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SBO22 - Wiggle stick V
- Thread starter ctmullins
- Start date
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,007
- 1
- 31,705
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
This is my submission for the 2022 Summer Build-Off:
The "Wiggle Stick V" - a hare-brained idea to build a long-scale Flying V with a Kahler vibrato (yes, I'm a hair-band devotee....
).
Weight is a nice 8.5 lb (3.8 kg). Balance is "okay" - there is a bit of neck dive (not surprising), but not an objectionable amount for me.
Honestly, I had forgotten how powerful these Wilde pickups are! I had them in my prior V build, but that build had some other issues, so got disassembled and shelved. These L90s are easily on par with my EMG-equipped basses, both in terms of output and tone. Impressive for a simple passive setup.
This is my first time to play with a Kahler. It's fun! It stays in tune surprisingly well, too. I have it set up as full-floating, and I can work the bar pretty hard and still have it come right back to pitch. Nice. The only thing that bothers me is the looseness of the threaded bar. Not sure if the threaded recess is a bit misshapen, or if the threaded bar is worn a bit. Perhaps that's the price you pay for secondhand stuff....?
Glad I decided to build this one!
The "Wiggle Stick V" - a hare-brained idea to build a long-scale Flying V with a Kahler vibrato (yes, I'm a hair-band devotee....
).- Body - Cherry center section, flanked by rosewood, flanked by yellowheart over maple
- Neck - five-piece maple/walnut/maple/walnut/maple, glued to body
- Fretboard - pau ferro flanked by yellowheart, 33" scale, 24 medium stainless frets plus zero fret
- Headstock - non-scarfed tiltback with rosewood ears and volute
- Finish - Many coats of Minwax Wipe-On Poly, wet-sanded to a satin sheen
- Kahler vibrato bridge (it's not a tremolo.....)
- Sperzel locking tuners
- Wilde L90 4H pickups
- Passive, master volume and selector switch (but room in the cavity for a tone circuit of some sort)
Weight is a nice 8.5 lb (3.8 kg). Balance is "okay" - there is a bit of neck dive (not surprising), but not an objectionable amount for me.
Honestly, I had forgotten how powerful these Wilde pickups are! I had them in my prior V build, but that build had some other issues, so got disassembled and shelved. These L90s are easily on par with my EMG-equipped basses, both in terms of output and tone. Impressive for a simple passive setup.
This is my first time to play with a Kahler. It's fun! It stays in tune surprisingly well, too. I have it set up as full-floating, and I can work the bar pretty hard and still have it come right back to pitch. Nice. The only thing that bothers me is the looseness of the threaded bar. Not sure if the threaded recess is a bit misshapen, or if the threaded bar is worn a bit. Perhaps that's the price you pay for secondhand stuff....?
Glad I decided to build this one!
I used to have a guitar with a Kahler that suffered the same problem with the loose thread. Teflon plumbing tape makes a quick fix.
Freekmagnet
Commercial User
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,007
- 1
- 31,705
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
You win the Most Strap Buttons award
Ha!
Those two at the points are (hopefully obviously) just there to rest on the floor. They are the original Dunlop strap locks, the kind that don't work so well with a normal strap, so they needed to find a purpose in life.....
Looking good! On my bass Kahler I found a knurled nut the same thread as the bar and thread it on first then tighten it down against the trem body. It locks the bar into one spot but it works. I can always pull the bar up (loosen) and if I let it go it drops back to where I set it.
Great work! Looks wonderfulThis is my submission for the 2022 Summer Build-Off:
The "Wiggle Stick V" - a hare-brained idea to build a long-scale Flying V with a Kahler vibrato (yes, I'm a hair-band devotee....
- Body - Cherry center section, flanked by rosewood, flanked by yellowheart over maple
- Neck - five-piece maple/walnut/maple/walnut/maple, glued to body
- Fretboard - pau ferro flanked by yellowheart, 33" scale, 24 medium stainless frets plus zero fret
- Headstock - non-scarfed tiltback with rosewood ears and volute
- Finish - Many coats of Minwax Wipe-On Poly, wet-sanded to a satin sheen
- Kahler vibrato bridge (it's not a tremolo.....)
- Sperzel locking tuners
- Wilde L90 4H pickups
- Passive, master volume and selector switch (but room in the cavity for a tone circuit of some sort)
Weight is a nice 8.5 lb (3.8 kg). Balance is "okay" - there is a bit of neck dive (not surprising), but not an objectionable amount for me.
Honestly, I had forgotten how powerful these Wilde pickups are! I had them in my prior V build, but that build had some other issues, so got disassembled and shelved. These L90s are easily on par with my EMG-equipped basses, both in terms of output and tone. Impressive for a simple passive setup.
This is my first time to play with a Kahler. It's fun! It stays in tune surprisingly well, too. I have it set up as full-floating, and I can work the bar pretty hard and still have it come right back to pitch. Nice. The only thing that bothers me is the looseness of the threaded bar. Not sure if the threaded recess is a bit misshapen, or if the threaded bar is worn a bit. Perhaps that's the price you pay for secondhand stuff....?
Glad I decided to build this one!
