Why the heck is aluminum "better" for sustain?

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Why the heck is aluminum "better" for sustain?

I wonder if magnetic pull or string dampening is really a thing. All the pickups makers will boast that their A2 / tiny magnet designs increase sustain due to less magnetic influence on the strings,.

Stratitis is easy to test for just keep raising all 3 pickups until you start to hear at the very end of the note decay the pickup pull the string out of tune. Was most noticeable with my stock MIJ fender singles and they had to be so close that if you banged the strings hard they would hit the polepieces.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Why the heck is aluminum "better" for sustain?

i m surprised that stuff made of brass did no appearance on this thread so far. Once upon time, everythin supposedly sustained better with BRASS, guitars has all sorts of brass accessories (saddles, entire bridges, sustain blocks, etc.)

When i was a kid the 2nd guitar I ever owned was a used early 80's SG that someone had put a brass nut and a brass bridge and a brass plate behind the tuners.

 

[SJ318]

Re: Why the heck is aluminum "better" for sustain?

What edgecrusher said. When I was 15 in Tacoma we had a guy who had the local market coverrd w/his brass nuts. Problem was, they seemed sticky for some reason a metalurgist would know, plus they made our fingers green back then. I am sure that is fixed, but still, the only place I use brass is in one of my strat blocks, from Killer band, but I can't really tell if it is any better than the metal block that came w/my J.Beck strat.
I also don't think the pull of a magnet makes much diff in sustain unless, as E.crusher mentioned, it is close enough to make that god-awful pulling sound/warble.
DreX makes a good point about pups doing most of the work, and I would know next to zip about sub mechanics of zinc vs. steel. To me all I know is what I read, and give it weight depending on the source it came from. I used to give Mr. Feiten a lot of wieght. I still do, just not about sound transference. I have to think he meant sound preference vs. vibration transference. I've had Lace pickups before and agree w/DreX.
Thank you gentleman. If Buzz ever reads this he'll probably kick my ass. I'll still stick to my view of him being underrated. That first Full Moon album is guitar heaven. Chops and tone. Not exactly top 40 material back then. Musta been '69-'70 maybe.
SJB

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Why the heck is aluminum "better" for sustain?

, plus they made our fingers green back then..

Hah! yeah the bridge would leave this nasty greenish black smear on the side of your hand from palm muting.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Why the heck is aluminum "better" for sustain?

If you like Buzz with Full Moon, you really need to check out his work with keyboardist Neil Larson on his solo albums "Jungle Fever" and "High Gear". Great playing by both men. My favorite "get in the car and drive" music.

Bill

 

[AlexR]

Re: Why the heck is aluminum "better" for sustain?

^ and this is one of the issues with the marketing of a lot of these 'upgrades'. There is often a noticable tonal shift.....but it can be often a backward step if the shift isn't right for the guitar.

 

[SJ318]

Re: Why the heck is aluminum "better" for sustain?

To dystrust, and all,
Do you think the Explorer sounded like sh*t w/aluminum because it was just plain too thin wood wise. I ask 'cause you say your SG used to have a zinc and sounded "good" if I read you correctly, and an SG is thicker that an Explorerer I guess, but not by much. I am getting geared up to do a few shows for the first time in a very long while and my SG was requested. I was about to use an old '50s aluminum wrap around as the Stop piece, but now I wonder if I should just use the heavier STP it came with.
I can't test this stuff out as I live in a condo, thanks to my ex-wife, that b**ch (good thing I am over her). So I will be cranking a Hot Rod Deluxe 40 watter on 5 in the clean channel, any extra gain will come from my few pedals. It is good by itself but the band is freeking loud.
Thanks everyone for a good job chiming in. Any wisdom on the stop tail SG?
SJB

 

[Jethro_Dull]

Re: Why the heck is aluminum "better" for sustain?

Play a well maintained Travis Bean for 2 to 3 minutes and you'll have your answer.

 

[SJ318]

Re: Why the heck is aluminum "better" for sustain?

Thanks, J.Dull,
Have no idea what is on a Travis Bean and never played one, maybe you could just tell me? Thanks for the post though. Edit: I am sure I could find one on the internet, but not sure if the description would have the answer you mean for me to have.
Thanks,
Steve B.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Why the heck is aluminum "better" for sustain?

Play a well maintained Travis Bean for 2 to 3 minutes and you'll have your answer.

Yeah that doesnt answer anything. If the ones ive played before are any indication it would actually muddy the issue.

 

[SJ318]

Re: Why the heck is aluminum "better" for sustain?

With Edgecrusher on this,
Looked it up on many sites, made of aluminum, but had a wood top, other normal features, no mention of bridge material, but the photos look like nickel or chrome hardtails, a whole different animal, that is for sure. So unfortunately, that does not answer my question for my humble SG '61 RI.
Steve B.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Why the heck is aluminum "better" for sustain?

To dystrust, and all,
Do you think the Explorer sounded like sh*t w/aluminum because it was just plain too thin wood wise. I ask 'cause you say your SG used to have a zinc and sounded "good" if I read you correctly, and an SG is thicker that an Explorerer I guess, but not by much. I am getting geared up to do a few shows for the first time in a very long while and my SG was requested. I was about to use an old '50s aluminum wrap around as the Stop piece, but now I wonder if I should just use the heavier STP it came with.
I can't test this stuff out as I live in a condo, thanks to my ex-wife, that b**ch (good thing I am over her). So I will be cranking a Hot Rod Deluxe 40 watter on 5 in the clean channel, any extra gain will come from my few pedals. It is good by itself but the band is freeking loud.
Thanks everyone for a good job chiming in. Any wisdom on the stop tail SG?
SJB

I remembered several things incorrectly when I wrote my post yesterday, so I'm going to try again.

I have both zinc and aluminum tailpieces and they do sound different, but the difference is small. You'll probably only be able to hear it when playing clean, but a lightweight TP improves clarity. They absolutely aren't worth the $100+ that Gibson wants, but if I have both I'll use a lightweight one every time. (Gotoh lightweight TP runs ~$40)

The type of bridge (ABR vs. Nashville) on the guitar makes 5-10x as much difference as the tailpiece. I've tried both types of bridge on three different guitars using adapter posts, and also compared two guitars that were very similar except for the bridge type. This started in 2004 or so when I converted my 2001 LP Standard from the stock Nashville bridge to an ABR-1. The clarity of the guitar improved greatly and low end tightened up as well. This prompted me to try the same conversion on my Explorer and I hated it for the reasons stated previously (sounded like nasal sh!t). I later tried both types of bridge on my SG and it made much less difference. I stuck with the Nashville because I thought it beefed up the P-90s. My last experiment was comparing a pair of ES-335s. The new lower-end 335s come with a Nashville bridge and it's a huge mistake IMO. The low end is muddy and indistinct, while 335s with an ABR bridge stay tight and clear.

 

[SJ318]

Re: Why the heck is aluminum "better" for sustain?

To dystust, and All youse guys,
Absolutely right on correct about the ABR. I made a guitar from several and it wound up looking like a LPjr., mahog body, my usual S. Lover A5 bridge w/ slugs closest to the bridge, but it seemed lacking as the body came w/those crappy nashvill bridge and sleeve adaptors.
So I paid a guy to drill out the hole where the sleeves were and plug 'em up with maple doweles. Then I just screwed the usual threaded posts in the maple and using the ABR bridge really beefed up the tone, remarkably. Acoustically and plugged in. It was like upgrading a pickup it made so much difference.
Wanna know what sucks? My '61 SG RI came with those sh*tty sleeve adaptors and nashville type bridge. So I took the sleeve out, as I don't have the equipment for a simple dowle re-furbish and that guy wants way too much so I filled the hole with maple, hammerred the sleeve back in real f'ing tight, filled the still open bottom of the sleeve with more crushed maple and filed the flywheel so it would accept an old ABR I had and now it sounds much better. I'm gonna find a way to borrow some tools and re-dowle that thing myself, but for now my fix is pretty good.
Steve Buffington