ANOTHER type of big block?

[SausageofPower]

http://www.floydupgrades.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66&products_id=257

Don't get me wrong, I love my brass block on my Charvel, and I even love my tungsten block on my PRS (pricey, but it did make a difference and let me keep full range of motion on my Floyd)...but copper? I'm not sure how that's gonna sound.

What do you guys think? Who's still waiting for the depleted uranium block? :P

[Trussrod]

There's a lot of copper in brass. I'd try a copper block...

[SausageofPower]

True, but copper is soft isn't it? Wouldn't it absorb vibration as opposed to the harder metals which keep vibration in the strings and increase sustain?

(I may be completely wrong here, I'm not a metallurgist).

[sully]

I believe that brass is pretty soft, too.

[Trussrod]

True, but copper is soft isn't it? Wouldn't it absorb vibration as opposed to the harder metals which keep vibration in the strings and increase sustain?

(I may be completely wrong here, I'm not a metallurgist).

The only way to know what it sounds like is to try it.

[Ward]

Wouldn't it absorb vibration as opposed to the harder metals which keep vibration in the strings and increase sustain?

I may be completely wrong here too, but I don't think the theory behind the big block (and all the other parts they sell) is that they keep the vibration in the strings to increase sustain. I believe the concept is that the big block resonates with the vibration of the strings, and also transfers that to the body of your guitar more fully. Their motto is more mass = more sustain. They do the opposite of keeping the vibration in the strings.

Not quite sure how that relates to hardness of metals and absorbing vibration though

[SausageofPower]

I believe that brass is pretty soft, too.

True, but (depending on what kind of brass, granted) it's harder than copper isn't it?

I may be completely wrong here too, but I don't think the theory behind the big block (and all the other parts they sell) is that they keep the vibration in the strings to increase sustain. I believe the concept is that the big block resonates with the vibration of the strings, and also transfers that to the body of your guitar more fully. Their motto is more mass = more sustain. They do the opposite of keeping the vibration in the strings.

I could have sworn I read something about the point being to keep the vibration in the strings, but I think I'm remembering incorrectly. Here's one quote I found:

Why are density and mass important to sound and sustain? A fixed guitar bridge efficiently transmits string vibration from the bridge to the body through a large contact area but tremolo bridges are limited by a few very small attachment points. A great deal of resonance is lost to the bridge through the tremolo springs because the springs absorb and dissipate vibration very well. This is one of the reasons expensive studio microphones are suspended by springs to isolate external vibrations. A high density sustain block means greater mass which means less string vibration transmitted to the springs and more in the bridge where it belongs.


Soft metals absorb sound and cancel sustain.

Assuming that's correct, then wouldn't a copper block (assuming it is softer than the brass counterpart) be less of an upgrade? In any case, I was just interested to see what others thought and try to see if I understood the concept correctly or not.

[Chad]

I think it's all a crock. I bought and installed four FU brass blocks in four of my OFR equipped guitars. The difference is slight at best and whether it is good or bad is subjective to the listener. Plus, depending on how a guitar is routed it can reduce or eliminate pull up range. Tons of great tones and music were made before big brass blocks came along. IMO, it's just gear minutia thriving mostly because of talk on internet forums.

[Ward]

Interesting, I hadn't read about keeping vibration in the bridge or the springs being the enemy.

I got my blocks from the Floyd Upgrades site, so that's the only info I ever read on it. They talk about your tone chain, and getting the vibration to the body. It says this in the description of the spring claw:

"The signal in your tone chain travels from the string to the saddles to the block to the springs to the CLAW to the claw screw to the body. The weakest link in this chain is the spring claw!"

They make it sound like the springs aren't a problem. But maybe that's because they want to sell the claw, and if the springs are a killer, the claw isn't that important.

I don't know what to believe I bought blocks, but didn't bother with anything else.

[defec]

I wonder if the spring claw stuff is bs or not. Has anyone tried it?

I prefer to dampen my springs so I'm probably killing a lot of the vibrations to the body anyway. I like the blocks that came with the original Floyd Rose/Schaller over the upgrades most of the time. Sometimes, I find that the larger block makes the guitar sound more like brass than whatever wood it's constructed of for my taste. Other guitars it works very well.

[axmann]

It depends. It depends on the block material hardness, density and composition. It depends if the block is made so it doesn't mess with the trem movement of a particular guitar.It depends on surface finish and flatness to mating parts and the correct height, especially if it jags the spring alignment up. It's not always as easy as "bolting" in a mass produced aftermarket part.

[Hellraiser6502]

OK, I always thought the whole big-block/brass-block thing was nothing but HYPE.

I recently bought a guitar with the big brass block and even...a heavy brass spring claw.

My first hand impression is that THESE DO MAKE A NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE!!!! Right off the bat, acoustically it was much more defined , clear and sustainy.

Plugged in.....it was the same and now I'm a believer.

As always, your mileage may vary.

[Chad]

They ought to make an entire guitar out of brass.

Along with a MIC, budget version plated in abalone.

[SausageofPower]

I never thought it made my guitars sound 'brassy' (or 'tungsteny', as the case may be), but I did notice a difference. I didn't A/B it with actual objective analysis via recordings or anything, but my ear detected some difference.

I admit I'm interested in how copper would sound, since I never heard it mentioned as a sustain block material, but not enough so that I would buy one myself. It just sounds like an odd choice of block material.

[axmann]

It is odd.