Light weight doesn't = Tone

I was having a chat with Adam from Sozo and while letting me test Jeffry's guitars, I commented that this guitar is quite on the heavy side. His immediate comment was, "Does the weight of the guitar affects the way you play? Does the Weight of the guitar affects the tone?"

My answer was naturally no for the first question and yes for the second. He urged me to strum a chord and I did. The sound of the guitar swept me away. I was kind of dumb folded. The truth is, often, we are paying to much attention to the insignificant details that might cloud our judgement. The truth is, for an acoustic/classical guitar, the heavier the weight, the better the tone. However, one might argue that for standing performers, it might be taxing. However, the truth is, how often does one stand performing with an acoustic/classical guitar? In the end of the day, it will not be as heavy as a full solid body guitar.

Well, the same cannot be said for a full solid guitar as I have had basswood guitar that is heavier than my alder guitar and the alder one definitely has a more define tone. I urge all my readers to go ahead and test your favourite instruments or at least those that you are about to buy. Let your ears be your judge. Do not let your judgement be clouded by insignificant details.

Dragonfire Vintage Tremolo for MIC or MIM Strats

So, about a week ago, I wrote about my Dragonfire parts and if you still remember, there is a bridge with a solid steel block, custom made to fit Asian or Mexican Strat.

So I've finally gotten around in installing the bridge, setting up the intonation and action. First thing first, in terms of fitting, this thing fits like a glove. It is a direct drop into your Squiers, Fender Japan and Mexican made Strats. For DIY enthusiasts such as I am, you can fit these into your SX, Artisian, Smash, Timbre and etc Strat copies.

Full size solid Steel Block	Thin Mystery Pot Metal Block

Now if you will take sometime to examine the 2 types of block above, you can tell just by visual alone the big difference between both blocks. The Dragonfire one (The one on the left) features a thick solid steel block while the usual stock one features a Thin Mystery Pot Metal Block. One might argue that a bigger block means heavier weight on the guitar however we also know that the Tremolo Block of the guitar does contribute to the tone significantly. Especially on a Vintage Tremolo type where the string are being string through from the block.

How does this change the sound quality? Well, after changing the blocks, the immediate difference that I can pick up is that the tone is fuller compared to that Mystery Pot Metal Block. There is also an apparent increase in sustain while notes are more apparent in responses.

Let's take a look at the back cavity of my "Malmsteen". This is how it looks like after installation. We can tell from the picture that the Block sits in nicely giving enough space for a whammy down with no fear of the block hitting the cavity.

The only bad point I can think about this Tremolo is that for the first time when I screwed in the Tremolo arm and did a whammy down, to my horror, the Tremolo arm bent slightly at the base near the screw area. So I guess they didn't QC on the arm too well. My consolation is that my friend passed me another one of his extra made in China Tremolo arms and it fitted nicely into the Tremolo block. No bending after a whammy down. Phew!

This is a great upgrade for those who are looking in upgrading their Mexican, Asian Strats or Strat copy. For just 32.95 USD excluding shipping, you can get a great tonal upgrade to your beloved Strat. Say no to Mystery Pot Metal Blocks today!

The difference in Pickups Magnets

During my quest in searching for a cheaper alternatives to big names or boutique pick ups, I started reading up the specs of the pick ups, not that I understood any of it other than the tonal chart. However, there are a few certain things that I see are consistence in differences and that is magnet. Scrolling through different big names pick up maker's website, i noticed that the consistent differences other than the numbers are the magnets. There are Ceramic, Alnico II and Alnico V. So my research begins.



Ceramic: Ceramics has the highest output among all magnets used and is able to produce a more driven and hotter sound while allowing the player to achieve better harmonics with the Ceramics. Ceramics are usually being used in pick ups with high output.



Alnico II: Alnico II is the softest and most compressed sounding. It gives a mellower, warmer, more transparent and vintage sound. Think along the lines of Gibson PAFs. Slash himself uses a Seymour Duncan pick up utilizing Alnico Pro II magnets.



Alnico V: Alnico V is the strongest and most bright and powerful of both the Alnicos. It has higher output compared to Alnico II but isn't as high compared to Ceramic. This gives an edgier kind of sound, A.K.A higher bass and treble.



That all being said, the stronger the magnet, the more pull it has which also equates to less sustain. So technically, more magnetic force doesn't equate to better tone. The number of copper windings and the thickness of the wire used will of course affect the tonal characteristics of the pick up. According to Bill Lawrence, there is no such thing as Ceramic magnets sounding harsh while Alnico magnets sound sweet. There are harsh-sounding pickups with alnico magnets and sweet-sounding pickups with ceramic magnets and vice-versa. I hope this post can serve as a reference or guide to prospective buyer in search of the tone they like and makes their pick ups selection process a lot easier. In the end of the day, it is still up to the player to try it out for themselves for the tone that they are searching for.