The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

jhale667

jhale667

New member
Since over the past year and a half I've become addicted to FloydUpgrades Big-Blocks of both the Brass and Titanium variety, one of the questions I'm invariably asked is "What do they sound like? What are the differences?" Well, sometimes verbal descriptions fall short; something has to be heard to be truly appreciated, if not felt. It wasn't enough to merely tell someone how much either of them kicked ass over the standard, you really have to hear it and decide for yourself. Telling people even my DRUMMER noticed a difference was a head-turner, true :lmao: - but I wanted to document it once and for all.

BigBlockTestday.jpg


So I decided, since I had all three types lying around (I use the Brass and the Titanium as different flavors for different applications now, and have the originals as paperweights), I have Pro Tools and am only moderately afraid to use it ;) I'd throw together my own sonic shoot out of sorts. I decided to use my Koa Warmoth Strat as the test-bed for the experiment, since she has the most even tone of all my Floyd-equipped guitars.

First order of business was to reinstall the original (eww) standard 37mm block for the "reference riff/MP3". After slapping back on the standard, I recorded two sample riffs, one slightly dirty and one balls out to get a feel for their individual characteristics in regards to open chords, palm muting, and overall dynamics. For this test I used PODfarm and Recabinet - a Marshall Plexi and Soldano emulation both running into the same Recabinet "Green 4x12" with a single 121 mic emulation. I'd then repeat the process with the other two block types- same emulations, same settings, same guitar - different block each time.

Here's the riff(s) with the Standard block:

SoundClick artist: Jay's Gearwhore - page with MP3 music downloads

Once that was done, I also took the opportunity to install the FloydUpgrades Brass Spring Claw and Noiseless spring set for the two "upgraded" riff examples, as I wanted to illustrate the full tone-freak Floyd Rose overhaul process.

clawandsprings.jpg


Those were quickly swapped out, then it was on to the Brass Block. Here's how that one went:

SoundClick artist: Jay's Gearwhore - page with MP3 music downloads

You can tell in that clip the low end is now seemingly boosted, and the tone is fatter overall. Gone is the dreaded Floyd Rose "thinness" players long complained of, and note transfer seems to have improved as well. The mids seem thicker and the highs seem to have been warmed up as well, without becoming screechy. There's also a noticeable increase in sustain. Definite UPgrade.

Brass alone is impressive, (and one could certainly live with it) but - if you really want to go tonal crackhead with it, Titanium IS the push over the cliff. It is more like Brass' evil cousin. Everything Brass does, it seems to do "one louder". The sustain increase is most dramatic, making notes seem to jump off the fretboard...there's something more... aggressive about the highs too, but it's not at all harsh...check it out:

SoundClick artist: Jay's Gearwhore - page with MP3 music downloads

So now at least no one has to ask me to tell them what the different advantages of the blocks are now...you can hear them for yourselves... :)
 
Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

Thanks for posting the clips. :beerchug:

I might get a Titanium block if I ever get another FR guitar.
 
Hope it helped.

Hope it helped.

Got_tone? said:
Thanks for posting the clips. :beerchug:

I might get a Titanium block if I ever get another FR guitar.
Click to expand...

Glad you like. :friday: Titanium is definitely my favorite, but one thing's for certain, I won't own another Floyd-equipped guitar that doesn't have some form of Big-Block installed, be it Brass or Ti...:cool2:

The Koa Warmoth Strat has the Titanium block currently installed and I've got 3 more with Brass Big-Blocks installed as well...can't recommend it enough. Thinking those 3 will be getting the Brass claws as well... :scratchch
 
Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

EXCELLENT comparison. Am very impressed with presentation and explanation of what you're doing. Nice guitar (nuno style, perhaps?) and again, what you've done is a service to this forum. +1 for sticky, as a reference to show others (especially new members) that it is in fact possible to improve the resonance / tone of a floyd-equipped guitar.

Addenda: why not get the Floyd stuff like the string locks, the nuts, the stainless lockscrews, saddlescrews, etc., and see if the increased robustness of the parts yields better tuning stability? (This is a serious inquiry... do the harder / more corrosion resistant parts actually hold tune better.)

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

I like the brass block quite a bit. (Haven't tried the others.) I've got one in this thing here, with an OFR. It's a meaty, ballsy-sounding beast.

DSCN1050.jpg
 
Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

You know what we need next, don't you?

UNOB-FREAKING-TANIUM!

Very audible difference, IMHO. Can we get this for vintage vibs?
 
Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

IMO, I liked the brass Big Block the best- the titanium seemed like a step back towards the stock block
 
Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

jmh151 said:
IMO, I liked the brass Big Block the best- the titanium seemed like a step back towards the stock block
Click to expand...

Okay, so I'm NOT the only one who noticed this. The titanium sounded thin compared to even the stock block.

Now, at the risk of being flamed, I did not hear enough of a difference between the stock and either of the "upgrades." Any difference that I did hear could be had with some minor EQ tweaks anyway. IMHO, money is best spent on better strings...
 
Not gonna flame you, but that last part is just silly.

Not gonna flame you, but that last part is just silly.

eschoendorff said:
Okay, so I'm NOT the only one who noticed this. The titanium sounded thin compared to even the stock block.

Now, at the risk of being flamed, I did not hear enough of a difference between the stock and either of the "upgrades." Any difference that I did hear could be had with some minor EQ tweaks anyway. IMHO, money is best spent on better strings...
Click to expand...

I think the Titanium block does add a little bit more bite to the high end than the Brass, but is by no means as sharp or as thin-sounding as the standard block, IMO.

While I respect the fact you personally can't hear enough of a difference to justify the purchase in your mind, to say you could achieve the same results with "better strings"? No - not quite...and I don't want to have to boost frequencies to compensate for the thin Floyd block, I want them to already BE there! :D


Glad the rest of you like the clips! :)
 
Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

The Brass Block sample sounds the best by far, it has a fatter tone, whilst the Titanium block sounded more trebly and akin more to the stock block. I'm really thinking about checking out the Tungsten blocks, aint much more money than the brass blocks. Thanks for the samples :friday:
 
Thanks.

Thanks.

ganzosrevenge said:
EXCELLENT comparison. Am very impressed with presentation and explanation of what you're doing. Nice guitar (nuno style, perhaps?) and again, what you've done is a service to this forum. +1 for sticky, as a reference to show others (especially new members) that it is in fact possible to improve the resonance / tone of a floyd-equipped guitar.

Addenda: why not get the Floyd stuff like the string locks, the nuts, the stainless lockscrews, saddlescrews, etc., and see if the increased robustness of the parts yields better tuning stability? (This is a serious inquiry... do the harder / more corrosion resistant parts actually hold tune better.)

Jason
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words. :thanks:

Actually, two of my Floyds have Stainless Steel String nut lock bolts and Hardware...I do notice a little more tuning stability there as well...you certainly can crank them down harder, but you have to be careful as you could conceivably crack your string-blocks/nut pads too...I also want to try the Titanium string-blocks FloydUpgrades is now offering.

Num3SSnutclampscrewsm-1.jpg


And this one I'm absolutely going nuts on...

l_dd2059e1b64b4fd18da5e084ae869b2e.jpg


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

Yea, making screws and such stronger than the wood itself causes cracks. It's why machine screws for the neck / body joint have inserts (mine are stainless steel inserts for that.)

Back on topic, I would look at the stringblocks and the locking screws from FU, and getting their stainless steel block screws. I tend to like overengineering things because I figure that if it's more quality than you could need, when you need the extra quality, it's there. (I've had a stock strat block for my AmSpecial crack just by putting 5 springs in). OEM bridges tend to skimp on that in order to provide "value" to the consumer and crank out quantity over quality for the sake of profit margins and whatnot.

As for titanium, I'm not sure it is a step back so much as it is something that focuses the sound / attack in the way a callaham block works in a strat. It is a harder metal, so there will be less "mush / flub" and more string energy actually being transmitted to the pickup, hence more sustain. However, because the block is so hard, it will focus the sound, resulting in two things, a faster attack and the floyd possibly becoming more unforgiving... you'll have fewer places to hide poorly hit notes (due to less flub, faster attack, and a more focused tone). To thos who say that it's a step back, there is something nice about more note definition in both single notes and chords. Unless you're playing in a sludge metal / death metal / doom metal sort of band where sheer LOUD is the name of the game, you want to be able to hear the notes and their definition. Titanium does this by being so hard that notes bloom on sheer resonance. There would also be also the case the titanium saddles would help here as well, their hardness means no string grooves in the saddles for strings to catch and break on.

Oh the joys of upgrading bridges and whatnot... Jhale667, great post, great observations, and once again, thank you for that excellent post. Keep experimenting!

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

Dunno man, I heard the titanium one having the best note separation and definition but, at least in those clips, by a rather small margin whereas the brass big block had a far greater volume and a fuller sound.

It could be the recording or some other variable but of the three I preferred the brass one overall.
However, having the brass in my guitar which oozes sustain and low end and wishing for a little more highs and a tad more note separation I could easily see how in different cases each would have their applications :)
 
Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

that was cool.

i liked the titanium best, its just cool.
 
Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

I've been wanting to try this on my 7 string Floyd. I don't know if their products will retro fit a 7 OFR but we'll find out soon enough.
 
Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

KeeperOS said:
Dunno man, I heard the titanium one having the best note separation and definition but, at least in those clips, by a rather small margin whereas the brass big block had a far greater volume and a fuller sound.

It could be the recording or some other variable but of the three I preferred the brass one overall.
However, having the brass in my guitar which oozes sustain and low end and wishing for a little more highs and a tad more note separation I could easily see how in different cases each would have their applications :)
Click to expand...

I tried to do this as efficiently as possible, so I wanted to be sure I knocked it out in one day ( meaning 3 bridge change/setups) with the same Pro Tools session open the whole time, with the three tracks set up with the exact same Recabinet speaker emulation, and then manually switching between the two reference amp presets in PODfarm while recording each take. That was about as clinical as I could get in a day. ;) But I wanted to eliminate as many "variables" as I could, agreed.

The Titanium is still my overall favorite in this guitar, but I have to say, after adding the Brass claw, I really had a new appreciation for the Brass block in there too...not to say I didn't like it when it was originally installed, but I think the Brass claw transmits a little more of the 'oomph'...:scratchch The Ti block now sounds a little brighter (in a good way) in there than it did with the stock claw, too...:naughty:
 
Re: The great Floyd Rose Big-Block Shootout.

I also found that brass blocks make a huge difference. The Blazer that happened to sound great with the Stratbro90s has a full brass trem (incl saddles and baseplate).

I have a Floyd brass block floating around somewhere but so many projects...
 
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