Stone Tone Rock Block In a era where musicians are all looking for the best tone for your music, upgrades have become a must for most to get the best performance out of there gear. Musicians are flocking to change out pickups, strings, pots, sustain blocks and tuners etc to get the most bang for there buck and take there instruments into new places of tone almost unheard of not that long ago. Myself like so many musicians play guitars loaded with tremolo's and have always just run out and picked up the normal brass block cause it seemed like that was just the standard (I personally do not like titanium blocks cause they are way way to bright and seem to hinder instead of help tone). I met a guy by the name of Rob from Naples Florida a while ago promoting his company Stone Tone and his main product the Rock Block what instead of using the normal brass block he is using Granite. I honestly have been on the fence about this cause like most always thought ''We are supposed to use brass'' Right???????? Well lets talk about it and see!!!!!!!!!
Features
This is a straight up product that is a beautifully produced piece of granite. It is a 37mm Rock Block installed on a Floyd Rose Original (My personal favorite Floyd Rose).
Sound I installed this on my main metal guitar that I have talked about on this blog more then once my Carvin V (The Purple One). I could almost instantly notice a difference with sound and clarity. Taking a couple weeks and really taking in all the aspects from the cleans having a more acoustic brilliance (Even Unplugged), The leads have more definition and harmonics almost jump off the guitar with ease. I am more of a rock/metal guitar player so I was the most impressed with the richness it added to my distortion end with tightening up my chords and being able to not just hear the chords but each string much better then I could have ever hoped. I was really impressed with my overall tone to my ears far above anything I have ever got with brass!! (Keep in mind each guitar is made a bit different and you could have a bit different experience but I can tell you that it will be a good one!)
My Opinion I am not a scientist by any means and I can in no way explain how this product works but I can honestly say it not just works but kicks ass!!!! I know some players have been on the fence but I honestly think it is more cause we have been taught for so many years that brass or other products are the option we must do and for my personal tone I have totally Re thought what I knew about Sustain Blocks. The Rock Block installs just like anything you might have used in the past but depending on your grounding of your guitar might have to put a tiny strip on your guitar to add extra grounding (Stone Tone has the strips). I was able to install this pretty fast and set it up in no time.
I know this product is more expensive then the average cost of a brass block but the gains it provides far more impressive to my ears and well worth the time and money. Compared to the cost of pickups and other upgrades it is a small price to pay!!! www.facebook.com/stonetoneproducts http://www.stonetoneproducts.com/
This day in age guitars have evolved into directions that even astound me. From the classics like Les Pauls to the Telecaster and Stratocaster to V's and customs that push the limits unheard of from even just 20 years ago. The import market use to be the bottom of the barrel and custom guitars was something that only the rich or the biggest rock stars could afford. The import market today has reached new levels and custom guitars are something now anyone can afford if they reach hard enough. Most guitars from most makers are usually quality made but they can lack in some areas from tremolos lacking a bit of tone and sustain springs that slip and are noisy. A company called FU-Tone took the reigns to make great tone available to everyone at a price that anyone can afford. I have used and even compared there products to some cheaper versions of others and seen how it all stacks up. Today we shall talk about the world of FU-Tone and what they can do to give you rock star tone!!!!!!!!
I am first going to talk about my Carvin V220 Classic Reissue V Guitar.
This guitar is everything I ever wanted from alder body and a flame maple neck thru construction. It is loaded with locking tuners original Floyd Rose tremolo coil tapping and even a maple top on it for good measure. A ebony fretboard and gorgeous abalone block inlays round out this beast. I wrote up a talk about this beast of a guitar that you can read here. Click here for read Carvin V Review for Gear Talk By Jon.
I wanted to take this great guitar and make it legendary gear it up to what would be one of the best stage and studio guitars in my rig for a very long time. I turned to FU-Tone where Adam over there helped me with a Tone Block, Heavy Duty Springs, Brass Claw and a Brass Trem Stopper. These items all helped me take this guitar to a level of amazing proportions. Lets take a moment and break down each part I installed into this guitar.
37mm Brass Tone Block to replace the light pot metal one. This adds volume and mass what equals tone and resonance and sustain. Tear down time is a bit cause you have to loosen or replace the strings and tear the tremolo all the way down and intonate it when done. It is more then worth the time and FU-Tone has great videos to help out along the way.
Brass Trem Stopper helps block your tremolo so it is very stable what helps if you have a heavy hand and if you plan on using a D-Tuna. It also equals back to the mass equals tone. I used a small drill bit and drilled two small wholes and then screwed it in. It took about ten min total including the setting of the tremolo.
Heavy Duty Noiseless Springs that live up to there name in every way shape and form. They are the best springs I have seen and or used on any guitar and really give you that extra grip on the trem to make sure you are in tune 100% of the time.
Brass Spring Claw helps in two ways from the original pot metal one that comes standard on tremolos. They are stronger and go back to the mass equals tone and will help the entire tone and sustain output on your guitar. It took only a few minutes to install and then solder the wire.
When I had all of this installed on the V it is mind blowing what it did for this guitar. It took a great guitar and made it even better. I gained a extremely mind blowing amount of sustain and tone the guitar performed better then I could dream. If you have a mid level or entry level guitar it is a cheap way to step it up into new tonal territories to keep you on a budget and still get rock star tone. You do not need to be a luthier or have years of tool experience to be able to install this stuff between FU-Tone and Youtube there are tons of videos to help walk anyone step to step.
The next question I had was what makes FU-Tone different? There are blocks on Ebay that are a bit cheaper......Trem blocks that are about half the price........Why would I want to pay a few dollars more right????? It is about saving money???? The next quick test I wanted to run was what separates FU-Tone and why did I want to back this company when I can find cheaper parts in other places.I went to one of the more favorite places for musicians to buy parts or upgrades for there guitars the mighty Ebay. I purchased a 37mm brass block and a brass trem stopper for almost half the price just to compare for myself. I notice the block was very bland looking has a very dirty look to it that would not buff out. I weighed them both also and the Ebay block was actually lighter and a bit smaller also. The trem stopper was not machined it was basically a small piece of flat bar that was bent with a threaded whole in it. I noticed a ton of difference in the tone and sustain it almost sounded muffled after having the FU-Tone upgrades installed on the guitar. I am sure it was better then stock but not much better and it was not worth the money I spent. Sometimes you cannot be fooled by smoke and mirrors and cheaper parts made with lower quality brass and components. When it comes to your tone your sound and your style I personally recommend FU-Tone!!!!
It is also important to let everyone know that I am in no way or shape endorsed with FU-Tone. I am writing about this company cause I believe that they offer the best parts and upgrades for the quality for the money on the market today!!!!!!
Next month we shall take another look at FU-Tone and look at what it did for my VG Guitars V that I call my Phoenix Guitar.
I had a friend of mine send me a picture of a guitar that had a chrome snake tailpiece on his guitar and I knew that this was something unique. I did some looking around and met the owner Neal Gallop via Facebook and he explained the entire company out to me. I did my homework on the product talking to a few other guitar players that loved there Tailpeace so I knew I had to have one for myself. Something that really surprised me is that most of the profits made on these go straight to charity. Today we will talk about the Tailpeace Dsignz custom tailpieces.
Layout & Features
Tailpeace makes four standard models the Snake, Bull Head, Cross and Skull. They are in multi different colors Chrome, Gold, Black, Nickel and Raw. They are made out of lightweight aluminum so they will not add weight to your favorite axe. These beauties will fit right into your stopbar tailpiece guitar like a Les Paul without any modifications or tools needed. They float above your body of your guitar so no scratches on that beautiful finish. I purchased a Gold Cross and put it on my Carvin Cs6 (There version of a single cut Les Paul). It only took me about ten min to install cause of the added length I had to change my strings (It was time to change them anyway). A very simple upgrade all the way around.
Sound This is a upgrade but not to enhance your tone but I was very surprised when I installed this Tailpiece and I noticed a difference in my sound. There was a noticeable difference in sustain and it added a bit of acoustic sound to the cleans. The heavy saturated leads really had more overall tone to them. As we know with like brass blocks on a Floyd Rose Mass=Tone and adding this adds a bit of enhanced sound. It really was a pleasant surprise cause it was made for eye candy. My Opinion Neal really has come up with a great product that will really spruce up your favorite stopbar tailpiece guitar. It is a brilliant idea to make your guitar unique and separate you from the crowd. The Tailpeace looks really good under the lights on stage also. I am so impressed that most of the money goes to a charity so buying this not only makes your guitar look and sound better but you are helping out to make the world a better place. They are very reasonable priced so any guitar player with a bit of scratch can afford to dress there axe up. My Carvin Cs6 has never looked and played better then it does with my Gold Cross Tailpeace. Contact www.facebook.com/TailPeaceDsignz http://tailpeace.com
