The horror

[VitaminG]

I guess someone got their "brass tone placeboes" in the mail!

I like!

[Forrest]

These noiseless springs are PISSING ME OFF.

[Hellbat]

When I first read that I thought it said "noiseless strings" and I thought, what a devastating practical joke that would be.

[Forrest]

Haha, I need to not be updating until I'm done with this. I don't want anyone to think I'm talking trash...just tired and cranky.

One of these springs was gimped the f up, though. Luckily I ordered 2 sets, so I can keep going with this install. And they all needed to be sanded down to fit into the block.

[Grandturk]

I assume there's some type of teflon coating on the noiseless springs?

Lemme know how they work out - I've actually encounted my first guitar where the springs are resonating on B's.

Also - let me know if you notice if the guitar has any more "zing" when you're done.

[Forrest]

OK....1 down, 5 to go. Maybe.

I didn't record this guitar beforehand, like I will with the next one. But I can say this for sure:
1) Lows and mids are definitely more "powerful" and full-bodied than before. There's an obvious difference there, no question. An awesome one.
2) I am not happy with the way the higher notes sound, at all. However, this might have nothing to do with the block.

The problem is, I spend most of my time playing on my SL2H, which is pretty bright. I think it's got a Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB in the bridge. I also play my SLSMGs on a daily basis, those are f'ing bright too. That's the sound that I like.

This guitar has a Jackson double/single/single setup with the battery powered midboost circuit. I remember the first time I ever played it I thought it sounded pretty muddy. I swapped the battery with another 9v but it wasn't new...so before anything else I need to get some more batteries. Also, I put Elixir coated strings on it, which I'm still testing out. I'm not sure I like them on my electrics. They feel like larger gauge strings, and are harder to bend. I don't know how they're affecting the sound.

All in all, not a good test. I guess I just expected to put it all back together and have it sound exactly like I wanted. This is what I get for being lazy and too optimistic. (When I read that that stock block was actually brass, I just didn't believe adding more of the same material could noticeably hurt the highs.)

On the other hand, I might just need new pickups....I had this same setup in my first USA soloist and I hated them. Swapped in an EMG kit with an 85 at the bridge, and then it sounded great.

As for fitment...I'm sure I could have fit the 37mm into the cavity without hitting the plate. Not that I'm sure I want that any more. But I had about 7mm of clearance above the spring, and I am still using the aforementioned 1mm "shim." Here are some pics:

Finally intonated with some new SS set screws:



Compared to stock block:


Clearance...plenty of room to spare:


Tons of space for upward floyd movement:


Well, I'm cleaning up and re-assembling the bridge for my 91 USA soloist. I will record a bunch of before tracks. Then we will see. I definitely can't give up the difference I heard in the bottom end. But if I'm losing the edge on the highs, I might try using tungsten.