Advantage of a Brass Block in a Gotoh Tremelo?

[Surf n Music]

I came across this at FU tone and was curious. Would it fit the Gotoh Wilkison and what if any would be the advantage over the factory block.
http://www.fu-tone.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=77&products_id=199

 

[DavyDave53]

I'll never understood the whole brass obsession.

I've brass is so tuneful why aren't we all playing solid brass guitars and arguing about which brass is the best brass?

 

[ORCRiST]

I have a brass block on my rare-earth FR and love it.

You want some kick-ass tone/sustain buy a brass block and put in a set of these: http://www.rawvintage.com/eng/item_springs.php

I am blown away by this combo.

ORCRiST

 

[Surf n Music]

That looks like a nice setup! Those springs have less tension so you can use all 5? Then the theory would be with the brass and more metal connecting it all to the wood = more sustain?  :icon_scratch:

 

[ORCRiST]

That looks like a nice setup! Those springs have less tension so you can use all 5? Then the theory would be with the brass and more metal connecting it all to the wood = more sustain?  :icon_scratch:

You got it.

I, like most skeptics, almost immediately dismiss claims about tone from widget X.

However, I decided the price of entry was almost nothing compared to the other costs of the guitar - so I figured 'WTF'?

I was pleasantly surprised once I got everything installed and setup. I could hear a night-and-day difference, and I love it!

I'll never understood the whole brass obsession.

I've brass is so tuneful why aren't we all playing solid brass guitars and arguing about which brass is the best brass?

Brass is dense and cheap. Is it ideal? No. It has its own flaws and is by no means a 'silver bullet' when people are
talking about completely subjective topics like 'tone'. But for the application it usually does the trick and at a practical price.
One would probably get better results from denser materials like Tungsten or Depleted Uranium.

If you don't understand it, then try it for yourself and decide rather than listen to other people claim x,y, or z.

:dontknow:


ORC

 

[croquet hoop]

Regarding the brass block question, I think it mostly comes down to what it replaces. I put one in my Ibanez RG to replace the original crappy pot metal block (yep, even their top of the line Edge Pro trems come with that) and although it did not made the guitar a sustain beast, it improved the situation a bit.

On the other hand, I have a Gotoh Wilkinson trem with a quality solid steel block waiting for my Strat build, and in this case I wouldn't care to replace it.

 

[Surf n Music]

Regarding the brass block question, I think it mostly comes down to what it replaces. I put one in my Ibanez RG to replace the original crappy pot metal block (yep, even their top of the line Edge Pro trems come with that) and although it did not made the guitar a sustain beast, it improved the situation a bit.

On the other hand, I have a Gotoh Wilkinson trem with a quality solid steel block waiting for my Strat build, and in this case I wouldn't care to replace it.

I have one waiting for mine as well.  I am going to try it first and see how it sounds.  Just kinda wondering, cause... well...Slash uses it so it must be awesome  :laughing3: :laughing3: but for real just wanting opinions. This will be my first electric and first tremelo so lots of curiosity.

 

[croquet hoop]

Well, on this kind of matter (brass vs. other materials), be prepared to hear just about anything possible  :icon_biggrin:

Regarding trem blocks/saddles, brass and steel are both good choices. If you are curious, there is nothing wrong in shelling $40 for that (your money, your decision), although you are much less likely to hear a difference since your trem already has a nice steel block — and to hear a difference, you would have to play with the original block first anyway.

If you want tons of tone and sustain, work on your technique before all. Technique is much more likely to make a difference than a brass block on an average (but well set-up) guitar.

 

[Steve_Karl]

I had a KGC brass block for my Wilkinson VS-100 for a while and it did add a very slight bit of thicker mid range.
I didn't notice that it improved sustain ... after going back to the stock block.
I installed it from the beginning of the build and didn't try the stock block at the outset.

The real down side was that it was so big that it was hitting the wood when I'd try to dive bomb all the way to loose slapping strings. It just wouldn't get down that far. The low E would only dive down to slightly less that a 4th.

So ... eventually I removed it and put the stock ( I think it's zinc ? ) block back it and there we go!
It still has great tone and the same sustain with the stock block but the tone seems slightly more full range and a bit more crunchy and it dive bombs all the way down to totally sloppy if I want to go there.
And ... I like sound of the stock block better.

I do like the raw vintage springs and still have 5 of them installed with Ernie Ball .009s.
5 is a bit on the tight side but still manageable.
I might try 3 or 2 later on to see what happens.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I actually like the sound of brass.
I've had a couple of old Ibanez early 80's RG's that had Mighty Mite all brass 6 point bridges, and that was still one of the best bridges I've ever had on a guitar.  Bold, big, rich harmonics, just overall nice.

Now, if they can build a sustain block out of Adamantium, perhaps we're in business and due for a change...

 

[Jumble Jumble]

Personally I think Unobtanium has the best tone.

 

[Surf n Music]

Personally I think Unobtanium has the best tone.

Ya but would you still hold true to your opinion face to face with wolverine showing you just how awesome adamantium really is?

 

[Jumble Jumble]

He seems like a nice chap, I'm sure we'd just have a beer instead.