Conference napalm::guitar

    .010s on a floating trem (like you Kahler) can really be murder. 
    Personally, with Floyd units you almost *have* to go with .009s with 
    a .042 on the bottom to get any performance out of it!  10s have too 
    much tension, and it will kill you action!!  It's definitely a give 
    and take scenario.

Your Kahler is almost like a floyd rose, as it has knife edge action.
Set it up so that the bottom edge of the base plate is parallel to the
guitars body.  You can change the tension by adjusting the spring claw 
in the back.

Seems like Buck was telling me there was a guy at Mr C's who was real
good with Floyds, necks, and stuff.  What say ye Buckmeister ??

jc

    You're right Coop.  It's the Spyder model with the Rose liscense.
    Someone once told me that the Kahler don't utilize the "knife edge"
    mechanism as did the Rose.  I knew my Kahler had the knife edge,
    so WTF!  I guess he wasn't aware of the Spyder version.
    
    Anyways, I called Bob at McDuff's and he said that in addition to
    the two spring claw screws in the back, there's also a tension 
    adjustment screw which is accessed from the top.  Is anyone 
    aware of this adjustment screw?  I'm not sure if the manual
    described such a screw!
    
    I'll check with Mr. C's since it's only about a mile from where
    I work.
    
    If what Buck says is true, however, maybe I can go back to the .009's,
    except maybe I can replace the .009 high E string with a .010 since
    that's where I seem to be lacking the most tone.
    
    If all else fails, I'll just go back to the .009's.
    
    Geez, and to think SRV uses a .013 for a high E string!  No wonder
    he's got holes in his fingers!  :^)
    
    thanks for the insight folks,
    
    cheers/mike

    If you have the knife edge Kahler tremelo, it's adjustment should be
    just like a Floyd.  I have never heard of a tension adjustment on the
    top of any fulcrum tremelo.  You adjust the spring claw position
    (and/or add/remove springs) to compensate for the string tension.  You
    want to have the base on the tremelo approximately flat.
    
    On a Kahler torsion bar system, there is a hex key adjustment on the
    top that you use to set the tension.  This is probably what Bob at
    Mcduffs thought you were referring to because there are some little
    springs inside the Kahler torsion bar system that one might try to
    adjust.
    
    Even if the tremelo is pretty far out of adjustment at that end, if the
    lock nut is tight, you still shouldn't have major tuning problems after
    using the bar (intonation problems pretty much all the time, maybe...). 
    You probably want to be sure that the strings are fully stretched out
    first.  After that, be sure there is no slippage in the string lock at
    the headstock.  If your locking mechanism is seperate from the nut,
    also check to be sure that the larger diameter strings aren't binding
    in the nut slots.
    
    Hope this helps!
    Greg

    2 small hex screws on top of fulcrum bar. The hex screw next to the
    hole that accepts the whammy bar controls stiffness of rotation
    of the whammy bar parallel to the guitar face. The hex screw closer to
    the center of the fulcrum bar controls tension of the rebound spring. I
    believe clockwise rotation of the center hex screw increases tension,
    but you will see the end of the string carriage (where tunning pegs are
    located) lower when tension is increased. No problem if totally
    unscrewed, the tension spring is attached to a back plate inside a
    guide slot, just insert screw and try again.
    
    Mark

    
    
    I was told on Saturday that Kahler is now out of business. I bought a
    couple spare parts kits for those misc lost screws, etc.
    
    	Ray