Swapping a Kahler Flyer for a Kahler Pro (Profiler)

[thez0r]

Did the swap on a Peavey Mantis (maple neck, peavey stock pickup).

Conventional Kahler wisdom says most flat routes are compatible which is true, no extra routing was required but the top 2 holes do not line up with the flyer's so they do require redrilling.

One problem to note, the Flyer uses 4 of the same sized mounting screws for the base. The Profiler uses 2 of those same screws but then 2 smaller screws for the back of the base.

Rather than try to fill in the holes left by the bigger screws (which I knew were already perfect and dead even) I decided to redrill the profiler to accept the bigger screws from the flyer.

All things being equal, this is usually a terrible idea for someone without a drill press but only a small amount needs to be trimmed. I got lucky and managed to get the holes perfectly center.

After that its just a matter of making the new holes for the top 2 which is pretty straight forward.


The sounds difference is VERY significant. You can even hear it without amplification. The Profiler is way more crisp with loads of more harmonics as well as adding a nice snarl. Definately a metal/hard rock bridge.

The flyer IS a bit warmer which I kind of miss but it was also very loose and kind of bassy with poor harmonics. I didn't break out the weigh scale but if feels like the profiler weighs almost twice as much as the Flyer which is pretty significant in itself.

All in all consider your musical style and tastes before molesting your favorite Kahler equipped guitar.

[Racerx2k]

If I remember correctly, you coulda swapped the saddle parts of the Pro onto the Flyer base, and would've been just fine, too.

[thez0r]

If I remember correctly, you coulda swapped the saddle parts of the Pro onto the Flyer base, and would've been just fine, too.

This is true. I'm going to try it on my next Kahler upgrade... but I don't know what I would do with the flyer guts and profiler base plate.

I'm not sure if the metal in the base plates is the same either (steel vs brass like the cam and saddles).

[DonP]

Interesting. Nice info update.

[thez0r]

Interesting. Nice info update.

I've been laboring over whether I should try this for about a year now so I thought I would start a thread with my findings for anyone else searching.

All I could really google or find info on was routing compatibility... not if its actually worth doing this sound wise and $$$ wise. It totally is, my old beat up peavey has gone from "neat guitar that gets played maybe once a week" to a guitar I can't put down.

I didn't think the swap was worth it on account of my other 2 BCR V's that had 7xx0 Kahler's on them. They did not not sound as spectacular as they should have given their overall build quality I'm starting to realize it was the 7xx0 brass kahlers killing the sound.

[DonP]

I have a strange Aria (Aria neck, but not a normal Aria body - 2 hums, not the correct horn shape) that came with a Kahler Pro, but the guitar was hacked / painted when I got it, so I don't know (and doubt) that the Pro is original. The body is 4 pieces of maple, but it's a project than needs to be finished. It's the only Kahler axe I own.

[thez0r]

I have a strange Aria (Aria neck, but not a normal Aria body - 2 hums, not the correct horn shape) that came with a Kahler Pro, but the guitar was hacked / painted when I got it, so I don't know (and doubt) that the Pro is original. The body is 4 pieces of maple, but it's a project than needs to be finished. It's the only Kahler axe I own.

AriaPro II's came in a lot of shapes and sizes and had lots of strange one off models. I've seen some "The Cat II" (yngwie endorsed) models with Kahler Flyers as well as the ZZ blade runner version... but never Profilers.

Only way to know for sure is to remove the bridge and look for the tell tale signs of a fill job.

[DonP]

AriaPro II's came in a lot of shapes and sizes and had lots of strange one off models. I've seen some "The Cat II" (yngwie endorsed) models with Kahler Flyers as well as the ZZ blade runner version... but never Profilers.

Only way to know for sure is to remove the bridge and look for the tell tale signs of a fill job.

No fill job. By project I mean it's already taken apart and I've stripped some of the paint.

This body is similar to a very few Night Warriors I've seen, but only a very few. And I've never seen many with dual hums.

The control cavity route is a long oval - once again not the normal Aria route. The controls are volume, LP switch, tone.

This neck and another neck I got back in the 80s are also strange creations from Aria. Both have an angled headstock. One with a normal scarf joint, the other with the joint in the middle of the headstock.

I've seen a similar body to mine only once on ebay and it was with a JB Player neck, so it might be that my body came from that.

But the nice thing about this Body that I wish Jackson would do is that it has a top 1/8" veneer of maple, so that the seems of the 4 piece maple body don't show if they shrink at different rates. I can see the seems in my 2005 Bengal SL2H already.