The easiest way to improve your guitar tone is with stickers. Of course vinyl stickers will give you more sustain than paper stickers. And if you want a darker tone, of course you need darker stickers. For a more airy wide open tone, just use hologram stickers, or stickers with butterflies.
That may be true but doesn't explain the result. Because the pattern is consistent and the same across ALL the examples. So much so you could identify which claw is which purely by viewing the graph. With both claws side by side. But swapping positions. It is having a effect
@@neilphillips1350 At best it's so subtle no one could tell the difference purely just by sound! I would challenge anyone to do a double blind test and would guarantee there is no discernable difference! The read out proves it! This is more placebo than fact!
I made blind comparison and definately youre wrong. Question is if it is more stratty or not. I mean that many people got uset to stratocaster tones made with regulat bent metal claw. I think SRV never thought about swapping it ;)
It looks so cool, and it makes things easy. Never mind the tiny bit of sustain. My main Strat is going for a treat. Thanks a lot, Darrell... from Denmark
@@goldbug1974 I have when I really take the stock setup for a good pull up. I've had to put a foam block in that the back cover holds in place to keep the springs in place
I've had a spring pop off before, but I attribute this to the much higher string tension because of the lower tuning I was in only ever happened once so I still think its a non-issue
spot. on. Had to dig really deep into those wave forms to see any difference. Frankly, if there was a difference, the standard one sounded better? Not to mention picking dynamic variances could easily make up any of these differences. if he was .1 mm closer to the bridge, or .1 mm deeper on the pick against the string. Seems like a stretch to sell this thing....
@@JungYT And who, exactly, is gonna see your bling, unless you do a Jimi and bite those strings? I'll sell you a back cover for $10, and you can spend the rest on a bracelet with your name on it. LOL
I certainly thought there was a difference, but it's too small to make me want to change mine. It's taken me 6mths to perfect my set up and I'm not messing with it anymore.
One of my favourite vids! Love that you used the tech to verify the sounds, this was very informative. Love to see more like this! Horrifyingly loved the chopped Strat vid!
You'd be surprised what confirmation bias can achieve. If you bought cause you believe in it, you will hear a difference. Otherwise that would mean your purchase and decision was wrong. Can't have that! That is why only blind tests are kinda reliable.
I love your channel man. You always have answers I'm looking for even if I didn't know I needed the info. Saint Darrell over here doing guitar god's work.
I couldn't hear any difference in the tone, but then I didn't expect to. Mechanically the only real purpose I could see for this is to combat string rattle which it obviously does by the fact that Darrell couldn't unhook the springs from the claw with the locking mechanism in position. While it did seem to increase the amount of sustain, it is margin of error amounts. This seems like a product for your 'studio' guitar where you are looking to get the very best out of every single part to make it sound and play as good as possible.
I bought this and dig it. It's not a major tone enhancer I didn't expect it to be. It's certainly better looking than the old claw and my strat resonates a bit more with this gorgeous hunk of brass in it and only 60 bucks.
I've got two of these. They're great. A bit expensive. But I have no idea about the tone. They probably do help a tiny bit. But what I like is that they LOCK the spring in. So I can get completely crazy and I cannot pop a spring off the claw. .in the past I've had to use plyers. And a vice to bend each "claw" finger to help Lock the spring to it claw.....but I have next to no tention on my Hybrid 9-46 set of strings. Tuned to C standard.. with all 5 Springs in the back. So I can pull the bar. Dive the bar... and bend any string with no deflection on another string
Looks great, sounds the same! If one has to 'look' at the WAV to 'see' the improvement, then we are missing the point of 'Audio' ..are'nt we? Ok, so the point of the video is that it 'must be better' because the printed WAV shows it clearly is ..well...more print. Looks great and must be marginally different in tone, perhaps not better tone though. I mean, if we were to take this point to the ultimate in mods..brass block, claw, nut, we would eventually end up with total Brass bodied guitar... hmm.. im pretty sure what it would have in sustain it would not have in warmth/desirable tone. Good video Darrell as always :) It s sparks comment and thats a win for you :)
I own a similar patent on a spring claw, Mine is hand filed a polished by hand, no power tools. A big difference in mine, is everywhere the claw can hit the cavity, the edges are pillowtopped and rounded to never catch or dig in. The biggest game changer, is I use a special proprietary bell brass. Used with titanium neck machine screws, and a Triple chambered brass tone block, it creates the sustain of a Fernandez Sustaniac, without the battery. My claw weights 68 Grams and it's like having two toneblocks that vibrate at each other. Simply amazing versatile tones and endlless sustain. Each hand fitted to the guitar, for maximum potential.
Hey. I have some tone potentiometer knobs if you want to buy them. I have a set that makes the guitar brighter and a set that makes it darker. $1000 for a set of 3.
I was actually wondering that the other day. How were you reading my mind? Side note, after having two guitars of my own I'm starting to recognize tonal difference. One having much more bite for rock, while the other is more beautiful for cleans.
Its because you attract certain thoughts based on previous thoughts, and the youtube logarithm is learning to sync with both of those based on previous selections. It is freaky when it gets to this level of sync or as in your case just ahead of you.
Great video! I could see doing this in concert with other upgrades to the nut, bridge, block etc. the collective change would likely lead to a noticeable difference.
On a side note, if you please would you mind make a comparison using this wave reading to finally demonstrate the difference between a full maple neck vs maple neck and rosewood fretboard?
I could definitely hear a difference, although whether you feel those differences are pronounced enough to warrant 60 quid is up to your personal feeling. I heard about 2dB more in the 250Hz area, a slightly longer sustain and a definite sharper attack.
Hey Darrel. A comparison video between the PRS SE Costum 24 and a Schecter C-1 would be really nice. From what I understand Schecter and PRS are two of your favorite brands.
I couldn't tell the difference at first but eventually I noticed that the cheap one sounded more glassy while the expensive one sounded beefier. I personally like the cheaper one better.
It's nicely machined...... its a pricey upgrade for a less than $300 strat! More suitable for a higher end guitar..... just my thoughts! Thanks Darrel!
Darrell, I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a couple things. H&K Black Spirit 200 or Grandmeister Deluxe 40? And, PRS SE Custom 24 or Cort G290 FAT? If you get time to weigh in it would be much appreciated, Thanks.
I use one of those expensive locking claws. Why? Because if its not locked my adhd goes off a deep end with tinkering. I got it against myself lol. It does add sustain, not a giant ammount. It does work as advertised. I like it.
Have to agree I allways wear headphones Darrell on your sound demos and the volume is what a noticed before you even showed the graph def more of a voice on the ringgit very cool. Love these demos DBG keep it up tim from london Ont.
I gave a guitar to a luthier and he left it in his garden workshop. The temperature drop made the brass spring claw snap. This at least looks more durable and would be better part of replacing the sustain block, saddles, Engl hard tailer and nut with all brass. My Strandberg will follow adding all of those upgrades and brass is better. Louder, more detail and better overall fretboard resonance (less or no dead spots). All of that brass jewellery will be interesting to add up in weight compared to the Strandberg's stock weight.
If you are going to go this far, then use machined helical springs or perhaps welded metal bellows and float the trem. That should transfer energy well even though the trem isn't bottomed out, especially if we select them for maximum energy storage and peak energy transfer between discontinuous materials in frequency wave transmission. They could also be calibrated to allow adjustment of what force is needed by the player to displace them, making a trem assist or lock just like we use slow and speed knobs for volume and tone, enabling even greater intrinsic fluidity of operation per player. Also, if one wants to lock the trem down to the body, the bellows can be filled with gas or fluid to form an effectively solid bar or cylinder,. This counts aer prior art, though. I don't have a company name to cover things like this yet. Maybe after I build a couple...
the schaller claw is better lol and shiny too but actually makes setting up the trem a breeze all u do is turn the 1 screw either left or right and ur sett one thing i hate about the normal claw is having to turn 2 screws one by one in small increments to set a floyd and thats still the case with this one
There's a new design that makes this all obsolete. The Tonevise Treminator. It's a super well engineered trem stabiliser with it's own claw that locks the springs down, and then it can be rapidly changed from dive only to full floating, and you can also adjust the trem position if things aren't in tune as well, all with thumb wheels, so no tools. And you don't need to drill holes in your guitar.
My experience was similar. But than I changed the string-saddles into brass, too. That was a dramatic change of the tone. Further on I startet to change Parts into brass - versions on other guitars. Like a webster-saddle and bridge on my 335. Wow! What a difference. In my earts it sounds much better.
The trem claw is one of those components that makes a rather subtle, but sometimes significant difference. A parallel could be drawn between this, and the various saddle options for strats. With the strat, I have found that the thin nickel saddles sound best- 9 out of 10 times. To me, unless the one you have actually FLEXES (which is doubtful), the springs are likely more important.
Say what you will about the AXLabs Tone Claw but I just installed the raw brass version on my guitar and absolutely love it. I can definitely hear better note separation, clarity and better sustain. Ymmv.
Hi Darrell I don't know if you gonna read this but it's worth a try I would like to get your expert opinion. I bought a very inexpensive guitar Strat style I'm trying to give it an upgrade I'm thinking about HSS pick ups do you think going with Guitar Fetish pick ups, if not a good idea what would you recommend, I don't want to spend an arm and a leg on it if you know what I mean.
Hey Darrell, love your videos, very informative! Any thought about videos about hybrid guitars? Like shooting out the new fender acoustitronics vs godin A6? Best strings and amps for these types of guitars! Keep up the great content!
Solid peace, even if tone was not improved it is a solid structure that won’t move with vibrato bridge use. How does it differ from Schaller Sure Claw?
Yeah I can hear the difference. In the tone, volume, and sustain as well. I noticed that whenever anybody does such comparison tests it's very important to have "unbiased" headphones, meaning no "great bass headphones" or other initially tweaked headphones, they need to be as transparent as possible.
Big question afterwards: Are you leaving it in? (I have two hard tail Strats, and on my other normal Strat trems they all are "decked" against the body.
Would of been nice if you actually tested dive bombs with that trem, that's where it might make a difference, looks like it would do a more solid job of returning after a dive and take away any play, that a standard claw may produce during a a dive.
Fun stuff Darrell. It would be good if there were numbers registered for deviations throughout the display. As usual, you did an excellent job stricking notes the same way, even though variances inevitably occur. This is a 'scratch my itch' kind of item. Also, there are many songs that need less sustain for originality. That's why we need 20+ guitars, and one more in the arsenal. 🤪 Thanks!
If you close your eyes, and just listen, it could go either way. I wish he would’ve let the notes sustain longer, they were all cut off pretty abruptly. I would’ve liked to have heard them trail off naturally to get a better idea. I don’t know why the ring part of the spring would need to be so secured. The spring(s) can still easily be disengaged by pulling up on the hook end?
The differences are so negligible that I could attribute those to other tiny differences in reassembling the guitar and how Darrell strums the guitar. Verdict: Snake oil!
Thanks for the work, Darrell. My opinion is, if you have to break out waveform analysis to show a difference, that usually means you can't tell the difference by ear. If you can tell the difference between a few milliseconds to one second difference in sustain, then you should spend all of the money yo0u can on these gimmicks. It looks cool. Why should I worry about locking the springs in place? I've never once heard of a spring coming loose in my lifetime.
I know you didn’t do it here but is there any advantage to putting the springs in a triangle configuration? I’ve seen that a whole bunch and always wondered about it.
Outstanding detailed review! Please compare the stock claw vs Schaller Sure Claw vs Tone Claw. Also please compare all 3 WITH noiseless vs standard springs on a floating Floyd Rose trem. Thanks!!! 🇺🇸
I absolutely agree, the tone comes from the fingers at 99.9%, Just look at Angus Young, and he was playing with a junior SG 1 puckuo and he had removed the tone and volum pots, any way he was playing all open no pedals, nothing...👍
@@charlesmigneault7918 it doesn't. That's a massive myth that way too many people believe. Tone is 99.999% pickups, amp, speakers and a but of your pick attack. Not tone fingers lol
@@caixiuying8901 that's how it works. Want filtertron pickup sound? Just use those damn hands. Do you have big fat humbuckers but want a twangy tele sound? Use those HANDS!!!
To be fair, this claw obviously weighs more. Therefore it's useful in that aspects. Say you wanted to add weight to the body of your guitar for better balance, this would be a fairly simple and subtle way to go about that.
Dumb question from a noob: the trem claw doesn't seem to be tightened up firmly against the wood, so we're losing vibes between trem claw and springs. I've seen locking posts used on ToM and wraparound bridges to eliminate movement between bridge and posts. Wouldn't the same concept (but different execution) help with this? Something to prevent movement between the trem claw and screws? Too much thinking, I'd better go take a nap...
I saw a Waah brand brass claw that was tapered to allow for a balance between the thinner strings and the thicker ones. On Aliexpress. Mr. Carl Verhayen has a TH-cam video on how he adjusts a regular claw on an angle to do this. This claw had the angle built in. I would love to see you do a comprehensive review on both, if it gives more stability to the trem as he claims and how the built in one works out. Thanks.
A reason I prefer hardtail guitars. My Silhouette hardtail and my newly built hardtail Strat are all I will ever need. I mostly play electric bluegrass and blues/country. I have never found the need for a whammy bar.
When tuning down with a whammy bar ..I have the Vega trem.....do I adjust the springs all over like I did originally when I installed it or just back screws off …and retune and repeat till it sits level with body ? thanks love the channel .......
US$59 for this vs. US$6 for genuine Fender vs. US$0 for what's in my '93 Std Strat? I didn't hear a difference in tone nor sustain worth that difference in cost. But it looks to be well made and my inner gadget geek likes it. Thanks!
OMG, thank you for reviewing this, I was gonna be all over this thing, changing the block to a GFS brass or steel block as well. Acoustically did you notice much of a difference? Have you ever reviewed a Babicz bridge, I'd really like your opinion on those as well, thank you! P.S. Do you think it would have made a bigger tonal difference is the new claw was completely mated to the body of the guitar?
Well, the newly designed expensive one looks nice. The difference is so subtle that it' strictly for aesthetics (if you show off the back end of your guitar often). If you're worried about the springs popping out of the regular claw, by all means do buy this.
I heard a very slight difference on the first example... none on the others. But it's a beautiful piece of machinery! Be interested to know how / if it compares to the heavy duty claw that comes with a Tremol-No setup - I have those in most of my guitars.
While the Tone Claw is an improvement over the stock one, I would think that the trem block material would show the biggest gain on the tone and sustain. Now, a high-mass trem block with the Tone Claw might be a real winner.
Definitely Both. Along with steel saddles. Is a noticable tonal difference...I play Floyd Rose. Thick brass block. This claw. And original series saddles.. and all 5 Springs. Also sends more solid tone throughout
I'd be happy to see Schaller SureClaw tested - not because I expect it would affect the sound, but to have one Allen key to set springs' tension (instead of fighting with screwdriver and the both screws) seems to be sooo convenient. Plus the SureClaw looks sturdy as hell. I hate those little crappy claws and screws coming out at most strange angles... :)
I usually set my claw at a slight angle, with greter tension on the Bass side. Right or wrong, it's my preference. Not possible with devices like the SureClaw
Looks awesome, but Im worried about the metal of the back vibrating up and down. the cheap claw is up off the body and vibration has to go thru the screw connection to the body only
Well, I pulled the trigger, ordered one of these and a brass trem block for my paul reed smith se custom 24. Already installed Seymore Duncan hotrodded set. Then I'll get a bone nut. (,prolly should'a done that first!) . We'll see. When the parts get here, I'll see what happens.
I could hear a slight difference in tone, though it was so small that it would disappear with gain. What I'm curious about is whether it contributes to tuning stability at all. Every little bit you can do to make sure everything returns to the same rest position counts. In theory anyway.
August 2024 comment: I think a tone claw that didn’t rely on those two flimsy screws to connect to the body would make a much bigger difference in sustain. Any news on THAT front?
Nothing like the Schaller Sure Claw. So practical. BTW: You cannot measure overtones by watching at a waveform envelope. You need a spectrogram. To me they were identical.
are there any vids on a build that uses all of the positively reviewed products? something like an overkill strat to see how/if they would work together vs individually with the stock setups?
Brass beats metal but just buy a normal brass claw and brass screws. Tone and sustain test this pair against the "CLAW!" Very sharp looking though. Thanks Darrell!
Fine video and thanks! If you have to look at the tech/science to say if there is a difference then maybe that is the answer right there. But I think this is a bit like a finely tuned F1 car. If you look at any 1 piece then the difference might be too small to really notice but if you add a few things together THEN you might see a bigger difference. So perhaps a "stock" setup vs something with the same pickups but better strings/tuners/string trees/saddles/trem block/trem claw/nut or whatever would be a more drastic comparison?
Hi Darrell, thanks for the interesting video. It seems logical that adding mass will increase sustain. I saw this product, but also saw one from Schaller, the SureClaw. This is interesting because it has a drive that is activated by a hex key that applies tension to the trem springs. It has a large mass bolted directly to the guitar body. I was going to buy the product you reviewed, but decided on the Shaller instead. As for tonal differences, I heard a definite difference in note definition and tonality with the AxClaw. Once you add distortion and other effects, who knows? But this could definitely be a part of a series of small, incremental improvements that add up to a noticeable difference! I'd be interested to hear the same comparison with the Shaller SureClaw, or maybe a shootout between AxClaw and Sure Claw. Have a great day!
I've never really understood why more sustain is "better". How much does one need? I haven't heard many songs that have huge time intervals between notes. Plus wouldn't one's amp hide any sustain issues?
I replaced mine because the springs were not always returning to the same spot on the claw which caused tuning issues. No sound difference or sustain but it did fix tuning.
![⭐ฮิตในTikTok!! ( มะมะมะหมูเด้ง MooDeng ) Ver. แดนซ์ ReMix BY [ ดีเจกิต รีมิกซ์ ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4noyAoMa7bQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Could you guys hear the difference between the two? If so, let me know!
Enjoy :)
I could hear just a tad more sustain with the tone claw, but pretty subtle...
Hi ,that it sell in floyd rose page in axlabs too ,very good
Before watching I'm going to say no. I don't think the springs are going to transfer enough energy to the claw for the added mass to factor in.
I would have liked to have tested what happens on a blended note.
May be placebo but the tone claw sounded audibly brighter / chimey-er
Sounds nice but I think I'll wait for the active tone claw.
😁😁😁
Isn't that just an Evertune?
@@MrNeosantana LOL no
@@toemasmeems *sigh*
There's always one
Haha! Robot Claw (back off, Agnesi)!😅😅
The easiest way to improve your guitar tone is with stickers. Of course vinyl stickers will give you more sustain than paper stickers. And if you want a darker tone, of course you need darker stickers. For a more airy wide open tone, just use hologram stickers, or stickers with butterflies.
I added a foam dinosaur sticker donated by my 3 year old kid. What tonality changes can I expect from that? I put it on the pickguard of my Tele.
You mean I can use the facelift vinyl full cover on my strat and replace my sustainer pedal?
This is basic knowledge.Billie joe Armstrong put this theory into effect through the yrs. it’s also very true with cars
That only works on First Act guitars.
@@caerphoto You can expect the sound quality to scale up quite a bit
Even two transients recorded with the same claw will never look exactely the same.
That may be true but doesn't explain the result. Because the pattern is consistent and the same across ALL the examples. So much so you could identify which claw is which purely by viewing the graph. With both claws side by side. But swapping positions.
It is having a effect
@@neilphillips1350 At best it's so subtle no one could tell the difference purely just by sound! I would challenge anyone to do a double blind test and would guarantee there is no discernable difference! The read out proves it! This is more placebo than fact!
The only difference is that it looks cooler.
Who sees it?
Exactly!
@@ricksigurdson2016 but you'll know it isn't there and it might affect the feel :-)
And most of the time you can’t see it because it’s literally hidden in the back of the guitar. Kinda useless!
I made blind comparison and definately youre wrong. Question is if it is more stratty or not. I mean that many people got uset to stratocaster tones made with regulat bent metal claw. I think SRV never thought about swapping it ;)
It looks so cool, and it makes things easy. Never mind the tiny bit of sustain. My main Strat is going for a treat. Thanks a lot, Darrell... from Denmark
The best idea of this whole replacement is the painters tape idea, keeping the same distance as the stock trem claw.
Excellent observation. Loosing your trem setup is extremely frustrating.
The plate that locks the springs in - is that a solution in search of a problem? Do springs pop out spontaneously?
That is the exact same thing I was thinking. I’ve never had a spring come off the back claw.
Double ditto I abuse the living hell out of my Floyd and never even seen one loosen?
@@goldbug1974 I have when I really take the stock setup for a good pull up. I've had to put a foam block in that the back cover holds in place to keep the springs in place
I've had a spring pop off before, but I attribute this to the much higher string tension because of the lower tuning I was in
only ever happened once so I still think its a non-issue
@@caixiuying8901 once when changing springs I damn near sprung my finger off , but that was my fault entirely. oh to be young again 😊
Might be the best engineered useless part I’ve ever seen.
spot. on. Had to dig really deep into those wave forms to see any difference. Frankly, if there was a difference, the standard one sounded better? Not to mention picking dynamic variances could easily make up any of these differences. if he was .1 mm closer to the bridge, or .1 mm deeper on the pick against the string. Seems like a stretch to sell this thing....
Now, that's a perfect way of putting it.
@@danherrick2310 And for $60, that's really stretching it.
I completely agree with you🤣👍
That's the best description I've seen
Cheap trem claw looks like one I can build in my garage on a lazy afternoon. Expensive trem claw looks like an engineering masterpiece.
Yet the difference is negligible. What a waste of money.
Yeah, it's like girls. When you strum them with your eyes closed.
For something that is not meant to be seen!!!
I want this for the bling. I don't have a cover on my trem.
@@JungYT And who, exactly, is gonna see your bling, unless you do a Jimi and bite those strings? I'll sell you a back cover for $10, and you can spend the rest on a bracelet with your name on it. LOL
I certainly thought there was a difference, but it's too small to make me want to change mine. It's taken me 6mths to perfect my set up and I'm not messing with it anymore.
6 meths can make you blind. Worse than vodka from Latvia.
0:30 Yeeeeessss!
Finally a solution to my trem springs randomly popping off the cleat in the middle of playing!
See, someone actually understands that this thing is useful.
Wow, you must really knock that guitar about!
One of my favourite vids!
Love that you used the tech to verify the sounds, this was very informative.
Love to see more like this!
Horrifyingly loved the chopped Strat vid!
The one who says "there's is a slight difference ..." still believes in Santa.
Or waiting for the Easter Bunny.
Spoilers
You'd be surprised what confirmation bias can achieve. If you bought cause you believe in it, you will hear a difference. Otherwise that would mean your purchase and decision was wrong. Can't have that! That is why only blind tests are kinda reliable.
There's a HUGE difference
@@worhed3722 Yeah, in your wallet! 😉
I love your channel man. You always have answers I'm looking for even if I didn't know I needed the info. Saint Darrell over here doing guitar god's work.
You always get what you pay for! Darryl please can we see you playing the intro riff for your channel, it's literally the best on the internet!!
I think that is a royalty free stock piece of music as I have heard it on other channels.
Hahahaha... It reminds me of a guy trying to sell a set of 4 neck screws from a 51 Precision bass. The guy was asking for $1000 for the set
I couldn't hear any difference in the tone, but then I didn't expect to. Mechanically the only real purpose I could see for this is to combat string rattle which it obviously does by the fact that Darrell couldn't unhook the springs from the claw with the locking mechanism in position. While it did seem to increase the amount of sustain, it is margin of error amounts. This seems like a product for your 'studio' guitar where you are looking to get the very best out of every single part to make it sound and play as good as possible.
I think this is the best reason why you'd want these upgrades from what I've seen from anyone posting on here. Good points 👍
There was definitely a difference in tone. The new claw was brighter and fuller, in a studio setting the difference would be huge
@@worhed3722 hard to tell with TH-cam compression but I can believe it.
You'd be better off and spend less money spent simply upgrading your springs.
I bought this and dig it. It's not a major tone enhancer I didn't expect it to be. It's certainly better looking than the old claw and my strat resonates a bit more with this gorgeous hunk of brass in it and only 60 bucks.
only?
@Angel-fz8dr yeah it's was pricey, but I could afford it at the time. Total impulse buy. No regrets.
Personally I like my strats as light as possible. Low 7 lb- 6’s.
I've got two of these. They're great. A bit expensive. But I have no idea about the tone. They probably do help a tiny bit. But what I like is that they LOCK the spring in. So I can get completely crazy and I cannot pop a spring off the claw. .in the past I've had to use plyers. And a vice to bend each "claw" finger to help Lock the spring to it claw.....but I have next to no tention on my Hybrid 9-46 set of strings. Tuned to C standard.. with all 5 Springs in the back. So I can pull the bar. Dive the bar... and bend any string with no deflection on another string
I bought one simply because I was creating a strat from scratch, glad I did💁🏿♀️
Is the color MATTE?
Looks great, sounds the same! If one has to 'look' at the WAV to 'see' the improvement, then we are missing the point of 'Audio' ..are'nt we? Ok, so the point of the video is that it 'must be better' because the printed WAV shows it clearly is ..well...more print. Looks great and must be marginally different in tone, perhaps not better tone though. I mean, if we were to take this point to the ultimate in mods..brass block, claw, nut, we would eventually end up with total Brass bodied guitar... hmm.. im pretty sure what it would have in sustain it would not have in warmth/desirable tone. Good video Darrell as always :) It s sparks comment and thats a win for you :)
I own a similar patent on a spring claw, Mine is hand filed a polished by hand, no power tools. A big difference in mine, is everywhere the claw can hit the cavity, the edges are pillowtopped and rounded to never catch or dig in. The biggest game changer, is I use a special proprietary bell brass. Used with titanium neck machine screws, and a Triple chambered brass tone block, it creates the sustain of a Fernandez Sustaniac, without the battery. My claw weights 68 Grams and it's like having two toneblocks that vibrate at each other. Simply amazing versatile tones and endlless sustain. Each hand fitted to the guitar, for maximum potential.
Just got mine, will be installing this holiday season.
Ordered one!! I spare no expense for my #1 Strat. Also installed the Free-way 10-way switch based on your video of it.
Hey. I have some tone potentiometer knobs if you want to buy them. I have a set that makes the guitar brighter and a set that makes it darker. $1000 for a set of 3.
I was actually wondering that the other day. How were you reading my mind?
Side note, after having two guitars of my own I'm starting to recognize tonal difference. One having much more bite for rock, while the other is more beautiful for cleans.
Because one is a bass guitar and the other a banjo?
Its because you attract certain thoughts based on previous thoughts, and the youtube logarithm is learning to sync with both of those based on previous selections. It is freaky when it gets to this level of sync or as in your case just ahead of you.
That is because The Algorithm is now controlling your thoughts. Never underestimate the power of The Algorithm.
@Brett S I took the tone controls off my guitar, and filled the holes with spliffs. Now how cool is that?
Next up: How does wearing Chuck Taylor's improve guitar tone through a slightly over driven British amp on a Tuesday?
Definitely less ground hum when wearing Chucks. The old, American made ones. The new ones: Fuhgedaboudit! 😎
Hehey Darrell was waiting for the tone claw... Good day man... Love your content... A fan from India
It makes me sad that we can't get this stuff easily here. I called up Bajaao about a Wilkinson trem and they quoted 30k as the minimum.
@@Nooboroshi exactly man... It's real sad... 😢
Great video! I could see doing this in concert with other upgrades to the nut, bridge, block etc. the collective change would likely lead to a noticeable difference.
On a side note, if you please
would you mind make a comparison using this wave reading to finally demonstrate the difference between a full maple neck vs maple neck and rosewood fretboard?
I'm pretty sure that's been done already by Warmoth. I think it was them that did video.
The difference is huge, it's crazy
The very subtle difference you can hear (if you can hear anything) is easily attributed to variances in performance from take to take.
I just hear that your guitar sounds great! Your videos are just excellent and professional, and fun.
Seems like the difference in waveforms is so slight it could be chalked up to natural variation in performance.
I could definitely hear a difference, although whether you feel those differences are pronounced enough to warrant 60 quid is up to your personal feeling. I heard about 2dB more in the 250Hz area, a slightly longer sustain and a definite sharper attack.
On my crappy cell phone speaker I could hear some slight additional brightness along with what you stated.
Hey Darrel. A comparison video between the PRS SE Costum 24 and a Schecter C-1 would be really nice. From what I understand Schecter and PRS are two of your favorite brands.
I couldn't tell the difference at first but eventually I noticed that the cheap one sounded more glassy while the expensive one sounded beefier. I personally like the cheaper one better.
agreed
It's nicely machined...... its a pricey upgrade for a less than $300 strat! More suitable for a higher end guitar..... just my thoughts! Thanks Darrel!
Darrell, I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a couple things. H&K Black Spirit 200 or Grandmeister Deluxe 40? And, PRS SE Custom 24 or Cort G290 FAT? If you get time to weigh in it would be much appreciated, Thanks.
I use one of those expensive locking claws. Why? Because if its not locked my adhd goes off a deep end with tinkering. I got it against myself lol. It does add sustain, not a giant ammount. It does work as advertised. I like it.
Have to agree I allways wear headphones Darrell on your sound demos and the volume is what a noticed before you even showed the graph def more of a voice on the ringgit very cool. Love these demos DBG keep it up tim from london Ont.
I gave a guitar to a luthier and he left it in his garden workshop. The temperature drop made the brass spring claw snap. This at least looks more durable and would be better part of replacing the sustain block, saddles, Engl hard tailer and nut with all brass. My Strandberg will follow adding all of those upgrades and brass is better. Louder, more detail and better overall fretboard resonance (less or no dead spots). All of that brass jewellery will be interesting to add up in weight compared to the Strandberg's stock weight.
If you are going to go this far, then use machined helical springs or perhaps welded metal bellows and float the trem.
That should transfer energy well even though the trem isn't bottomed out, especially if we select them for maximum energy storage and peak energy transfer between discontinuous materials in frequency wave transmission. They could also be calibrated to allow adjustment of what force is needed by the player to displace them, making a trem assist or lock just like we use slow and speed knobs for volume and tone, enabling even greater intrinsic fluidity of operation per player.
Also, if one wants to lock the trem down to the body, the bellows can be filled with gas or fluid to form an effectively solid bar or cylinder,.
This counts aer prior art, though. I don't have a company name to cover things like this yet. Maybe after I build a couple...
Even if there is no advantage from the tone claw, it shines like jewelry! I'm sold..... lol
the schaller claw is better lol
and shiny too but actually makes setting up the trem a breeze
all u do is turn the 1 screw either left or right and ur sett one thing i hate about the normal claw is having to turn 2 screws one by one in small increments to set a floyd and thats still the case with this one
the normal ones polish up too
There's a new design that makes this all obsolete. The Tonevise Treminator. It's a super well engineered trem stabiliser with it's own claw that locks the springs down, and then it can be rapidly changed from dive only to full floating, and you can also adjust the trem position if things aren't in tune as well, all with thumb wheels, so no tools. And you don't need to drill holes in your guitar.
My experience was similar. But than I changed the string-saddles into brass, too. That was a dramatic change of the tone. Further on I startet to change Parts into brass - versions on other guitars. Like a webster-saddle and bridge on my 335. Wow! What a difference. In my earts it sounds much better.
The trem claw is one of those components that makes a rather subtle, but sometimes significant difference. A parallel could be drawn between this, and the various saddle options for strats. With the strat, I have found that the thin nickel saddles sound best- 9 out of 10 times. To me, unless the one you have actually FLEXES (which is doubtful), the springs are likely more important.
Say what you will about the AXLabs Tone Claw but I just installed the raw brass version on my guitar and absolutely love it. I can definitely hear better note separation, clarity and better sustain. Ymmv.
I like Darrell's content its not boring at the same time its helpful to anyone guitar player
Hi Darrell I don't know if you gonna read this but it's worth a try I would like to get your expert opinion. I bought a very inexpensive guitar Strat style I'm trying to give it an upgrade I'm thinking about HSS pick ups do you think going with Guitar Fetish pick ups, if not a good idea what would you recommend, I don't want to spend an arm and a leg on it if you know what I mean.
Hey Darrell, love your videos, very informative! Any thought about videos about hybrid guitars? Like shooting out the new fender acoustitronics vs godin A6? Best strings and amps for these types of guitars! Keep up the great content!
Solid peace, even if tone was not improved it is a solid structure that won’t move with vibrato bridge use. How does it differ from Schaller Sure Claw?
Yeah I can hear the difference. In the tone, volume, and sustain as well. I noticed that whenever anybody does such comparison tests it's very important to have "unbiased" headphones, meaning no "great bass headphones" or other initially tweaked headphones, they need to be as transparent as possible.
I refuse to block my 95 am std strat trem because it sounds perfect.the way it is. This is extraneous.
Big question afterwards: Are you leaving it in? (I have two hard tail Strats, and on my other normal Strat trems they all are "decked" against the body.
I have really good hearing and my ears preferred the sound of the stock tremolo claw
Would of been nice if you actually tested dive bombs with that trem, that's where it might make a difference, looks like it would do a more solid job of returning after a dive and take away any play, that a standard claw may produce during a a dive.
I installed a tremol-no, which comes with a upgraded claw. Made a noticeable difference in the vibration of the body.
Fun stuff Darrell. It would be good if there were numbers registered for deviations throughout the display. As usual, you did an excellent job stricking notes the same way, even though variances inevitably occur. This is a 'scratch my itch' kind of item. Also, there are many songs that need less sustain for originality. That's why we need 20+ guitars, and one more in the arsenal. 🤪 Thanks!
If you close your eyes, and just listen, it could go either way. I wish he would’ve let the notes sustain longer, they were all cut off pretty abruptly. I would’ve liked to have heard them trail off naturally to get a better idea. I don’t know why the ring part of the spring would need to be so secured. The spring(s) can still easily be disengaged by pulling up on the hook end?
The differences are so negligible that I could attribute those to other tiny differences in reassembling the guitar and how Darrell strums the guitar.
Verdict: Snake oil!
Thanks for the work, Darrell. My opinion is, if you have to break out waveform analysis to show a difference, that usually means you can't tell the difference by ear. If you can tell the difference between a few milliseconds to one second difference in sustain, then you should spend all of the money yo0u can on these gimmicks. It looks cool. Why should I worry about locking the springs in place? I've never once heard of a spring coming loose in my lifetime.
just want to know if you left it installed or went back to the factory claw?
Hi Darrel. Great reviews, keep it up. Could you review the new Quad Cortex? It's quite intresting equipment.
I know you didn’t do it here but is there any advantage to putting the springs in a triangle configuration? I’ve seen that a whole bunch and always wondered about it.
It gives you more spring tension without adding or changing springs or moving the spring claw.
I like my tone claw. Can hardly tell a difference on TH-cam. After I bought one for my PRS, just had to get another for my other guitar (MMJP6).
Outstanding detailed review! Please compare the stock claw vs Schaller Sure Claw vs Tone Claw. Also please compare all 3 WITH noiseless vs standard springs on a floating Floyd Rose trem. Thanks!!! 🇺🇸
The answer is “No”... don’t waste your hard earned money on stuff that don’t matter. Spend it on learning to be a better guitarist!
I absolutely agree, the tone comes from the fingers at 99.9%, Just look at Angus Young, and he was playing with a junior SG 1 puckuo and he had removed the tone and volum pots, any way he was playing all open no pedals, nothing...👍
@@charlesmigneault7918 it doesn't. That's a massive myth that way too many people believe. Tone is 99.999% pickups, amp, speakers and a but of your pick attack. Not tone fingers lol
@@kitten-whisperer Vin makes it sound like your fingers can turn a Strat into an LP lmao
@@caixiuying8901 that's how it works. Want filtertron pickup sound? Just use those damn hands. Do you have big fat humbuckers but want a twangy tele sound? Use those HANDS!!!
To be fair, this claw obviously weighs more. Therefore it's useful in that aspects. Say you wanted to add weight to the body of your guitar for better balance, this would be a fairly simple and subtle way to go about that.
I could not hear ANY difference; thanks for sharing this Darrell.
Headphones, increase video quality at 1080p.
wow! i'm sold. for a difference of a nanosecond sustain, i'll definitely buy that expensive heavy $60 claw
Dumb question from a noob: the trem claw doesn't seem to be tightened up firmly against the wood, so we're losing vibes between trem claw and springs. I've seen locking posts used on ToM and wraparound bridges to eliminate movement between bridge and posts. Wouldn't the same concept (but different execution) help with this? Something to prevent movement between the trem claw and screws? Too much thinking, I'd better go take a nap...
I saw a Waah brand brass claw that was tapered to allow for a balance between the thinner strings and the thicker ones. On Aliexpress. Mr. Carl Verhayen has a TH-cam video on how he adjusts a regular claw on an angle to do this. This claw had the angle built in. I would love to see you do a comprehensive review on both, if it gives more stability to the trem as he claims and how the built in one works out. Thanks.
I concur with many others here. That is a beautifully engineered and machined part that no one really needs. It sure looks good though.
A reason I prefer hardtail guitars. My Silhouette hardtail and my newly built hardtail Strat are all I will ever need. I mostly play electric bluegrass and blues/country. I have never found the need for a whammy bar.
Interesting, this is the first time I have heard anyone talking about this! It should definitely be talked about more often
I beg to differ.
I've never needed an upgrade to my trem claws... how often do springs pop out of properly tensioned systems? Never.
When tuning down with a whammy bar ..I have the Vega trem.....do I adjust the springs all over like I did originally when I installed it or just back screws off …and retune and repeat till it sits level with body ? thanks love the channel .......
US$59 for this vs.
US$6 for genuine Fender vs.
US$0 for what's in my '93 Std Strat?
I didn't hear a difference in tone nor sustain worth that difference in cost.
But it looks to be well made and my inner gadget geek likes it. Thanks!
OMG, thank you for reviewing this, I was gonna be all over this thing, changing the block to a GFS brass or steel block as well.
Acoustically did you notice much of a difference?
Have you ever reviewed a Babicz bridge, I'd really like your opinion on those as well, thank you!
P.S. Do you think it would have made a bigger tonal difference is the new claw was completely mated to the body of the guitar?
Well, the newly designed expensive one looks nice. The difference is so subtle that it' strictly for aesthetics (if you show off the back end of your guitar often). If you're worried about the springs popping out of the regular claw, by all means do buy this.
I heard a very slight difference on the first example... none on the others. But it's a beautiful piece of machinery! Be interested to know how / if it compares to the heavy duty claw that comes with a Tremol-No setup - I have those in most of my guitars.
While the Tone Claw is an improvement over the stock one, I would think that the trem block material would show the biggest gain on the tone and sustain. Now, a high-mass trem block with the Tone Claw might be a real winner.
Some of us prefer the sound of a.fully floating trem, where the springs are actually part of the response.
@@P_Ezi Correct !!! The tone is the sum of all of the parts !!!
Agreed! I’ve replaced the block in several of my guitars and it always makes a big change in sustain and tone.
Definitely Both. Along with steel saddles. Is a noticable tonal difference...I play Floyd Rose. Thick brass block. This claw. And original series saddles.. and all 5 Springs. Also sends more solid tone throughout
I'd be happy to see Schaller SureClaw tested - not because I expect it would affect the sound, but to have one Allen key to set springs' tension (instead of fighting with screwdriver and the both screws) seems to be sooo convenient. Plus the SureClaw looks sturdy as hell. I hate those little crappy claws and screws coming out at most strange angles... :)
I usually set my claw at a slight angle, with greter tension on the Bass side. Right or wrong, it's my preference. Not possible with devices like the SureClaw
Love how it looks. Couldn't distinguish if it had any tonal impact.
It almost sounded just a little bit brighter on the tone claw to me, but it could just be placebo. Even if it didn't do anything, it looks awesome!
I go for the heavy duty solderless brass trem claws. They work.
Looks awesome, but Im worried about the metal of the back vibrating up and down. the cheap claw is up off the body and vibration has to go thru the screw connection to the body only
Very nice sunburst Strat👍😁
Well, I pulled the trigger, ordered one of these and a brass trem block for my paul reed smith se custom 24. Already installed Seymore Duncan hotrodded set. Then I'll get a bone nut. (,prolly should'a done that first!) . We'll see. When the parts get here, I'll see what happens.
Darrell could you do a video on the stay tooned trem claw, curious to know if it actually does what they claim?
I could hear a slight difference in tone, though it was so small that it would disappear with gain. What I'm curious about is whether it contributes to tuning stability at all. Every little bit you can do to make sure everything returns to the same rest position counts. In theory anyway.
August 2024 comment: I think a tone claw that didn’t rely on those two flimsy screws to connect to the body would make a much bigger difference in sustain. Any news on THAT front?
Nothing like the Schaller Sure Claw. So practical. BTW: You cannot measure overtones by watching at a waveform envelope. You need a spectrogram. To me they were identical.
are there any vids on a build that uses all of the positively reviewed products? something like an overkill strat to see how/if they would work together vs individually with the stock setups?
I dont know how long I've been out of the channel, but that last part of the new intro killed me 😂
Brass beats metal but just buy a normal brass claw and brass screws. Tone and sustain test this pair against the "CLAW!" Very sharp looking though. Thanks Darrell!
Fine video and thanks! If you have to look at the tech/science to say if there is a difference then maybe that is the answer right there. But I think this is a bit like a finely tuned F1 car. If you look at any 1 piece then the difference might be too small to really notice but if you add a few things together THEN you might see a bigger difference. So perhaps a "stock" setup vs something with the same pickups but better strings/tuners/string trees/saddles/trem block/trem claw/nut or whatever would be a more drastic comparison?
Hi Darrell, thanks for the interesting video. It seems logical that adding mass will increase sustain. I saw this product, but also saw one from Schaller, the SureClaw. This is interesting because it has a drive that is activated by a hex key that applies tension to the trem springs. It has a large mass bolted directly to the guitar body. I was going to buy the product you reviewed, but decided on the Shaller instead. As for tonal differences, I heard a definite difference in note definition and tonality with the AxClaw. Once you add distortion and other effects, who knows? But this could definitely be a part of a series of small, incremental improvements that add up to a noticeable difference! I'd be interested to hear the same comparison with the Shaller SureClaw, or maybe a shootout between AxClaw and Sure Claw. Have a great day!
I've never really understood why more sustain is "better". How much does one need? I haven't heard many songs that have huge time intervals between notes. Plus wouldn't one's amp hide any sustain issues?
Its more of a feel thing for me, but such modest gains will be tough to notice IMO.
Some of us prefer the sound of a fully floating trem. Even though there are drawbacks to floating, it does have a different sound that I prefer.
@@P_Ezi Of course. My Wolfgang has a D-Tuna, which won't work properly if not decked.
Hi!
Who won the guitars?
I replaced mine because the springs were not always returning to the same spot on the claw which caused tuning issues. No sound difference or sustain but it did fix tuning.