'86 Model 5 Restoration questions

[BlondMusician]

Hey everyone!

Been a lurker here some time and registered lately.

One side of a string catch(where the ball end goes) on the Kahler snapped recently. Does anyone have any links of places I could order this part?

I found a way to improvise a fix, but it would probably horrify people here hahaha... no modification of the bridge, just threw a small finishing nail into the ball end itself and balanced it on the other string catches. Can't use the fine tuners this way obviously but I can still play.. afraid it's my only axe. Naturally though I'm concerned about it making things worse.

I'm trying to look at this as a plus, not a minus... I snapped this up after it sat in a pawn shop as a fixer-upper... the last owner did a finish job on it (sort of a see through woodgrain dark green) that I'm going to redo in some shape or form while I'm waiting for the part.

Also, the volume knob is more or less frozen. I see that it's attached to a small circuitboard on the inside (I think...). More alarming though, I noticed that the input jack on it isn't stereo.. there's a white wire just hanging on the inside; would I be correct in thinking that this means the 9v battery cutoff isn't working? I tried looking at some schematics but they weren't very clear on how it should be wired.

Any help would be greatly appreciated I was thinking of doing a zebra black/white type finish or a desert camo type of thing. Initially I intended on a natural dark stain type finish but I suspect that the green has soaked into the wood.

[Grandturk]

- Check out wammiworld.com - I'm pretty sure they have Kahler parts. I used to get parts from axeparts, but I think he stopped selling.

- Not sure which wire is what (I dumped my mid-boost circuit) - but it should be hooked up to a stereo jack to kill the power when the jack is empty - it might just be wired to "always on" which means your battery should die pretty quickly. Theres some Jackson electronics schematics out there - try a search on this site and in google - you should be able to find them. Personally, I prefer EMGs to the original Jackson pickups + circuits.

[Jack The Riffer]

Are you talking about the fine tuner lever? I was able to get one from Kahlerparts.com.

http://www.kahlerparts.com/Part_Pages/9417.htm

[BlondMusician]

Hey thanks

I was considering taking out the pickups and replacing it with a few medium output Dimarzios. It does seem to be always 'on'... I go through 9v's pretty quickly. Plus where the volume control is frozen up, it's beyond what I would normally try using contact cleaner to deal with. I did a few searches, do you think it's common for people to replace the electronics completely? I thought the mid boost seemed to be acting like a parametric mid, if it's just boosting then I really don't need it.

I do think it's a fine tuner lever... basically the inner saddle that you drop the ball end of the string into, one of the two small hooks busted off.

I have to say though the guitar itself is great. The overall sound unplugged is what sold me on it, sustains notes for days. I considered having a floyd installed but between the additional investment I'm not sure I want to lose the wood. I got it for a really good price (around here traditional set bridges or strat style bridges are the norm and most people don't know or want to deal with any other types), it apparently was sold and returned a handful of times. Only real problem I could find with it playing wise was that the truss rod seemed to be set for heavier gauge strings and it was buzzing the first 5 frets or so... few adjustments later I was rocking out to Scarified.

[BlondMusician]

Ahh, checked your link. It's actually the string hook for cam systems, 9407.

[Aso]

I have the pots and mid boost out of my 86 Charvel from when I put SD Blackouts in it. I left it still wired when it was pulled out so if you need any help with the wiring let me know. Don't think taking a picture of it would help though seeing as some wires have a single white stripe on them that probably wouldn't show up.

And if you dead set on a floyd don't hack it up. I have a 87 Model 5 project with a Schaller FR on it that we could possibly trade. I personally like the khaler bridges.

[dg]

As far as the battery question. If you leave the guitar plugged in, you'll drain the battery. If you unplug it whenever you're not playing, you can get more than a year out of an alkaline battery, even with daily use.

[BlondMusician]

I have the pots and mid boost out of my 86 Charvel from when I put SD Blackouts in it. I left it still wired when it was pulled out so if you need any help with the wiring let me know. Don't think taking a picture of it would help though seeing as some wires have a single white stripe on them that probably wouldn't show up.

And if you dead set on a floyd don't hack it up. I have a 87 Model 5 project with a Schaller FR on it that we could possibly trade. I personally like the khaler bridges.

The trade offer is very intriguing, I've played FR type bridges mostly over the past 20 years. However, this is what I'm dealing with:

- No hardware for the Kahler (bar, lock nut pieces)
- Poorly done finish on guitar, doesn't appear that much sanding time was put into it first.
- Electronics issues as stated above.
- Frets scalloped beyond the 15th fret, one fret marker is chipped presumably as a result. It's cosmetic only but it's there.

I doubt it would be a fair trade to you, it needs TLC.

[Aso]

The trade offer is very intriguing, I've played FR type bridges mostly over the past 20 years. However, this is what I'm dealing with:

- No hardware for the Kahler (bar, lock nut pieces)
- Poorly done finish on guitar, doesn't appear that much sanding time was put into it first.
- Electronics issues as stated above.
- Frets scalloped beyond the 15th fret, one fret marker is chipped presumably as a result. It's cosmetic only but it's there.

I doubt it would be a fair trade to you, it needs TLC.

Only thing there that would have me worried is the scalloped neck. Never really been big on a scalloped neck.

Finish is no big deal because I have been waiting for some parts to come in Budman and then was going to send it to Dan Lawrence for a refin. Someone repainted it and put too soft of a clear coat on it or something because it's chipping off.

Electronics are no biggie because I haven't wired it yet. Have a SD Blackout combo and EMG AB awaiting to be installed into it.

[BlondMusician]

I know necroing old posts is in bad taste, but because of the helpful replies with parts and Aso's replies I didn't want to make a new thread.

I'm going to get some replacement parts when my income tax rolls in next month. I've been looking at getting another guitar to satisfy my FR cravings... a lot of stuff I play sort of require one to do things like whammied harmonics (satch, etc).

I worry about the fact the ball ends aren't locked down in the bridge in terms of them moving when I do fairly low dips, but I love the fact that the rollers seem to ensure the intonation isn't changing for multi note/string/chord dropping. Plus the lock nut situated behind the nut seems to be a spot for string binding. I've done a lot of research and have read about problems with bending strings taking the bridge out of tune until you use the bar again... I take these and other floating bridge complaints with a grain of salt because I've found a lot of people don't know how to set up or maintain these types of bridges properly... it almost sounds like they don't have the individual saddles locked down (string spacing adjustment screws). Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing, or tips on how to avoid it?