Schaller 456 Review
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I had wanted to try a fine-tuning Schaller 456 bridge on my aluminum neck Kramer DMZ 1000 for awhile. The original 1979-1980 tuners are made by Schaller and are excellent as all Schaller products, but it is only too easy to tune a guitar sharp or flat with headstock tuners alone. I knew that Schaller 456 would be perfect, as the Kramer had originally come with non-finetuning Schaller 455 and I knew the dimensions would be exact, 2-3/32" (53mm). Please note that a neck pocket angle of 1-1/2 to 3 degrees is necessary for proper operation, which was already done to accomodate the Schaller 455 bridge.
Schaller products are unfortunately hard to find in the US, but this bridge is carried by Warmoth Guitar Products for about $70 in chrome.



The bridge arrives at work-- nice solid construction. The saddles rest on the thumbscrews. The bridge comes with everything shown--studs, as well as a cool Schaller screwdriver tool. I blurred out contact info on a friend's business card.



View from the back. Pardon the blurry photo, which was taken with my Nexus One.



The future recipient of the bridge, posing next to a Jackson "Dragon" Dinky..



A closeup of the old Schaller 455 bridge. The saddles had gotten pitted and tarnished with time.br>


The replacement is complete! I like the look and the tuning precision which is instantly evident.



Another view of the bridge replacement. I replaced the studs as well. The sound seems a bit more resonant/chimey now too.



The completed project. It looks great!



Conclusion: Schaller 456 is a high end bridge and tailpiece made in Germany. The bridge looks cool and adds a lot of tuning stability and versatility to an otherwise hard-to-tune guitar. The bridge required no modification and is technically correct for a Kramer DMZ, as some models were found with this bridge. I recommend you go out and buy one!

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