1991 Centaura Question

[Chris_S]

Hi folks. Wow, what a great site!

I just inherited a Hamer Centaura, made in 1991. I need to replace the bridge.

I'm blind, so I can't glance at the pics at the Schaller site. So, can someone tell me which bridge I need, their regular licensed Floyd Rose

http://schaller-guitarparts.de/hp135038/Sc...se_-Tremolo.htm

or the low profile version??

http://schaller-guitarparts.de/hp135039/Sc...-Floyd-Rose.htm

I'll be posting more questions soon, once I get someone to take a pic of this beauty...

Curious to find out the fingerboard wood species, the circuit behind that mini-toggle switch that seems to chop the highs off, etc.

Thanks for any help,

Chris

[KH Guitar Freak]

You'll have to buy the regular bridge as to dropfit the bridge itself...

[sw686blue]

Welcome and love to see pix of the Centaura.

[Doink]

What's wrong with the original Floyd? If the baseplate intonation screw's are crossthreaded (which is common in the old Schallers. The new Schallers have hardened steel inserts), then you can order just a baseplate and put all of the old parts on it. That would save yourself a lot of money.

The low profile version of the Schaller branded Floyd will most likely not fit in the routing. The regular Schaller is what originally came in it. The Original Floyd Rose will probably fit that routing too, as would the Floyd Rose Pro, which is a low profile version of the OFR, but takes up pretty much the same faceprint.

I believe the fretboard is pau ferro, which is a South American derivative of rosewood.

The toggle switch is a midrange booster. I have it bypassed in mine.

[hamerjunkie]

What's wrong with the original Floyd? If the baseplate intonation screw's are crossthreaded (which is common in the old Schallers. The new Schallers have hardened steel inserts), then you can order just a baseplate and put all of the old parts on it. That would save yourself a lot of money.

That`s easier said then done, I have a Diablo with the same problem, and the couple of online places I deal with (Warmoth, Stew-Mac, Allparts) sell everything for a Schaller but the baseplate. I sent an e-mail to Schaller to see if they can tell me who to get one from......

[AdmiralB]

The Original Floyd Rose will probably fit that routing too, as would the Floyd Rose Pro, which is a low profile version of the OFR, but takes up pretty much the same faceprint.

The base plate will fit in the rout, but the clamp screws will overhang the back - won't work.

[Chris_S]

Ok, I'm back, with a pic this time.

http://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/b2aiee

This guitar went through two previous owners that I know of, probably more. I'm noticing different screws dotted around the back plates, and other evidence of lots of tampering/replacing. Besides the bridge needing some work, I've also discovered it buzzes like crazy and unlike most guitars, the buzz does not go away when I touch the bridge, only when I touch the volume or tone knobs. So, I'm going to get my local tech to check out the wiring. Hamers are usually really quiet. The volume has been changed to a push/pull for splitting the humbucker. Nice touch.

Any idea what the pickups are?

I'm guessing since they have plastic housing that they aren't Seymour Duncans that come stock ... from the sound, I'm guessing the bridge is a Di Marzio ToneZone, since it has that spike in the upper mids and a kinda technical/clinical sound... nice crisp attack, but maybe a little muddy in the low end.

Another thing I noticed about the bridge: I don't know if it shows in the pic, but the D string is higher than all others, the saddle for that string might actually be thicker. I don't see any individual height adjustment screws ... are the two screws, one on each end of the bridge, the only ones for adjusting string height on a Floyd?

Overall, I love this guitar ... the neck is really fast, and not as flat as the Ibanez Wizard. The body sits perfectly balanced on the strap, the pickups sound fat, and the intonation is great all over the neck! (that's important to us perfect pitch nerds)

This is gonna be a beauty once I fix it up!

[hamerjunkie]

Okay, a little follow up on my post on here. I e-mailed Schaller about a baseplate, and they told me to send them $20 (cash through the mail, which I was a little hesitant about) and they would send me a baseplate. It was waiting for me tonight in the mailbox when I got home from work. It had the fine tuners on it and had the saddle bolts with it, and is one of the newer ones with the steel inserts under the bolts so it won`t strip out like the earlier ones. Have to give them props for coming through.............

The D and G saddles should be the highest ones on the trem, it should look like steps going down from the middle out on both sides if you are looking at it from the front. I bought a Chappy a couple of years ago where the former owner put pieces of guitar strings under the saddles to shim them up........

[Doink]

Ok, first off, please post a larger picture, especially of the body. It's really hard to tell in that picture what the Floyd and pickups are.

I believe the Centaura came stock with a Duncan JB in the bridge.

For your buzzing problem, it sounds like the grounding lead needs to be resoldered to the trem spring claw. A competent guitar tech will probably charge like $30-$50, or you could buy the supplies for less and do it yourself.

The 2 "big screws" are for adjusting the overall height of the trem. The individual string height is not adjustable with a screw, but rather the saddles themselves are made a different heights.

Ok, I'm back, with a pic this time.

http://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/b2aiee

This guitar went through two previous owners that I know of, probably more. I'm noticing different screws dotted around the back plates, and other evidence of lots of tampering/replacing. Besides the bridge needing some work, I've also discovered it buzzes like crazy and unlike most guitars, the buzz does not go away when I touch the bridge, only when I touch the volume or tone knobs. So, I'm going to get my local tech to check out the wiring. Hamers are usually really quiet. The volume has been changed to a push/pull for splitting the humbucker. Nice touch.

Any idea what the pickups are?

I'm guessing since they have plastic housing that they aren't Seymour Duncans that come stock ... from the sound, I'm guessing the bridge is a Di Marzio ToneZone, since it has that spike in the upper mids and a kinda technical/clinical sound... nice crisp attack, but maybe a little muddy in the low end.

Another thing I noticed about the bridge: I don't know if it shows in the pic, but the D string is higher than all others, the saddle for that string might actually be thicker. I don't see any individual height adjustment screws ... are the two screws, one on each end of the bridge, the only ones for adjusting string height on a Floyd?

Overall, I love this guitar ... the neck is really fast, and not as flat as the Ibanez Wizard. The body sits perfectly balanced on the strap, the pickups sound fat, and the intonation is great all over the neck! (that's important to us perfect pitch nerds)

This is gonna be a beauty once I fix it up!

[KH Guitar Freak]

What's wrong with the original Floyd? If the baseplate intonation screw's are crossthreaded (which is common in the old Schallers. The new Schallers have hardened steel inserts), then you can order just a baseplate and put all of the old parts on it. That would save yourself a lot of money.

That`s easier said then done, I have a Diablo with the same problem, and the couple of online places I deal with (Warmoth, Stew-Mac, Allparts) sell everything for a Schaller but the baseplate. I sent an e-mail to Schaller to see if they can tell me who to get one from......

I'm sure there would be a Schaller parts dealer somewhere in the US. I'm in Australia, and I just got the store to order a single baseplate from the distributor of Schaller...