Guyker Tune-O-Matic Tremolo / Les Trem Clone - Installation & Review!

Is this the best drop-in mod for Tune-O-Matic bridges of all time, or is it a dud? Let's find out!
Parts Used:
Guyker Tune-O-Matic "Les Trem" Clone: amzn.to/3XlkMLE
Guyker Stainless Steel Roller Nut - 43MM: amzn.to/3kejdAO
Guyker Tune-O-Matic Roller Saddle Bridge: amzn.to/3X23wLD
Guyker "Deco" Locking Tuners: amzn.to/3QEZIxl
Musiclily Economy Roto Tuners(Tulip Heads): amzn.to/3GICzWa
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00:00 Intro & Tremolo Overview
03:01 EPIC FAIL!
03:24 Roller Nut, Roller Bridge, and Locking Tuners Overview
05:54 Full Modification Plan
06:38 String Weirdness
07:43 Guyker Tremolo Installation
09:35 Roller Bridge Installation & Stock Comparison
12:14 Locking Tuner Installation
18:29 Stock Nut Removal
20:04 Stainless Steel Roller Nut Installation
22:02 How to String With Locking Tuners & Stainless Steel Roller Nut
23:42 Stainless Steel Nut Height Adjustment
24:34 Strung Up and Ready to Go!
25:17 Sound and Tremolo Test!
28:07 EPIC FAIL 2
28:19 What Went Wrong? Taping the String Ends
29:23 Taped String Test Results
30:45 Sound and Tremolo Test 2: Taped String Ends
34:52 Outro, Final Thoughts, Recommendation, and Conclusion

[@HernanZitoZin]

for the type of deep tremolo you like to do you should get a floyd rose. this dousenberg style tremolo was made for a kind of smooth style of playing. thanks for the very useful video...i think i'll get the roller saddles and see if it works for me. ( my string broke when i was testing the tremolo and went deep diving on it lol)

[@ygurawu-akido-fu2061]

Hi. I made the same changes before you did, but thank you for putting yours on the internet. I love it. I made a few other changes, too. I hope to start a channel in a few months and have a link to your channel.

[@ygurawu-akido-fu2061]

Oh yeah, I know how to stop those strings from popping. Keep rock'n!

[@rayadame5803]

Answered all my questions I’m about to do all that but I was worried it just wouldn’t work I have all the parts in my Amazon cart trying to pull the trigger but I’m still like hmmm idk man lol but thank you for doing all that

[@michaeld.mcclish]

just an idea, try dipping the ball ends in liquid plastic that electricians use, instead of the painter's tape. Maybe that will work to give a little cushion and protection. Also try to really narrow down where the string is breaking, if it's at the tremolo itself, maybe some more Dremmel buffing will soften the edges at each string. Great demo that shows problems and solutions. Thanks. PS: I just watched a video by Deusenberg talking about most asked questions. They mentioned adding a washer underneath the tremolo to raise it up. Maybe the angle is too steep going from the tremolo to the roller bridge. A washer on each side would raise it and and change the angle, making it less stressful on the string. Worth a shot.

[@bradleyhunt936]

Roller saddles are great. I've had an Ovation solid body with a Kahler tremolo for about 20 years. To the best of my memory I cannot recall ever breaking a string at the bridge. The feel is very different when muting but nothing too big to overcome.

[@BigJakeMusic]

I love it so far. I gigged with it and it felt like I went down a string gauge, even though I didn't. It makes it alot easier to play!

[@natearchuleta2003]

Yooooo I never knew ovation made solid bodies!

[@nolanqian6050]

Really great and detailed review, well done mate! I’ve been thinking about buying a les trem since last year & I’m expecting to use the tremolo exactly the way as you were showing. This video really helps, thanks!

[@BigJakeMusic]

Of course, glad to help!

[@thiagoavila5329]

I've just checked old tremolos guys soldering the end of strings. It shoukd reinforce it. There is also some strings eith ball end reinforced to sale.

[@betterl8thannvr]

FYI, latest version of this seems to have rounded off some of the edges, and comes with a heavy and a light spring. Haven't broken the strings yet with my 11 year old hammering on the thing, doing dive bombs, pulling up, etc. we did to a roller bridge and locking tuners, stock bone nut.

[@greg6509]

Just installed an XTrem Stud Mount from Guitar Fetish this weekend. So far I love it and no broken strings😂

[@unknownname6519]

Weil are you diverse bombing it?

[@zAvAvAz]

That is a really cool retrofit. I think it looks awesome and less boring. And the plus despite any drawbacks, it performs it's intended purpose well without losing tone. Aesthetically not pure, yet aesthetically pleasing. The looks are definitely improved for me. I am a thrasher.

[@veedeejoe8440]

You should get some silver bearing rosin core solder and solder from the ball end to where the actual string starts. Either that, or buy strings that are pre soldered. I've had to do that on some Kahler trem guitars I've had over the years.

[@BigJakeMusic]

Thanks, that's a good tip!

[@motorcyclemark2889]

I absolutely love my Les Paul but I'm constantly grabbing my kramar. The neck is like an old friend I love it ! Unbelievable how great the guitar is I can't believe its only $199 guitar the neck feels as good as the new American strategy I owned and picked out of like ten I played .

[@BigJakeMusic]

It’s definitely one of my favorites right now!

[@matthewJ142]

Ive heard if you solder the ball end side of the string to strengthen the wrap so it doesn't break when using the trem

[@monmixer]

lock tight is great, you need a piece of felt under that spring where the trem will hit the body pushing down on it.

[@chrisn527]

So,, the thick string through the ends,,, can you expand just a bit,, Maybe a foto. Thanks Great info piece

[@motorcyclemark2889]

I wasn't expecting you to do anything like this with your new les Paul but it was easy and didn't harm your LP I'll be watching to see how you get along with it . I love my 60s standard I've only had it 3 months its still in brand new condition I don't know if I'm brave enough to work on it yet .. But my new Kramer Beretta special that I've had a week is going to get Eddie stripes in a few days my vynl striping came in from Amazon I bought 3/4 inch black its here still need to order the thin tape probably 8th inch and do the deed .

[@motorcyclemark2889]

I meant to ask you do you think the gyker roller nut you used would be a good candidate for the baretta special ?

[@BigJakeMusic]

Yes, absolutely! I actually intend to install it on my own Baretta Special very soon.

[@Dave062YT]

Thanks I'm definitely not fitting one of these now .When I found out a Bigsby added nearly a pound in weight it put me off and made me look at these but think I'll give it a miss altogether. Did you take it off in the end or stick with it ?

[@dfpguitar]

I actually want a trem specifically to add weight. Mainly because of neckdive but also because I can't get used to how light my SG is.

[@user-nw4bi5ey5v]

If you do not move the roller nut slightly toward the bridge side, the distance from the nut to the bridge will be longer than the normal nut.Of course, the tuning will go wrong. The instructions for the Fender roller nuts also say so.

[@BigJakeMusic]

This is true, but I did move the saddles on the bridge to compensate for that extra difference. I apologize for not showing it here!

[@user-nw4bi5ey5v]

I appreciate your kind reply. That was my misunderstanding. I'm sorry. Awesome video and I enjoyed it a lot. I will not forget to subscribe.

[@BigJakeMusic]

Thank you so much! No need to apologize. It’s absolutely a good tip.

[@thiagoavila5329]

​​@@BigJakeMusicIt should work for strings vibrating freely but once you fret it the tunning will be affected since the distance from fret and bridge will not be correct the intonation of all other frets will be wrong

[@DravenxEyeless]

From what I understand, that's how the Fender one is designed, but the Guyker one is designed in a way that you don't need to do any type of modification on the wood

[@steveatthews3472]

From what I know, installing a bb nut requires cutting down the fingerboard to maintain intonation. Did you do this or is this unit a drop in replacement?

[@richardvanpelt7966]

I solder the ends or so they say A Addario NYXL's are supper wound and don't untie Your problem is the strings are unraveling at the ball ...

[@AM2PMReviews]

I just got one. What is the adjustment for on the middle where the strings go into? I can't get it to return back to stable tuning.

[@BigJakeMusic]

I’m not sure…the documentation on this thing isn’t great. I think that adjustment just holds it all together.

[@mikeykhhung]

The broken string problem probably because the ball ends were not secured upon diving that they will come out and go in to the hole again. Time after time crushed the string that tied the ball ends. That’s why Floyd Rose just use screws to secure the strings in place at it’s bridge.

[@BigJakeMusic]

That is a brilliant insight and I think you may be on to something. This design does not have any force keeping the strings in the tremolo itself, so when pulling down the arm, the strings probably do slip out a bit at the end, and when it snaps back, it might not seat properly and snap!

[@mikeykhhung]

I do repair guitars as a hobby. 😊

[@BigJakeMusic]

@@mikeykhhung I could tell! :P Thanks for the insight, I appreciate it! I've moved on from this and put a fine-tuner tailpiece on this Les Paul, but this vibrato may get a second chance on my SG or Les Paul 100. I'm going to see if I can figure out an easy, repeatable method to solving this design flaw!

[@mikeykhhung]

If you can drill the six retaining counterbores 4mm deeper and tap them with threads and put set screws to secure them. Maybe it would help.

[@BigJakeMusic]

That’s a good idea, I’ll take a look at it and see if I can get it done.

[@ElIsraelJijijiji]

So this guyker is as the same as dussenberg?, i dont mean the quality, im planning to use it as a Vibrato like a bigsby

[@gsalinas1229]

i wonder if you use heat shrink following the sizes per string then see how it sounds.

[@BigJakeMusic]

That’s a great idea! I took this off and replaced it with a fine-tuning stopbar tailpiece. I put it on an SG and threaded a fat string through the ball end of all 6 strings and cut it off at both ends. So far it hasn’t snapped yet! I’ll make a video about it after the SG gets some more road-time at gigs.

[@marsmediapro]

That whammy bar effect sounds great! But, have you considered an Xtrem from guitarfetish?

[@trahtybarahty]

maybe trying some more resistant strings may do the thing, like Paradigm etc

[@BigJakeMusic]

That definitely could help, for sure!

[@matthewotremba9230]

They make a (heat)shrink wrap for wires May help

[@brCharlieNagy]

Does it stay tune real good ,?

[@jonieevangelista]

Hi! how's your guyker tremolo now since january? any negative impression?

[@ElIsraelJijijiji]

I've had mine for about 5 months it's was kind of unstable, I just replaced the spring with a spring I got out from a car

[@Guitarwill83]

Can you help me to know is is there a way to disassembly the tremolo and assemble flipped to fit a lefty hand player?

[@Guitarwill83]

Like flip the base and mount the rest of the pieces over it flipped!?

[@pgman5416]

Not to be that guy, but the nut doesn't affect the fretted notes in terms of tone. That's just the metal frets. You gotta play open notes.

[@jorgehuamanmusic]

I have the duesenberg and goldo branded versions of the Les Trem. The high e breakage thing is an issue on those. My first remedy was using the ball end of a broken string and running the new high e through that. It seems the way the string goes through that ball end prevents it from getting unraveled. I haven't had a string break in about a year with that. The next option is to buy fender strings with bullet ends instead of ball ends. Those have worked great. Another option is, instead of tape, solder your strings near the ball end to prevent unraveling. It's really only an issue on the high e and b. The same problem happens on Jaguar/Jazzmaster trems too.

[@BigJakeMusic]

I ended up putting this on my SG Standard. I ran a string through the ball ends of all 6 strings and it hasn't snapped a string yet!

[@konstandduplessis9576]

Thanks for this review. Do you mind sharing an update? You still using it?

[@BigJakeMusic]

The trem was removed from this guitar; I now have a fine-tuner tailpiece on it and it’s my number 1 guitar. I moved this trem over to my SG and it seems to work a lot better on it than the Les Paul. It’s been on the SG since I removed it from the Les Paul. I found that running a thick string through the ball-ends of all six strings(at the end of the trem tailpiece) prevents strings from snapping for some reason. I’ll make a video about that!

[@ElIsraelJijijiji]

​@@BigJakeMusicsomething like a 10:46 string at all the ends of the strings?

[@Mrdude30]

Well how did the gig go? Did you find a way to make it not break the strings? Let us know!

[@leodanryan966]

I actually just saw this device a couple of days ago. I never heard of one before. I have to say, it looks really weird to see a trem on a Les Paul. I hope you get the issues worked out.

[@BigJakeMusic]

I did gig it, and no strings broke. However, I decided to ditch it due to the strange aesthetic and the fact I had to wrap the strings in tape. I went with a stopbar tailpiece with fine tuners from Guyker. A video about that will be up in a few weeks. So far so good with that one; it's an amazing product!

[@rakbadoodlestv3676]

@@BigJakeMusic use a shrink tube on the string end to protect the ball end from breaking.

[@Lamartian]

I got a Guyker version of the Gibson TP-6 fine tuning stop bar. The slots where the ball end goes are inconsistent, and the D string slot is too small for most strings. Looks like the chrome plating got too thick on a few of the slot pieces, and one has so much extra that ball ends don't fit. Boo! 😢

[@LexMetaller]

for proper intonation with such a nut, you need to shorten the fingerboard by about 3 m so that the centers of the balls are exactly above the previous cut of the nut.

[@ymelfilm]

Isnt it too heavy?

[@Guitarwill83]

I guess the hand stick was turned not the Optimus way, maybe rolling it 180 degrees it would be more ergonomic

[@josephmcguiness6452]

Guitar fetish makes a 50. X trem that mounts like that but no sharp edges. Don’t know if it dive bombs though

[@BigJakeMusic]

Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out!

[@josephmcguiness6452]

Nope

[@guestguide2544]

Did you weigh it?

[@ericsalassaucedo5960]

Ese tremolo es para usarse como bigsby no como floyd

[@rodrigo.sanchez411]

Check in out with heat shrinks to prevent the ballends of the Strings looking more professional. Wenn you not have hot air Gun, you can use a candle ligth for shrinking😉 Happy tremoloing😉

[@oldasrocks9121]

Still have this on? Solder your ball end wraps, that'll solve 85% of your string breakage. Burnish those edges, not file. Use fine wet dry paper first to knock the edges down first, very lightly. Burnishing is not visually dramatic unless you're peeping with a USB microscope. If it doesn't return to zero and the guitar wont stay in tune use a stiff Bigsby or Duesy spring. Locking tuners or luthier's knot, have a tech work on your nut slots. These trems are fine, they just need a little love. And, they have more working throw than a Bigsby, no worries

[@michaelpond6386]

The roller bridge should have done the trick. Roller bridges should always go with any Bigsby style trem.

[@BigJakeMusic]

Agreed. I think there was a finishing issue or sharp edge on mine. Another commenter suggested rolling up some sandpaper and smoothing out all the string retaining holes. I’m going to try that!

[@tenma2485]

can it divebomb???

[@BigJakeMusic]

Yes, but it has a tendency to break strings :(

[@stancoleshill8925]

Nice you bought a roller bridge. Problem (usually is) the rollers may not turn. The pupose of it gets defeated if they don't turn freely. In order to take full advantage of a tremolo, the rollers MUST be free rotating. It will work much better than a regular bridge as the rollers provide a better sliding design being round as oposed to square. At about 29:00 I stopped watching because you don't need tape. There may be a burr or sharp edge where the string passes throught the mount. You shouldn't have to wrap tape around the string to prevent it from breaking. Usually stuff like this that is made in the orient needs to be inspected or modified to work correctly. From an Industrial Millwright Mechanic of 29 years and guitar player of 68 years. Then again, I'm sure if you pull up hard enough the thing will rip the screws from your guitar. There is a point where things become unreasonable and people expect unreasonable expectations. Many factors are involved the major one being the type of person who wants to use one and how they expect to use it. Buy the way, it's pretty hard for any tremolo to span one whole octave. You can't buy that out of a box and bolt it on an expect that. Maybe use a slide ??

[@mothboss]

Yes… the tremolo love is the *only* reason I call you Steve Vai… definitely the *only* reason 😬 *shifty eyes*

[@BigJakeMusic]

🫢

[@johnwilson4564]

She’s a keeper lol

[@Mr.Monster1313]

I wish guyker made this tremolo in a Black color...

[@BigJakeMusic]

Me too, I’d be willing to try it again with the suggestions in the comments here if they made it in black. This silver one is currently on my SG!

[@scottanderson4175]

Whenever I buy a guitar with a bar the first thing I do is hide the bar 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@BigJakeMusic]

I used to do that too! But now I like the option of using it. I can always rotate it down if I don’t wanna use it. It’s just nice to be able to swing it up at a moment’s notice if I wanna use it :)

[@scottanderson4175]

@@BigJakeMusic yeah I have a couple guitars with a tremolo but I hide the bar so I can’t use it lol

[@BigJakeMusic]

I get it! My favorite guitar right now is this Les Paul, and I’ve ditched the trem and installed a stopbar tailpiece with fine-tuners. Sometimes the lack of a trem forces you to be more creative in your playing!

[@scottanderson4175]

@@BigJakeMusic exactly like the guitars with only one pickup 😐 but I love the Les Pauls in any configuration 🥂

[@BigJakeMusic]

Totally agree! My Baretta Special is one of my favorites for that reason. It forces me to create sounds that I otherwise wouldn’t have due to the limitation of not having a neck pickup!

[@jhnkhynjalocon471]

Nail file should work

[@BigJakeMusic]

Thanks for the tip! I actually moved on from this trem and installed a Guyker tailpiece with fine tuners instead. I’ll eventually get a Floyd FRX for it, but the tailpiece works fine for now!

[@chrispfeifer7628]

These tremolos like the Bigsby, they aren't made for the same thing as a Floyd Rose. Flutters, slight drops like a b-bender to tremolo. Dive bombs to never match up to the Floyd

[@BigJakeMusic]

I realize that, and I know that is not the design of the product. As I said in my review, it is a great product for its intended purpose(as it should be!), but I wanted to make a video about it for anyone who was thinking of adding this for more aggressive trem usage. I certainly did not expect it to match a Strat trem or a Floyd in range or use!

[@ryanstark2350]

Yeah, there is no way this is meant for extreme dive bombing. You can’t do this with a Bigsby either.

[@Winstonrodney6989]

@@BigJakeMusic I am intrigued by this product. I have always wanted something that has a touch more responsiveness than a bigsby. It doesn’t have to be much more. Just enough to get my flutters and warbles without so much effort.

[@southernpride2003]

I've done plenty of dive bombs with bigsby style tremolos never had any problems then again I use very light gauge strings

[@nasticanasta]

Actually Gibson makes a lp with a Floyd Rose

[@BigJakeMusic]

Yes they do, but it is unobtainable for alot of people. They are very expensive!

[@rickmarch502]

@@BigJakeMusic Indeed. The Les Paul Axcess FR. I'm lucky enough to have an ebony model. However, the Epi Alex Lifeson Axcess model is considerably less, though only available in one colour....

[@johnwilson4564]

You ever here of the if it works don’t modify it sell one of the your guitars and get a FRXlol

[@globusglobus1391]

)))

[@paulscushschofield1288]

Duesenberg trems are far better and around same price

[@bodi.mp3]

They’re a bit more from what I can see. When I was originally looking to get one, they were even more I think, and sold out pretty much everywhere. I’m sure that the dusenberg is better being the OG, but I ordered one of these cuz I figured it would be worth messing with due to the lower price

[@garynelson56]

Get a real Duesenberg

[@ElIsraelJijijiji]

Not necessarily

[@mwoodlarks3121]

send him 3000 dollars, clown

[@bobbyarthur-yf3yf]

Buy a les trem 2 , instead Of this copy - intention is the keyword here … you want people to invent Like dusenberg did with the les trem in Germany then Dont buy this cheap copy