ABM
THE 5400 KATANA STORY
Quick Guide
5400
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* We hereby declare that ABM High Quality German Guitar Parts GmbH has got no rela onship
companies FLOYD ROSE or SCHALLER. „Floyd Rose“ and „Schaller“ are
with Floyd D. Rose, the
trademarks of other companies.
One day in 2010 we brainstormed about how to evolve the classic locking tremolo. Certainly, the Floyd
Rose design is almost perfect and has remained almost unchanged since the late 1970s. But one thing
we have learned at ABM over the last 74 years: Be er is the enemy of good.
First we searched for a more musical material. It should combine a strong basic tone with a lively
overtone structure and long-las ng sustain. We achieved this by milling the complex bridge body from
a single piece of Bell Brass. The assump ons came true and the sustain even increased directly when
playing the tremolo. It was a pleasure to hear how vividly the overtone behavior acted, with strong
fundamental turning into harmonic overtones.
Many guitarists don't like the tremolo arm cap nut loosens so easily. So we designed a tremolo arm
mount that reliably holds the arm with an adjustable DELRIN sleeve. Simply "plug in and play".
The string locking on the classic fine tuner tremolo is not ideal either. The strings tear, since they are
bent almost to 90 degrees in the clamping device. That's why we developed a system which locks the
string flat from above. The strings last much longer this way.
Furthermore, we integrated a height-adjustable saddle design into the ABM 5400. So we can emulate
any desired neck radius easily. In addi on, each saddle can be conveniently adjusted in intona on with
a screwdriver.
It is a well-known issue that the adjustment screws of any tremolo tend to shi during play due to self-
oscilla on. The results are detuning and intona on problems. That's why we added two addi onal
sideward mounted "Saddle Locking Screws" that lock the saddles firmly in place during play.
It is always important for us to produce sustainable products. Every single component of the ABM
5400 is exchangeable and available as spare part.
Spring 2023: The ABM 5400 Katana received a major update. An extended palm rest for even more
playing comfort as low profile version. In addi on, the new version includes a steel block, which offers
more clarity for high-gain sounds. The brass blocks are s ll available as accessories too.
Of course, the current 5400 fits any guitar that has a Floyd Rose Original Rou ng.
All improvements show a en on to detail and feature a high-end product at a very interes ng price.
We hope you enjoy the new ABM 5400 Katana!
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