Tone block replacement on Floyd Rose --> worth it ?

[Arthurus]

Hey guys, long time since I made a post.

I've been wondering if tone blocks were really useful on the tone and if any of you had already had one installed ; and if so, what brand ? I'm eyeing the fat brass tone block by floyd rose.

This would go on the Floyd on my '97 Silhouette. I feel it lacks sustain and mid growl. I want more out of my sound !

Cheers everyone !

[darkbluemurder]

I did that to my custom made Explorer (mahogany body and neck, flame maple top, ebony board, 24 frets) with a Floyd. I think it was a worthwile upgrade. The sound opened up in the top end and got clearer. I could not notice an improvement in sustain but that was never a problem with this guitar anyway.

This by the way is my oldest guitar - I have it since 1988.

Cheers Stephan

[JJretroTONEGOD]

I think that titanium ones really make a difference, so does brass, if they are thicker that also seems to improve the tone too, to be honest though I wouldn't even bother unless it's a 1.5-2k guitar to begin with, that is up to you of course.

[darthphineas]

I've been using aftermarket tone blocks for quite a few years now and I swear by them.  I've review them a bit on my FB page.  many people like brass....it is more affordable and being brass, it's clearly a musical metal.  some people like titanium, and I'm some people...the market has opened up a lot on Ti, so it's not as costly as it was a few years ago.  tone is really subjective, so I don't want to get off into a novel at this point on my thoughts on the differences between the two.  but...either one will be an improvement.

[Dave Sloven]

brass will probably add weight, if that's a consideration

[darkbluemurder]

The Silhouette is a light and well balanced guitar so the added weight should not really matter.

Cheers Stephan

[FELINEGUITARS]

I did it to mine , but had a block made from cold rolled steel ather than brass - not unlike the steel blocks you get for strat trems
The block was 12.7mm rather than the previous 8mm one so a nice mass improvement.

I have to confess that the steel block made a great difference - more top end detail and more mass giving more of an unfloyded sound.
So the guitar has regained some of the gaps in it's frequency response that the floyd typically gives you, and the clarity improved without getting shrill

I do keep these in stock as I was very impressed with them and have them in various sizes 32mm/37mm/42mm and even a 48mm for a Les Pul we installed a Floyd on.

[p4vl]

I bought a cheapie brass block for my Ibanez Edge Pro off of Ebay (30 bucks).  My tone seems quite a bit thicker but I also installed a C-hawk in the bridge, so who knows?

If you're dealing with an Original Floyd, I don't know if it will make a huge difference (unless you get one of those giant 42mm blocks).  Licensed Floyds might use substandard metal but I've never really heard anything bad about Original Floyds in terms of using cr@p metal. 

[FELINEGUITARS]

I bought a cheapie brass block for my Ibanez Edge Pro off of Ebay (30 bucks).  My tone seems quite a bit thicker but I also installed a C-hawk in the bridge, so who knows?

If you're dealing with an Original Floyd, I don't know if it will make a huge difference (unless you get one of those giant 42mm blocks).  Licensed Floyds might use substandard metal but I've never really heard anything bad about Original Floyds in terms of using cr@p metal.

The big steel blocks do make a difference to the thinner brass ones that you get on a Floyd Original. Love mine - I'm hooked!

[Nadz1lla]

I installed a Brass Big Block from Floyd Upgrades (.com), who I think have re-branded to FU Tone or something. Amazing difference, really brought out a big (but not too big) boost to my low end. Made the guitar sound a lot more "whole" and noticed the axe had a bit more sustain too. Went on a bit further after that and got one of the little brass brackets with an allen bolt in it to turn the FR into more of a hard-tail (also great little thing to have on the guitar to make re-stringing easier), which even further increased resonance, sustain and tonal detail.

If I bought any more FR equipped guitars in the future, I will replace the block the moment I get my hands on it with a brass block and trem-stopping bracket. Just such a great difference.

Ah here it is: http://www.fu-tone.com/catalog/

Also, I have dealt with Adam personally a couple of times and he really knows his stuff. Really helpful, easy to get along with, and he sent me a T-Shirt for a YouTube review I did of his products a few years back.

Not sure how the prices compare now that there are a lot more companies on the market, but out of loyalty I will always use Adam's stuff at FU.