I've been helping a mate refurbish his strat. It's a Japanese built model from around 1985. It's fitted with a Kahler trem which is broken in a couple of places. He doesn't want to shell out a load of cash on a direct replacement (if we can find one). The problem is that the trem is located using two bolts - kind of like the tunomatic/Gibson type of bridge, rather than the more common six screws. I'm after a simple trem that can be locked in place or perhaps more preferrably a fixed bridge (as he never uses the trem). The guitar plays well but hasn't been looked after too well so we're looking at cheaper options. Any suggestions?

Is it a Kahler or one of those Fender System I trems (they weren't made by Kahler, they were made for Fender by Schaller)? Do you have any photos of the bridge? Fender used their System I in say 1985/86 but at some point switched to a Kahler fulcrum trem (and by the end of the 1980s they had switched to the Kahler Spyder Floyd Rose Licensed bridge). Also you can't go by the serial number alone on the MIJs; only the letter means anything regarding the year, not the first digit (for example on an MIJ with an "E5XXXXXX" serial number the "5" right after the "E" is just a random number, and MIJ "E" serial numbers were used from 1985-1990).

It seems like you could turn up any one of a number of 2-post trems that might fit - you would need to measure the placement of the posts and see if anything would line up. If it's a Kahler it will be easier than with the System I since the Kahler was designed to be a "drop in" for 6-screw bridges even though they pivot on 2 posts.

G'day barry_gall, Welcome aboard to the forum .

Mate does it look like this Kahler trem system.

I have pulled this one off of my 76 Strat as pictured and it is now sitting in my parts bin. I am happy to assist you with it if you pm me with what your price thoughts are and location, Cheers.

Here it is.

Cheers for replying fella's

That looks like the same part K. Will PM.

The guitar serial number starts with an E which seems to be around the mid eighties sometime. There's no serial number or model name on the trem - it just says Kahler, made in USA.

I would think that you could find a Gotoh, Wilkinson, or Hipshot tuner that would fit the post spacing of that Kahler; the 2 posts of the Kahler were supposedly the same spacing as the outer 2 screws on a 6-screw trem.

Considering the description like a Gibson tailpiece. Are you sure it isn't one of these.

Nope - it's definitely the one shown in the post above by Kineman. I believe the one that you show there is a slot in replacement for a tunomatic bridge - I used that as description as the bridge has screw in posts like a Gibson rather than the six screws on a standard strat. My duff information I guess - cheers for the suggestions though.

Just making sure Barry. They did those trems as a direct drop in replacement with minimal wood carving for Gibson guitars.
Hey atleast your sure of what you need.