FR Titanium Saddle INSERTS (lock blocks) - actually better/durable, or just for show?

[Adieu]

Sick and tired of torn up, uneven, jammy inserts on my old OFR. You know, the little cube things that lock the strings.

Looked up replacements, seems they now only sell the reaaaally dodgy-looking Floyd Special ones for $5, or a Titanium set for $30.

Will it perform? Or just waste money better put towards a Gotoh 1996T ?

Thx.

[jmh151]

Re: FR Titanium Saddle INSERTS (lock blocks) - actually better/durable, or just for s

I've had stock steel Floyd Rose blocks rust up on me in a German made Floyd, making removal and string changing very difficult- the Titanium ones eliminate that happening since they don't rust, so they're an improvement, even over the steel blocks that come in a Gotoh, but if you were intending to upgrade to a Gotoh from a Floyd Rose Special anyway, I would

[Adieu]

Re: FR Titanium Saddle INSERTS (lock blocks) - actually better/durable, or just for s

I've had stock steel Floyd Rose blocks rust up on me in a German made Floyd, making removal and string changing very difficult- the Titanium ones eliminate that happening since they don't rust, so they're an improvement, even over the steel blocks that come in a Gotoh, but if you were intending to upgrade to a Gotoh from a Floyd Rose Special anyway, I would

German OFR, not a Special... Gotoh was the replace option vs. maintaining the old pos, because honestly its quality falls short (corroding and peeling parts, cracked and scuffed inserts) and doesn't much stimulate me to keep paying for more Schaller products

My question was, are the Titaniums more dent/crack resistant too?

[XSSIVE]

Re: FR Titanium Saddle INSERTS (lock blocks) - actually better/durable, or just for s

Yes they're more durable, crack and rust resistant. They'll still get some string indents over time, but less. That said, if a person (not you, just in general) is tightening Floyd string locks screws so much that the blocks crack they're tightening the screws far too much.

[Luke Duke]

Re: FR Titanium Saddle INSERTS (lock blocks) - actually better/durable, or just for s

Forum member Darth Phineas has tried the inserts as well as blocks etc.

Here's his blog

http://darthphineas.com/tag/titanium/

[Adieu]

Re: FR Titanium Saddle INSERTS (lock blocks) - actually better/durable, or just for s

Ordered a set after I ended up having to hammer out the damn things with a sawed-off steel nail

Now it's a day late... presumably...according to an Amazon notification that's timestamped from the future

[BloodRose]

Re: FR Titanium Saddle INSERTS (lock blocks) - actually better/durable, or just for s

When I bought my Charvel Custom, one of the stock blocks was broken. I replaced them all with the Ti ones. Cant tell a sonic improvement ( I dont have Eric Johnson's ears), but I figure they wont rust and wont break like the stock one did. Ive upgraded all the Floyd parts on that guitar with Ti stuff. (all the screws and stuff, not the floyd itself. Dont have that kinda money)

[Adieu]

Re: FR Titanium Saddle INSERTS (lock blocks) - actually better/durable, or just for s

It's kinda annoying... because, while Titanium *IS* ~50x more expensive than cheap crap steel....it actually nonetheless only costs $25 / pound.

[Adieu]

Re: FR Titanium Saddle INSERTS (lock blocks) - actually better/durable, or just for s

Well I finally got em.... look pretty well made, here's hoping they keep their shape

[Adieu]

Re: FR Titanium Saddle INSERTS (lock blocks) - actually better/durable, or just for s

...These are, surprisingly, quite the involved PITA to install!!!

Same tighter tolerances that are their implied benefit also mean that, unless you have purrfect brand new screws, you WILL need to spend some time sanding the tips of your old SS Floyd Rose original screws to fit into the cylindrical openings on the titanium inserts...and carefully reassembling it and verifying they're actually in

[BloodRose]

Re: FR Titanium Saddle INSERTS (lock blocks) - actually better/durable, or just for s

Wow... Mine have all been just drop in.

[Adieu]

Re: FR Titanium Saddle INSERTS (lock blocks) - actually better/durable, or just for s

Wow... Mine have all been just drop in.

Were you watching to make sure the screws mated to the openings? It's apparently how people sometimes get crooked block alignment and then cracked blocks in the first place

And it ain't entirely easy, especially if you've pried off the brass bottoms on especially reticent jammed saddles to extract the old blocks

[BloodRose]

Re: FR Titanium Saddle INSERTS (lock blocks) - actually better/durable, or just for s

Yes, I always try to be mindful of that. I assume thats how the stock one arrived to me broken. Figure orig owner torked it down without being lined up