Caparison owners: thoughts on the Schaller floyds?

J.DavisNJ

J.DavisNJ

\m/
Nov 8, 2005
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NJ, U.S.A.
Hey dudes,

I'm thinking long and hard (that's what she said, uh huh, huhhhh), about my next shred guitar purchase. I'm between the ESP Horizon NT-II and a Caparison Dellinger II HGS. No doubt both axes are quality guitars. I've owned a Caparison and Japanese ESP before and can attest to this.

I did not own the Caparison very long. It was an oiled Walnut body that I just couldn't mesh with. I keep telling myself I'm going to stay away from Floyds, but I WOULD like the option as I want to get used to and actually utilize Floyds for what they do best. Little accents and bends ala Evergrey.

Anyway, to the point...

There is a shit ton of debate out there about what the "best" Floyd is. Most say the OFR (which I believe is manufactured by Schaller) is the best, some say all others are crap, some say the Schallers that Caparison are on par with the originals, some say they are crap, etc. etc.

To those that own/have owned Caparisons and OFRs, what would you say? Have the Schallers treated you well?

I plan on installing a tremol-no and brass Floyd block for extra sustain and what not.

James, Dandelium, other Caparison owners, please comment when you have time! There is too much hearsay on the net about these bridges. I'd rather form my opinions from those who have experience with these!

thanks

Joe
 
Let me add that my main concern is the quality of the metals used in the Schaller floyds that Caparison uses. I tend to stay away from the uber-budget Floyds on LTDs and the like, since I had an old MH-300 from around 2001 and that bridge was just garbage, but I refuse to believe that Caparison would use straight up crap for their bridges since the guitar as a whole is built so well.

-Joe
 
Maybe you should consider your choice not from tremolo perspective?
Horizon NT and Dellinger are different guitars - neck-through vs bolt-on.
There is another point to consider - top mount floyd on Caparison, some people don`t like it.
 
Caparison`s floyd is made from quality metal, no doubt. It`s not cheap Takeuchi tremolo.
OFR is also made by Schaller (label "Made in Germany by Schaller" is placed close to arm attachement).
Pricewise Schaller`s floyd is close to OFR.
 
First off, yes the OFR is manufactured by Schaller.

The people at Schaller thought it would make sense to construct some details a little different, to make the OFR even better, so they came out with their own "licensed" version which runs from basically the same lines.

The baseplate on the Schallers is actually (among other things) harder than that on the OFRs, which is one of the reasons why I like the Schaller Floyds the most.

But ITE both are great and wouldn't make or break my decision on buying a guitar.
 
deLuther said:
Maybe you should consider your choice not from tremolo perspective?
Horizon NT and Dellinger are different guitars - neck-through vs bolt-on.
There is another point to consider - top mount floyd on Caparison, some people don`t like it.
Click to expand...

I've definitely considered all of this like a zillion times over! I've been racking my brain over a shred guitar for a long time. The Nt-II has pretty much everything I want in a guitar. I would like a neck-thru, but have had great luck with other tremolos in the sustain department, so I'm sure this can be worked out. The only gripe I have with the NT-II is in the finish department. I would probably go with the poo-burst.

I can see a bolt-on having benefits over a neck-thru too. Easier repair and whatnot.

The Caparison is also more $$$ and has no inlays: boo-urns.

It does look like a really sweet axe though and I did fall in love with the fretwork on my other Caparison.

-Joe
 
slashvanyoung said:
First off, yes the OFR is manufactured by Schaller.

The people at Schaller thought it would make sense to construct some details a little different, to make the OFR even better, so they came out with their own "licensed" version which runs from basically the same lines.

The baseplate on the Schallers is actually (among other things) harder than that on the OFRs, which is one of the reasons why I like the Schaller Floyds the most.

But ITE both are great and wouldn't make or break my decision on buying a guitar.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info slash! Do you happen to know if the steel used on the knife edges on the Schaller floyd (not OFR made by Schaller :loco:) is of the same quality or better than the OFR?

There is so much crap info on the net about this topic. Some say the Schaller saddles sucks, knife edges will "WEAR OUT IN a MONTH11!! OFR IS ZEEE ONLYYYY ONE TO GET11!"

thanks

Joe
 
J.DavisNJ said:
Thanks for the info slash! Do you happen to know if the steel used on the knife edges on the Schaller floyd (not OFR made by Schaller :loco:) is of the same quality or better than the OFR?

There is so much crap info on the net about this topic. Some say the Schaller saddles sucks, knife edges will "WEAR OUT IN a MONTH11!! OFR IS ZEEE ONLYYYY ONE TO GET11!"

thanks

Joe
Click to expand...

Knife edges are extra hardened on the Schaller one, them wearing out real fast is bullshit.

J.DavisNJ said:
Oh and by baseplate, you are referring to the block, correct?

-Joe
Click to expand...

The block and the top. It's made out of zinc.
 
slashvanyoung said:
Knife edges are extra hardened on the Schaller one, them wearing out real fast is bullshit.



The block and the top. It's made out of zinc.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the info dude. Maybe the zinc baseplate would be fine. I've heard many good things about he brass block upgrade for Floyds, but maybe it isn't worth the dough if the zinc is fine.

-Joe
 
A little correction: The baseplate of the Schaller Floyd is definitely zinc but the sustain block might rather be steel. Regardless of what's it's made of, it's significantly heavier than the OFR blocks.
 
I think so, because Caparison`s pickups have wider mounting "ears" (that`s how I called it), wider than EMG.
Basically Caparison pickup (PH-R) don`t fit any of my other guitars where EMG`s fits without any problem.
I think routing with direct mounting is the same like with ring mounting. I tried EMG 85 and 81X in my TAT without any problem, except the need to change pickup ring for standard (with slight modification to ring).
 
deLuther said:
I think so, because Caparison`s pickups have wider mounting "ears" (that`s how I called it), wider than EMG.
Basically Caparison pickup (PH-R) don`t fit any of my other guitars where EMG`s fits without any problem.
I think routing with direct mounting is the same like with ring mounting. I tried EMG 85 and 81X in my TAT without any problem, except the need to change pickup ring for standard (with slight modification to ring).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I only ask because other guitars like my Ibanez RGA121s wouldn't fit the EMGs without modification.

Also I'm concerned if the EMG mounting screws are too thick for the Caparison?

Also, the corners of the pickup cavity are a concern. Gonna try to confirm this on the Caparison forum.

thanks dudes

Joe
 
slashvanyoung said:
Why does it have to be a HGS model, Joe?
Click to expand...

It doesn't have to be necessarily, I just thought the HGS model would be beneficial for downtuning (like they claim), even if it's a slight benefit...considering people have used non-HGS Caparisons for downtuning without issue.

The non-HGS model would have the benefit of inlays though.

-Joe
 
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