More mass equals more tone? Bridge questions.

[Nightburst]

Started thinking about this because of the wilkinson tromolo thread.

I've always wondered about those tremolo blocks. Which one is most tonefull?
There's brass, zinc, steel and even titanium blocks available as a direct replacement. Wouldn't a pricey bridge like a gotoh\wilkinson come with a good block included already? Yet they offer branded brass block for a whopping $86.
The titanium one I saw was 300 Euro's!!! wtf?!
With those price ranges, I may asume that the difference is very noticable?

The general consensus would be: mass equals more resonating, sustain and attack thus more tone?
Then why do people rave about lightweight aluminum tailpieces for a LP type guitar? I'm shure it's just different flavours, but there must be a difference that justifies companies to offer them on the afterparts market.
Wouldn't brass make things brighter? Not always desired on a trem equipped guitar if you ask me.

[John_L]

Re: More mass equals more tone? Bridge questions.

Back in the early 90's 50% of people *****ed about PRS using steel block (the whole unit was one piece steel till '95) so he switched to brass now the other 50% ***** about the brass block. Its subjective.

Put bluntly Wilkingson and other are guilty of pandering to peoples search for the next panacea. Putting in a big brass block won't do much compared to a stock fender brass block, it won't make a £300 guitar sound like £3000 guitar. No one who doesn't know it's there will be able to tell it's there.

[Gearjoneser]

Re: More mass equals more tone? Bridge questions.

I think they offer such a wide variety because there are some pretty picky players out there who like to spend money.

In my experience, harder equals brighter, mass equals sustain, and lighweight aluminum equals a more airy/woody tone. Just like pickups, the bridge has a lot of control over tone, and also sustain.

Some player obsess over it. Some players have a mild preference, and most just pick up their guitars, play them, and stop thinking so much about it.

[uOpt]

Re: More mass equals more tone? Bridge questions.

Started thinking about this because of the wilkinson tromolo thread.

I've always wondered about those tremolo blocks. Which one is most tonefull?
There's brass, zinc, steel and even titanium blocks available as a direct replacement. Wouldn't a pricey bridge like a gotoh\wilkinson come with a good block included already? Yet they offer branded brass block for a whopping $86.
The titanium one I saw was 300 Euro's!!! wtf?!
With those price ranges, I may asume that the difference is very noticable?

The general consensus would be: mass equals more resonating, sustain and attack thus more tone?
Then why do people rave about lightweight aluminum tailpieces for a LP type guitar? I'm shure it's just different flavours, but there must be a difference that justifies companies to offer them on the afterparts market.
Wouldn't brass make things brighter? Not always desired on a trem equipped guitar if you ask me.

I happened to test a couple trems lately.

Comparing a 6-point MIJ Fender with a non-magnetic block (presumably Zinc) and a Callaham you will find that the Callaham is more refined, rounder sounding, and the Zinc is harder, more driven. I can see uses where the Zinc actually is better.

A 2-point 2008 MIA Fender is very soft sounding, and not in a good way. What I hear there is the baseplatte wobbling between the endpoints. This is all in literally the same guitar, same strings etc.

I have a full-brass Ibanez 6-point Fender style trem in a Blazer (brass saddles, block, dunno about baseplate) but I cannot interchange it with other trems due to different spacing. This thing sounds really cool, in particular with fatter pickups like the Strabro90s. This guitar with the Strabros is a real head-turner. Sounds not right with SSL1s but who knows what it is.

I have more junk for this testing round (a guitar fetish steel block for the MIJ trem, a Floyd brass block etc) but I need more time.

%%

The light tailpiece in a LP or SG sounds noticeably more sparkly. I didn't end up using them. In the LP it didn't sound like what I think a LP should sound like, in the SG it made a thin guitar thinner.

[Nightburst]

Re: More mass equals more tone? Bridge questions.

My thoughts exactly guys! Thanks for the input.
Finetuning a tremolo equipped guitar can be a tricky thing though!
Would someone have a/b'ed these blocks on the same guitar by any chance?
Just curious...

[Nightburst]

Re: More mass equals more tone? Bridge questions.

My Gibson SG came stock with a lightweight alu tailpiece and I think the bridge is alu too, but the guitar sounds great by itself already. Not thin at all!
I used to have a Epi LP with a gotoh bridge (not alu, don't know the material) which sounded great as well.
If it sounds good, don't mess with it!

[David Collins]

Re: More mass equals more tone? Bridge questions.

"More tone"???

Tone is not a scalar quantity like mass, length, area, etc. I don't know how it can be described in terms of magnitude.

[Nightburst]

Re: More mass equals more tone? Bridge questions.

"More tone"???

Tone is not a scalar quantity like mass, length, area, etc. I don't know how it can be described in terms of magnitude.

That's not what I meant.
Don't read the title only, read the whole thread before you comment please, thank you!

[mrturtle_91]

Re: More mass equals more tone? Bridge questions.

I think the biggest tone difference is between the thin zinc blocks you find on cheap imports compared to a full on brass or steel block. If you've got a good sized block, I wouldn't worry about replacing it.

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: More mass equals more tone? Bridge questions.

Man....can you guys find more ways to not play yer guitars??

[JaySwear]

Re: More mass equals more tone? Bridge questions.

there was a pretty cool youtube video (posted on here somewhere i think) that showed the difference between a charvel before and after a big trem block being added. pretty sure it was a big brass block. there was a noticeable difference in mids or bass, but not as drastic as the almost $100 might suggest. then again it was a youtube video so the audio wasn't the best

[j9fd3s]

Re: More mass equals more tone? Bridge questions.

there was also a thread where someone posted up clips of the same guitar with a few different blocks.

mike