Duesenberg Les Trem II Gold TM85G

I wanted to add a vibrato to my DBZ Imperial. For those of you who don't know this guitar; it is a really light and super thin guitar. I had toyed with the idea of adding a trem to the guitar, but most trems require some routing, and taking even more wood out of this guitar would really be impossible. A Bigsby on another guitar got my attention, until I figured that type of bridge might throw my DBZ off balance. I came upon this trem, and I couldn't be happier. Nice action (more or less half a step up and half a step down) and you can use it for subtle movements or less subtle dives and pull ups. Obviously, it's not a Floyd either, but that wasn't what I was after. I should mention that I paired this up with a roller bridge(ABM), since I thought the stock saddles would tear my strings to shreds if I used the trem too much. That might have been a bit overreacted, the break angle of the strings leaving the trem is quite shallow, but nevertheless it makes a nice pair. Installing was really easy. The posts included with the Les Trem were a direct fit to the stock bridge bushings. All in all a great trem for a reasonable price!

Overall a good product. Has a nice, smooth feel, similar to a Bigsby but much simpler and more discreet and stays in tune well. Fitting is simple and doesn't require any alteration to the guitar.

There are one or two design problems though. Firstly the nut that adjusts the tension of the arm, so that it either swings away when you let go of it or stays where it is, is very hard to access without taking off the guitar strings and dismantling the entire unit. Also, because of the nature of the spring position, the tension of the arm is not consistent throughout its movement and its hard to get it exactly how I want it.

Secondly, the arm is held at the correct angle by a small grub screw which needs to be tightened almost to breaking point to stop the arm twisting in its socket under use.

Thirdly, with the arm attached my Les Paul no longer fits in its case and there is no simple way to make it fit without completely dismantling the unit unlike a Floyd Rose etc. where all you have to do is unscrew the arm.

If the manufacturer could address at least the first two of these problems (which shouldn't be too difficult) this would be a five star product.

Overall, this sounds negative but once you get it setup properly it works well and I'd still take it over a Bigsby.

I've got a guitar with nearly every tremolo in the rainbow, but I tried a chrome one and fell in love, so I got a gold one for another guitar. Anytime I want, I can switch it to a different stop tailpiece guitar, without invasive modifications. That's enough for the price, but along with the engineering, you also get the most meticulous and beautiful work with metals on Earth. It is beautiful and combined with it's flawless real purpose, I'm impressed and extremely happy to have discovered them. They are rare as hens teeth here in the states, so I was thrilled to be able to purchase and receive one in such amazing speed. Four days and I was playing guitar with a gold one. Thanks to Thomann from Rolla, MO USA!

Fits like a glow, well, rather like a crown on princess's head. Previously my Lp had a Bigsby B7. It worked well, but I thought it looked bulky. So far the Deusenberg seems to do the job just as well as Bigsby, but it looks slender. Like some elegantly crafted jewl. Installation took about 5 minutes. In this consumeristic world full of useless bling-bling this product really makes sense. Beautiful & alnost perfect.

Unfortyunately after just 30 minutes of playing and whammyng my high e-string will snap. Why? The winding around the ball at the bridge end of the string begins to un-wind itself and soon there is no high e-string. I've tried Earnie Balls, Rotosounds and D'Addarios. It happens all the time. I will try to solder the string winding. If that doesen hold the string, I'll have to go back to Bigsby.