whitestrat
Well-known member
Just wanted to bring these to you guys' attention. They're pretty nice stuff, and they do change the tone a bit. I don't know how they're made, but they claim that these are made exactly the same way as the old vintage springs on original vintage Fenders.
Raw Vintage
The Saddles
I got the Raw Vintage Saddles for my strat last week.
These are probably the most amazing things I've tried that aren't linked to the electronics that actually does improve the tones of my guitars.
Previously, my strat (American Vintage 57 Hot Rod loaded with CS fat 50s) was mushy in the neck (not muddy, but just not very focused), and a little ice-picky in the bridge. The in-between tones weren't much to write home about either.
Now, with these saddles, for some reason, the neck is still as chimey as before, but a lot tighter, and more focused. The inbetween are very sweet now, and the bridge, is bright, fat, and jangly, with no ice-pick! The guitar is also louder, and much more crisp acoustically! Sustain was improved quite a bit, and the guitar now sings nicely.
I have no clue how the saddles alone can amount to this change, but it's really amazing how they changed the tone. They're not exactly cheap, but I'd say they were very worth it for the strat! I'm going to try these for my Silo Spec next. Not sure if they'll fit, but I'll try. The saddles aren't cheap though.
The Springs
I also just installed the Raw Vintage springs in 3 different guitars. The strat, my Silhouette Special, and a JPX 7 string with floating trem.
They are definately low tension springs, as 4 springs equated to almost but not quite the strength of the older 3, with some slight slack more. With a 5th spring, the tension seemed to be just a bit more than the previous 3. (They actually recommend you use all 5)
These had a pretty huge difference in tone too, but not entirely positive in all cases.
In the strat, the "bounce" seemed to be lost. The tone was tighter, and more "strong". Not exactly what I was after. The single coils I had in this were ToneRider Surfaris, which were nice and tight to begin with. Now the tones seemed to be beefed up a bit, but I wanted that "bounce" with the older springs. I installed the saddles in this guitar for sometime before installing the springs, so I know which contributes what.
But in the Silo Spec, where I'm running DiMarzio Cruisers, the tones tightened up very nicely, and that's where they worked well. The tones were sweeter, and they actually didn't sound as sterile as before (though not that I had a problem with this in the past, just that it's nicer now). They're also going in my other Silo Spec which is being assembled now after a respray job. It'll be interesting how those will work with the brass block instead of this one's steel block.
But the most interesting one was in the 7 string, where the tones not only tightened up, but beefed up quite nicely too! The 5 springs with the slightly increased tension, also made the trem move less when I did a 1 & half step bend. The trem was a lot more stable in tuning, as the bridge didn't move much, but of course, whammy abuse was still an issue, but that's no biggie for me. The clean tones are extremely sweeter than before, and is an absolute joy to play clean. Imagine that. A JPX7 played clean most of the time. Sort of an oxymoron. Hahaha!!!
This is pretty good stuff, to say the least, just that you'd have to take into account your current pickup's characteristics. Sustain was more prominent in all 3 cases, and the decay was not as long as the previous set, meaning you had more usable tone time length.
Raw Vintage
The Saddles
I got the Raw Vintage Saddles for my strat last week.
These are probably the most amazing things I've tried that aren't linked to the electronics that actually does improve the tones of my guitars.
Previously, my strat (American Vintage 57 Hot Rod loaded with CS fat 50s) was mushy in the neck (not muddy, but just not very focused), and a little ice-picky in the bridge. The in-between tones weren't much to write home about either.
Now, with these saddles, for some reason, the neck is still as chimey as before, but a lot tighter, and more focused. The inbetween are very sweet now, and the bridge, is bright, fat, and jangly, with no ice-pick! The guitar is also louder, and much more crisp acoustically! Sustain was improved quite a bit, and the guitar now sings nicely.
I have no clue how the saddles alone can amount to this change, but it's really amazing how they changed the tone. They're not exactly cheap, but I'd say they were very worth it for the strat! I'm going to try these for my Silo Spec next. Not sure if they'll fit, but I'll try. The saddles aren't cheap though.
The Springs
I also just installed the Raw Vintage springs in 3 different guitars. The strat, my Silhouette Special, and a JPX 7 string with floating trem.
They are definately low tension springs, as 4 springs equated to almost but not quite the strength of the older 3, with some slight slack more. With a 5th spring, the tension seemed to be just a bit more than the previous 3. (They actually recommend you use all 5)
These had a pretty huge difference in tone too, but not entirely positive in all cases.
In the strat, the "bounce" seemed to be lost. The tone was tighter, and more "strong". Not exactly what I was after. The single coils I had in this were ToneRider Surfaris, which were nice and tight to begin with. Now the tones seemed to be beefed up a bit, but I wanted that "bounce" with the older springs. I installed the saddles in this guitar for sometime before installing the springs, so I know which contributes what.
But in the Silo Spec, where I'm running DiMarzio Cruisers, the tones tightened up very nicely, and that's where they worked well. The tones were sweeter, and they actually didn't sound as sterile as before (though not that I had a problem with this in the past, just that it's nicer now). They're also going in my other Silo Spec which is being assembled now after a respray job. It'll be interesting how those will work with the brass block instead of this one's steel block.
But the most interesting one was in the 7 string, where the tones not only tightened up, but beefed up quite nicely too! The 5 springs with the slightly increased tension, also made the trem move less when I did a 1 & half step bend. The trem was a lot more stable in tuning, as the bridge didn't move much, but of course, whammy abuse was still an issue, but that's no biggie for me. The clean tones are extremely sweeter than before, and is an absolute joy to play clean. Imagine that. A JPX7 played clean most of the time. Sort of an oxymoron. Hahaha!!!
This is pretty good stuff, to say the least, just that you'd have to take into account your current pickup's characteristics. Sustain was more prominent in all 3 cases, and the decay was not as long as the previous set, meaning you had more usable tone time length.
