NGD, USA Charvel w/ 22 Frets!!!!

[diablo175]

Decided I needed a D-Tuna equipped shredder for them drop- D tunes, so I got me one. Found a nice '09 USA San Dimas in good shape w/ a flat-mounted OFR and haggled for an acceptable price. Personally, I'm a little put off that he didn't go for the deeper reduction due to it lacking a proper 24 frets and a reversed head stock.  

It just landed today. Needs a bit of a set up to go with a D-Tuna but was pleased to note the previous owner swapped out the stock Korean 1000 Floyd for a German OFR!!!  

 

Edited September 19, 2025 by diablo175

[scottcald]

But it's already in the proper color.  That has to make up for at least one fret.  🤣

[diablo175]

9 hours ago, scottcald said:

But it's already in the proper color.  That has to make up for at least one fret.  🤣

No exaggeration- that's precisely why it was considered in the first place.

 

[Bennyboy-UK]

It’s looking really nice. I’ll be interested to see if you miss the two frets or not! And if you find the neck pickup tone much different you all the 24 fretters!

[topekatj]

I always wondered what the SD Trembucker sounded like. Enjoy!

 

[Travis]

Nice score!  Toss a mongoose in the bridge of that thing and let ‘er rip!

[diablo175]

16 hours ago, Bennyboy-UK said:

It’s looking really nice. I’ll be interested to see if you miss the two frets or not! And if you find the neck pickup tone much different you all the 24 fretters!

My recollection of the other slime green San Dimas I had years ago was that the neck p'up (a '59, if I recall correctly) sounded absolutely killer! I've not found any on my 24 (or more) fret axes that sounded as good. I haven't been as impressed with this one either, but I only had a quick, cursory test ride this AM. 

[diablo175]

Mods on the Charvel SD are almost complete. New trem posts, a trem block, the D-tuna, and a new OFR push-in arm assembly. Waiting for a kill switch volume pot to come in.

I have run into 2 problems: the screw on the trem stop makes for noisy stops. Not thrilled w/ the metallic "clank" I hear when the block makes contact w/ the trem stop screw as the bar is returned to level, quickly. That screw needs something like a rubber tip to mitigate or eliminate that sound.

 

The bigger issue is my D-Tuna does not move fully to E. I'm in the midst of trouble shooting the problem but everything I've read online or watched on YT has not yielded a solution.

[RobB]

I used a couple wraps of electrical tape around the Floyd block where it contacts the screw.

Can’t help you with the D tuna. I’ve never set one up.

 

[scottcald]

What about one of these?

https://reverb.com/item/34091962-tremolo-stopper-stabilizer-for-floyd-rose-style-bridges-nylon-screw

[diablo175]

12 hours ago, scottcald said:

What about one of these?

https://reverb.com/item/34091962-tremolo-stopper-stabilizer-for-floyd-rose-style-bridges-nylon-screw

Many thanks! Just placed an order for one last night. 

[Dave Scepter]

15 hours ago, scottcald said:

What about one of these?

https://reverb.com/item/34091962-tremolo-stopper-stabilizer-for-floyd-rose-style-bridges-nylon-screw

Unfortunately, that's gonna break when you least expect it to 😫

Nylon gets brittle over time, and the pressure of a brass block will snap it~

[diablo175]

13 minutes ago, Dave Scepter said:

Unfortunately, that's gonna break when you least expect it to 😫

Nylon gets brittle over time, and the pressure of a brass block will snap it~

I'm also looking into some home remedies- the felt pad for a snooker/pool cue, glued to the right spot on the block, plasti-dip the tip of the screw, even a heavy rubber band around the block might work if the clearance is there.

 

Edited September 22, 2025 by diablo175

[Dave Scepter]

48 minutes ago, diablo175 said:

I'm also looking into some home remedies- the felt pad for a snooker/pool cue, glued to the right spot on the block, plasti-dip the tip of the screw, even a heavy rubber band around the block might work if the clearance is there.

 

Or a small piece of leather "old belt" glued to the block?

Edited September 22, 2025 by Dave Scepter

[Hackubus]

Those push in Floyd snug fit collars are awesome! 

Try cutting a small square piece of the soft fuzzy pedalboard velcro (the loop side?) on the block to soften the landing of the blocker screw.

[RobB]

15 hours ago, diablo175 said:

Many thanks! Just placed an order for one last night. 

Try adding a second nut the claw side of the Allen screw. Keeps the screw stable. 

Edited September 23, 2025 by RobB

[scottcald]

If the nylon thing doesn't work, maybe one of those Black Box stabilizers.  Aren't they supposed to allow D-tuna use?

https://www.fu-tone.com/product/tremolo-black-box/

Or simply a couple squares of gaffer tape. 

Edited September 23, 2025 by scottcald

[diablo175]

44 minutes ago, scottcald said:

If the nylon thing doesn't work, maybe one of those Black Box stabilizers.  Aren't they supposed to allow D-tuna use?

https://www.fu-tone.com/product/tremolo-black-box/

Or simply a couple squares of gaffer tape. 

Squares of gaffers tape sound good.

I won't buy anything from fu- tone. Ever.

 

[scottcald]

2 hours ago, diablo175 said:

Squares of gaffers tape sound good.

I won't buy anything from fu- tone. Ever.

 

They're available elsewhere.  Just curious, what's the beef with FU?  

[RobB]

16 hours ago, RobB said:

Try adding a second nut the claw side of the Allen screw. Keeps the screw stable. 

Sorry, I see that the nut is on the claw side. Try putting one on the block side of the allen screw. Makes the connection rock solid.

[diablo175]

1 hour ago, scottcald said:

They're available elsewhere.  Just curious, what's the beef with FU?  

Adam and his snake oil products have never really sat right with me. For starters, he isn't really offering anything novel or ground breaking other than his allen wrench tipped arm. His products are all slightly rehashed version of existing tech- his trem is essentially the Gotoh 1996T, almost down to the screws. No crime in that- lot of companies offering competitive, alternative or similar products. He was charging almost $250 + for his baseline trem without a locking nut. Gotohs are $120- $150. Again, not a crime but...

But what really annoyed me were reports of some shady AF marketing efforts- supposed recording artist endorsements which weren't really on the up and up. Read about it years ago in the JCF Online forum. There were also reports of products being substandard in quality. I certainly wasn't thrilled with my FU Tone trem. Sold it before it got much use. I think he's got that issue worked out but I just don't fully trust him and I'm not particularly sold on his wares. YMMV. 

[scottcald]

Ah, haven't ordered but a couple things from him (blocks and saddle inserts).  The FU trem, to me, resembles ones on some of the old Peavey models.  Don't know who made those, but I'd guess that's who's making the FU models.   Like this Peavey one:

https://reverb.com/item/938427-peavey-wolfgang-floyd-rose-lic-evh-tremolo-chrome-double-locking-guitar-bridge

Edited September 24, 2025 by scottcald

[Travis]

4 hours ago, scottcald said:

Ah, haven't ordered but a couple things from him (blocks and saddle inserts).  The FU trem, to me, resembles ones on some of the old Peavey models.  Don't know who made those, but I'd guess that's who's making the FU models.   Like this Peavey one:

https://reverb.com/item/938427-peavey-wolfgang-floyd-rose-lic-evh-tremolo-chrome-double-locking-guitar-bridge

The old Peavey Wolfgang licensed Floyd bridges were made by Ping Well out of Taiwan. Look for a “PW” on the block.