Screw upgrades

Sporky

ICBM said:

The block material does as well though, especially between cheap alloy and a harder, denser metal like steel or brass. I haven't directly compared steel to brass but it wouldn't surprise me if there's a difference too.

I'd be interested to find out if it's just a mass thing or if stiffness comes into it as well.

Octafish

Really, is this serious, some half brain thinks pickguard screws effect the tone? What about guitars with no pickguard - less tone I suppose? Is it worth just screwing a handful into the body, do post 59 Strats with 11 pickgaurd screws have more tone than earlier ones with 8?

The only benefit of brass screws would be they don't corrode like steel ones, but as pointed they will more easier to damage or even shear.

ICBM

Octafish said:

The only benefit of brass screws would be they don't corrode like steel ones

They do too! Just differently. They go green instead of brown…

I suppose if they were made from Admiralty Brass they might not, although I suspect sweat might actually be more corrosive than seawater, so I'm not sure.

Sporky

For technical metal I favour titanium screws.

StormshadowGuitars

A quality Brass Block upgrade to a Strat or Floyd trem will make a vast difference to the tone & sustain, then fit it using stainless screws.
We use lots of brass & Titanium upgrades from FU Tone, they work & it's not snake oil. It is however a personal choice whether you like or dislike the improvements they give.
Brass screws for pickguards/tuners will make no difference whatsoever. A brass trem claw is marginal.

Octafish

ICBM said:

Octafish said:

The only benefit of brass screws would be they don't corrode like steel ones

They do too! Just differently. They go green instead of brown…

I suppose if they were made from Admiralty Brass they might not, although I suspect sweat might actually be more corrosive than seawater, so I'm not sure.

Yes they do corride, notice I didn't say they don't corride at all, but that they don't corrode 'like steel ones'. Brass corrosion is much slower, rust eats into mild steel relatively quickly and brass can quickly be brought back to looking like new with some Brasso.

Alnico

Sporky said:

For technical metal I favour titanium screws.

Could *that* be the definitive way to tighten up an already boosted JCM800 ?

ICBM

Octafish said:

Yes they do corride, notice I didn't say they don't corride at all, but that they don't corrode 'like steel ones'. Brass corrosion is much slower, rust eats into mild steel relatively quickly and brass can quickly be brought back to looking like new with some Brasso. 

Sometimes . Although if you've seen some guitars that made it through the late 1970s with brass hardware as 'working guitars' it's more debatable… if the corrosion is bad enough the metal starts to wear away nearly as badly as rusty steel does.

I've always thought that nasty soft green muck you get on brass hardware looks much worse than rust too.

Sporky

Alnico said:

Sporky said:

For technical metal I favour titanium screws.

Could *that* be the definitive way to tighten up an already boosted JCM800 ?

It might just.

Though I've heard that there are great advances in ceramics. Obvs for blues you'd want alnico screws though.

Sporky

ICBM said:

Sometimes . Although if you've seen some guitars that made it through the late 1970s with brass hardware as 'working guitars' it's more debatable… if the corrosion is bad enough the metal starts to wear away nearly as badly as rusty steel does.

Being serious for a mo (no, really), why not stainless steel screws? They're gaining traction in joinery circles because they don't react with timbers such as oak.

ICBM

Sporky said:

Being serious for a mo (no, really), why not stainless steel screws? They're gaining traction in joinery circles because they don't react with timbers such as oak.

You can already get them.

https://www.callahamguitars.com/strat_accessories_catalog.htm

(Among others)

Octafish

Sporky said:

Being serious for a mo (no, really), why not stainless steel screws? They're gaining traction in joinery circles because they don't react with timbers such as oak.

I fitted stainless pickguard screws on a number of my gigging guitars a few years ago. Got fed up with the chromed mild steel ones rusting. Go mine here http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/screws_pickguardaftfender.htm

WezV

Stainless is an option at Allparts too.  

Sporky

Coolio - I had a suspicion someone would have beaten me to it. Ta for the links - all bookmarked.

Also I like the zingy tone they give.

Bridgehouse

Sporky said:

Also I like the zingy tone they give.

Careful now.. 

CasperCaster

I'll put my two penn'orth in here. KGC are a well respected US manufacturer of (mostly) brass parts and their blocks have a good reputation on many forums, so I wouldn't have a concern buying one of their blocks. As for the screws improving tone, well they've obviously overstepped the mark a little there as it's clearly BS.

My black Highway Strat with maple neck has had both steel and brass blocks in it (from Kev Hurley on eBay). I purchased the steel one after enjoying the same mod in a red Highway Strat with a rosewood board. Now, the guitars are clearly not identical (fretboard's, pickups etc), but the steel block in the black/ maple Strat was a little shrill. Once swapped from steel to brass it had similar sustain but was a touch less bright, which solved that problem. I think brass parts definitely have their place, but perhaps with a bit more restraint than in the 70's and early 80's!

As for the trem claw, I (inevitably) showed a complete lack of restraint and went ahead and bought a machined brass one from a guy on eBay (MetalMan). I added it after swapping the blocks around, and didn't find the claw affected the tone at all. No disappointment there as I didn't expect it would have any tonal affect, but I do like the fact that it is a nicely engineered part, and the screw connection for the string earth makes swapping pickups a touch easier if that is your thing. And it looks nice too - yes, I am that shallow.

impmann

I found that if I adjusted all my scratchplate screws so that the crosses in them were perfectly perpendicular to the grain, it aligned all the forces within the guitar and allowed the vibrations to transfer across the body unhindered. This, along with finding that brass on the bass side and stainless on the treble side, improved my tone massively - in fact, it made my Encore Coaster comparable to a pre-CBS Strat.

Some of our customers have reported that this upgrade is far better than the screws you can buy from Fender, Allparts etc. And of course, they are handmade right here in my garage... They only cost £169 for a set but I might be able to sort out a Fretboard discount if you let me bad mouth everyone else's products...

I've done a couple of videos that are totally undoctored in any way shape or form. The compressor was only switched on for the Encore to even out the inevitable spikes in tone you get when a guitar is so well set up. By the way, we sell set up tools... and they are so much better than everyone elses.

;-)

WezV

impmann said:

I found that if I adjusted all my scratchplate screws so that the crosses in them were perfectly perpendicular to the grain, it aligned all the forces within the guitar and allowed the vibrations to transfer across the body unhindered. This, along with finding that brass on the bass side and stainless on the treble side, improved my tone massively - in fact, it made my Encore Coaster comparable to a pre-CBS Strat.

Some of our customers have reported that this upgrade is far better than the screws you can buy from Fender, Allparts etc. And of course, they are handmade right here in my garage... They only cost £169 for a set but I might be able to sort out a Fretboard discount if you let me bad mouth everyone else's products...

I've done a couple of videos that are totally undoctored in any way shape or form. The compressor was only switched on for the Encore to even out the inevitable spikes in tone you get when a guitar is so well set up. By the way, we sell set up tools... and they are so much better than everyone elses.

;-)

i don't suppose you have any finishing products you can offer.  I am after something that looks like its been painted by a kid with a potato and chips as soon as you look at it

Sassafras

Ordinary brass screws don't make the slightest difference to the sound. You need Class A Single Ended screws for amazing tone.

Philly_Q

Frankly I'm shocked that nobody has bothered to point out that slot headed screws sound better than Phillips ones. 

If you're going for true vintage tone they're abso-bloody-lutely essential.