BigJay, Congrats on the Callaham upgrade. I installed one in my American Series Strat a couple of months ago. I really like it and the slightly shorter arm. I think you will see slightly better sustain in your guitar, but dont set your expectations too high. There is a pretty decent block in your guitar already. If you were swapping out the block on a m.i.m. or Squier I think the difference would be much more pronounced. I also like the looks of the vintage style saddles better than the stainless ones that came on mine. Good luck.

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"My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives." Blazing Saddles...

Congrats BigJay!! No fudging with effects or tone when doing your comparison!! JK!!!

That would be cool BJ!! I know that you if anyone will speak and demonstrate the real thing.! Speaks of your creditability to me!!

Make sure when you do your comparison to do each block a few times to be scientific about things

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Rated "M" for meaty.

Hoping won't be enough. There will be a difference due to the strings. The only way for an experiment like this to work is for absolutely every single parameter to be completely identical in all tests except that one parameter which you are testing. If you can't guarantee that then there's no point in trying to take a scientific approach to your study. Objective opinion is all you will really have. And really, does anything else matter except your opinion of it?

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

I agree 100%. New strings VS old strings will be a BIG difference in sound. Unfortunately experimenting can get slightly costly for no good reason. If you really are going to have an experiment like this, then you'd have to plan on losing a new set of strings. Sucks, but that's the only way to keep it an honest experiment.

I'm also in the category that the new block won't do anything. I installed a bigger block in my '57RI many years ago, the guitar doesn't sustain for s**t. If a pickup is just weak to it, then it just is, and the note will drop out. That's my opinion on it anyway.

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Strings are a majour difference, and I don't see what is to be gained by changing out blocks=\ I dont see the point in all of the little minutiae guitar players bicker about. Your playing, your pickups, your amp and effects setups define 99% of your sound.

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Congrats on the Callaham. If you are concerned about the old strings versus new string making a difference why not change out the old ones first? I know it's kind of a waste of a set of strings, but that way you would get a truer test.

In fact, in the spirit of a true test I will send you 2 identical sets (Cleartone 9-42's) of strings to be used for the test.

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

hi guys, just found this thread. I like your approach, and have some findings to report from the field...

I have a '02 USA standard strat and recently bought a callaham block, trem arm and saddles. I didn't make before-after recordings but I can definitely state that the new steel parts made a HUGE difference to the tone and response of my Strat.

I used the same slightly dead strings that were already on the strat after the changeover - so they should have sounded a little worse after being let down then stretched back to pitch. Instead the guitar had more active and apparent harmonics, increased sustain, increased low frequency response, increased brightness, increased attack.. and finally I could get those bell-like tones on single notes on the low E string that I had always heard on recordings, but could never wrench from my modern strat. THe difference was night and day. Even while I was tuning the strings back up to pitch I could hear more harmonics, more Zing. Acoustically the Strat is louder and clearer, plugged in it sounds like I just swapped it for a vintage model.

I have a friend with a near identical US strat of a similar age, stock pups etc etc and now when we A/B the two guitars his sounds like a poor imitation of the real thing. There is seriously that much difference in tone.

I was sceptical, I don't know squat about metals, and wasn't aware that the trem assembly was yet another area where Fender had strayed from Leo's original design. But it made sense that the quality and density of the metals used will affect the sound. What I did know was that I'd never got the resonance I wanted out of my low strings and I was prepared to give the Callaham a try.

It delivered everthing that he says, easily. Better metal, better tone. Simple, and it works. I'm not an 18 yo sucker for hype, I've been a pro musician since the 1970s recording and touring and I'm a LOT more interested in playing than tweaking, believe me, but this was worth it.