is this in any way interchangeable with a floyd rose?

[brilliantmissta]

i'd like to swap this kahler out for a real floyd of any kind. possible? ridiculously hard? not worth it?
thanks!

 

[Cymbaline]

That's a Kahler Spyder. If the post spacing is the same, you'll still have to pull the studs and replace them, since on the Kahler the knife edge is on the stud and the groove is on the trem body, which is the opposite of a Floyd, where the knife edge is on the body and the groove is on the post. And if the post spacing is different, you'll have to fill and re-drill it. In that case, it might be more trouble than it's worth to replace it.

Why do you want to change it? I've got the same Kahler on my MIJ Strat (Probably the same model as yours), and it works great and stays in tune better than any other I've ever used. Parts are hard to come by these days, though. I found a complete unit on ebay once, and bought it just for spare parts.

 

[3 Mile Stone]

Good point Recto.

 

[baimun]

Pulling an old bridge to replace with a floyd isn't that difficult.

Get all the hardware and crap off and out of the way. If there's a brass ferrule in the body, get a machine screw that maches with a big hex head. I have a piece of plywood and a rag that I lay down on the face of the guitar (rag so it doesn't scratch) and the machine screw pokes up through the hole. You put a series of washers down, feed the hex screw through and tighten down with a socket wrench.

As the bolt tightens down, it will pull the stud up and out of the body of the guitar.

Once it's gone, simply drill a hole slightly larger than the original hole, like a 5/8" hole and then glue in a plug with a maple or walnut dowel rod. I generally round off the end of the peg so the tip will hit bottom but the edges of the end won't get stuck.

After the glue dries, use a dremmel to smooth off the top of the plug so it's flush with the body.

Line up the Floyd with both E strings on. check the scale length, check the string to the edge of the fingerboard settings, make your marks for the posts.

Drill, dremmel any clearance necessary for the trem, touch up the paint around the work area, and reassemble.