Scott Henderson Discussion

[fusion58]

Hi Scott:

IIRC, you are a proponent of steel trem blocks for "S" style guitars with floating bridges.

I'm interested in hearing your take on the argument (made by some well-known boutique builders) that the enhanced highs and lows steel blocks deliver tend to disappear in a mix where keyboards and/or other guitars are present.

I have a couple custom guitars whose builders chose zinc blocks over steel for this reason. (I prefer steel blocks.)

Thanks for any insight.

[Scott Henderson]

These well known boutique builders must not hear very well. The difference in the tone of a steel block and zinc block is night and day, in the mix or not. There's no bass whatsoever in a zinc block so high notes sound very thin and the whole tone of the instrument is tinny compared to a steel block.

These builders should learn a lesson from the past - all the great strat tones we're used to hearing are from traditional 6 screw vintage bridges with steel blocks.

[fusion58]

Thanks for the reply, Scott.

I have a $4K custom 'S' style guitar built by a well-known L.A.-based luthier whose instruments are used by a lot of 'A' list session players in town.

I've been wanting to replace the zinc block with a steel one, but the builder wrote this long dissertation about why he believed steel blocks were undesirable, etc., and I guess it made me somewhat hesitant.

I guess I should probably trust my ears from now on.

Thanks again, and I hope the TT tour is going well.

[Scott Henderson]

I'd love to read what he wrote. I'd be very interested to hear what he thinks is undesirable about the tone of Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton, Michael Landau, and many others who recorded with steel blocks on their Fender vintage bridges. Does he mention any prominent guitarists who use a zinc block?

As someone who's done a thorough A/B test between a steel and zinc block on the same guitar, I can tell you without a doubt that the zinc block sounds like shit.

[fusion58]

[Scott Henderson]

I agree with a lot of Jim's opinions but don't agree on a few things, mainly on what he says about midrange. It's true that a zinc block will give the guitar more mid, but you can add mid with the amp. On the contrary, trying to add bass with the amp muddies things up and in my opinion it's better to have natural bass from the instrument. Part of what makes a vintage strat sound so good is it's natural bass, because the bridge has a steel block.

I've said this before, and quite a few players agree. Using a traditional strat and a 4x12 directly on the floor with very little bass from the amp, will give you a tighter and more musical low end than using a midrangy guitar and trying to get your low end from the bass knob of the amp. That usually results in a woofy, unmusical tone which feels loaded down and is terrible for legato playing.

I also disagree with what he says about Kluson tuners. When I compared them to Sperzels, the Sperzels sounded better to me because they add mass to the headstock which is usually a good thing.

Here's an interesting test you can do with a Snark SN-8 headstock tuner which is what I use. Plug into your rig set to a high gain sound and with your left hand only, play some fast notes. Now do the same thing with the tuner attached to the headstock. You'll probably notice that with the tuner attached, the notes pop out much easier and the noise made by the open strings is quieter. You'll also notice that the low end is tighter. This is what adding a little mass to the headstock does, and it's the reason a lot of players prefer the huge Fender headstock to the smaller one. The Suhr headstock is even smaller than the small Fender, but adding Sperzels and the tuner makes up for it in my opinion.

[fusion58]

I think I've finally reached the same conclusion as you as a result of my own trial and error. The final straw was when I found myself reaching for a $1K American Standard Strat (with a Callaham steel block) instead of my Tyler Classic while teaching the other night when both guitars were available.

I've been reluctant to replace the existing zinc block on the Tyler due to my love for Jim's guitars and my reverence for Jim as a luthier, but I think I'm going to have to take a deep breath and order a new bridge w/ steel block.

I replaced the original Wilkinson VSV bridge (which I hated because of the fact that you had to use an allen wrench to adjust intonation) with a Gotoh 510T-SF2, but the Gotoh sounds even thinner than the Wilkinson to my ears. Gotoh makes a version of the same bridge with a steel block, so I think I'll try that one (with 2 1/8" string spacing, my options are limited.)

Thanks again for the helpful feedback, Scott.