NAMM 2017: Geoffrey McCabe (CSL Sophia Tremolos)

www.vintagerock.com - VintageRock.com's Junkman talks with Geoffrey McCabe (CSL Sophia Tremolos) at the 2017 NAMM Show on Sunday, January 22, 2017 in Anaheim, CA. Captured and edited by Mike Thoman.

[@r.llynch4124]

Best tremolos and fixed bridges anywhere. Worth every penny imo

[@Peterplayingguitar]

I've purchased one of these tremolos for my headless guitar and let me assure you, they are the "bees knees". If you ever dreamed that Evertune bridges had a whammy bar - This is it! The best thing to happen to guitars since the Floyd Rose. My guitar really does stay in tune ALL DAY. Even after regular trem use. I don't do 'crazy stunts' with the trem but I do use it regularily in my playing and yet it totally stays in tune. I'm really impressed. On the down side, they are quite expensive. However they are well made with high quality materials. I can tell this bridge will never wear out or break down. Easy to restring and tune, too. Also they look great. I especially like how they feel when palm-muting - totally smooth and comfortable wth nothing spiky sticking out. Postage was expensive as standard postage isn't an option unfortunately. Only FedEx, etc was available but it was mailed same day as puchase. There were a few hiccups in communication on the website - some product information is confusing and sometimes response to inquiries are within an hour, sometimes same day, and sometimes days. I thought I was being ""ghosted" and one point. But please be patient. He answered all my questions eventually. He explained that it's basically a one-man show and he's quite busy. He even once gave me his number and invited me to call, which impressed me.
This guy is a genius and is constantly improving and refining his builds. He recently sold me a prototype trem (not available on the site yet) that can lock down in place even better than the default style, which was already better than Ibanez / Floyd Rose trems in the first place.
At the end of the day I'm so happy with these bridges, they are worth every penny. Extremely customisable too. Took me a while to dial in how i like it but now it's set up i don't think I'll ever go back to my Ibanez ZR.
Now I've just got to figure out what to do with all my other guitars LOL

[@carner0960]

Those trems are absolutely incredible. You can tell he knows everything there is to know about these as well as floyds. For anyone who doesn't know, Ibanez licensed their floating tremolo through this guy. So, he's been involved with floating tremolos pretty heavily for 30+ years. I HATE dealing with a Floyd, but I actually may try this or the other one that is out right now that looks like it has similar benefits with tuning stability and intonation. I can't remember the name of the other one, though.

[@robbievalentine8239]

This is ducking insane!

[@YashVardhanTanwar]

It pops right out, it doesn't pop out during high performance.... How am I supposed to take that?

[@gateways06]

Amazing.

[@MindsEyeMuseGuitar]

I'm researching these...and I'm not totally understanding what makes them worth the effort and expense of replacing my existing bridges. For example, what benefits does the strat replacement offer over something like a Super-Bee Bladerunner? Does it stay in tune better? And what about the Floyd replacement? Is the main benefit that it can stay in tune if you break a string? I'm curious to know more, but find myself with tons of questions...and their website doesn't explain the practical benefits of upgrading. Can someone full me in?

[@robbievalentine8239]

Mind's Eye Muse first benefit, you can do double stop bends in tune. I.e. On a regular floating them, when you bend any string up (sharp) all other strings go flat. For that reason alone this is dope.

[@marsattacks7071]

I'm looking for a tremolo that stays in tune when you bend down a chord (or when you raise in the case of a floating tremolo). That Sophia tremolo is sophisticated but it misses that ultimate carateristic !

[@jim6442]

Bought one for my Strat. Unfortunately, the strat has a 9 1/2 inch radius neck and the trem is 20 inch radius. There's no way to adjust radius and no shims available. Sent it back and they won't return my calls or emails about a refund. It's unfortunate. It's a cool design. The trem works very well. With all the tech in it you'd think that would have been a major design criteria. The lack of response is what really bothers me. Makes it seem like the company isn't very legit.