which brass block size do I need and will it block?(I want it to block pulls)

[vklobucar]

"From what I gather, the tone doesnt change THAT much from a big block"

IMHO........HUGE DIFFERENCE IN TONE AND SUSTAIN!!!!!!!!!!

[alphadog808]

Well the block came in, 37mm. The good news is I got it in and the tone does seem significantly improved. The bad news is that it doesn't quite fit correctly. I can bomb but only so much.

On all strings but the high e I can get the strings flimsy on the fretboard. The high e can't bomb all the way. I think the wood route gets in the way since the block is bigger...I'm debating on dremeling down, but seems risky to me.... Just wanted to give heads up that it's not an exact drop in replacement...

[Predator1]

I have owned many Charvel guitars over the years. Almost all of the CS stuff / Pointy Reissues had an area dremmeled away inside the trem cavity where the trem arm mount is. The sustain blocks on the Korean floyds which come on both the USA and Japanese Pro Mods are made of zinc alloy.The sustain blocks on the German made floyds are chromed brass. There is a difference in tone to my ears. I find the German floyds to sound warmer/ smoother. IMHO!

[neptoess]

I have owned many Charvel guitars over the years. Almost all of the CS stuff / Pointy Reissues had an area dremmeled away inside the trem cavity where the trem arm mount is. The sustain blocks on the Korean floyds which come on both the USA and Japanese Pro Mods are made of zinc alloy.The sustain blocks on the German made floyds are chromed brass. There is a difference in tone to my ears. I find the German floyds to sound warmer/ smoother. IMHO!

Yeah, I always thought the German/Schaller OFRs had brass blocks.

[adampone]

Yeah, I always thought the German/Schaller OFRs had brass blocks.

even some of the good ones are just zinc-plated brass. even so, it's still the same thickness. you throw a 1/2" big brass block on there and it's almost 2x as much mass.



but back to the OP, the length you need can be based on the length that's currently in there. start by measuring it first. at that point, you should be able to see if you have enough room to go with a longer one... just be sure to account for a little bit of space - you don't want anything sticking too far out.

and not all the brass blocks out there are the same. I've seen some 1/2" blocks made by one guy block a OFR where it wouldn't pull up... and I've put another 1/2" made by a different guy on the same guitar and it pulled up just fine. if you're wanting to go with a d-tuna and need to block the bridge, some guys go with a trem stop block. I tried a few of those and then tried a Tremol-no... and would never go back to a trem stop block again - it is more versatile and also adds more sustain on top of the sustain from the bigger brass block. to round it out, get some brass claw mount screws to squeeze out every last possible ounce of sustain and tone.

[neptoess]

Though I'm not arguing that all the brass parts change the tone, albeit slightly for some like the brass spring claw, I really have to wonder who notices bad sustain when playing a floyd-equipped guitar? Honestly, the kind of gain you'll likely be using will sustain your notes forever from mild feedback. Hell, even the pot metal edge III on my ibanez seems just fine to me.

[rc2904]

Well the block came in, 37mm. The good news is I got it in and the tone does seem significantly improved. The bad news is that it doesn't quite fit correctly. I can bomb but only so much.

On all strings but the high e I can get the strings flimsy on the fretboard. The high e can't bomb all the way. I think the wood route gets in the way since the block is bigger...I'm debating on dremeling down, but seems risky to me.... Just wanted to give heads up that it's not an exact drop in replacement...

Did you accomplish the blocked pulls? I got a 3/4 inch block from kgc for my rr3 and still had tons of room for pulls. I had to attach a bunch of dimes to the block to make it dive only.

[alphadog808]

Did you accomplish the blocked pulls? I got a 3/4 inch block from kgc for my rr3 and still had tons of room for pulls. I had to attach a bunch of dimes to the block to make it dive only.

Yup, I got it working...only "issue" is when I bomb, the high E doesn't go fully slack. But not a real biggie as I don't dive so much and it's not like the high E doesn't dive. My trem is NOT recessed, so space was tight in there...I used a trem block I found on ebay to block my trem for pulls; it was adjustable, so I can change it as needed.