Guitar Vibratos

I was looking for a more stable replacement tremolo for a recent Strat project purchase I made (ESP LTD Relic Strat). I've used the Babicz Full Contact Hardware for two other guitars (Telecasters) in the past and got great results. Based on that I decided to give the Stratocaster replacement bridge a try. The results are unbelievable.

I wasn't sure how easy or difficult it was going to be perform the replacement but to my amazement the instructions were incredibly clear, easy to follow, and the entire operation took me only about 15 minutes.

All of the parts provided are of the highest quality. Once I got the whole system installed one thing happened immediately. I picked up the guitar and it was NOTICEABLY heavier. Not in a bad way, mind you... the instrument just felt more... sturdy. I strung up the guitar with a set of D'Addario EXL120+ strings and began the ritual. Stretching the strings, putting some play time on them, re-training my hand to and getting used to the travel and feel of the trem. The tremolo and bridge system are SOLID!! The trem arm is shaped just right with a nice tip on it, and has the feel that no matter what you do it will never break.

Now usually, I have to flog on the trem and adjust the strings for about 30 minutes with a stock Fender-style six-hole trem. After about five minutes and three punishing dive-bombs the trem and guitar was in tune and pretty much unshakable. I could dive-bomb and thrash on the trem all I wanted and the guitar was staying in tune, and all without locking tuners. The only thing I did was apply some Big Bends Nut Sauce to the nut.

The block of this trem is substantially bigger and has more mass than the stock one, and comes with its own trem claw and springs which you can either use, mix with the stock parts, or dismiss altogether. I chose to mix the springs with the stock claw as I didn't want to make additional holes in the cavity. Honestly, I felt like with the addition of this bridge I had just turned a $300 guitar into a $2000 guitar.

The monster feature of this bridge though is the Babicz patented E-Cam technology that allows you to set both the intonation and the height of each string individually via a couple of allen screws (wrench provided). Even if you don't know how to set up a guitar you can adjust the string heights either via feel or eyeballing. Babicz makes it easy for you to get a great guitar setup without the need for tons of specialized tools and measurements. There are standard Phillip's screws at the back of the bridge for setting the intonation of each string individually, then there's an allen screw on the side of the bridge that tightens to lock them into place once they're all set correctly.

Babicz has obviously thought of the issues faced by standard Strat trem systems and done an excellent job of addressing them one by one. The result is a fantastic, affordable product that would be a welcome addition to just about any Strat. This is the best $100 upgrade I've ever made to any Strat. I was a fan before when I used the Telecaster bridges, but now having installed a Stratocaster version, I am a fan for life. This is a no-brainer--the product is THAT good. Really.

I have it installed on my BC RICH kkvg2 and this floating tremolo is simply the best I have ever played. And I have tried quite a few before (FLOYD ROSE original, FLOYD ROSE special, both LTD and JACKSON, different IBANEZ edge). But this one kills them all. It's disconcertingly precise and easy to adjust. It's much more versatile than the rest, which allows you to play delicate vibratos and incredibly expressive bends. It withstands perfectly extreme uses and rehearsals without going out of tune any more than any other tremolo (and you can retune it with a simple pull-up). Further, the set-bridge mode is very useful, especially when you don't plan to use tremolo or when the tension is so that you can't leave it float freely.

It's KAHLER's budget series but it does wonders. I can only imagine what the high-end 2300 series can do!

I'm a guitar novice who likes tinkering with electric guitars. I've been updating aspects of my Epiphone Les Paul 100. One of the modifications I recently made was the replacement of the factory tail piece with the Duesenberg Les Trem II.

This review only covers installation. I haven't strung it yet to play it, and I can't really play, so my opinion in that area wouldn't be worth much anyway. Read the other reviews for comments on usability.

I have a right-hand version of the Trem II.

After waiting for over a week (internationally, this is probably fairly quick) for my Trem II to arrive from Germany, I was very disappointed that it wasn't going to fit. It was obvious when attempting to screw in the mounting posts that they were going in at an angle and the Trem II holes were slightly two wide for the guitar.

The tail piece holes on the 100 were approximately 1-2mm narrower (I didn't actually measure) than the Trem II mounting holes. I read online that someone else had a similar problem and was still able to mount the Trem II by making its mounting holds slightly larger using a Dremmel, but I didn't want to go through all that trouble. I probably would have screwed it up anyway.

However, I tried a couple of different approaches, and finally got it mounted. I didn't use the washers, though I don't think that would have mattered either way.

First, I screwed in the right post all the way flush, then backed it out 1/2 to 1 revolution.

Next, using only my hands (and keeping the left hole lined up horizontally, I pushed the Trem II toward the right as hard as I could with my right hand as I slowly threaded the left post into the tail piece mounting hole using my left hand.

It went in at a very slight angle at first, but after a couple of slow resisted turns, I felt the post "pop" (for a lack of a better term) into the post hole. Once this happened, the post was perpendicular and screwed in and out easily.

I finished by tightening both mounting posts with a screw driver.

The left post hole or post screw might now have a threading issue (but I don't think so), but I don't ever intend to take it off. So if it does, oh well.

I realize that there are folks out there that are probably horrified by this technique, but it does appear to be properly aligned and solidly mounted to the guitar with enough surface clearance.

I could have knocked off stars because the Trem mounting holes didn't line up with the guitar's tail piece holes, but I didn't because I feel that's probably an Epiphone manufacturing tolerance issue rather than a Duesenberg manufacturing issue.

The amount I paid included shipping to the US.