Guitar Gear Forum

Hey guys, I'm curious if anyone has tried a wooden Trem Block instead of the usual brass, zinc, or titanium.

I'm guessing it would have quite a characteristic sound behind it.

Haven’t tried wood but Endtime turned me on to stone, and it’s been a good mod to my strat.

NinjaRaf wrote:Haven’t tried wood but Endtime turned me on to stone, and it’s been a good mod to my strat.

I swear by em! Haha

But wood? Who the hell is making a wood one.? I can’t imagine they would be stable enough for a trem block. Or are you referring to a trem stop?

I have a few of the trem stops sold by various parts outlets, some of them aren't as good as others. The ones with the extra nut don't work as well to me, just because the nut kind of comes loose after a while and the whole thing isn't as solid. Now that I'm thinking of it I should set it and put a drop of super glue or something on it just to lock it in place.

I got one 100 years ago from Axcessories.com that was pretty good though, back when you could get an OFR and nut for under $200, when dinosaurs walked the earth

Yeah I've never heard of a wood block. If you meant a trem stop, then yeah, wood works great for that.

EndTime wrote:

NinjaRaf wrote:Haven’t tried wood but Endtime turned me on to stone, and it’s been a good mod to my strat.

I swear by em! Haha

But wood? Who the hell is making a wood one.? I can’t imagine they would be stable enough for a trem block. Or are you referring to a trem stop?

Nah, I'm taking about a wooden trem block, not a trem stop. Seems like it'd be cool.

Crazy, I would think the ball ends would eventually rip through even the hardest of woods.

itchyfingers wrote:Crazy, I would think the ball ends would eventually rip through even the hardest of woods.

I agree.

You outta yo' got-damn mind, Rumple.

Between the strings and the springs here's a lot of tension put on the trem block. I can't of any wood the would be strong enough to withstand the tension, within the dimensions of a regular tremolo block. Maybe if you made something that was 3-4 inches that could work but that would entail changing the entire tremolo system and body routing to work.

GuitarBilly wrote:Between the strings and the springs here's a lot of tension put on the trem block. I can't of any wood the would be strong enough to withstand the tension, within the dimensions of a regular tremolo block. Maybe if you made something that was 3-4 inches that could work but that would entail changing the entire tremolo system and body routing to work.

Ooooooh, that's a great idea! Let me do some measurements, drop them into AutoCAD, and see what I can get. They have quite the library on materials, so maybe I can "try" this without messing with my guitar or any real wood

Rumpleforeskin wrote:

GuitarBilly wrote:Between the strings and the springs here's a lot of tension put on the trem block. I can't of any wood the would be strong enough to withstand the tension, within the dimensions of a regular tremolo block. Maybe if you made something that was 3-4 inches that could work but that would entail changing the entire tremolo system and body routing to work.

Ooooooh, that's a great idea! Let me do some measurements, drop them into AutoCAD, and see what I can get. They have quite the library on materials, so maybe I can "try" this without messing with my guitar or any real wood

I was not trying to give you any ideas lol I was trying to discourage you but by all means go for it and see what you can come up with, should be interesting

Sooooo, it appears that even with using the hardest of woods, the shearing of the trem springs rips apart the bottom of the wooden block. So now the question is, if I put in some metal inserts if it'll hold. That'll be up next.

Make one out of bone for the most brutal tone

Still considering this?? Lol.. I know the saying goes about when people try "different" things and those who criticize.. But how well do you know/understand wood? and the pressures present from very small points (IE where the springs attach). You did realize it wouldn't hold for very long with the end of the springs just sitting in little point drilled in the block... But even necks need adjustment things like truss rods and even carbon fiber to help keep it stable.. A trem block would be no different and It seems far more unstable considering how it takes this pressure... I guess doing shit for fun won't harm anyone, but theres really no way this is gonna work in any way that would make it stable enough to be a quality piece... And I suspect sustain will be completely gone with a wood block

EndTime wrote:Still considering this?? Lol.. I know the saying goes about when people try "different" things and those who criticize.. But how well do you know/understand wood? and the pressures present from very small points (IE where the springs attach). You did realize it wouldn't hold for very long with the end of the springs just sitting in little point drilled in the block... But even necks need adjustment things like truss rods and even carbon fiber to help keep it stable.. A trem block would be no different and It seems far more unstable considering how it takes this pressure... I guess doing shit for fun won't harm anyone, but theres really no way this is gonna work in any way that would make it stable enough to be a quality piece... And I suspect sustain will be completely gone with a wood block

Okay, I tried with metal inserts and it held for a couple of minutes. Basically, once I had the low E and A strung up to pitch, the wood tore. The sound though was very "hollow" sounding acoustically. If that makes sense?

I'm going to try it again, but with audio and video. Figured it'd at least give you guys a laugh.

*Quick edit, I did the last test in real life versus software, because reasons.

Please never stop trying

Today I learned that RumpleForeskin is linthat22

Devin wrote:Today I learned that RumpleForeskin is linthat22

Yeah, sorry dude. I kept forgetting how to spell that stupid name, so back to linthat22. I was debating diarrhea_splatter, but I'll just keep that on YouTube.

I always enjoyed linthat22's hijinks tbh

Devin wrote:I always enjoyed linthat22's hijinks tbh

Yeah, but this is Billy's board and I even have reached out to him on some things I haven't posted, because this was never meant to be HCAF 2.0 where anything goes (just some things) and I enjoy everyone here, so I don't want to get banned. I guess even at 45, I have to grow up online somewhere.

linthat22 wrote:

Devin wrote:I guess even at 45, I have to grow up online somewhere.