Skyway Trems.

[oz tradie]

I'm looking for more info on these babies ,

If anyone has got their mitts on one before, how do they handle?

Here's the link.

skyway tremolos

Cheers, Stu

[Mattia]

I'm fairly sure David Myka used one on one of his guitars...hopefully he'll chime in.

...actually, I'm sure of it: the picture on the main site (in the banner) is one of David's guitars!

[marksound]

Ayup.

http://www.mykaguitars.com/instruments/051/default.htm

[oz tradie]

I'm fairly sure David Myka used one on one of his guitars...hopefully he'll chime in.

...actually, I'm sure of it: the picture on the main site (in the banner) is one of David's guitars!

http://www.mykaguitars.com/instruments/051/default.htm

It'd be great to get David's perspective on this brand of tremolo . If you're in da house, David.

[crimson guitars]

I've just had a customer ask me to get one on their new custom, she has three already and can't believe the quality and tone.. I'll let you know once the beasties built..

[Myka Guitars]

That is one of my guitars on that site. I really like these trems for a number of reasons. The way these are constructed is very unique. Rick Huff (the designer/owner) calls it a flexure beam. It is essentially a pair of perpendicularly oriented pieces of flexible metal that are attached one end to the base of the trem and the other end to the 'floating' bridge. I put 'floating' in quotes because it isn't really floating at all. There is solid metal to metal contact between the movable bridge component and the base that is anchored to the guitar body. This means two things: 1) there are no wearing parts and 2) there is maximum tone transfer through the trem to the guitar. The other really nice aspect of these is that they are very lightweight. The Skyway footprint is pretty small and the routing that is necessary is also fairly minimal. The springs are underneath the bridge assembly and are attached to the anchored base behind the strings. I think this is why it has so much vibrational energy transfer.

One thing to remember is that this is a vibrato not a dive-bomber. You can get an excellent range but don't expect it to replace you Floyd. I find it perfect for what I do with a trem and my client thinks the same. He has been very happy with the bridge and feels that it has all the qualities of a hard tail bridge with the added flexibility of a vibrato. I agree completely. And they really look great. These are becoming more and more popular with players. I have 3 guitars on order with them right now and a couple more in the planning stages.

~David

[GregP]

Looks great! But with Myka's testimony being the most "information" on the net-- they really need to expand on their website and add e-commerce to it. Or something. More specs and pics would have been nice. Thanks for posting this, though-- it may be exactly what I've been looking for if the price isn't absolutley astronomical. I don't expect a small company with a unique product to offer it "cheap" or even "typical". It's bound to be expensive. But if it's not astronomical....

<sends email>

[oz tradie]

It really does like a trick unit, albeit with little info on it.

All I was able to find on my searches were a few quotes about how good they were and energy transfer.

Thanks for the hands on info, David and Crimson.

Let us know what the damage is on that unit, Greg.

cheers, Stu

[GA Bert]

How about this unit:

http://www.tremking.com/

I have a good friend who is an excellent player and he swears by this unit. Retail is I believe $159.95. He says it's the best tremelo he's ever used. Very fluid feel to it.

[Mattia]

Greg: let me know if you hear anything. I suspect calling would yield better results, as I've emailed them on a few occasions now and have yet to hear back from them.

Bert: my only caveat re: the Trem King is that it's, well, fairly ugly, and I can't see it fitting on anything that's not a fairly trad strat or tele. I can't see myself integrating it into any of my own designs. Maybe a LP junior-ish something, but that's all.

[Myka Guitars]

I still have my office packed away in boxes so I don't have an invoice in front of me but I remember the Skyway being $300-$340 (sorry if I misquoted this). It's money well spent. Giving Rick a call is the best way to get an exact price.

~David

[GregP]

Mattia: yup, so far no response. I'll have to call

Bert: I'm with Mattia-- the guitar I want it for is served by the simple elegance of the Skyway. Trem King does look nifty, though.

Myka: Cheers for that. That's borderline astronomical for a trem. I'll still phone to find out, but my hopes aren't high.

[GA Bert]

GregP, David, Mattia

I agree that it's not the better looking of the two but because I'm an old drag racer I prefer function over form. It's great when you can have both. I guess I'm old school.

David,

That guitar you built is really beautiful. I especially like the "F" holes...brilliant design.

[Mattia]

If I want a cam action, I'd rather get a Khaler, I think. Just as smooth, I'd wager, and nicer looking.

Function is key, of course, but form is also essential in designing a guitar that works on all levels - musical, functional and aesthetic.

[oz tradie]

I remember the Skyway being $300-$340 (sorry if I misquoted this). It's money well spent. Giving Rick a call is the best way to get an exact price. ~David

Ouch !!

Convert that to Aussie dollars and add shipping and it's a no go for me.

Shame, because it looks to be a great piece of whammy-ware.

cheers, Stu

[GregP]

I talked with Rick of Skyway last week. You simply could not ask for a smarter or friendlier guy to talk to, and if I'm remembering correctly (you honestly have no idea how crap my memory can be at times) the whole thing came about because he tried to find a reliable trem and came up short... and so he engineered one that met his needs. He is aware of the somewhat sparse website, and apparently there's an update imminent, but it's not quite ready to go live yet.

The price is currently set at $300, so a bit "ouch" for me, too. He seemed to recognize that the price isn't ideal for everyone, but the fact is that they invested in a lot of custom machinery when outsourcing failed to meet their needs. That's gotta get paid for somehow. When the laws of supply and demand kick in, I hope we'll see a price drop.

In any event, it was a really informative chat, and I got most of the information I needed (primarily the cost). Time rather well spent. If I had $300, I would have complete confidence in handing it over to Skyway for one of their trems. In the meantime, I have to consider my other options again and try to find the best of the rest.

When I typed "skyway trem" into Google, I noticed a hit on this thread, too, if anyone wants to have a peek: http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthrea...6879&page=5

Greg

[rjhalsey]

I talked with Rick of Skyway last week. You simply could not ask for a smarter or friendlier guy to talk to, and if I'm remembering correctly (you honestly have no idea how crap my memory can be at times) the whole thing came about because he tried to find a reliable trem and came up short... and so he engineered one that met his needs. He is aware of the somewhat sparse website, and apparently there's an update imminent, but it's not quite ready to go live yet.

The price is currently set at $300, so a bit "ouch" for me, too. He seemed to recognize that the price isn't ideal for everyone, but the fact is that they invested in a lot of custom machinery when outsourcing failed to meet their needs. That's gotta get paid for somehow. When the laws of supply and demand kick in, I hope we'll see a price drop.

In any event, it was a really informative chat, and I got most of the information I needed (primarily the cost). Time rather well spent. If I had $300, I would have complete confidence in handing it over to Skyway for one of their trems. In the meantime, I have to consider my other options again and try to find the best of the rest.

When I typed "skyway trem" into Google, I noticed a hit on this thread, too, if anyone wants to have a peek: http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthrea...6879&page=5

Greg

Greg,

Take a look at Trem King at www.tremking.com and see if this one might foot the bill. The price point on these is around 112-140 depending on which one you order.

Cheers,

Ralph

[GregP]

The TremKing just isn't going to look right on the guitar I was hoping to use it for. In fact, I wasn't planning to have a trem at all, but the Skyway has the same sort of compact elegance that the Hipshot hardtail has, so I was considering it. Now I'm either back to hardtail (not even Hipshot... just one of those rectangular Mighty Mite things) or Kahler. I know, the Kahler is even wonkier-looking than the TremKing in some ways, but it's a design that resonates with me a bit more.

TremKing would be my first choice on a tele-style guitar, though.