JB Player guitar

I had to go to do some training at another base over the lunch hour. So I ate lunch afterwards in a strip mall that has a pawn shop.
I went in to see if they had any decent guitars.
Ibanez GIO, Ibanez GIO, Yamaha PAC012, First Act, Fender Affinity, Ibanez GIO...

Then I saw it:
JB Player.

I had a JB Player Professional.

Beautiful guitar, cherry sunburst with a hint of quilted maple at the corner.
Wilkinson trem, roller nut, 24 frets, low action.
Decent tone despite "EMG Select" pickups.
I sold it for two reasons:
1) the trem really didn't stay in tune, even with a tremsetter
2) it started to fret out on the 17th fret of the high E string

I thought about getting a refret, but the trem tuning bothered me.

Later I got a JB Player Sledgehammer. Swamp Ash body, fixed TOM bridge, 2 HBs, great action.
I sold it because I'm an idiot. It wasn't collectible, and I wanted more Hamers and needed some cash. I didn't get what it was worth to me, but an eBay contract is an eBay contract.

So I like JB Players. I was prepared to like this one.

He pulls it out from behind the other guitars.

...white strat copy w/ black pickguard, cool. Rosewood fingerboard.
S/S/S, which is cool...I don't have many of those.

Locking nut.

Kahler Pro trem. Or Kahler Pro copy. Forgot to look closely when it was in front of me.

The bridge is WAAAAAAAAAAY up, though. Not sure why. You can see under the trem, both springs are attached, and I don't see a way to tighten them down.

Price is $99.

We plug it in, and the one string that is close to a reasonable pitch sounds decent. At least it works.

We haggle, agree on $60 + tax, or $63.

It is in the trunk of the car, waiting for my wife to shower to bring into my man cave.

I figure I can't go wrong at that price.

Now I need to learn how to fix Kahler trems...or I get a chance to figure out how to fix Kahler trems. It may need a semi-expensive replacement piece, but at just over $60, I'm not all that worried.

I think I may have found an equivalent to my Challenger, just beat-up white to go with a fairly decent canary yellow.

I hope to have pictures up soon.

Any suggestions/advice on Kahler trems?

somebody say Sledgehammer by JB Player?
just happens that i had this one on the bench for a little work and some new strings, so i popped a couple pics







for starters on the Kahler, you might try some lighter guage strings on it to see if that helps.

or this one maybe?
this one is so smooth to play. sounds good unplugged and smokes when amped up.

JB Players are excellent guitars.
I'm really surprised they don't have a better reputation, something close to the MIK Hamers, at least.

gittarasaurus wrote:or this one maybe?
this one is so smooth to play. sounds good unplugged and smokes when amped up....

Mmmm, Barry like. Kinda Fender Thinline'sh...

Brainfertilizer wrote:...The bridge is WAAAAAAAAAAY up, though. Not sure why. You can see under the trem, both springs are attached, and I don't see a way to tighten them down...Any suggestions/advice on Kahler trems?

Trem bridges generally are a Royal pain to set up (doing one on a Jackson at the shop right now). The usual starting point is to block the trem in proper playing position before stringing up the guitar (either from below or under the bum. The trick is then to apply enough spring tension to balance the strings' pull. When equal, the block will fall out easily. Easier said than done most times, and changing the string gauge messes things up too.

Well, I figured for $60, why not see if I can learn?
If not, I can easily get my money back parting it out.

Brainfertilizer wrote:Well, I figured for $60, why not see if I can learn?
If not, I can easily get my money back parting it out.

Sure 'nuff. Another easy fix to stabilize a "rising bum" is to simply add another spring, or two. And, if you can't be bothered, and you like the guitar otherwise, simply hard tail it and forget about the trem altogether.

and wasn't somebody around here looking for a crackle finish guitar?

JB Player

That is very cool, BF. Can you post a straight on closeup of that trem? It looks like a 2300 series Pro.

Iceman wrote:That is very cool, BF. Can you post a straight on closeup of that trem? It looks like a 2300 series Pro.

It is a 2300 series Pro copy.
No "Kahler" stamped anywhere on it, so I think it is a cheap knock-off of the 2300 series Pro.
As such, I know I won't be able to just slap an extra spring in there.

I read one person who had the same problem on Kahler copy that the copies use inferior metal and a key piece had bent, allowing the rise. I think he bent it back, and it was fine, I'll have to look it up again.

If not, I've been toying with the idea of finding a genuine Kahler, since it is already routed for one...of course, that would quadruple the amount of money I have in the guitar, but hey, why not?

I'll try to get a better picture up soon.

Okay, the problem is that the front band of the trem is bent. You can see it the closeups of the pickups.
That band is the anchor point for the trem springs.
So as that bends out/up, the trem rear rises.

Nothing to do with string tension in a Kahler. The rear was up with the strings completely loosened.

I could see about bending it back in place with a vise and hammer or pliers. But I could get a replacement trem for $164.

Seems a little high for cheap guitar. But that would put the total price of the guitar at just about $225. Which isn't bad for a decent MIK w/ a genuine and brand-new Kahler trem.

Thoughts?

The salient question is: do you use a trem in your playing, or are you just feeling the need to restore?
If you don't need it, then fahgettaboutit and hard tail it and play it.

I am learning to use a trem more and more. I don't have to have a trem on this guitar.
Unfortunately, there is no way to lock the trem down.
And the effort it would take to turn it into a hard-tail is more than the $ cost of just buying a Kahler and slapping it in there.

Brainfertilizer wrote:I am learning to use a trem more and more. I don't have to have a trem on this guitar.
Unfortunately, there is no way to lock the trem down.
And the effort it would take to turn it into a hard-tail is more than the $ cost of just buying a Kahler and slapping it in there.

i have a guild burnide blade with the same tremolo and what seems to be the same problem. the original owner had run a bolt thru the back end of it and bolted it down tight. that is how i used to use it.

then i moved to california, and i had the guitar in it's box for about 10yrs, so when i took it out a couple years ago, i took it to a luthier and he got it all set up and working. i don't know how he did it. but it worked well for only about a year and the same problem was returning; tail up and unstable tuning. so i have been looking for a solution too ...

and solution may be cheaper than what you might think

trade in and trade up to a modern kahler, one that can lock down on demand too!

whammi world

gittarasaurus wrote:

Brainfertilizer wrote:I am learning to use a trem more and more. I don't have to have a trem on this guitar.
Unfortunately, there is no way to lock the trem down.
And the effort it would take to turn it into a hard-tail is more than the $ cost of just buying a Kahler and slapping it in there.

i have a guild burnide blade with the same tremolo and what seems to be the same problem. the original owner had run a bolt thru the back end of it and bolted it down tight. that is how i used to use it.

then i moved to california, and i had the guitar in it's box for about 10yrs, so when i took it out a couple years ago, i took it to a luthier and he got it all set up and working. i don't know how he did it. but it worked well for only about a year and the same problem was returning; tail up and unstable tuning. so i have been looking for a solution too ...

and solution may be cheaper than what you might think

trade in and trade up to a modern kahler, one that can lock down on demand too!

whammi world

Yep. That's what I was thinking. A decent guitar with a brand-new, top-o-the-line Kahler trem for just $225 total? Probably worth it.