Floyd Rose vs. Kahler???

[hippietim]

At this point, I really don't like locking nuts. Locking tuners and well setup floating bridge works great for everything except for dive bombs. But I still like to dive bomb so I've still got guitars with locking nuts.

I think Kahler's feel better for vibrato - like a Bigsby. I like Floyds better for more extreme stuff.

[toejam]

Fuck toejam!

Take a bath, hippie!

[lepard]

I generally hate Kahlers because they just feel flimsy. They don't stay in tune as well as a Floyd and are overly complicated when they really don't need to be. I still don't understand why Kahler designed these things with all the multi-mega adjustments and brass rollers and then has you leave the ball ends on the strings(which is bad for tuning).

I can make a Kahler feel very close to an Original Floyd Rose. There used to be a heavy spring/bar kit that would transform a Kahler. I just looked on wammiworld.com and don't see that kit available any more. That kit makes a night and day difference. If you install that kit and then adjust the cam so that the fine tuners are sunk into the cavity(stretching the springs even more to make it even tighter/more Floyd-like) it will feel almost just like a real Floyd Rose.

Here's one of my guitars with that kit. In the 2nd pic you can see how I have the cam tilted back into the cavity.

[Tetsuo]

At this point, I really don't like locking nuts. Locking tuners and well setup floating bridge works great for everything except for dive bombs. But I still like to dive bomb so I've still got guitars with locking nuts.

I think Kahler's feel better for vibrato - like a Bigsby. I like Floyds better for more extreme stuff.

I hate locking nuts. I always hit my knuckle on them. I'm not that precise.

[AAEA]

I found an odd part on a USA Dean Baby ML. it was like a back stop for the Kahler. it would rest on this and you could only dive bomb. it made the tone pretty huge though like adding a over sized brass block to a floyd rose. the kahler was a Pat Applied for one too.

[shreddermon]

I've never owned a Kahler. Not even for a brief period. I've played several through the years, but never bought a guitar with one. It's not a deal-breaker or anything like that for me. Just a weird coincidence, I suppose. That said, I am a "Floyd guy". TOMs, vintage trems (preferably 2 point), etc, they're all cool. But Floyds will always be my "go to"

I do very much agree with Tommy's statement that Kahlers have a cool unique tone about them. I can even pick it out in 80s recordings sometimes. Remember Steve Lynch with Autograph? To me, that's a prime example of the "Kahler tone".

[Shawn Lutz]

I only had one guitar, SD Charvel with a Kahler and it worked fairly well on that guitar, no issues at all really and it was a vintage tren converted to kahler. I do prefer Floyds myself and used to their look. I don't like the physical appearance of Kahlers but they work and are functional

[vector]

It's a subjective thing. I grew up playing Floyds so when I got my first Kahler equipped ax, it was a whole new learning curve. The prep for changing strings on a Kahler does seem to have a few additional steps over that of the Floyd. Soldering and bending the ends? The other issue was the behind the nut string lock which did not address strings getting bound at the nut. Would certainly explain a lot of the tuning issues and why Jerry Cantrell's G&L went with the Floyd-style locking nut.

All in all, I'm a hardcore Floyd devotee but not necessarily because Floyds are superior- mostly because that's what I've been using for 30 years and that's what has worked for me. YMMV

[toejam]

The other issue was the behind the nut string lock which did not address strings getting bound at the nut. Would certainly explain a lot of the tuning issues and why Jerry Cantrell's G&L went with the Floyd-style locking nut.

Also explains Jeff Hanneman's Soloist that originally had the behind-the-nut lock and then eventually the Floyd nut.

[AAEA]

I think that floyd nuts have their own tone, most folks like the ease of use and the tone so they go on a lot of guitars; that and you don't have to file a nut to put larger gauge strings on. the original kahler nut would not accept a 52+ gauge string so low tuning was out, a longer nut screw solves this btw no need to toss out the nut.

Some folks like the tone of different materials used for nuts, in the early 90s George Lynch told me he used to prefer the Kahler lock after the nut.

[vector]

In the end, the market and the consumer made the final call on the great debate. Like them or not, Floyd won. Try getting certain parts for Kahlers. Hell, try getting a new Kahler on anything other than a custom order or a handful of production BC Richs. Sure, you can get a few Kahler models and parts on Wammi World but I've seen more and more notices saying they don't stock or carry this part or that part anymore.

[MartinBarre]

I've never even played a guitar with a Kahler, never mind owned one. Not out of choice, I've just never seen a guitar with a Kahler for sale over here in Scotland. I mean I'm sure they're out there but I've not seen them.

[Bert]

Wammi world still sells the heavy springs: http://www.wammiworld.com/SKU/K8413.php

I highly recommend them. The trem becomes much more stable, as does tuning.

[Jackson8090s]

I found an odd part on a USA Dean Baby ML. it was like a back stop for the Kahler. it would rest on this and you could only dive bomb. it made the tone pretty huge though like adding a over sized brass block to a floyd rose. the kahler was a Pat Applied for one too.

My 82 Baby Z USA Prototype had this as well , it was also the "PATS APPLIED FOR" unit.

[PowerTube]

If you want the best of both worlds, Kahler had a licensed Floyd. I believe it was called the Steeler. It was pretty banging.

I had a Fender HM Strat (used) that came standard with the Kahler Spyder bridge.

But this one was like any other licensed Floyd; it didn't look or feel like a Kahler.