X390PW - looks nice

Naaah Hobster.... no one need worry about ducking anyone. At the end of the day someone ended up with a beautiful example of an x390 and paid to do so.

I am sure the new owner is quite proud of his new acquisition, and rightly so. It is a beauty!

Iceman wrote:Naaah Hobster.... no one need worry about ducking anyone. At the end of the day someone ended up with a beautiful example of an x390 and paid to do so.

I am sure the new owner is quite proud of his new acquisition, and rightly so. It is a beauty!

+1

Congrats to the winning bidder. It's hard to put a price on getting what you want.

Hello. I'm the guy that won the auction. I didn't know this forum existed until I started searching around for serial numbers. I had been in the hunt for a Pantera for a long time. I sold a black Alvarez AER100 in 2003 so I could move to California. I didn't know how rare these guitars were back then and even when I didn't know, I was kicking myself. Life happens. I made it a goal that when I got on my feet, I would get the guitar/or similar back. The likelihood of getting an AER100 seems more rare than finding an X390 so I happened upon this auction at the last minute, noticed the old school logo, asked myself when would I see this again, already had the money for such an endeavor and went for it.

The guy I bought it from was very nice and told me about his financial troubles. We were in contact the entire time and was great to deal with.

The guitar looks great. The neck is thicker than I remember, but I had the Alvarez version so I am guessing the neck was thinner. It sure feels solid and is in really good condition considering its age. It is a heavy guitar for sure, but the sustain...and the pickups are definitely hotter than the weak Trevor Rabin one's.

Here is a weird thing...I pulled about the Pantera X750 I have and compared bodies...they are the same size. It appears all they did was move the bridge and widen the neck slot. Go figure.

Anyways, nice to see Pantera fans out there. Peace.

Hey CG! Good to hear from you... I was naturally curious who ended up with it and if they might ever post here about it. Your axe had been the talk of the town 'round these parts just a little while back, as you may surmise by backreading this thread.

Rick was (and still is, I'm sure of it) a very sincere and good guy. I have not spoken with him since around the second day of the auction when he had decided, unhappily I am certain, to allow the auction to go forward. He did not share all of the details with me, but enough that it became clear to me he was remorseful about the agreement we had made, and seemed sincerely desperate to get some financial problems in order. I was able to send a short email of congratulations to him after you won it but never heard back. I am sure he was very happy as he also gave me the feeling he was genuinely unaware of the guitars appeal or rarity.

I had over a dozen photos he had sent which confirm in my mind what a great instrument that is you now are the owner of. Hopefully you can get some pictures up in the member's section someday. I am confident the rest of the guys will appreciate a better look at her.

Congratulations! Hope to hear more of your impressions of that axe and see you around here.

Lucky man, CG, lucky man. Take the strings off, strip her down, and post some pics! Thats a fine investment you have made. You should stick around here, its a pretty cool place , although it just ain't the same without John. Hope his vacation ends soon.

Welcome aboard! We are the coolest guitar forum known to man. And that's pretty much the truth. Pretty much. Yeah, it's not the same without John. France?! Eh, I'm jealous I guess.

We are big on photos and documentation around here. So get yourself a hi megapixel camera, and take some excellent photos for us. That's one nice hunk o' wood you scored there, can't wait to see her!!!

Thanks for the replies. It is good to be here. I will post pics in detail as I love seeing the same from everyone else...once I figure this forum out. I am also going to buy a calipre so I can make some detailed measurements. I have big plans for this guitar. *rubs hands together. No I am not repainting it or anything that will modify it in any way. It is too rare a specimen. I will give you details once I get the ball rolling. I'll take some pics this weekend and I guess make a new thread. Peace.

I'm not allowed to reply to your message. I guess I need more posts. I guess read above then.

Hey CG,

Most of us open a Photobucket account that we send our pictures to and then cut and paste the .img links right into our posts to display them. 800x600 resolution seems to work very well. Hope to see some pics and hear more about your plans when you are ready to share.

Pax

Wow.. and this has the best trem ever.. a Kalher Pro! I'm glad someone here got this!

nasticanasta wrote:Wow.. and this has the best trem ever.. a Kalher Pro! I'm glad someone here got this!

Ever tried a Wonderbar? Curious if your opinion would change if you had not.

Iceman wrote:

nasticanasta wrote:Wow.. and this has the best trem ever.. a Kalher Pro! I'm glad someone here got this!

Ever tried a Wonderbar? Curious if your opinion would change if you had not.

yes and the Kahler Pro beats all... if a string breaks it doesn't effect the other strings I have one on my original USA B.C.Rich Stealth easy to tune...all trems should be like that! Do I own guitars without the KP? yes... but some guitars I wouldn't want to alter or modify, and I have extensive background working with all types of trems, and I like to think I have mastered most all in set-up and maintenance etc. I got a 79 Strat with a stock Fender trem... floating....and it never goes out of tune, ever....i don't play it alot because the frets were just done again and they don't have another in them, I would have to have this re-fretted next time, talk about a "fret-less wonder"! you can barely feel the frets (I've owned it for about 30 years). I learned how to setup Ibanez trems when I purchased several, those are tricky as hell...the saddles sit to far back on those, so when you pull back on it the strings lower and touch the frets with a bad buzz...and raising the strings to accommodate this just makes the action higher which I don't particularly like...i chucked all my Ibanez's sold em all as I got sick of the Wizard II necks and the action I mentioned. The only reason I don't like the Bendmasters is A: it's not a true locking system (what's the point?) B: those little things that hold the strings down would catch on the wound strings and it would go out of tune within seconds of a dive..I didn't have my brand new Pantera 2 weeks before I had it modified with a real Floyd Rose...what a great guitar it was! just a plain old X275 with full EMG's 85/SA/SA, and the Floyd Rose...what a kick ass guitar. I sold that Pantera for a sweet neck-thru ESP MH-250 with a Floyd Rose...killer guitar. I still own my Trevor Rabin Signature and I will never sell that...my fav guitar after my ebony neck 94 Gibson SG

I've never even seen a Kahler in the flesh, so to speak, but have only ever heard good things about them!! nasti, would you take some good close up shots of the one you've got with a desciption of it, please?? I seem to remember that you've got a good handle on what makes a floating bridge good or bad!!

corsair wrote:I've never even seen a Kahler in the flesh, so to speak, but have only ever heard good things about them!! nasti, would you take some good close up shots of the one you've got with a desciption of it, please?? I seem to remember that you've got a good handle on what makes a floating bridge good or bad!!

Thanks I do..and have prided myself in studying every trem i come across. And I will take some pics and post. The KP doesn't use the fulcrum like a FR.

While I agree that the Kahler Pro is the best trem going, it is not without its faults when compared to others.

It would be better if it were double-locking like a Floyd.

It would be better if it had as much movement as a Floyd.

It would be better if you could use a d-tuna or similar to instantly switch from standard to drop tuning.

But the Kahler is extremely well made, sounds good, is accurate, and holds tune well.

Oh Lord, don't get me started on I'veBinHad trems!!
Gotta agree with you Nasti, they're total rubbish.

I had one in the shop last week that drove two of us crazy trying to set it up. In the end I had to "custom fit" a 4th spring in the damn thing to stabilize it and have a fighting chance at tuning the bugger. And that wasn't the first miserable experience with them.

On the other hand FR's and Kahlers are like a walk in the park. But from my experience I think the best of them all currently are the Ernie Ball Music Man bridges. First class construction, small, and solid as a rock. Never goes out of tune. MM guitars are just superb all around with a neck not seen since the Westone Spectrum.

colt933 wrote:While I agree that the Kahler Pro is the best trem going, it is not without its faults when compared to others.

It would be better if it were double-locking like a Floyd.

It would be better if it had as much movement as a Floyd.

It would be better if you could use a d-tuna or similar to instantly switch from standard to drop tuning.

But the Kahler is extremely well made, sounds good, is accurate, and holds tune well.

There is a brand out there you can do this with... it allows you to have 3 different preset tunings, the Hipshot "trilogy" it was made for Tele's and Strats...but I think you could use it on any guitar. That's been a long time ago so they may have other styles.
Also I don't know of any other trems that allow for instant d-tunings so that is a moot point. I get plenty of movement out of it, plus the way it is designed it doesn't matter if it's locking at that end, there's no play as opposed to any other FR type or even that classic Fender stock trem...unless you drill out the string holes in the block so the string ends are closer to the saddles.. that's a key point in making those work better so take note guys. Believe me if it went out of tune alot you'd be hearing me bitch about it...lol, when in fact i can store my guitars as I always do after playing...and pick them up months later and they are still in tune...I rarely have to re-tune when on stage...and I am on every one's ass to be in tune..lol seriously Now I'm not always doing deep dives or any of that..but I do use it alot like Jeff Beck where it's alot of subtle nuances...and nothing is more responsive or smoother than the KP. It honestly doesn't feel like there is any string pull at all..in fact the feel of a KP and FR are worlds apart.

Somebody send me a Kahler Pro and I suppose I'll find time to review it.

Those Kahler's were like turbo's, they were everywhere in the 80's.

The Chad wrote:Somebody send me a Kahler Pro and I suppose I'll find time to review it.

Those Kahler's were like turbo's, they were everywhere in the 80's.

Here ya go...this is on my original USA B.C. Rich Stealth.
[img][/img]

So how does it work?

corsair wrote:So how does it work?

A self contained spring system that doesn't require the pocket in the back for springs...there are 6 individual springs underneath each string, string breaks do not effect the other strings. It pivots on a cylinder a "cam" instead of fulcrums on posts...I have said it before...the fulcrum or Floyd Rose style is worlds apart from this Kahler Pro.. if anything when pulling back.. it lifts the strings as opposed to lowering with a "fulcrum", "knife edge to post" or Floyd Rose type. Ya they are expensive.. but there is nothing like it....now do I have a KP on all my guitars or on all my "trem" guitars? No.. I don't like altering my gear other than real improvement for my way of playing, i.e. crummy pick ups or crummy trems...and since the FR doesn't "suck" I use em, and keep them on my guitars. Here is a pic off the Kahler site, it might give you an idea: (NOTE non-locking trem)
[img][/img]

Yup! That is the identical unit that came stock on my wife's x390. Adjustable to the extreme.

I believe Colt's is similarly stocked but with a different locking unit up at the nut.

If you prefer a REALLY low string height that thing can get you there.