The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

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jbat667
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Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

Post by jbat667 » Wed Jan 13, 2010 7:11 pm

yngwie308 wrote:Yeah Warren uses the SD single coils in his Performance guitars, I will have to look it up the exact one, but it may well be a stacked one.. :D
The Snakeskin guitars aren't actually Warrens's guitars, but very similar. Warren has bare wood under the skin, he found that was the best way to maintain the tone transfer between body and neck..
http://warrendemartini.net/forum/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
yngwie308
Yeah, I spoke to Warren once about them, nice guy...he said the first one, the one for the "Lay it Down" video was skin over primer, and while it looked cool as hell (Anaconda skin, IIRC) it "sounded like ass"... :lol: He said the ones over bare wood sound MUCH better.

Will try to find a pic of the Performance block, but already noticing it's seemingly shaped more like a vintage Fender block...I like how the FloydUpgrades ones are just rectangular and HUGE. :mrgreen:

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Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

Post by donbarzini » Thu Jan 14, 2010 6:45 am

jbat667 wrote:Will try to find a pic of the Performance block, but already noticing it's seemingly shaped more like a vintage Fender block...I like how the FloydUpgrades ones are just rectangular and HUGE. :mrgreen:
I've had several of the Performance ones, you will definitely need to take wood out of an existing body to use those. The ones from FloydUpgrades, including the 42mm will work just fine in an existing route.

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jbat667
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Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

Post by jbat667 » Sat Jan 16, 2010 3:50 am

donbarzini wrote:
jbat667 wrote:Will try to find a pic of the Performance block, but already noticing it's seemingly shaped more like a vintage Fender block...I like how the FloydUpgrades ones are just rectangular and HUGE. :mrgreen:
I've had several of the Performance ones, you will definitely need to take wood out of an existing body to use those. The ones from FloydUpgrades, including the 42mm will work just fine in an existing route.

Hmm...if the idea is to add mass to increase sustain...the thought of removing wood from the body...maybe not so much? :roll: Think I'll stick with the FloydUpgrades ones? A couple of my Floyds are recessed, that's as much wood as I'm willing to part with, I think. :lol:

I do LURVES the Performance Snakeskin Demartini Strats, though! I've toyed with the idea of getting/building one, but one of my friends is heavy into PETA (not like I'm anti, mind you) and she says if I do she will hunt me down.. :shock: Always wanted one, ever since the "Lay it Down" video! :mrgreen:

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Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

Post by jbat667 » Sun Jan 17, 2010 11:23 pm

OK, I'm just imagining this baby Big-Blocked...oh, my.

Image

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Tone Slinger
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Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

Post by Tone Slinger » Mon Jan 18, 2010 8:54 am

Oh yeah 8) .

This is great informative stuff, so glad your taking the time to share/inform us. I have piss poor computer skills, but am still trying to share sonic info with you guy's myself.


I liked the sound of the brass, both the original and the upgrade. The titanium sounded a little TOO liquidy type smooth, but still real good. The Brass upgrade had the same tonal charaecter of the smaller original, only a bit bigger and deeper. I will get one for my floyd. Who do you use, www. Floyd upgrades.com ?
Rip Ben Wise (StuntDouble) & Mark Abrahamian (Rockstah)

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Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

Post by jbat667 » Mon Jan 18, 2010 11:10 pm

Yeah, I use FloydUpgrades; tried one and was hooked. :mrgreen: I ended up doing all my Floyded guitars, it makes that big a tonal difference.

I kinda dig the Titanium's "liquid" vibe specifically for leads - I have it on my main "shred-stick" guitar (and going on one more I'm currently revamping) and two Brass in guitars I use more for beefy rhythm playing. Again, not to discount the Brass lead tone at all - I think they're almost equally authoritative, but the Ti has more of an "effortless" sustain. I love them both. :D

Glad you enjoyed the shoot out.

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Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

Post by jbat667 » Sun Jan 24, 2010 4:47 am

OK, soon I get to have some real fun: Re-imagining a Charvel Mutt I built shortly after high-school from parts purchased from a nearby supplier with a Charvel parts deal back in the day. At any rate, decided to swap bodies, am trading out a Maple one for a Northern Ash one (sure, swamp would have been preferable, but the price was right) due to show up next week and now I get to find out which block type works best with this baby.

Fortunately I have a couple of spare black Floyds; going to do a dry run assembly before sending it off for paint, will try the Titanium Big-Block first, but the plan is to have another Floyd with the Brass Big-Block installed at the ready should I decide the Ti is too much in that body...can't imagine it will be, but gotta love options. :mrgreen:

Plus I know from my other Northern Ash body with the Brass Big-Block installed, in the unlikely event I don't dig the Ti in the new one, I'll certainly dig it with Brass. :lol:

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Tone Slinger
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Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

Post by Tone Slinger » Tue Jan 26, 2010 8:38 pm

Sounds like great anticipation,I hope it work's out for you. Have fun with it !
Rip Ben Wise (StuntDouble) & Mark Abrahamian (Rockstah)

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Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

Post by SysCrusher » Sun Jan 31, 2010 8:03 pm

jbat667 wrote:OK, I'm just imagining this baby Big-Blocked...oh, my.

Image

:shock: She's sweet.

I'm itching for a So-Cal now that their back. I always wanted a floyd equipped guitar since the 80's but couldn't get over the thin sound. Without spending to much coin, I decided to get a LTD F-250, I like the look, thinking I'll give it a go again. I was wrong, that damn thin sounding floyd. So I went to every music store just to try their expensive top of the line Ibanez JS models or what ever pricey model I could get my hands on, they sounded thin too. So then I sprung for the brass block, brass claw and noiseless springs to stick in a LTD F-250. I figured I give it this last try, I was determined to have a floyd guitar. Wow, what a huge improvement from stock. The block gave it more sustain and more low end to it and I can feel the body resonate now. Even unplugged it sounds acoustically loud. The noiseless springs got rid of that crazy reverb effect. No more thin sound, even the high end of the neck sounds full and thick. Have no clue about how the brass claw does but I'm sure there is something to it too. It's definitely worth the money and I'll do the same for any floyd equipped I will have in the future. I'm happy!

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Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

Post by jbat667 » Mon Feb 01, 2010 12:17 am

Tone Slinger wrote:Sounds like great anticipation,I hope it work's out for you. Have fun with it !
I am so far... :mrgreen:

Image

Gonna direct-mount the pickups too...Ti block's installed along with FloydUpgrades Stainless Steel hardware, will be getting a Brass claw, the whole treatment! 8)
SysCrusher wrote:Wow, what a huge improvement from stock. The block gave it more sustain and more low end to it and I can feel the body resonate now. Even unplugged it sounds acoustically loud. The noiseless springs got rid of that crazy reverb effect. No more thin sound, even the high end of the neck sounds full and thick. Have no clue about how the brass claw does but I'm sure there is something to it too. It's definitely worth the money and I'll do the same for any floyd equipped I will have in the future. I'm happy!
Glad to hear. I ended up doing the same; every Floyd I've got had to get the upgrade, no ifs, ands, or buts. HAD to be done once I'd heard the difference. Plus all my other Floyd-equipped guitars now sounded anemic compared to the first one I did...couldn't have that... :wink:

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Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

Post by T.L. » Sat Apr 03, 2010 8:03 pm

I'm curious as to whether there could be any electrolysis issues with bolting brass material (or titanium) to steel.

Also; I have absolutely no doubt that a brass or titanium block would change the tone, and that the resulting tone could be desirable to some players, however I have two guitars with Original Floyds, and a third with a Floyd copy, and to my ears, NONE of those guitars sound "thin". The Original Floyds DO have less low-end than my Strat and the guitar with the Floyd copy, but there's still enough, and I have always liked the crispy bright high-end of the Floyds. These guitars have alder bodies and maple necks.

I am tempted to try a brass block though, just to hear the difference. I can't justify the $200 (was $400) for a titanium block though...

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Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

Post by yngwie308 » Mon Apr 19, 2010 1:08 am

http://www.hugeracksinc.com/forum/viewt ... =1&t=67198" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Use Titanium saddles and brass block..
yngwie308
http://www.vintagewashburn.com/Electric ... evens.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.treblebooster.net/bolin.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

Post by bluesguy » Wed Apr 21, 2010 11:27 am

I got one of those Brass Big-Blocks from Floyd Upgrades and while it was a huge tone inprovment, the block sits right up against the inside wall of the guitars trem cavity(a new USA production Charvel San Dimas) causing the Floyd to float off the body, instead of sitting flat against the body. Looks like I have to remove wood in the trem cavity to make clearance for the block, which I don't want to do. The block is the #37 type. I'm confused! :? Jbat667 or anyone, can you help with any suggestions?

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Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

Post by yngwie308 » Thu Apr 22, 2010 1:42 am

None of my top mount OFR guitars have the trem all the way down flat to the body, I always have them raised slightly off the body so the trem doesn't slam against the body when I release the trem bar, just a small amount but all the OFR guitars I have are like this..actually they are parallel to the body with the height of the bridge..
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g219/ ... setup5.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g219/ ... son040.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g219/ ... son009.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Actually on my Gotoh SS 80 Quilt, the bridge is set lower than the OFR on my Chapparal Custom '87 and my other black SS 80.
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g219/ ... 83d9d1.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Hard to tell from that angle but the bridge is slightly off the deck on this guitar.
This one is blurred but show the height better.
I have heard various things about the big block clearance of the trem block route, perhaps the new San Dimas Charvels have a shallower diameter?
yngwie308
http://www.vintagewashburn.com/Electric ... evens.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

Post by SysCrusher » Sun Apr 25, 2010 11:17 am

T.L. wrote:I'm curious as to whether there could be any electrolysis issues with bolting brass material (or titanium) to steel.

Also; I have absolutely no doubt that a brass or titanium block would change the tone, and that the resulting tone could be desirable to some players, however I have two guitars with Original Floyds, and a third with a Floyd copy, and to my ears, NONE of those guitars sound "thin". The Original Floyds DO have less low-end than my Strat and the guitar with the Floyd copy, but there's still enough, and I have always liked the crispy bright high-end of the Floyds. These guitars have alder bodies and maple necks.

I am tempted to try a brass block though, just to hear the difference. I can't justify the $200 (was $400) for a titanium block though...

Never had a problem with electrolysis but I think that would only be a problem in a high moisture environment.

As for the tone, I always thought the floyds we're thin sounding at least for the hard rock/metal sound I was after. The low end wasn't to bad but the picking at the higher notes always sounded to tinny. I believe the original floyds had a brass block. Most come with that cheap metal block.

For a traditional bluesy strat sound, Nothing beats the old stamp steel bridge with a steel block. That crispy snappy tone is just part of that style in my opinion. Anything else is just blasphemy.

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