Custom brass and titanium blocks for Edge and Lo Pro Edge - any interest?

[webmaestro]

Nice. I like the idea of being able to have 4-5 springs installed and still have the spring retainer in place.

[LonePhantom]

I know, I'm surprised Ibanez never did this in the first place.

[LonePhantom]

Here it is with the spring retainer in place. These are a little thicker than the stock one, but not so much to significantly affect dive and pull-up range. If you are interested in one of these, or a titanium version let me know here.

[LonePhantom]

And here's a titanium one.



I've got a sample of each coming to me now to test and review. If all is good these will be available for sale from Hantug Custom Guitars. Prices I think are pretty damned good, considering the extra work these have over the competition. The brass will be USD$39, and the titanium will be USD$95.

[MichelIV]

I could send you a ZR trem block if you're interested.

[LonePhantom]

I've got the samples now. I'll try and get them installed soon, and give everyone feedback.

If you're interested in a ZR one I can send you the details of the guys who made these and they may be able to make a ZR one up for you.

[LonePhantom]

I forgot to put up the picture:


I hope to install them next week, and I'll do a simple demo recording of each block so you can hear the differences.

[LonePhantom]

Sorry it's taken so long to get onto this. Life has a way of getting in the way of things. I've finally had a chance to install each block on an Edge bridge and shoot a short demo of each block with a simple riff and simple lead phrase played to show what each block does for your guitar. I've got to edit the files and get them up on YouTube and my blog, but they will come soon.

The blocks fit nicely, just like a stock Ibanez block. The spring locks allow you to install up to five springs while still utilizing the lock, unlike the stock Ibanez unit.

The brass block added a slightly bigger warmer tone with a bit more clarity. Just as I've found with other manufacturers blocks. Sustain is a little better too. What the brass does is it kind of compresses the tone, which in turn makes it feel like there's a bigger sound since it's all much more even. This helps with the sustain too.

The Titanium offers a slightly brighter tone over the brass block. You get a bit of an increase in clarity. Compared to another Ibanez with the same woods (but with an Edge Pro with brass block I have installed) you can hear the differences playing them side by side. Unfortunately I didn't have two RGs with Edge trems and the same woods to compare acoustically, but i think the construction of the Edge Pro is similar to the Edge, and it's a decent comparison against the titanium on the Edge bridge. Acoustically you can hear the difference quite clearly.

The design on the Hantug blocks is more like the stock blocks though, so you won't get the pull-up issues that are sometimes present on some of the other aftermarket blocks. They have wider dimensions where possible without affecting usability, so there is more mass.

I'll get the quick demos up on my blog once I get a chance to finish editing the files, but if you are interested in trying these blocks check out Hantug Custom Guitars.

[LonePhantom]

Here's my demo of the sustain blocks, hope you like

http://www.lonephantom.com/2013/04/i...-youtube-demo/

[RGTFanatic]

Too effin cool man!!

PM sent

[linuxpenguin]

I tell you what... in all my schooling and stuff, titanium is VERY similar to aluminum. It has some slightly different properties, but for strength and weight its pretty similar actually. To this day I dont understand why manufacturers make stuff like this out of titanium instead of aluminum. Titanium is simply 3-5 times the cost (albeit manufacturers mark up 10-20 times the prices). I really do not understand why you would purchase a titanium block over the stock one. It will be lighter I guess, maybe more resonant, but I cant see a night and day difference happening from a purely material based perspective.

Id like to see this in person I guess....

edit :In your video, as long as everything is untouched and un altered I do hear a difference with the brass one. The titanium one isn't doing anything imo. Im listening through a mackie onyx blackjack with pioneer hd2000 headphones, so I hear EVERYTHING as is.

[LonePhantom]

Nothing has been altered. Brass is obvious that's for sure. The titanium I think got lost in the YouTube compression stuff. It's more obvious in person I think. The harmonics of the brass are still there, but it's brighter than brass. The stock block I used was a large Early Edge one so it had some advantages over the usual one most have tone wise. There's more mass.

The titanium saddles and block I have on my Strat are amazing. Compared to the standard Strat bridge I started with there was a massive impact. So much more clarity and harmonics. Articulate as anything.

The titanium Edge sustain block has some of this too. When I play a similar configuration RG with brass block side by side you can hear that the Ti gives a brighter tone and the same sort of harmonics and stuff.

[linuxpenguin]

I'm sure there's SOME alteration, but for my money the titanium upgrades are useless imo. Its all subjective though . Saddles should have way more impact then the spring block for sure

[LonePhantom]

Saddles definitely have impact, in my testing anyway. I tested both brass and titanium mounted on a brass baseplate and titanium sustain block on my Strat bridge. Surprising how much difference the saddles by themselves made.