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Can I adjust the intonation on a Kahler tremolo with the strings tuned to pitch or do I have to slacken them before I loosen the screw that allows me to move the saddle fork?

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

If the saddles are similar to the way the floyd rose works(been a while since I've seen a kahler, but I believe they are), you'd need to loosen tension on the string first, otherwise when you loosen the set screw it will pull the saddle toward the nut. On the floyds I give the string some slack, because I prefer to move the saddle the direction and distance I want to move it, not let the string tension pull it heaven knows where. It helps to block the trem temporarily and to release tension on only the string you're adjusting at the time. Bring it back to pitch before you move on to the next. My .02.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Kahlers are a lot more tolerant and easy to adjust relative to a Floyd Rose. How easy they are to move without loosening the strings can depend on how steep their angle is adjusted, but often you can adjust up to tension just fine. Loosen the phillips head lock screw and try to move it - if it's just to slippery and the string wants to push it forward you may have to loosen the string a bit, but often not. I just setup a Kahler on a LP I refretted a week or so ago, and didn't have to loosen any strings.

Of course I assume we're talking about the standard Kahlers here, and not the Spyders. Those do have to be treated like a Floyd.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Buy a string winder, makes life a whole lot easier!

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Connor Cook,
N.S.W Australia

Thanks, Mike and David. Your help is much appreciated.

Connor, the thing is, the tuning machines on this guitar are really funky. Barely functional. The less I have to mess with them, the better. Plus, the adjustments will go much faster (tweaking action and intonation till both are right) if I don't have to keep detuning and tuning.

As always, David, I'm most grateful for your expertise and willingness to help.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

A little flathead screwdriver can be handy to stick between the saddle pieces to control their spread as you adjust as well. Careful not to scratch though - I took an old junk screwdriver and rounded the edges to make it safer.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Thanks, David -

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Todd…I adjust the intonation with the guitar up to full pitch. First I loosen the locking clamp and use the machine heads to tune it instead of the fine tuners on the bridge. I use the tremolo itself to loosen up the tension on the stings so I could loosen the Philips screw that holds the saddle in place. I loosened it just enough to allow the saddle to move with out falling apart. When ever I move the saddle itself I press down on the tremolo slightly so the height adjuster screws wouldn’t dig in to the bottom plate. I also pressed down on the tremolo arm when I adjust the action.

A few years ago I worked on a kahler equipped guitar that the fine tuners were in tough shape. What I did was to remove the locking clamp up by the nut and installed a set of Sperzles. I made a maple filler to fix the unsightly void that the locking clamp left. Kind of defeated the whole locking nut thing but this mod worked better than the original ever did. I never liked locking nuts.
Sorry if this post is long in the tooth.

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Rich S

"The inconvenience of poor quality will linger long after the thrill of a bargain has been forgotten"

After reading my post, I should have just said, press down on the tremolo arm to make an adjustment.

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Rich S

"The inconvenience of poor quality will linger long after the thrill of a bargain has been forgotten"

Thanks, Rich. I appreciate your input and will remember your tips next time I get one of these on the shop.

To get at the phillips head screw that locks the saddle fork in place (to adjust intonation), and also to get at the hex head set screw that adjusts the action, I just lifted the string out of the groove in the roller and let it rest next to the roller, on the fork. This worked out fine, and was easy to do with the strings tuned to pitch. After loosening the phillips head screw just a little, I put the string back in the roller groove and then slid the fork where it needed to go to correct intonation. Of course, that adjustment affects action, and vice versa, so I had to tweak them both a bit, back and forth between the two adjustments, to get both action and intonation spot on, but it went quickly and easily.

Thanks again to everyone for your help. The customer is very happy.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/