Fu-Tone Brass Bridge Block vs A Stock Bridge Block. Which Sounds Better?
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- Опубликовано: 2 сен 2020
- #addictedtogear #futone #gearreviews
Today we put the stock bridge block against the FU-Tone block in two of my Squier Contemporary Strats to see just how much of a tonal difference we can hear. The sound test will be done unplugged so we can isolate any external influence on the tone and hear the pure essence of this modification.
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Quite frankly, if I hadn't known which guitar had been modded, (which I think by knowing so gave an unfair advantage), I would go for the (un-modded) white strat. It sounded a LOT louder, more dynamic, and the sustain sounded (to my ears) better!
Thanks Tony, great vids!
I'm convinced that a heavier mass Block can improve sustain but less so about tonal changes. I fitted a fatter Brass Block to the Std DL Trem on my Jem Jr and took timings how how long notes rang out before and after. The guitar was plugged in for the tests. The results were good - 30% longer sustain. That Jr now sustains far better than any of my Edge equipped Jems.
Did you listen to this video? Red "upgraded" one sounded like shit.
For future reference, something most people don't think of and I realized on a fluke is to use a clip on tuner. Even a cheaper one will detect vibrations a few seconds after you can no longer hear it or feel it in your fingers. All you do is watch the tuner screen and wait for the played note to disappear. If that makes sense.My two cents.
I swear I was thinking the exact same thing
You actually notice the difference more through a clean amp. I just installed the brass block in my MIM strat and the tone is warmer, the nasal honk is gone and the whole instrument resonates better with longer sustain. It didn’t add high end frequencies for me though. More bottom and mids. So happy I did this.
I think the white one has good sustain and warmer..
I change the saddles instead as I find it has a WAY bigger effect on the tone and sustain IMO
Where did you buy the saddles from. I will look into it!
@@addictedtogear Yhey have a nice set of block saddles on GFS for $13 that I have on one squier,and they have brass ones all over ebay for pretty cheap these days..I also got a set of brass ones on Amazon for around $15....ALL of them did wonders for my tone
Hello , I have a question for you ? Did you upgrade your pickups and if so did you have to get f-spaced for the bridge ….thanks
This was a really honest comparison video of tone and resonance levels created by two alternative tone block masses and densities through equally specified guitars. To myself the Brass upgrade came across as superior but I'm assuming that the stock block is zinc and the comparative weight of each one is much different. I would like to see/hear the same test between equally sized and weighted Brass vs Steel upgrades..
I always mic up my electric guitar and go ampless, the sound guys all love me
If you tried out a third strat that would be three different sounds... The only good way to tell would have been by videoing the original block and how it sounded and then comparing it against the new block... No two guitars can ever be compared.
The two guitars sounded very very close to begin with or I would not have done it this way. Thanks for watching.
I've got an early 70's Japanese Rokkoman-strat with the thickest tremblock I've ever seen; it's a 17-millimeter thick steel block! Normal ones measure approx 12mm. Unfortunately, it won't fit in the cavity of my newer strat-alikes. It also has messing/brass saddles. Great guitar!
using headphones the red squier definately sounded better..not as hollow as you said..maybe a warmer tone.but the sustain I could not tell if one was better than the other...a better sound is worth the upgrade..I will do it to my Squier affinity...thanks
I liked the white one best
I did this blind, skipped straight to the testing phase, and I immediately heard that red guitar had more warmth, and I liked it more. Not sure about sustain thou.
Having forgot which guitar had which block I was pretty sure the white one had the better hardware as it seemed more resonate with more clarity. Very interesting, I know I wasn't skewed at all by placebo so curious if others find the same or if tye difference is just in varying guitar quality like you disclaimed - for instance this difference can be found simply by having an improved setup vs a not-so-perfect one, I could hear the red one buzz more
The difference is quite subtle and more in the feel of the guitar to me.
Try Highwood saddles. Even if tone doesn't change they look great and far more comfortable than Fender or Callaham stamped steel saddles.
I’m interested in putting a new block in my Stratocaster, however I’m wanting an aluminum block from Killer Guitar components KGC. I have a 1080 cold roll steel block now but it’s a boat anchor! I’m experiencing back pains and heavy guitars seem to flair it up. I’ve done this on anther Stratocaster and it takes away the bell like quality of the note and produces as you said it a hollow kind of tone. I don’t like it but this mod will give me a 3.5oz block as opposed to a 1 to 1.5 pound block. I’m also considering a aluminum bridge plate that weights 0.4oz. This would reduce my current tremolo down to 3.9oz or roughly 1.5 to 2 pounds off my American Series Stratocaster. I don’t float the tremolo so I think it will still sound full but will miss some upper mids focus. Aluminum is supposed to be brighter than brass but darker than steel.
Hi Arnold, I haven't tried any of these products specifically. I would agree that a lighter guitar is always more comfortable overall. I didn't notice a huge different when I swapped the block to brass except for slightly more sustain. Let me know how the upgrade turns out for you once it is done! Cheers!
ok, now on a regular fender style trem , heavy brass blocks act different then when applied to a floyd rose trem. On the fender it will make those trems brighter. on the floyd rose trems they do alot more they give brightness and change sustain large . The heavier the block can be the better
I agree with your opinion. I dont like that hallow sound from cheap trem bridge which is worse than the white one. 30 bucks investment could be worth paying.
I glued a quarter behind my block. Loosened the screws a bit. Letting the bridge rest against the body. Sounds like a completely different guitar. warmer, resonates longer. Cheapest upgrade ever.
I feel like the brass block gave it quite a bit more sustain! But also, I wasn’t in the room so I could be wrong
The guitar with brass block sounds more sweet and warm, while the one with stock block sounds nasal, like a cigar box guitar. No big differences about sustain but yes about general sound quality.
Great and I mean Great Video!! I wondered how the brass block would make a diff tone wise. Only thing so far that truly makes a big diff is the NUT!! Keep it up man!! Love your channel. Congrats on 15k plus!! Hope you see my recent uploads. I am still doing my own music Ambient Atmos emotional Blues stuff. Hahaha. I'm still learning.
Thanks Robert!
I liked the red strat tone much better but imo trying to comapare subtle trem block tone differences through 2 guitars, even tho the same model, is a total no-go since no 2 guitars / pickups / string sets ... sound exactly the same. A better but still not perfect method, imo, would be to test accoustically as you did, but using the same guitar before and after trem block change with same strings installed and replicated setup before vs after. At the very lest, if doing the test with 2 guitars, let us hear a sample of the one to be upgraded BEFORE the brass block is installed.
I'm sorry having to say this, but testing unplugged is a bad idea (unless you play unplugged as well, but who does that on an electric guitar?) Although there is a strong correlation between the unplugged sound and the electrical signal generated by the pickups, they are still two completely different things. For example, the brass block may generate a different audible sound that is not transferred electrically by the pickups. A better test would be to compare the raw electrical signals, e.g. through the clean channel of your amp.
Hey Martin, the reality is if I would have done it plugged then someone would have commented that it should have been done unplugged... LOL can't win them all. Thanks for watching!
I tend to agree with Martin. It's an electric guitar and I doubt it is going to played much unplugged. Maybe a couple of short clips unplugged would be interesting but then the main review should have shown us what the differences might have translated into plugged in as the guitars are meant to be played. Also I found the long pauses between comparisons annoying and I didn't remember as clearly what the first example demonstrated.
Red guitar sounds suprisingly thinner.
There seems to be less volume with brass
I have a 2017 Epiphone Les Paul plustop pro that I gutted and put a Mojotone solderless wiring harness, and SD Seth Lovers in it, oh yeah and a graph tech nut. It sounds great and plays great, I really like how even with the tone rolled all the way down it still don't sound muffled. I think the harness was overpriced but it did help and the quality is top notch. I also put ratio tuners on it and now have more in parts then the guitar cost , or really close to it. I am very happy with how it turned out and thats all that matters to me in the end. You can really hear a ton of things when you record that just dont make a difference much live. But how can you quantify happiness? I love your channel you are always down to earth and honest and to me that makes a huge difference.
Hey Joey, thanks for the info and the compliment! I agree if it makes you enjoy playing the guitar more then an upgrade is priceless...
The "upgraded" guitar sounds worse and that person walking around in the background maybe putting the garage door up or down is driving me nuts. I'm not saying tone block upgrades never help but they don't improve every guitar. I have Callaham CRS blocks in 2-3 strats and generally recommend them but I've sent brass blocks back too because 👎. And I have a FU Tone block on order now for an Ibanez. We shall see...
Not a big enough difference. I would probably throw in a whole new trem system than just the block if I wanted to upgrade.
I'm using a set of IK multimedia micro monitors and I can hear a little bit of sparkle or something I cant tell for sure but it is 100% a different sound when you really dial in on it.
yu should have used the blocks in the same guitar. What you are doing here is comparing two different guitars. They resonate differently etc.
The white one sounded more Strat to me if you want a thicker sound buy a Gibson
You can't really better Fender parts because they're still using the same original machines to make them. When you buy a Fender Strat that's exactly what you're going to get. Don't mess about with the people who invented the thing in the first place. Like another guy said buy a different guitar if it wasn't for you. Don't mess with something that is already unique to itself.
The red guitar sounds a little more like an acoustic guitar when you strum it. The white one is more mid-rangey. It depends on taste, but there is a difference. Science!
UNplugged = YES! Can't tell anything with distracting amps and pedals - then add gain and distortion = YUK!
To make a true comparison of the 2 blocks you must use only the same guitar for both blocks' recordings. Otherwise I don't know if it's the difference between the two guitars I'm hearing rather than the difference between the two blocks.
We shall never know from this vudeo imvvho.
Good demo Tony, but you know you will change the pickups next :-)
LOL ;)
Brass block sounds way better and much clearer
UNPLUGGED???!!!! Have eviler words ever been spoken?
How about tone wood? LOL
The white strat sounded much FULLER, but as you said in the end, it has a hollow sound to you...Hard to tell over the internet..I have a Deluxe squier strat I love,but had a similar "Hollow" sound, and attack to it...I upgraded to solid brass saddles and it was much better!!
I was thinking of doing something similar on this one because it really is a very nice guitar and worth upgrading. Thanks for watching!
You really should have made a video of how the red strat sounded before changing the string block. Then how it sounds after installing the new brass block. This video isn't really a fair representation. The sustain and overall body resonance isn't apparent on an ELECTRIC guitar till you put it in a real life situation using an amp and cab. We don't know what minor or major differences exits between both guitars. We only have your word for it. Makes the whole video seem like you're just peddling brass blocks.
No. Not enough to make a lot of difference or to make me want to buy one of these. Sorry but from what my ears hear it's not all that it's cracked up to be.
Change the nut also
Not really necessary IMO
Unplugged means nothing, the minute you introduce a pickup everything else is out the door.
bruh the intonation was horrendous on the red guitar, good video overall tho
Didn't like the sound of either one, must have been the amp.
They weren't plugged in. Lol.
LOL could also be the ears! Thanks for watching...