Stone Tone Blocks?

[diablo175]

Anyone ever use 'em? Any credibility to the claims and hype?

http://www.floydrose.com/catalog/upgrades/sustain-blocks/stone-tone-sustain-block

These patented blocks are made of granite, and are designed to enhance and strengthen the sound of your tremolo-equipped instrument across the entire audio spectrum. Granite, when quarried in its natural state, is not only of an ideal density for the purpose of sustain, but also has a crystalline atomic structure which is ideal for sonic transference—it requires no factory processing or dilution, and the natural change in sound, upon installation, is so drastic that signal loss from the guitar to the amplifier will be decreased by at least 30%. Comes with stainless steel sustain block mounting screws.

"The Stonetone trem blocks are a whole new thing....I'm always pushing to see how I can improve the tone on my guitar so when I was approached about trying the Stonetone trem block for my Floyd Rose equipped guitar I was facinated. Well once I installed it I immediately noticed the difference. I would have never imagined that you could use stone for a trem block in your guitar. The Stonetone gives the guitar an added resonance and adds a lot more of everything and seems to focus the sound in some way.....I have since installed the Stonetone blocks in several of my main guitars with great results... a player's guitar tone is a very personal subjective thing and what works for some might not work for others but you really owe it to yourself to try one for yourself.....Hearing is definitely believing...... My only complaint is that I didn't think of it myself. I have mine now go try a Stonetone trem block for yourself.... now!" -Ronny North

[JohnnyB]

Every substance has a particular mechanical impedance and a characteristic resonance or resonances. When you use a trem block it will improve pitch stability and sustain, but what it's made of will influence tonal balance and perceived speed of transfer. You would get subtle differences with granite, maple, ebony, sandstone, Corian, acrylic, etc. Which is best is really up to you and what you're looking for.

Just because you can hear a difference doesn't mean it necessarily sounds better.

[carfish7]

"Crystalline atomic structure", eh? I wonder how a diamond version would sound then? Or one made of a solid brick of cocaine or methamphetamine? The possibilities are ENDLESS!

[diablo175]

Gotta admit, I'm skeptical. Another batch of snake oil?

I shared this topic with my co-guitarist and buddy and his response was:

Mass and hardness are what makes a block work. In both cases brass wins and tungsten blows it out the water

I'm calling bullshit and stating its a marketing gimmick

I'll state for the record that he put a tungsten block on his Floyd. $ Cha-ching $ I guess I'm not enough of an audiophile to be able to discern the difference between his tungsten and my brass.

[FrankieIII]

I always liked Paul Reed Smith's idea of using bell material (bronze) for his first issue tremelo units to achieve a "bell-like" tone.

[Armitage]

Different materials will make it sound different... better or worse is an opinion.

[Victor (Fret Friend)]

Pish! Stick with brass/steel. Any tone difference is gonna be marginal & if you can't get the tone you want out yer guitar/amp/fx, buy a clarinet...

[carfish7]

Pish! Stick with brass/steel. Any tone difference is gonna be marginal & if you can't get the tone you want out yer guitar/amp/fx, buy a clarinet...

But, but, the CRYSTALLINE STRUCTURE!!!!!!!!

Woof.

[Steve Haynie]

Why not a block of tone wood? Then everyone could chase after Brazillian rosewood blocks.

Wait--! I got it! How about an iron block from Birmingham, England so everyone can play "British Steel"?

[HAMERMAN]

Lead for "Heavy Metal"! :-)

[JohnnyB]

My bet for a good all-rounder would be acrylic. It has a diverse structure that has mini-resonances at many different frequencies (or so I've heard). It could explain why acrylic-shelled drums had such a big, well-balanced sound with a nice set of overtones. Not mid-rangey bright like maple nor bloomy and warm like mahogany, but a big voluminous sound that served all the overtones pretty equally.

[RobB]

Three words: Oh-frikken-BROTHER. I mean, what's fair is fair. I replaced the small, brass block in my Gotoh Floyd with a "BigBrassBlock", to great effect.

This is just retarded...

[Armitage]

My bet for a good all-rounder would be acrylic.

I don't think there's enough density/mass with acrylic.

[bubs_42]

I could dig up a piece of Scrap Bronze and make a block if anyone wants to try it.

[JohnnyB]

Armitage, on 25 Nov 2013 - 04:28 AM, said:

JohnnyB, on 24 Nov 2013 - 11:35 PM, said:

My bet for a good all-rounder would be acrylic.

I don't think there's enough density/mass with acrylic.

Not as heavy as granite or bell bronze, but these guitars were no lightweights either.

The assumption seems to be that the overriding factor for tone quality is molecular density. The most important factor is effectively blocking all wiggle in the tremolo gap, and any number of rigid substances will do that. The other factor is how the mass and molecular/cellular structure affect vibration transfer and the opposite--mechanical impedance.

[polara]

Armitage, on 25 Nov 2013 - 04:28 AM, said:

JohnnyB, on 24 Nov 2013 - 11:35 PM, said:

My bet for a good all-rounder would be acrylic.

I don't think there's enough density/mass with acrylic.

Not as heavy as granite or bell bronze, but these guitars were no lightweights either.

The assumption seems to be that the overriding factor for tone quality is molecular density. The most important factor is effectively blocking all wiggle in the tremolo gap, and any number of rigid substances will do that. The other factor is how the mass and molecular/cellular structure affect vibration transfer and the opposite--mechanical impedance.

Correct me if I am wrong but the "block" made of stone in the OP is the hunk of metal under the bridge through which the strings go and to which the springs attach. The vibrato unit itself still works fine. It's replacing the metal component of the bridge with a stone one.

JohnnyB is talking about "blocking" movement of the tremolo. They are two entirely different things. The latter can be done with a hunk of wood.

[carfish7]

Armitage, on 25 Nov 2013 - 04:28 AM, said:

JohnnyB, on 24 Nov 2013 - 11:35 PM, said:

My bet for a good all-rounder would be acrylic.

I don't think there's enough density/mass with acrylic.

Not as heavy as granite or bell bronze, but these guitars were no lightweights either.

The assumption seems to be that the overriding factor for tone quality is molecular density. The most important factor is effectively blocking all wiggle in the tremolo gap, and any number of rigid substances will do that. The other factor is how the mass and molecular/cellular structure affect vibration transfer and the opposite--mechanical impedance.

Correct me if I am wrong but the "block" made of stone in the OP is the hunk of metal under the bridge through which the strings go and to which the springs attach. The vibrato unit itself still works fine. It's replacing the metal component of the bridge with a stone one.

JohnnyB is talking about "blocking" movement of the tremolo. They are two entirely different things. The latter can be done with a hunk of wood.

You are not wrong.

[JohnnyB]

Armitage, on 25 Nov 2013 - 04:28 AM, said:

JohnnyB, on 24 Nov 2013 - 11:35 PM, said:

My bet for a good all-rounder would be acrylic.

I don't think there's enough density/mass with acrylic.

Not as heavy as granite or bell bronze, but these guitars were no lightweights either.

The assumption seems to be that the overriding factor for tone quality is molecular density. The most important factor is effectively blocking all wiggle in the tremolo gap, and any number of rigid substances will do that. The other factor is how the mass and molecular/cellular structure affect vibration transfer and the opposite--mechanical impedance.

Correct me if I am wrong but the "block" made of stone in the OP is the hunk of metal under the bridge through which the strings go and to which the springs attach. The vibrato unit itself still works fine. It's replacing the metal component of the bridge with a stone one.

JohnnyB is talking about "blocking" movement of the tremolo. They are two entirely different things. The latter can be done with a hunk of wood.

You are not wrong.

Yeah, sorry 'bout that. To me "trem block" always meant something to block the trem. The mention of crystalline structure isn't limited to the granite blocks. There's mention of density and structure for pretty much all of their upgrade sustain blocks.

Floyd Rose (the person) is a bit of a renaissance man, equally adept at high tech and computer technology as with enhancements to electric guitar. He may have some research or reason behind the claims. After all, this isn't some eccentric basement operation, this is the official Floyd website. They have a 2-week return policy. If you don't hear an improvement, send it back.