"Vintage Trem"....is this a Gotoh 1088? Callaham beckons...

[Sir Ricardo]

Hello!

I've got a DTC, # 10-05-98A. The build sheet says "Vintage Tremelo" which is what, a Gotoh? 1088? Mine has 2 mounting holes.

In the spirit of ignoring the adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," I am thinking about getting a Callaham stainless steel block to replace its current zinc block.

But before I do I need to know exactly what trem type this is, so that the replacement block will match the existing bridge.

Any thoughts?

Thanks much,

Richard

[tom]

if it has the raised module where the arm pushes in, it's a gotoh 1055. if it has a screw in arm it is a 1088.

[Sir Ricardo]

Thanks for the information, Tom.

Mine has the raised module/push-in arm, so it's a 1055.

I'm going to try the Callaham block, and see if I can hear a difference.

thanks again -

Richard

[bruce]

Please report back with your findings....put a new set of strings on BEFORE you take apart your old bridge so that it's a truer A/B test.

[Sir Ricardo]

Will do, Bruce.

I've heard such glowing reports about the Callaham block....part of me wonders "is this just pride of ownership speaking, or is there an actual, substantial audible difference...?".....

I'll try my best to do an accurate A/B.

The problem is, I've A/B'd pickups before, and if I am comparing somewhat similar pickups (for example, VAs vs. Fralin VHs), the differences can sometimes sound rather subtle. I think the problem is, by the time I've installed the second set of pickups, I've somewhat forgotten exactly what the first ones sounded like! As in "Ok, I think these have a little more high end, with perhaps a tad less mids...", something like that. Not terribly scientific....

Now, if the pickups are quite different (SAs vs. Voodoo BL-60s), then that is a different matter, of course.

It would be nice if that's the kind of difference I notice when comparing the Callaham steel vs. the Gotoh zinc.

Although the Callaham site makes no mention of the 1055 block, he will make one if you ask him.

Mine should get to me in about a week or so; so by late next week hopefully I'll have something to post.

Cheers -

Richard

[Sir Ricardo]

I just finished my A/B test.

My rough guess is that the guitar is 10-15% louder with the Callaham block.

Beyond that, I can't say at this point.

I followed Bruce's suggestion. New strings prior to swapping the block, and then new strings after the Callaham block was installed.

The essential problem I encountered is this: this DTC guitar sounds so excellent with new strings (rich tone beyond belief), that when I put in the new block, I was sort of saying to myself "Ok, that sounds really great too." I could not detect more highs, mids, or lows, or any particular tonal change or sustain change. I don't know about you folks, but every time I put on new strings, my guitar sounds incredibly alive. So much so, that it is possible that if the Callaham block changes your tone, the tonal change was swamped by the effect of the new strings.

And it is also possible that if I didn't like the guitar so much to begin with, I might have noticed something, a tonal improvement, above and beyond the volume increase.

Having said that, I will say that a 10-15% volume boost is something to be impressed with. The moment I started strumming it with the new block, I said to myself "wow, that is quite a bit louder." I had made sure that the amp (Fender Princeton Reverb II) settings stayed exactly the same for the A/B test, and in fact were not even touched. When I heard the additional volume, I reflexively looked at the amp's volume knob. Then, I realized that I had not changed any of the amp's settings, and it was the steel block that was the sole source of the added punch. Quite impressive.

If anyone is considering doing this, I will say that it is a very easy procedure. The entire block installation process only took about 45 minutes. Just remove the old trem, take the saddles off, and unscrew the 3 screws that hold the zinc block onto the trem. Screw on the steel block, put back the saddles, and screw the trem back onto the guitar. The only downside in doing this is that you need to re-intonate the guitar, due to the removal of the saddles.

All in all, I'm very glad I did this. Perhaps as time passes I will notice a tonal / sustain change. Or not, we'll see.

Cheers -

Richard

[Roy (maybe)]

If you are up for a bit of time-consuming fun, try a blind test. Have someone switch out the block again--or not-- and see if you can tell when it has the new block and when it does not.