brass block for shaller floyd?

[scottop1972]

do they make a brass sustain block upgrade for the shaller floyds? i think i have a JT590 trem.

[holycross1]

Yes. The floyd blocks fit the Schaller base plates. Go for it and enjoy the tone upgrade.

[Ward]

I swapped out 3 JT-590s, and they were all the 32mm size.

Most of the blocks have the size stamped into them, so you can either measure it with the trem cavity cover off or take the trem and block out and look for the stamp.

Edit: All three 32mm blocks were on recessed trems.

[adampone]

+1

I just put one on a Schaller Floyd last night. I bought it for a Floyd but the cavity was already cramped and didn't allow room to pull up, so I switched it to a Hamer with the Hamer Floyd made by Schaller. fit just fine. I got mine from hoockey's ebay store and he threw in some stainless steel mounting screws as well. plus, he was about $10 cheaper than some of the online outlets.

I agree with holycross. I discovered these things a month or so ago and I'm working through getting them on most of my guitars. I just paid less than $55 for two of them shipped. more sustain, more resonance, better harmonics... everything a bit clearer.

and Ward is right. if it doesn't say it on the block, just slip a ruler (showing MM) down the back until it stops against the bridge baseplate. sizes are typically 32mm, 37mm, 42mm. my MM Axis is 40mm.

[axmann]

It makes a difference what they are made of. I have found making them that typically the hardest /most dense brass alloy is best. I have tried some semi-sintered metals. Anviloy creates some interesting effects. Un godly dense and heavy. Titanium didn't do shit for me.Hardened tool steel changed some dynamics, but seemed a bit harsh if thats possible. By the way, I have never heard of 'Bell Brass'. I have asked every brass/copper alloy metal supplier I know. They have no clue what that means. Some kind of foundry mix? Nahhh, sounds cool though. Anyways, the blocks do work if made correctly and considered with body woods and electronics used. Some guitars just shine, others not as noticable.

[Trussrod]

By the way, I have never heard of 'Bell Brass'. I have asked every brass/copper alloy metal supplier I know. They have no clue what that means. Some kind of foundry mix?

Bell brass = CA360. A lot of places carry this type of brass bar stock--even eBay has auctions for different size bar stock of it.

Here's a link: http://speedymetals.com/information/material13.html

[axmann]

I don't see anywhere its called "Bell brass" or used for making bells. Looks like a free machining bronze alloy used for a variety of applications.

[Trussrod]

Sellers call it bell brass because it's used in the manufacture of musical instruments.

[adampone]

Bell brass = CA360. A lot of places carry this type of brass bar stock--even eBay has auctions for different size bar stock of it.

Here's a link: http://speedymetals.com/information/material13.html

agreed.

Sellers call it bell brass because it's used in the manufacture of musical instruments.

agreed again.

[axmann]

Thanks guys for the info. I had no idea, or did anyone I spoke to. Never heard anyone refer it. Is it a high hard type alloy, I mean high density and hardness. Have you guys tried any other metals or alloys? I 'd like to here any input. Thanks.

[adampone]

first off, I've spoken with or dealt with several of the places that market brass and titanium and tungsten parts. they are all perfectly nice guys and I've done business with them all. anything I might say is not a negative toward any of them.


I just put some titanium sting lock block insets in a Jackson a few months back... but I did several similar things to it at once. Can't really say if the inserts did all that much to the tone, but they are advertised as being much stronger than the stock inserts, so I feel more confident that I won't be running into problems with them cracking or expanding.

I've talked to a few different companies that make brass sustain blocks. Some of them suggest they've gone through a lot of the other metals that other companies are selling, and they say they prefer to stick with brass... saying it's what players have been going to for all this time and they suggest they don't find all that much of an improvement with the other metals (meaning, they've tried MANY different options before choosing to stick with brass). While the cost of tungsten and titanium blocks are easily both less than $200 right now, you can find brass for around $23 + S&H. And there are places with all titanium bridges or titanium saddles - if I were a touring or recording musician of some note and these places gave me tungsten or titanium rigs for an endorsement deal, you bet I'd take it... but I don't expect to want to pay $795 for titanium saddles and heaven knows what FR wants for an all-titanium bridge.

part of me thinks that the endorsers and the guys that pay all that money are defintely gonna say the stuff rocks. the endorsers get it for free and the guys that pay for it don't wanna look silly for paying for something that makes little improvement. I'm not really seeing any hard data on the results of these other metals. sure, it's easy to see that they are harder and more dense and all that... but let see someone hook up a spectral analyzer or some other testing equipment to give people information they can sink their teeth into. I mean, even Seymour Duncan did that when he made design changes to the rails pups... you can see the graphs of each pup, before and after.

please understand that I'm kinda sorta playing devil's advocate here and am not in anyway casting any doubt on any of the guys that make alternatives to brass blocks. but I totally dig the brass blocks. for the $ they cost and the time it takes to install, it's one of the best upgrades to a bridge you can make.

[Trussrod]

Search the JCF. Someone made recordings with brass and titanium blocks and posted it about a year ago. Most people preferred the brass...

[Trussrod]

Thanks guys for the info. I had no idea, or did anyone I spoke to. Never heard anyone refer it. Is it a high hard type alloy, I mean high density and hardness. Have you guys tried any other metals or alloys? I 'd like to here any input. Thanks.

That information is here: http://speedymetals.com/information/material13.html

[TKEblue]

I watched a youtube video once that of a guy playing with the stock block, titanium, and brass block. The orders of how I thought the sound ranked were: brass, stock, titanium. The titanium sounded kinda crap to me but im sure that its different in different set ups

the brass sounded thicker and warm, the titanium sounded bright and almost brittle, the stock sounded in between.

[axmann]

Man that 360 is soft, 78 on a Rockwell "B" scale., middle of the road brass type density. I talked to a guy today and he said it was used in alot of orchestral band type instruments, horns and such because it was easy to work with because of its softness. Not that it matters. Like I said, I have built them out of many materials. Lots of different tones. I am fortunate to have a vast inventory of almost any type of metal alloys available at work to play around with. Always interesting.