Callaham Strat tremolo bridge sets - opinions?

CasperCaster

I like both Callaham and Wudtone. I put a Wudtone plate with Callaham saddles and block on my #1 Strat and it was perfect. When I upgraded #2 I did the same, but found that on the second guitar (full maple neck) it sounded a little harsh, so I put a brass Kev Hurley block on it, and that sorted it out. The Callaham stuff is beautifully made, but the saddles do have a reputation for being very bright, which may help some guitars and hinder others. I haven't yet tried Raw Vintage or Highwood saddles, but will likely try the Highwood ones at some point in the future, as they do saddles for 52.5mm spaced trems (I like the hybrid vintage mount/ modern string spacing). I don't currently know of a home grown alternative to Kev Hurley - his work and service was always very very good, and he provided an interesting range of materials, every conceivable shape/size of block and his prices were exceptional - imported American products like Callaham or KGC (Killer Guitar Components) are now exorbitantly expensive.

lovestrat74

Philly_Q said:

Yes, more than likely.  I guess you'd need the narrower saddles for that one?

Didn't realise the saddles varied, thought it was just the bridge plate?

CasperCaster

@lovestrat74 ; individual Strat saddles are typically 11.2mm wide (original US Vintage width, and reissues), 10.8mm wide (some 54mm spaced trems, mainly Japanese/offshore) or 10.5mm wide (Mexican Stds, US Stds). You can't put the wider saddles on a narrower spaced bridge plate. Narrow saddles on a wider spaced bridge plate will have a gap between each saddle, and the saddles may move sideways. Then there are Fender saddles with offset mounting holes for the intonation screw, metric or imperial threads etc etc.

Philly_Q

lovestrat74 said:

Philly_Q said:

Yes, more than likely.  I guess you'd need the narrower saddles for that one?

Didn't realise the saddles varied, thought it was just the bridge plate?

A lot of Fender MIM models have 52.5mm spacing, some have the vintage 56mm spacing... looking at pictures of that Duo-Sonic, I'm guessing it has the narrow spacing but I could be wrong. 

Kebabkid

I had a vintage Callaham one fitted to my 90s MIM Strat and the guitar came alive with more sustain and a nicer, livelier ring.

The trem was really responsive, tool.

Overall, it was a vast improvement over the Fender hardware 

Edit: mine was a rosewood board, alder body

Lebarque

Love my Callaham trem, apart from it seems to be very bright with my maple neck strat, as previously mentioned - to the extent that I'm considering shelling out for some raw vintage saddles.

Dan

Ive had a callaham trem unit which was too much for my CS maple neck ash body strat. Just way too bright and plinky. I think it lost some of the low end too, but pushed the mids and top. Sustain was better.

Removed it and put the fender trem back in and the low end was restored. 

Also just tried callaham saddles with the fender unit on my CS rosewood veneer neck and alder body with similar results. Bright and plinky. But better sustain. Bit of low end loss. Same strings, setup and action.

On both of these strats im gone for CS block and plate, callaham six steel screws and raw vintage saddles. Not sure if the callaham screws make a difference but I liked the sound of the one so replicated it across to the other strat. Raw vintage saddles are superb.Bit softer sounding.

If you have a fender trem unit (with steel block) im not sure its worth the upgrade. I would probably upgrade the saddles depending on taste if you do.

Callaham stuff is excellently made but I think its made too well if that make sense? Very good if you want a ballsy strat or your strat is a bit lifeless.

lovestrat74

Philly_Q said:

lovestrat74 said:

Philly_Q said:

Yes, more than likely.  I guess you'd need the narrower saddles for that one?

Didn't realise the saddles varied, thought it was just the bridge plate?

A lot of Fender MIM models have 52.5mm spacing, some have the vintage 56mm spacing... looking at pictures of that Duo-Sonic, I'm guessing it has the narrow spacing but I could be wrong. 

Think it is 53mm so you'd be right!

Gadget

And how about Wilkinson. I know we're talking a lot cheaper, but are they sub-standard in this company?

Frizer

I have a callaham trem in my partscaster strat. Bit heavier than a Fender unit. Well made, flutter hits sound nice and smooth. I don't know how much of the guitar's character the trem is responsible for but it has that knopfler bouncy strat sound.

It's never even crossed my mind to try any other trem in there so I guess that says it all.

sweepy

Gadget said:

And how about Wilkinson. I know we're talking a lot cheaper, but are they sub-standard in this company?

They are the unsung heroes of the Strat trem world, excellent quality and the push fit arm is smooth and reliable 

richardhomer

Dan said:

Ive had a callaham trem unit which was too much for my CS maple neck ash body strat. Just way too bright and plinky. I think it lost some of the low end too, but pushed the mids and top. Sustain was better.

Removed it and put the fender trem back in and the low end was restored. 

Also just tried callaham saddles with the fender unit on my CS rosewood veneer neck and alder body with similar results. Bright and plinky. But better sustain. Bit of low end loss. Same strings, setup and action.

On both of these strats im gone for CS block and plate, callaham six steel screws and raw vintage saddles. Not sure if the callaham screws make a difference but I liked the sound of the one so replicated it across to the other strat. Raw vintage saddles are superb.Bit softer sounding.

If you have a fender trem unit (with steel block) im not sure its worth the upgrade. I would probably upgrade the saddles depending on taste if you do.

Callaham stuff is excellently made but I think its made too well if that make sense? Very good if you want a ballsy strat or your strat is a bit lifeless.

Really interesting post Dan.

Suhr offer the Fender assembly (or certainly used to - I haven’t visited their site for a while) for those who wanted a vintage-style trem on their custom-built guitars. JS seemed to suggest this was based on tone - given he is an ex-Fender employee - I’d imagine his instinct would be to use a small supplier in preference.

It sounds to me like the Callaham assembly - or Raw Vintage saddles offer a way to tweaking the tone in much the same way as swapping pick-ups does. So whether it would be a good idea really depends on how happy you are with the guitar ‘as is’.

John_A

Gadget said:

And how about Wilkinson. I know we're talking a lot cheaper, but are they sub-standard in this company?

They aren't bad, but definitely not a patch on a Callaham.  Push in arms have some slop, not that much but it's there, and they have a smallish cast steel block which sounds a bit thin

impmann

John_A said:

Gadget said:

And how about Wilkinson. I know we're talking a lot cheaper, but are they sub-standard in this company?

They aren't bad, but definitely not a patch on a Callaham.  Push in arms have some slop, not that much but it's there, and they have a smallish cast steel block which sounds a bit thin

You can buy a bigger block version...

The slop mentioned isn't as bad (by a long way) as the Fender unit (even with the easily lost spring) and can be adjusted with an allen key.

My issue with it was that the bar used to pull out in use - or at least pull up. I only use my trems for gentle hand vibrato - think Gilmour/Marvin - and I found that the bar would pull out over time and would need pushing down, sometimes mid gig.

However, it sounded magnificent (big block version) and was really responsive.