Tungsten Big Blocks

[Matt_B]

http://www.prorockgear.com/sustainblock-1.aspx

They're cheaper than titanium but about 2.5 times the cost of brass. One plus is they're the same size as the stock OFR block so trem travel isn't affected.

What do any resident metallurgists think of this?

[Hellbat]

My wedding ring is made of tungsten so I know a little bit about it. Basically it's the heaviest affordable metal out there, next to depleted uranium. The blocks will not be machined out of tungsten billet however as it is far too hard to do tool work on. They are going to be molded out of compressed tungsten carbide powder that is shaped under high heat and pressure. I believe these sustain blocks will be very bright sounding as my ring has a very high resonant "ping" to it if I drop it an inch or so.

[Matt_B]

They do state on that site that the tungsten block is brighter. I'm still leaning towards the brass block just for the price alone.

[emperor_black]

Brass is Ghuddd!

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Get the brass because it sounds good.

I would happily try the titanium and tungsten versions if they were given to me for free, however I have to admit that my bullshit detector goes off when a company on the one hand wants to sell me a large chunk of heavy metal (brass) for tone and on the other hand wants to sell me a large chunk of lightweight metal (titanium) for tone.

I mean, it's like Pokemon, you gotta buy them all! WOW!

[emperor_black]

on the other hand, it makes one wonder...with all the gain and sustain in modern day amps what would be the need to get such an upgrade? Yeah your tone could be a tad bit better, but so would turning a knob on an amp. Need more sustain? get a compressor pedal. Yeah it adds noise but when you have a high gain machine, you're bound to use a noise-gate sometime anyway. Not convinced this upgrade is something you have to have. :think:

[Grandturk]

I've got one Floyded guitar that I wish was a little livelier (more lively). I was thinking about a big block for it, see if it makes any difference.

I tend to think most of this stuff is all placebo anyway.

[Matt_B]

Some folks hear things that others don't so as far as different trem blocks being placebos, that's a judgement call for the end-user. I'll buy one and if I hear I difference, I'll keep it in and buy more. If I don't hear a difference, I will probably sell it off.

[Forrest]

All it takes is a controlled experiment...take some wav samples in conditions as close as possible before and after. If there's a difference it should be obvious from the data.