The tone of a guitar is directly related to the sum of its components and architecture, while its playability is directly related to its assembly and setup. I worked on this Mexican Custom Shop Designed Fender strat a few months ago, and the owner was happy with its playability after a setup. Now, he came back because the guitar lacked sustain, note definition, and the trem wouldnt keep the guitar in tune very well when used. The proposed solution was to replace the trem block with something better than the low grade casting that the guitar came with, which looks like the same material the US standard strat comes with. He didnt want to change the whole trem, because he liked the look of the vintage saddles on the two point base. Since this was a Mexican strat, the dimentions of the block were quite different from the US block I compared it to, and I was limited in the metals I could order one in from other manufacturers, so I commissioned a machinist to make one for me. The new block, pictured on the left, its made from 303 Stainless steel, which is the hardest grade of stainless steel a machinist can work on with traditional machine shop tools. The end result is more sustain, more note definition and better tuning stability, since the block isnt made from a soft casting.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Apr 2014 22:00:00 +0000
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