Anyone familiar with the licensed Kahler by Hosco?

[BartOfDarkness]

I found this little oddity while searching Reverb and was wondering if anyone has any experience with these things? I tried googling it and found pretty much nothing and while the seller claims it's made in Japan by Hosco, it's been impossible for me to verify. I kinda want to try it to see if it's any good, but on the other hand, $210 is pricey for a bridge that could end up being a piece of junk.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Anyone familiar with the licensed Kahler by Hosco?

Welcome to the forum dark one!!! I don't know the direct answer to your question as Ive not ever heard of Hosco before. So hopefully youll get the info you seek. I would venture a guess that if it is indeed Japanese made, it is probably well built. But, Ive always been more of a Floyd guy, so Im not well versed in Kahlers, so someone else will be along..

 

[CTN]

Re: Anyone familiar with the licensed Kahler by Hosco?

Hosco makes a bunch of luthier tools including nut slotting files, fret crowning and fret dressing files.
Their files are really good, i have some of them.
But i'm not sure if expertise in file-making translates effectively into expertise in making trem units.

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

 

[dystrust]

Re: Anyone familiar with the licensed Kahler by Hosco?

You can get a used, good condition Kahler 2200 (which this is a copy of) for $150-190 so I wouldn't bother. There have been A LOT of bad Kahler copies over the years; in fact the resulting damage to Kahler's reputation is why they originally quit making them in the late 80s / early 90s.

 

[BartOfDarkness]

Re: Anyone familiar with the licensed Kahler by Hosco?

Thanks for the replies! I thought a used Kahler would be the way to go, but figured I'd ask around first.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Anyone familiar with the licensed Kahler by Hosco?

Hosco...read Gotoh.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Anyone familiar with the licensed Kahler by Hosco?

Hosco...read Gotoh.

Didn't know that. If I were to trust a Kahler copy from anyone, it'd be Gotoh.

 

[Securb]

Re: Anyone familiar with the licensed Kahler by Hosco?

Not sure if it was a Hosco but I pulled a Kahler copy out of a build it was utter garbage. It is very easy to see the difference in quality.

 

[BartOfDarkness]

Re: Anyone familiar with the licensed Kahler by Hosco?

According to the seller, this was discontinued ten years ago and he bought a bunch of them, so that explains why I can't find anything on Hosco's website (or Gotoh's). He said that it's better than the Kahler X-trem and the flyer, but then again, he's got over ten of these things to try to sell... It doesn't look as shoddy as the knockoff in the pic that Securb posted.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Anyone familiar with the licensed Kahler by Hosco?

According to the seller, this was discontinued ten years ago and he bought a bunch of them, so that explains why I can't find anything on Hosco's website (or Gotoh's). He said that it's better than the Kahler X-trem and the flyer, but then again, he's got over ten of these things to try to sell... It doesn't look as shoddy as the knockoff in the pic that Securb posted.

He could easily be telling the truth as he's setting the bar quite low, especially in the Flyer's case. Kahler Flyers use totally different rollers from the original Pro and Classic models, and I've yet to encounter one that actually stays in tune once you touch the bar. X-trems OTOH aren't mechanically deficient, but they're made from lesser quality materials than a Kahler Pro or Hybrid.

We're working from a picture, but that one looks like a VERY close copy of a Kahler 2200.

 

[BartOfDarkness]

Re: Anyone familiar with the licensed Kahler by Hosco?

I've decided to skip on the licensed version. Found a vintage Kahler (stamped Kahler USA, so it's not a knockoff) for $118 on jumped on it. Will probably dismantle it in order to make sure it's clean and working properly.