why the Kahler hate?

[zuel69]

Plus Floyds just look a million times better... I've tried very hard to like Kahler's and spent time on the phone with Mr. Kahler himself, as far as I know he still does his own support, but could never get them to work right..There are a lot of adjustments.

Nothing beats a Kahler with a Floyd nut. Most of the hate comes from people unable or not knowing to set them up.

Except a Floyd with a Floyd nut.

Winning,

Yeah especially if you like a huge portion of the most resonate part of a guitar's wood body literally ripped out of a guitar.

Kahlers lose sustain, I’ve owned several. The rollers and just the general design just lose tone. A Floyd loses only what, an extra 1/4 inch of wood over a vintage strat bridge ? The Kahler needs a hole routed in the face of the guitar too.

 

[rottingcorpse]

Kahlers go "WEEEEE!!!!"

Floyds go "WHAAAAA!!!!"

 

[petee]

Nothing beats a Kahler with a Floyd nut. Most of the hate comes from people unable or not knowing to set them up.

Except a Floyd with a Floyd nut.

Winning,

Yeah especially if you like a huge portion of the most resonate part of a guitar's wood body literally ripped out of a guitar.

Kahlers lose sustain, I’ve owned several. The rollers and just the general design just lose tone. A Floyd loses only what, an extra 1/4 inch of wood over a vintage strat bridge ? The Kahler needs a hole routed in the face of the guitar too.

The Floyd has a lot more wood hogged out of the guitar. Kahler loses about 3/8" on top of the guitar, the Floyd has route through the guitar and that huge swimming pool on the backside. I'm not sure it matters to me, but I never understood the argument.

 

[cardinal]

I’m not a huge Kahler fan, but Cantrell gets them to sustain and sound just fine, so seems like they do just fine.

 

[DistortED]

I have Floyds on my Charvels and Chubtone and a Kahler on my Rampage. I dig them both, never have issues with tuning on either one and both sustain great. I think it's all about preference IMHO.

 

[japetus]

I’m not a huge Kahler fan, but Cantrell gets them to sustain and sound just fine, so seems like they do just fine.

He could make rubber bands tied to a piece of poop sound good.

 

[psychodave]

Nothing beats a Kahler with a Floyd nut. Most of the hate comes from people unable or not knowing to set them up.

Except a Floyd with a Floyd nut.

Winning,

Yeah especially if you like a huge portion of the most resonate part of a guitar's wood body literally ripped out of a guitar.

Kahlers lose sustain, I’ve owned several. The rollers and just the general design just lose tone. A Floyd loses only what, an extra 1/4 inch of wood over a vintage strat bridge ? The Kahler needs a hole routed in the face of the guitar too.

The Floyd has a lot more wood hogged out of the guitar. Kahler loses about 3/8" on top of the guitar, the Floyd has route through the guitar and that huge swimming pool on the backside. I'm not sure it matters to me, but I never understood the argument.

From where? I use top mounted Floyd’s...

 

[riffermadness]

Nothing beats a Kahler with a Floyd nut. Most of the hate comes from people unable or not knowing to set them up.

Never tried one with a Floyd nut, just the standard Kahler. Although I have played Floyds with a Kahler nut. The 80s USA Charvels and Jacksons with Kahlers were relatively stable with tuning but there was always one or two songs that I could hear some off intonation....frustrating. Loved the slinky feel though...

I had an 86'-88' red Charvel model 5 that had the standard Kahler and once it was setup properly I never had any problems with it,and like you say here the slinkyness was nice when doing wide bends or vibrato.
I also had a Kahler Spyder on a Fender HM Strat that was way different but was really an ok tremelo..i could understand some of the hate,my guess is not knowing how to set it up properly,but thats with any kind of bridge.

 

[riffermadness]

My goofball buddy and I are waiting in line for one of those guitar solo contest at a bar. Two dudes in front of us are talking about Floyds. My buddy butts in and goes "Fuck that, Kahlers are the the best" and does a big divebomb. ALL SIX strings flew out of the saddles. It was hilariuous! THey go, that settles it.

Must've had the secret "eject" mod...

Thats funny and I could see that happening !

 

[mbman]

Floyd or Kahler work equally well for me. I have no preference of one over the other.

Martin

 

[scottosan]

I really regret getting rid of my Zion with Kahler floyd

 

[paulyc]

Nothing beats a Kahler with a Floyd nut. Most of the hate comes from people unable or not knowing to set them up.

Except a Floyd with a Floyd nut.

Winning,

Yeah especially if you like a huge portion of the most resonate part of a guitar's wood body literally ripped out of a guitar.

And ask Mark Day about loss of tone on his Les Paul Access with the factory Floyd.

 

[Racerxrated]

I've never heard any of my previous Kahler equipped USA Charvels(84, 85) and Jackson(86) sound anywhere near as good as the average sounding 08/09 USA Charvel pro mods I've owned. And they don't compare at all to the 09 SoCal I have now. Or the 90 SL1. All with Floyds. Those Kahler equipped Charvel/Jacksons were dull sounding in comparison.

 

[ChurchHill]

Weren't the Kahler's on those Charvels fitted with brass saddles and cams? I think most were, at least the ones I've seen. Might explain some of the tonal differences, since most Floyds are all steel.

I've always wondered what those titanium Floyds sound like, though I'm not willing to spend their asking price to find out. On some of my TOM Gibsons, I have changed saddles and/or the entire bridge to a different metal in an attempt to even out the tone. Brass, steel, and aluminum all sound different in that application, so I'm guessing that it would have a similar effect in a tremolo. I do know that on some of my Floyds, I've preferred the sound of the bigger brass blocks, where on others, I've liked the smaller steel blocks better.

As an aside, I've considered picking up some of the titanium saddle blocks for some of my Floyds. Not for tonal reasons, but because I've had a few that have cracked over the years. Maybe the bridge locking bolts, too. Seems like making those as strong as possible would be a good thing.

 

[paulyc]

All Floyd blocks (from Floyd) are brass with nickel plating, the only difference with the big brass blocks are the size and, of course, the mass.

 

[ChurchHill]

I stand corrected. I might have been thinking of some of the older Floyd-licensed guitars I mess around with back in the early '90s, which really could've been made out of anything.

And yes, the mass is significantly different, and I think that, too, makes a difference.

Anyone ever try one of the tungsten blocks? Or the stone blocks? Just curious...

 

[JohnRageOn]

I had a guitar which was equipped with the Kahler Spyder trem (Fender HM Strat).
Tone wise it was ok, but had a bit of a plastic feel when I was playing leads. Some might like it actually!
The only annoying thing was that it had different type of screws adjusting the bridge height, saddles and locking nut as far as I remember.

But IMHO nothing beats a properly set Floyd Original.

 

[paulyc]

I stand corrected. I might have been thinking of some of the older Floyd-licensed guitars I mess around with back in the early '90s, which really could've been made out of anything.

And yes, the mass is significantly different, and I think that, too, makes a difference.

Anyone ever try one of the tungsten blocks? Or the stone blocks? Just curious...

I’ve made my own big brass blocks, a steel block and an aluminum block, the brass sounds the best to my ears, followed by steel, aluminum last. I’ve never tried the stone block, and tungsten is expensive and super heavy. It’s funny, these theories about weight go back and forth every few years. I don’t think it ever gets settled. Lol

 

[Racerxrated]

I stand corrected. I might have been thinking of some of the older Floyd-licensed guitars I mess around with back in the early '90s, which really could've been made out of anything.

And yes, the mass is significantly different, and I think that, too, makes a difference.

Anyone ever try one of the tungsten blocks? Or the stone blocks? Just curious...

I’ve made my own big brass blocks, a steel block and an aluminum block, the brass sounds the best to my ears, followed by steel, aluminum last. I’ve never tried the stone block, and tungsten is expensive and super heavy. It’s funny, these theories about weight go back and forth every few years. I don’t think it ever gets settled. Lol

The one thing I have found, is that if you have a weak or thin sounding guitar that doesn't improve much with pup swaps, go for a larger mass block. I had a nice 88 Jackson strat that played great, but even after a pup swap was weak sounding, not very resonant. Went with an L shape big brass block and that fixed it. Tons more resonant.

 

[petee]

Nothing beats a Kahler with a Floyd nut. Most of the hate comes from people unable or not knowing to set them up.

Except a Floyd with a Floyd nut.

Winning,

Yeah especially if you like a huge portion of the most resonate part of a guitar's wood body literally ripped out of a guitar.

Kahlers lose sustain, I’ve owned several. The rollers and just the general design just lose tone. A Floyd loses only what, an extra 1/4 inch of wood over a vintage strat bridge ? The Kahler needs a hole routed in the face of the guitar too.

The Floyd has a lot more wood hogged out of the guitar. Kahler loses about 3/8" on top of the guitar, the Floyd has route through the guitar and that huge swimming pool on the backside. I'm not sure it matters to me, but I never understood the argument.

From where? I use top mounted Floyd’s...

I like top mounts too, but there's still a slot milled through the body and a huge route on the backside for the claw/springs. More wood removed then a Kahler, I don't care. I am just pointing out the argument doesn't work. If tone is based on the amount of wood removed being a bad thing, Floyd loses.