Maybe the advantages outweigh it.

[Sunbane]

I think the numbers of metal guitarists who don't favor Kahlers vastly outnumber those who do...

[Newc]

There's no REAL way to prove how much a guitar's amplified tone changes between bridge types because you've got the wood itself as well as the pickups to consider. Not all magnets are the same, and though the coils may be wound by a machine that winds every one at the same wire tension and number of wraps, no two will be exactly identical.

Floyds have less moving parts than Kahlers, but the primary contact points are two razor-thin knife edges, which results in more highs and less lows than a tunomatic or Fender-style 6-bolt or even 2-point v-trem. This affects amplified tone more than the hole in the body, because the strings get the majority of their oscillation signature from being pinched between two pieces of metal (saddle and nut) which have no dampening properties like wood or softer metal.

The v-trem typically sits on top of the body, but has such a small baseplate that the vibrations aren't dampened as much as with a Kahler.

Tuneomatics have almost as much metal-on-metal as a Floyd - string across saddle in bridge slot on posts in inserts. Mount the posts without inserts into the wood and you change the tone.

[delt]

Interesting. Thanks for all the technical insight, newc!!

[PowerTube]

I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet, but you also have to consider the Kahler locking nut. As seen in the pics of the Custom Shop above, you still had a traditional nut in front of the locking one. That means that a string could go sharp on bends by hanging in the groove. This problem is eliminated on a Floyd where the locking nut is in the zero fret position.

Sadly, the Charvel/Jackson JT6 trem used the Kahler-style nut.

[joshulator]

Now I feel lame that I just don't like it 'cause of the way it looks.
Although I always thought the Spider trem looked cool...

[deLuther]

My Charvel Model 6 has Floyd-style nut (made by Kahler) with JT6 so I can easely replace it with standard floyd nut. Kahler`s one slightly unconvenient for my taste. But, as I understand, such cases are unfrequent.
I had one guitar with kahler tremolo and think that it is very good for palm muting. For tremolo effect floyd is better. IMHO.
I dislike recessed tremolos so instead of getting alder soloist I got Caparison TAT.

[Sunbane]

I dislike recessed tremolos so instead of getting alder soloist I got Caparison TAT.

+1, and I've considered going the same route myself. I wish Caparison's Rhoads knockoff wasn't so damn hideous, else I would have made up my mind long ago.

[excon]

I think the numbers of metal guitarists who don't favor Kahlers vastly outnumber those who do...

Kahlers were fairly popular amongst metal guitarists when they were available in the '80s. When they went out of business Floyd became the main trem choice for the metal guitarist, so presently Floyd trems are what people know and are used to. If manufacturers would make them stock equipment on affordable guitars we might see a resurgence of Kahler popularity. However, since they came back I only see them on expensive guitars that most people can barely afford.

[roodyrocker]

I have heard the "technical" reasons as to why some don't like the Kahler however, having more than a couple Kahler equipped guitars as well as Floyds IMHO its all BS! My Kahler guitars don't loose anything to a Floyd in the tone dept. My first Kahler got installed on my Strat Elite which has no body routing because its original Fender trem was then new at the time and just sat flush on the body. The Kahler was a great choice for it and this was my main guitar back in the 80's till I was able to afford my Charvel Model 6. Both are still with me today BTW I also have never experienced any string binding issues with the Kahler nut and I never had to solder the srting ends although this is a trick that is several years old and well known to Kahler players. I used to use GHS Boomer strings that had factory wrapped ends for Kahlers and loved those things!
The color on my Rhoads is Mystic btw. It shows up as green in these photos but from other angles you get purple. It was built way before Petrucci had his MusicMan signature guitar in Mystic Dream but essentially the same color. The inlays are coiled Cobras. Both the color and inlays come from the limited edition 96 Mustang Cobra in Mystic I sent the touch up bottles to Tim Wilson at the Jackson custom shop when I ordered my guitar and they painted it with that. It was the only way to get that paint as BASF would not sell it to anyone except for repair of the original 96 Mystic Cobra Mustangs. They would then take back any leftover paint. It kicks ass as a color

Rudy

https://www.wickedrocks.com