#16
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I didn’t see it and took your post the wrong way — my apologies.
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#17
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For the record, Clapton never played hardtail Stratocasters. Both Blackie and Brownie are wooden-blocked standard tremolo routed 1950’s Strats. Look at photos (there are plenty of them) and you can see the empty hole for the bar. Every interview I’ve ever read about him confirms this, and his signature model is most definitely not a hardtail.
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#18
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Quote:
If you remove the back plate from your Strat, play some chords and feel the block and listen to the springs — the whole system is vibrating and resonating. It’s almost like an acoustic guitar with the soundhole in the back. I feel you would lose the least string energy by blocking the block tightly with the same wood as the body, with all five springs on and the claw cranked in so the whole bridge lays flat on the guitar top. I guess I’m going to have to make my own, or hire EC’s guitar tech to come up to Boise and make me one. |
#19
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Quote:
There is a bit of difference in the sound and feel of a non-trem Strat simply because it's string through like a Tele. Also it's almost a half-pound lighter than a similar trem Strat. If you ever knocked o a board of alder, it's reminiscent of knocking on a 2 X 4 that's wet. Many woods with a higher "Q" factor that transfer vibrations better such as Brazilian (or any other) rosewood, padauk, wenge, ziricote... Not that alder is a bad wood. It's a great pair for strings mounted onto a heavy steel ballast that's floated with springs, amplified with bright single-coil pickups with 250K pots, with an equally bright maple neck. See, the whole thing is a system and there is a "balance" to it - that Leo guy was a genius. My current trem setup is 2 springs with the trem plate flat on the body, down trem only. No problems with bends with the right springs. |
#20
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Don't know, but I'm sure the Tele was!
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#21
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Quote:
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#22
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Neither Brownie nor Blackie was/is a hardtail. QED.
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#23
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On second thought, you suggested a hardwood that would transfer block energy better than softer woods — less of a “damping factor”. I should try a block of ebony and an identical block of balsa and perhaps one of poplar as an in-between option.
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#24
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I had the story reversed... He had two or three guitars. He loved one neck, but couldn't bond with the body which had a hard-tail. He had another body which he loved the sound of, so he swapped the necks. Sorry for that, I apologize...
That said, if I put a pine shim to block your guitar, and told you it was alder, you wouldn't hear a difference, guaranteed. Some pine can be harder than some alder. |
#25
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Ebony, believe it or not, has about the same "damping" quality as maple, despite its hardness. African blackwood would be one of the most resonant of dense hardwoods. Brazilian rosewood is actually less dense and more porous.
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#26
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Quote:
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#27
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Now I just need to find a source for small blocks of African Blackwood...
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#28
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Yeah it should only set you back the cost of a trem or so LOLOL... Should be some small pieces on eBay
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#29
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Yikes...I will upset the woodrows. I block Strat trems with a stack of pennies glued together or taped with blue painters tape. I have been playing strats forever and have never noticed a difference in how my guitars sound blocked or unblocked.
Waiting for the grenades. |
#30
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I’m eager to find out, as soon as I get over this bloody head cold.
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