Re: Floyd Rose vs. Kahler
Between dystrust and Newc, there`s not much to add.... but there`s stilll some things.
Newc: The Peavey Vandenbergs came with Spyders and Kahler Nutlocks, which are functionally identical to a Floyd nut except that the hold-down bar is integrated into the nut imnstead of mounted half an inch back. Many like to overlook that Kahler made 3 different styles of lock: their standard locking nut which Newc described (a .999:1 copy of which was also used by Jackson on their own JT-6 trems, btw) the fliplock (tool-free version), and the Nutlock I just described.
The bridge Kahler was sued over was the Killer. KahlerUSA /APM licensed out all necessary patents for all of the other bridges they made, but decided to take a risk on that one. Floyd caught it, sued, and won, production was terminated, that`s why you almost never see actual Killer trems, just catalog photos, wheras spyders, Steelers, 25xx, and of course their own 22xx studmount and 23xx flatmounts can be seen on ebay, more or less frequently depending on the exact model. I saw a NOS/NIB Killer once on the bay in like 2003 or so, with a 4 digit price and 48 hours to go.
If you`re pulling the cam so far forward that the ball-ends pop out, you are massively overstretching the springs, which are now actually BENDING over the bottom end of the cam. If I turn a floyd bar towards the butt and drop it so far that the knife edges are no longer resting in the posts and the plate is perpendicular to the guitar`s top, thereby bending them over the edge of the rout, it`s the exact same result. That is simply said more abuse than the trem was ever designed to take, in both cases. Just be glad springs are cheap.
Properly set up Kahlers can flutter just as well as Floyds, just not with the heavy duty springs many preferred to use. With the standard springs, a Floyd actually feels sluggish in comparison.
A Floyd is a straightforward "set and Forget" system that, when properly maintained, gets set up exactly once and never again. But setting it up perfectly can be a very tedious task, because depending on how close the bridge radius is to the fretboard radiius you`lll be shimming saddles and reintonating and reshimming and reintonating until you think you`re going insane. with a kahler, on the other hand, you: set string spacing, lock, set individual string heights, set intonation, done. you may have to re-set some of these things at some point in the future, but you don`t have to take half the trem apart to do it.
On MAJOR advantage of the kahler, other than being absolutely impervious to palm mutes tossing you out of tune (unless your hands are made of plutonium), is that you can set spring tension, and thereby the amount of variability up or down AFTER the rest of the setup. Want to go down further? Tighten the allen screw, retune, done. Want more up-pull? Loosen it, retune, done. A Floyd does not have this capability, it is hardlocked in it`s travel by the angle the baseplate needs to follow the neck and the depth of the recess (if any).
And kahler bar tension is also a sweet design, an allen scerw right next to the screw in bar, everything from locked solid to dangling like a limp noodle is just an allen key twist away.
But all of that means a Kahler also has many more moving parts than a Floyd, so it requires much more maintenance in teh sense of cleaning, oiling the rollers, making sure the tension on teh bearings is right.... and of course the risk of any one of those screws moving over time with vibrations.
I personally like and use both, but they are entirely different beasts, albeit with a similar application, and should be regarded as such. I don`t complain to a panther why he doesn`t have a mane, just I don`t berate a lion for not being black. But both of them will take down that gazelle like nobody`s business, assuming they know what they`re doing.
But I might try sharpening the knife edges some day.
