I might be putting a Callaham bridge system on my 1984 Goldstar. Does anyone know for sure which one would fit the Tokai's original hole spacing? Mine doesn't have the original bridge, so I'm not sure what's been done mounting wise, and I don't want to take it apart right now either. If anyone has a proper steel bridge with the Final Prospect bridge pieces I might be interested in that instead of the Callaham.
'84 Goldstar bridge problem
- Thread starter style0
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style0 said:
I am going to sell a Gotoh steel block trem:
Milled steel block, cast saddles, vintage style 6 point mounting, precision base plate with the bevel on the edge of the screw holes, just like the Callaham. The model number is 510TS-FE2. Gotoh have been making them for quite a while so I would guess that this where Callaham got the idea for their bridge...
Only thing you might not like is the saddles are solid ones instead of the vintage style bent metal plate ones, but of course you could could put vintage style saddles on it if you wanted. However some of the improvement you get with this bridge may be due to the saddles. The trem arm is also not vintage style. It was taken from a Japanese Strat so it should be a direct fit for your Tokai. Do your 6 mounting screws look like they've been messed with?
These are pretty much Gotoh's best bridges for Strats, here's some info:
http://www.quest-md.com/tremolo_units.html#EV510T
and some discussion:
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=311785
JohnA
Well-known member
I have a Gotoh bridge on one of my Strat, the spacing is USA standard, from what I remember the goldstars are very slightly narrower, meaning the holes on the Gotoh won't line up properly.
blake375
Well-known member
I had a set of knackered saddles on my Goldie that wouldn't intonate properly and couldn't get the action as high (yes, high!) as I like it. After fruitlessly investigating replacement saddles, I finally replaced the whole trem with one of these: http://www.prorockgear.com/wilkinsonwv6tremolobridge.aspx
The Wilkinson may not be totally vintage accurate, and is too cheap to be compared with a Callaham, but it seems well enough made, fits a Goldie with no redrilling and no misalignment, and I've only broken one string since I installed it over a year ago! You can be quite rough with it too, and it stays in tune - though of course this is related to the overall set up of the guitar, not just the trem.
Anyway, I'm 100% pleased with it, so if you fancy a budget option, it's worth considering.
The Wilkinson may not be totally vintage accurate, and is too cheap to be compared with a Callaham, but it seems well enough made, fits a Goldie with no redrilling and no misalignment, and I've only broken one string since I installed it over a year ago! You can be quite rough with it too, and it stays in tune - though of course this is related to the overall set up of the guitar, not just the trem.
Anyway, I'm 100% pleased with it, so if you fancy a budget option, it's worth considering.
blake375 said:
Interesting, the hole spacing is exactly the same as my Gotoh bridge - 56mm between the centres of the outer holes. And it fits a Goldie you say, can you see if the pivot screw is centred in the elongated hole on the bottom (high E)?
adjieformaggi
Member
I emailed Callaham with a similar enquiry. I actually posted his response into an earlier thread but don't have time to locate it. Anyways, he said that nothing in the range of Callaham bridge assemblies would fit a Tokai because of the string spacing. 
Let me know if you find an alternative solution. The Gotoh sounds like an economical solution but at that price will it really offer tonal improvements over the stock bridge assembly/trem block.
Let me know if you find an alternative solution. The Gotoh sounds like an economical solution but at that price will it really offer tonal improvements over the stock bridge assembly/trem block.
adjieformaggi said:I emailed Callaham with a similar enquiry. I actually posted his response into an earlier thread but don't have time to locate it. Anyways, he said that nothing in the range of Callaham bridge assemblies would fit a Tokai because of the string spacing.
Let me know if you find an alternative solution. The Gotoh sounds like an economical solution but at that price will it really offer tonal improvements over the stock bridge assembly/trem block.
Yeah I remember that thread - the two sizes that Callaham do are 2 1/8 inch and 2 3/16 inch, for Mex and USA Fenders respectively. The Gotoh is in between these two sizes.
You mean the Wilkinson sounds like an economical solution right?
The Gotoh 510 series steel block is a pretty high end tremolo with a $150 price tag.
A
Anonymous
Guest
adjieformaggi said:
What tonal improvements are you hoping for?
Mike
blake375
Well-known member
I found that when I replaced the original trem with the Wilkinson there was some improvement in tone, but I put this down to the fact that I could raise the action high enough to eliminate fret buzz, which I could'nt do with the knackered old saddles. Also the old saddles had quite deep grooves worn into them, especially on the bass side.
The Goldstar sound trem unit is already pretty good - well made with a nice steel block - so I don't think there is much tone improvement to be had, probably even with a Callaham. Functional improvement was what I was after.
The Goldstar sound trem unit is already pretty good - well made with a nice steel block - so I don't think there is much tone improvement to be had, probably even with a Callaham. Functional improvement was what I was after.
stratman323 said:
Compared to the Gotoh vintage type steel block trem that is on all the Bacchus and Momose guitars, there is an obvious improvement with the Gotoh 510 bridge with a milled steel block and cast saddles. The stock Gotoh (GE101TS type) honestly sounded almost muddy in comparison, there was an increase in clarity with the 510, but no added brightness or loss of sustain, in fact sustain was a bit better as well.
I found that for dirty Strat tones the 510 was probably mandatory, but maybe not essential for clean tones, although, the improvement is still worthwhile in many situations.
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