Kahler K 7300 CH

Il ponte Kahler è senza dubbio il meglio! Ho due chitarre con Floyd rose e due con Kahler. Il montaggio è meno invasivo di un Floyd Rose perché non serve forare il body completamente ma basta uno scanso di circa 3cm di profondità. Tutte le regolazioni sono sulla superficie del ponte. Mai più aprire il vano posteriore per regolare le molle del ponte! Si agisce solamente da sopra. Non serve acquistare pickup F-spaced perché si può regolare la distanza tra le corde singolarmente:ogni selletta ha sodstanzialmente 3 gradi di libertà di movimento. Si trasforma in un ponte fisso grazie ad una vite sul lato posteriore del ponte, comodissima in fase di cambio corde! La solidità del metallo fornisce un suono pieno di armoniche e molto solido. L’unica accortezza fondamentale è relativa alle corde: Da un lato non serve tranciare la parte terminale della corda come con il Floyd rose; dall’altra però è necessario rinforzare i cantini attorno al pallino o questo si sfilerà dopo pochi bend. Due semplici soluzioni: o si stagnano i cantini prima di montarli, oppure si comprano mute di corde apposite con cantini rinforzati come le Ernie Ball RPS. Una volta regolate opportunamente le ottave e l’angolo delle sellette (quindi l’action ), si avrà stabilità di accordatura e fluidità di operazione grazie al funzionamento del ‘cam’ che da una dinamica più lineare nell’escursione della leva. Abbassando o alzando le corde con la leva, queste non variano la distanza dai pickup, quindi si avrà anche un suono più uniforme. È un mondo da scoprire e ne vale altamente la pena!

I bought this bridge as a replacement for the Kahler X Trem, that came on one very guitar that I bought in small store in Berlin. Pretty old, but gold. However the original bridge was a terrible piece of sh*t, so I?ve decided to give this one a try. Honestly... It works. It really does. There are a few things you have to tweak before you can use it, mostly balancing the string/spring force, that may be a bit tricky, cause you set it up with a hex wrench from the top of the trem. Other than that, It is rather easy to use and install.

It is not a bad trem, but still, goes out of tune sometimes, especially the top E string tends to go flat after some time. Also the bar is wiggling a bit, but nothing to worry about. The only problem about this bridge is, that you won?t find it on almost any guitar and it is very specific in terms of picking hand ergonomics. It is kinda hard to go from Kahler to Floyd and vice versa. Get used to one or another, because both are very different in terms of picking hand position, so it may feel a bit uncomfortable in the beginning.

Also keep in mind, that it is almost impossible to use this with any string gauge thicker than 58, you just won?t be able to attach the strings to the bridge due to the fact, that those string hooks are not exactly big and thicker strings just won?t fit. So using this in B standard with 13 - 60 gauge is almost impossible. Also springs in the back of the trem are not exactly strong and you may run out of tension, if you use anything thicker than 10 - 46 in E standard.

But if you want a locking trem and Floyd is not exactly your thing, I do strongly recommend this product. I think you won?t be disappointed.

I've been playing around with this trem for a couple days after i had it in my strat, and I have to say that this is one of the best tremolo systems you can get.

Pros
It's so smooth and effortless to use.
You can lock the bridge during restringing or changing tunings.
Very easy to set up and intonate.
All adjustments are done from the top of the bridge.
The roller saddles are a great help with tuning stability.
You don't need a locking nut with 6 in line headstocks. If you have a Graph Tech nut with some locking tuners, you are good to go.

Cons
A rout is required on top of the guitar.
Fluters are a lot harder to pull off than on a Fender or a Floyd Rose.

For me the pros far outweight the cons. Fluters aren't part of my playing and the rout required was a small price to pay. I would absolutley recommend this bridge if you are doing very extreme tremolo stuff. I will even go as far as saying that i think a Kahler is better than a Floyd Rose, and I stand by that statement.