Finally pulled the trigger on one of these today. Found it at a local shop. So far I absolutely love it. I have put it through a workout today and have had no problems at all. Just lots of joy playing it. I never thought I would find a guitar that I like more than my EBMM Majesty but..... this may be a contender. Thanks again for the video.
Cool! I'm glad it's working out for you. Tried the a Guthrie MJ at Guitar Center the other day and it was very nice. While it didn't have the trem bar (and was locked to the wall) I couldn't seem to make it go out of tune. Nice to know there's some good ones out there!
Guthrie himself talks about using "nut sauce" as well as the floyd style bridge. I guess there is a reason you still see him use his USA models most of the time. It's definitely just a unique marketing thing, the gotoh 510 has been used for years and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. I love Charvel but there's no denying they make some weird choices sometimes, and their quality control needs drastic improvements
Very similar experience for me: Switch end cap flew off mine until I made a paper shim for it. My bridge was clearly worn a bit when I got it, so I sharpened the blades, lightly filed the pegs to restore a sharp smooth notch and applied lubricants to the bridge and nut. The tuning stability was abysmal before this and now returns within a couple cents, usually less than a cent with the Eddie trick, although I like to do a small wiggle flat and sharp rather than a full dive. There was also a low fret at the 7th fret and generally small deviations on various frets that are noticeable with very low action. I compromised and lowered the 8th fret a tiny amount to spread the buzz out to be manageable and not affect the sound. Frankly I was hoping to get a better product for the cash, but I also saw it as a fun project to get the guitar where I want it. I was already set on installing the tremol-no as soon as I got it so it was never going to be a mint condition wall piece.
Man I wish I had your set up skills! But then again I'd probably have a bunch of "project guitars!" Would love to hear what you think of the axe with the Tremol-no. Thanks for the reply.
@@mundojuillerat Thanks man! The Tremol-no definitely makes the guitar more versatile; I mostly use it to switch between full-floating and locked so that I can e.g. do unison bends and sometimes do drop-D, but the dive-only mode seems to work well also, would come in handy if a string breaks for sure. Ah important note: The Guthrie Govan guitar appears to have a slightly modded old-school Floyd Rose-style bridge, but it does have a large block instead of the small block, so it needs the large-claw Tremol-no. I mistakenly bought the small-claw Tremol-no because it was supposed to fit the original Floyd Rose bridges only to find out on inspection that the Guthrie Govan bridge apparently swapped in a large block. I have some vague memory of that being mentioned somewhere in a demo video but it doesn't seem to be widely advertised. It's a bit tricky to get it installed perfectly so that there isn't any extra resistance on the bridge motion due to the alignment being off. (On my guitar the claw had to have a shallower grip on the bridge block to keep it from rubbing against the body when I did a full bridge-dive.)
Some people have no problem, but it does seem to be a very common "tuning" problem for a lot of people like us. I just posted Part 3 of this series last week and share how I fixed the issue with a Sophia 2:92 tremelo. Check it if you haven't and thanks for your comment!
Skip The Talk: Intro 00:29 My Suhr Workhorse 00:54 What is a workhorse guitar? 01:19 Out of the Box 03:35 Old Charvel Bridge Whammy Tuning Issues 04:12 First Setup with Brandon at MOE Guitars .6:04 Charvel Bridge wear and tear after one week! 06:51 Switching out to a new Floyd Rose non locking bridge 08:25 Why modify a brand new guitar? Why not?! 09:50 Other modifications on my new guitars! 10:19 Other bridges we considered 11:12 More bridge talk and eliminating “binding” 11:26 So is it a ‘Workhorse?” 12:15 Why I need a stable whammy bar 12:28 Why I need it “dead nuts” in tune in an IEM world 13:00 Tuning OCD at my gig 13:47 This is how my Guthrie Govan Charvel sounds and stays in tune today! 14:36 Tremol-No 16:30 Maybe I should’ve bought a Suhr? 17:00
I was researching this tremolo because I want to buy one but I didn't want to have the sad surprise you had. I did some research and found something that might help you keep in tune I found two options: Guitar nubuster which is a locking nut with micro-tuning and seemed to be fantastic but it's expensive. Kahler locking clamp which, as the name says, holds the strings but doesn't have micro-tuning and is cheaper
Great review! I am looking at one of these at my local guitar store. This is very helpful. I don't use the bar much so this may work fine for me. Looking forward to more videos. New subscriber.
Thanks for the Sub! One thing I forgot to mention (especially if you don't use the bar much) is to lock the tremolo down so you can't pull up on the bar- it'll just go downwards- like EVH did to his axes. This should help with tuning as well... I forgot to mention this because I pull up on the bar a lot and locking it down isn't an option for me. A Tremo-No will let you do this and there are other ways to do this.
I have one with the same exact problem. Looking at the foam in the back, that’s designed to mute the strings, I wonder if it is hampering the springs. That might be the problem…but I’m gonna take it to Sweetwater soon, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll be forced to return it. :(
I feel your pain! My Charvel is now in Los Angeles undergoing more changes to get it in tune with the wiggle stick! Don't know when it'll be done but when it is I'll make a third video!
That is such a shame, a guitar that is near 3k has a cheap bridge, you'd think they would use an official floyd bridge. Hopefully you get the issues sorted out on your Charvel. If you do decide to sell it, look into Ibanez AZ2407F, it's cheaper than the charvel, and has to gotoh 510 bridge, stainless steel frets, and the tuning is actually stable. I have the Indonesian version, and it is very stable tuning wise. Also, please do a rig rundown of your Mystere setup!!
Thanks for the Ibanez suggestion! I've had a few rig rundown requests (btw thankyou!) Gotta get a strategy where I'm allowed to have my Kemper recorded while I record my voice on stage. Not to mention if there's enough light on stage ha! There's many things going on all day maintenance crew to rehearsals- but I think it'll be a fun and hopefully informative video. Stay tuned!
I was using gun oil on a floyd and I thought, why not use it in nut slots…and I swear by it…better than anything else I tried and it was just dumb luck!!!!
I've never had problems with tuning stability on mine. G string might go a bit flat when doing regular bends but it's fixed with a quick dive bomb, but that's really been the case with any floating bridge I've used. Bridge performs better than the Gotoh 510 on my DK24. Intonation was also good out of the box. Came with 10s but I use 9s and just adjusted the bridge to float level.
@@mundojuillerat Yeah it's a very comfortable weight. Though I am just a bedroom player so not a huge factor for me. I'll have to take the bridge off next time I change strings and see how the knife edge looks after my 6 months of use, I use it pretty liberally. Good to know that a Floyd will fit without too much fuss if I ever need to replace it though!
The problem with the tuning is probably the nut. That seems to be the only consistent QC issue with these things, Levi Clay recently bought one and the nut was cut so bad the strings popped out of the nut when he did bends.
You will have to change your nut...go for a Delrin nut, which is supa hard and very slippery to not to hold any of the strings after using the whammy bar...
Thanks for this video brodda! I can't believe that bridge failed you like that? that's just not right for that amount of cash? It must be Korean made metal huh? I absolutely love my Pro-mod Dk24. I had some tuning issues with it in the beginning, until I installed some staggered locking tuners and got rid of the string trees. After that, I was astounded how stable it was! As close to a Floyd as I have come with a non-locking system. Don't have to do the jerk-back or nothing...it's just solid. Those necks are to die for as well. Cheers- (subbed ya bro)
Adam good to know yours worked out. I’m still playing mine every night just not touching the wiggle stick! Round three might be in early 2024 change out the nut and try out another bridge!
It's such a nice guitar...I was seriously considering getting one. That 510 Gotoh is so solid tho....I've been looking at some other Japan-made guitars with that same bridge. Have u ever played a Prestige from Ibanez? I really want to try one of those out. I know you'll get that bridge figured out bud. Do u think it would be too difficult to install a 510 Gotoh in the Guthrie model u have? I have an extra one right now lol.... it's brand new. I'm really curious if u think that would work? @@mundojuillerat
@@adamburger858 I'm sure there's a way with possibly routing new studs for most bridges that don't fit the current routing. Most likely will try the Wilkinson bridge which is close in size to the 510
Yes, Wilkinson might be good. Knowing how solid my Charvel is with the 510 in it though? Personally, I would try to find a Gotoh model that would fit in there first, before I went to Wilkinson hunting. Only because it's a Guthrie model you have there, which looks totally bad ass btw. It deserves it ha-ha (too bad I don't live down the street brodda..I would bring my spare 510 over and see what you would be up against? lol) Good luck my friend- @@mundojuillerat
That’s too bad that is happening. I own two GG US and the GG Japan and very luckily have had no tuning issues at all and I use the bars pretty heavily. I did have to return the first Japan one I got from Sweetwater immediately (many issues), but the second one they sent was perfect.
Glad to hear that Doug! I gig with it every night and other than the bar/tuning issue it does fine. And I’m not giving up and getting the bridge dead nuts and dialed in! Are your GG axes light ?
By any chance have you looked into a brass nut? Eddie Van Halen had one in the frankie when it was just black and white. Yngwie Malmsteen still swears by the brass nut. Don’t know if it’ll help but it’s food for thought ☮️✌️
Thanx for the suggestion and yes we've discussed that as next steps... Along with trying a Tremo-No. After we exhaust every possibilities I'll decide whether to change it out for a standard locking Floyd. Then again will that ruin the killer Strat like tones?....Dunno?
I'm in exactly the same place. I play the guitar nightly in the Mystere show and it's solid- but never touch the trem bar! I have been talking to my gtr tech friends about trying a Wilkinson trem bar on it next.... We will have to route new holes for those studs but it might be worth it ha! Thank you for the follow up.
Hi Mundo, I had a tremol-no and that didn't worked AT ALL, to be truthfull... Even was the cause of my tuning problems. I don't know how Guthrie does it 😅🤣🤣🤣
On this vid with the playing examples and showing the tuner I'm pretty sure it's the "Plini" by Neural DSP. Love their stuff and I use it all the time. On the opening vid for part 1 it's a few different Achetype plugins for each guitar.
I have Gotoh in my Suhrs and Strat like greens they are great. Return to zero awesome with abuse. This Charvel didn’t come with a Gotoh but their own bridge-which at least for this one gtr wasn’t not made well. Love the axe and actually found the solution on the Part 3 video.
@@mundojuillerat thanks, I've watched part 3. It's quite a shame that a guitar of this level, at least yours, had this issue. I have cheaper guitars that don't have that problem. My Fender Ultra returns to pitch even after incredible abuse, right out of the box and I didn't need to set it up. After 3 years it remains tune solid. Same for my Ibanez AZ (made in the same factory as this Charvel I believe). Even my Cort has better tuning stability. Just a shame.
A rick rundown would be very nice!!! I have a Charvel USA Flame Maple top. Unfortunately I had problems with the neck this made creaking noises. Fender replaced the entire neck. Actually wanted to get me the Ash USA model. However, I am now a bit more cautious and am just considering the Pete Thorn standard or a Suhr modern plus to get. this is however in Germany just very difficult because no model are available. Do you already have experience and can draw a comparison between the Suhr Modern and the Suhr PT.
I don't have experience with the PT Suhr but have tried one or two without plugging it in and it's made very well. I would think (but can't confirm) that the Modern has hotter pickups compared to the PT. I'm also guessing that the PT Suhr might be able to capture classic rock/vintage tones better? I think the new PT Suhrs have a killer Wilkinson bridge as well?! Might be a perfect workhorse for you, if you don't need the Modern's 24 frets and shred-ability. Thanks for the question and let me know what you decide on?! (would love to know how you like that trem bridge?)
Hi, I just gave mine to my Luthier and will take it back this Friday .. at first, he told me that this kinda system aren't made to make dive bombs as there is not locking nut... and if I use it just with a little bit of tremolo, it's quite OK.. SO he'll adjust the bridge (trying to reach the zero point) and will give a little work on the nut an we'll see.. what's strange is that Ia have a Charvel tele style with goth 510trmolo (non locking at all) and locking tuners and I can dive bomb as I wish, and it stays in tune... (and it cost a Thord of the price of the GG)
Please let me know how it works out for you?! And yes Gotoh really nailed it with the 510. The whammy abuse you can give it is amazing- and it stays in tune. We almost considered that but then would've had to drill new holes to accommodate the Gotoh's spacing for the studs.
@@mundojuillerat ok, so here's the update: the guitar get back from my guitar tech, and it's working... fine for now ! Well, my Tech told me that this system is not make for heavy dive bombs but if you use the term "normally", it should work.. so of course, I have tried Dive Bombs and the result is quite ok, of course if you make 15 dives in a row, you might get a "g string problem"... what is really strange for me is the actual "sound" of the pickups.. they are "dark" or "compressed" to my ears... does it feel the same to you ? If I compare ill all my other guitars, they defenetly sound brighter in comparaison with the GG; Have a nice day !
Interesting about the pickups? I love the sound of mine. Second favorite thing about the gtr. Still haven’t dialed in the bridge and if you noticed on the video I did light to medium tremolo bar action and it didn’t stay in tune.
Dunno if it will help, but I've had a non fine tune floyd since 84 and my trick (for everything actually) is to stretch the living FK out of each string during initial setup. I thought I heard hitching in your nut during a dive and that is a polish the slots and lubricate issue. At least you're not fighting the angles you get with a banana headstock on this one. But anyway, mine stays in tune great with moderate bar use. Works the same on my vintage 6 screw strat also. Now if I'm needing to do lots of dives, I use locking with fine tuners. It just works. One thing that pisses me off tho: these companies selling a 2k guitar with a complete dogshit bridge....wtf Charvel? Dunno if y'all replaced the screw-in part of the studs, but i bet they are shit also.
You’re right about stretching the strings. I could be better but I change strings for the show often that o get lazy. But the strings on the Charvel for this vid were very stretched out during this period. The 6 screw bridge is wicked good. Scott Hendersin abuses his and it’s solid. I’m still playing the Charvel every night and it stays in tune and is solid thru dryness and humidity but still can’t touch the wiggle stick. Not giving up on it tho. The lightness of it is a back saver and it gets great tones. The glow in the dark fret markers actually work as well! Gonna revisit it in January and probably switch out the nut and try a Wilkinson trem bridge. Appreciate your writing this. Thank you!
Have a locking nut installed, it's the correct fix I don't understand why people want a trem without a locking nut it's kind of asking for poor tuning stability isn't it?
Actually my Gotoh bridge on my Suhrs and Ponce guitars are dead nuts for tuning- even with Whammy bar abuse. BUT yes installing a locking nut on this Charvel is not off the table. Gonna revisit this problem in January with maybe the Wilkinson locking trem bridge? Looks like a re-routing for the stud holes... why stop now right! BTW I play the GG Charvel everynight and it's solid in every respect except the wiggle stick.
Have you tried swapping out the springs? Maybe one is defective. Are the tremolo claw screws loose? Maybe need to some wood in those holes to firm them up? Is the neck correctly seated and fully tightened in the neck pocket?
The reason Guthrie (and others) don’t want a locking nut is so he can re-tune to drop D mid-set, do behind-the-nut bends, do compound / country bends and because he finds the locking nut gets in the way.
@@robthorpe5388 yes but in that case why use the floyd style bridge? There is nothing wrong the the Gotoh 510 that is present on basically every single other non locking high end guitar... Guthrie himself used the 510 when he was with Suhr and it was great.
Hey man, I have this guitar as well… love it, but I’m having trouble keeping in tune/fret buzz. Can you list the studs you bought? I’m planning on replacing the bridge as well… great video
I bought new Floyd Rose studs when I bought the Floyd Non Locking bridge. And like the bridge the studs were a perfect fit. Love the axe too and play it every night but still can't use the wiggle stick... But stay tuned we're taking a 3rd (fourth?) crack at it again! Gonna re-check the tuning issue with the Floyd but leaning towards trying out the Wilkinson locking bridge ( the one Pete Thorn uses) !
@@mundojuillerat hey man, update on my Guthrie MJ. Brought it to a proper electric guitar luthier down here in SC. He removed that piece of foam from behind the springs because they were binding on it.... the foam was cut too big and it had deep imprints of the springs on it. He also changed the springs saying that the stock ones were not fitting on the claw properly. Seems to have helped immensely with tuning stability, and it's a cheap fix. Might be worth trying on yours, hope it helps!
@@Guitarpch1 thanks for the update! Yes I'll have to double check but I think I removed the foam. Also it was a personal preference but I changed out the springs because the original springs where very stiff- so they're gone too. My Guthrie is in Los Angeles with a master luthier so get ready for a third parter!
Yes it's a direct replacement and we even switched out the studs with original Floyd studs (which were a direct replacement as well) It really does look great- While it's better than the Charvel bridge it's still not good enough. Will be exploring other options soon. Possibly the Wilkinson bridge?
I am a whammy lover myself and have been tinkering with that for years on my Strats! If you listen very close at around 15:33 you will hear a little "dink", "Ok, no distortion, but you get the idea..." If you hear that little dink when you do a dive bomb something is "hanging, released or stock" somewhere! BTW! Do you know the new Wilkinson "locking saddles"? Pete Thorn is using those on his Suhrs... They should fit Gotoh but I have not done a DEEP check on that! I think that if you buy the complete tremolo "the saddles" are not branded !? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-E1GwzNJCCAM.html
Hey thank you for this comment. Will check it out!! The Wilkinson trem you’re talking about was one of the first options we discussed. Didn’t go down that road because we think it fits a Gotoh spacing/routing but not the Floyd Rose pre existing stud holes. I didn’t want to re-rout new holes…. But…. You never know?!!
@@PeterEgmose May I ask if you think that dink suggests an issue at the bridge or at the nut/tuning machines area? Could it be that the bridge's studs are slightly crooked or not properly aligned?
I do love the actual axe and at this point it's a challenge I want to win ha! (Hopefully soon) I'm going for a Wilkinson trem retrofit for this.... Fingers crossed and stay tuned.
Don't forget this could be an isolated problem from my experience. Others here have commented that they have no problem. I do play these work axes every night and they get put thru the paces.... Would love to know what guitar you end up with?!
wow. 2500 buck signature model, no way worth the money. Definetly low budget guitar with sanme attached to bring the price from around 500 buck into 2500. Pretty dissapointing.
A $2700 guitar with a cheaply made bridge, a crappy selector, and won't stay in tune? That's simply unacceptable. I have no idea why you stayed with this guitar and put in so much effort. You can buy a thousand different guitars for half the price that will perform better.
