rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

[the guy who invented fire]

A while back I had snapped the tremolo arm off in the block in my Strat (agian!) but I had also grown a little unhappy with the sound of the guitar. It had a set of Custom Shop alnico II Duncans in it and while it sounded killer it didn't have the sound I wanted to hear from it these days. I decided to just gut it and start over...

I dropped in a new set of Duncans, 2 SSL-1's and an SSL-5 (this is the same set wahwah uses and I figured I dug his Strat tone in his clips so i'd give them a try). I also got a new guard, shield and all new electronics from Callaham (which I highly recommend) and while I was at it I decided to try a Callaham tremolo.

I have to say the pickups are quite killer together, I ordered a tapped SSL-5 but I haven't even wired it up tapped yet, just the full wind...these pickups have what I was missing in my old set up, however I had full faith in Duncan pickup and I trusted wahwah when he said give them a try.

Now, the Callaham stuff...WOW!!! I must say the electronics they use are killer...they are branded CTS on the pots and CRL on the switch but they are smoother and feel better to me than any other CTS/CRL stuff I've ever used...I know they have it made for them but whatever they do to it makes it killer.

Now for the tremolo I decided to get the whole tremolo, not just the block that I needed. WOW, WOW, WOW!!!! These things are NOT hype...I was using a 57/62 reissue Tremolo which is what comes on the CS Strats, JV Strat and EJ Strat and is IMO hte best tremolo Fender makes and has made in a long time...it's good but this Callaham is just amazing! It's the little things that count.

The tremolo arm and screw hole are designed in such a way so you get NO slop in the bar and there is little to no chance of snapping it off in the block like I've done several times before.

Also, the saddles and saddle screws are made in such a way that they don;t contact the string anywhere except at the actual saddle point so there are no hangups on the windings.

Also, the string pockets in the tremolo block are cut MUCH shallower (like a treu 50's/early 60's Strat) so that the place on the strings where the ball end is tied on has no chance of peaking through and getting hungh up on the saddles.

It really is a killer design...killer tremolo in general!

I feel like the guitar sounds far better than it did...it seems deeper and fuller wiht a more solid attack and much better sustain and on top of that they feel of this tremolo and the way it tuning stability of it is imply amazing...

2 big thumbs WAY up to Bill Callaham and crew...this is the best tremolo I;ve ever used!

 

[Sanford]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

I have a Strat with the threaded end of the bar stuck in the block as well. I was fooling around with the trem after putting new strings on it and broke the bar. :banghead: I'd heard the name Callaham being tossed around quite a bit but hadn't looked them up on the 'net. Your review just moved them up a few notches on my "Replacement Parts To Use" list.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

If you look at a Callaham tremolo you see that Bill and crew when to every length to make sur ethat you don't snap off another one! most of the time in the past I've been able to get the end of the bar out of the block but not this time...it's there!

Im tellin you though...it sounds better to my ears than my old Tremolo, it stays in tune FAR better and the fact that it's made from the ground up to NOT be able to be snapped off...it's a no brainer and far better IMO than anything Fender offers!

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

Hmm.... sounds interesting.

Do you feel the Callaham is superior to the vintage style Wilkinsons?

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

Hmm.... sounds interesting.

Do you feel the Callaham is superior to the vintage style Wilkinsons?

I'll be honest with ya, Im not the biggiest fan of Wilkinson hardware but it's pretty good but this Callaham is simply the best Strat tremolo I've ever tried. It's also worth mentioning that to me a big part of it being "better" than the 57/62 I was using is not just the block but the plate, saddles and even the screws!

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

Well, I might just have to check one out. I've been playing the hell out of my strat lately, and am always up for anything that could improve it.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

Well, I might just have to check one out. I've been playing the hell out of my strat lately, and am always up for anything that could improve it.

Like I said, Im not sure that just a block woudl have made this kind of difference but if you have a Strat that will accept a full Callaham tremolo I say DO IT!

 

[JumpMarine]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

How much thicker is the baseplate on the Callaham?

 

[WhoFan]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

pic's please......

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

How much thicker is the baseplate on the Callaham?

It's not thicker at all. There was very little difference (to the naked eye) in the 57/62 base place and the Callaham baseplate buty the Callaham does have a smoother pivot angle and it looks like it's cut as a different angle to let you get more actual drop in pitch.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

pic's please......

Well, the Strat was black/maple wiht a tort. guard and cream pickups/knobs but now it's just vintage 57 style...parch guard, white pickup covers and knobs but Im gonna try and get a few pics today of the new look as well as the Callaham tremolo...the tremolo alone really is a work of art!

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

Great post. What are you using on the other end of the tuning equation? (tuners and nut)

Honestly, I think the SSL-1 is an underappreciated gem in the Duncan lineup. It's just perfect for vintage tones. (What were the previous pickups? As much as I like the SSL-1, I also enjoyed the APS-1 as well, were the custom shops based on those at all?)

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

Great post. What are you using on the other end of the tuning equation? (tuners and nut)
Honestly, I think the SSL-1 is an underappreciated gem in the Duncan lineup. It's just perfect for vintage tones. (What were the previous pickups? As much as I like the SSL-1, I also enjoyed the APS-1 as well, were the custom shops based on those at all?)

Stock nut and tuners and the guitar is a Jimmy Vaughan strat so Klusons and honestly the nut, not sure but it's cut very well and doesn't bind so I've left it!

The old pickups (which were great just not to my liking with the amps Im using these days) were more or less a slightly underwound but with full strength magnets Antiquity Texas Hots but wiht a special tapped bridge pickup.

Agian, great set and when I played strictly through a Twin Reverb they were great but with my smaller amps those A2 pickups just got too thick to quickly...

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

Bump...thanks to wahwah!

 

[wahwah]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

Bump...thanks to wahwah!

We love it when a plan comes together. All Hail the mighty SSL-1. And I reckon Leo smiled down on Seymour while he was designing the SSL-5 and said "I wish I'd thought of that!" So glad that pickup combination worked out for you TGWIF.

I'm doing a Seymour Duncan clinic for a local retail chain later this month http://www.allansmusic.com.au/Promos/Events/Default.aspx (scroll down and there I am!) and I'll be demoing the P-Rails and Classic Stack stuff as well as a few of the pedals, but I'll be taking my old '68 and giving them a taste of what the 1/1/5 combination can do!



Cheers..................................wahwah

 

[Rich_S]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

Heck, I'm a TELE guy, and I still love the SSL-1 (in the middle of my Nashville).

What's the bridge/middle position like with the 1/1/5 setup? What about with the 5 tapped?

 

[millsart]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

Is the mass of the block otherwise the same as those nice heavy EJ blocks ?

how are the saddles as well ? Good quality traditional stamped Fender type saddles or different ?

Sounds awesome with the arm design having no slop though, how that drives me crazy! I like to use the arm for subtle vibrato and with the slop it makes it near impossible.

Luckily I've got a Bigsby on my Gretsch for doing that stuff but in a sense that makes my strat trem annoy me even more lol


I'll definatly have to check out these Callaham trem's when I finally get around to building my new strat

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

I am getting a Gotoh after Frankfurt.....also with all dem nice improvements, no slop and solid saddles, have some other Gotoh saddles with the groove, have had those since 97, almost no marks.....pretty good steel!

 

[tone?]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

Tell me something and be honest.....

I have two Callahams and am probably getting rid of them.

Dont yours make your guitar sound way brighter???

That is my take on the Callahams.
I am not sure yet though. I will put one on a guitar that already sounds great to see the difference they make.
But my experience is that they are way too bright.

What amazes me is that non of the big builders use them.
Suhr would have probably used it if it was that good. or some great players out there.

Instead Suhr uses Gotohs


go figure......

I am gonna buy a brass block for my Callaham trem as a last resort.

They are made meticulously, i will give em that. they are a work of art build wise.

I once got a custom made all steel block from Callaham for a Floyd and a Brass block. Both were Big Block size.

The Callaham all steel one on the floyd sounded nothing short of horrible. It wasnt even subject to debate. It sounded awefull.
The Brass on the other hand was big, round and fat.

I think that Callaham uses too good of steel or something. dont know.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: rebuilt my Strat (Duncan/Callaham content)

Heck, I'm a TELE guy, and I still love the SSL-1 (in the middle of my Nashville).
What's the bridge/middle position like with the 1/1/5 setup? What about with the 5 tapped?

I like the 1/5 in the num 4 position...nice for sure, I still haven't tried it tapped yet...gotta decide if I want to wire it up tapped in a special way or I wanna go wiht the old stand by of a push/pull pot!