8 string tremolo replacement
- Thread starter Daar
- Start date
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UnderTheSign
Well-Known Member
It's not a drop-in replacement. You'll have to get a cavity routed for the Kahler and it might have to be recessed depending on the neck angle.
Eric Christian
Banned
If you look closely at this guitar you'll notice that the Kahler isn't recessed at all. Therin lies the problem. The stock bridge on the RG2228 is recessed maybe 5mm. Pretty sure that if you were to route out those areas in order to drop the Kahler in it would be sitting too low. I'm not a Luthier but I'm guessing the best way would be to carve a perfectly shaped block of basswood and then dowel & glue it into the recess. After this completely dries you could then drill and mount the Kahler studs. Getting the position of these studs right would be tricky plus you're going to have to fill, sand and refinish the whole guitar because the Kahler will not completely cover up the block you glued in. You could do it yourself but unless you skilled in this type of DIY type stuff a RG2228 is not a good place to start.
Guerilla M-SR8 Trench 8-String Guitar w/ Kahler USA Bridge & Seymour Duncan Blackouts -- THE AXE PALACE / 508-921-9973
Guerilla M-SR8 Trench 8-String Guitar w/ Kahler USA Bridge & Seymour Duncan Blackouts -- THE AXE PALACE / 508-921-9973
UnderTheSign
Well-Known Member
Eric - wether it has to be/is recessed depends on the neck angle. The Guerilla might have a different neck angle as these guys made the guitar to work properly with the Kahler. Agiles for example don't have recessed Kahlers but I've heard a lot of people complaining about string height, caused by a non-recessed Kahler.
Any skilled luthier (preferably one that has experiences with Kahlers as I know some people have trouble setting them up properly) should be able to install one into your guitar.
Any skilled luthier (preferably one that has experiences with Kahlers as I know some people have trouble setting them up properly) should be able to install one into your guitar.
ibanezfreak777
Member
Sounds like a nightmare.... dont bother changing it....
Gamba
Cobra Commander
You'll just have to get your guitar routed in order to fit it, no biggie
I'm just curious if the cavity would need to be filled and then re-routed. Because if so, then the body would have to be repainted as well. Maybe someone who's familiar with the dimensions of both the Fixed Edge-III 8 and a Kahler 8 can weigh in?
Gamba
Cobra Commander
The kahler is heavier than the fixed edge. It is bigger also. So, you would probably have to have the guitar refilled and rerouted, but I don't think you would need a new paint job. The base plate of the 8s kahler is bigger than the Fixed edge, if I remember it well...
Back when I had an RG2228 I thought of putting a Kahler on it.
After looking over some technical drawings, and discussing it at length with the guys at Wammi World I decided against it.
First of all, a post-mount Kahler is going to be WAY too high and you'll have to fill and mount to install new posts. Not to mention you'll have to put the mother of all shims in the neck pocket.
Then with the flat mounts you'll need to recess the whole unit to work optimally, in addition to needing a neck shim. That would again require filling and routing to properly seat the unit.
If you didn't care about aesthetics, or having the strings super high off of the body (creates an odd picking angle in my opinion) it's workable, but still something I'd never advise on a $2k guitar.
Also, having played a few Kahler equipped 8s, it's not really a system I enjoy. In addition to it feeling much different than most any knife edge based systems, it really isn't good at dropping or raising the pitch evenly accross all eight strings.
Overall, I feel it's not worth it. In the long run it'd probably be better to have a body custom made.
After looking over some technical drawings, and discussing it at length with the guys at Wammi World I decided against it.
First of all, a post-mount Kahler is going to be WAY too high and you'll have to fill and mount to install new posts. Not to mention you'll have to put the mother of all shims in the neck pocket.
Then with the flat mounts you'll need to recess the whole unit to work optimally, in addition to needing a neck shim. That would again require filling and routing to properly seat the unit.
If you didn't care about aesthetics, or having the strings super high off of the body (creates an odd picking angle in my opinion) it's workable, but still something I'd never advise on a $2k guitar.
Also, having played a few Kahler equipped 8s, it's not really a system I enjoy. In addition to it feeling much different than most any knife edge based systems, it really isn't good at dropping or raising the pitch evenly accross all eight strings.
Overall, I feel it's not worth it. In the long run it'd probably be better to have a body custom made.
Eric Christian
Banned
Yeah. Ditto. Make a new body. By then you could just buy a new guitar though once you factor in the body and the bridge. The knife edge tremolo on Rusty & Munky's axes in this thread make more sense.
http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/extended-range-guitars/67263-8-string-floating-tremolos.html
