But, given that the angle between the headstock and the neck is much sharper, this particular design is more expensive to produce, since it requires more wood, and as we know, the larger the piece of wood, the more expensive it is. Just like its straight counterpart, the angled headstock is a one-piece design. The second type of headstock, as you can tell by its name, is the angled or tilted-back headstock. This makes up for the shallow break angle, and also does away with string trees, which are not needed in this case. The further down the headstock the peg is, the shorter it will be. Staggered tuners are essential tuners which have tuning pegs of different height. String retainer bars are usually used with Floyd or locking nuts.įinally, there is the option that features staggered tuners, which are more complex and can usually be found on expensive Fender Stratocasters. Then there is the ‘string retainer bar’ which does more of the same, but instead of holding the problematic individual stings in place, it pulls down on all of the strings together. The most common option you will find on affordable guitars is ‘string trees’, which are basically small pieces of metal that are drilled into the headstock, and which pull down on the strings in order to create a sharper angle, as well as more tension. Several solutions have been designed in order to remedy this issue.
You see, the shallower the angle of the string, the more likely the string is to slip out of its groove if you are bending it really hard since there isn’t enough pressure on the nut. Why is this angle so important? Well, the issue doesn’t have anything to do with looks or the fact that the string angles are inconsistent, since that doesn’t affect the sound, but it can affect playability. On Fender guitars, for example, the longest string would be the high E string, whereas, on other guitars, we would talk about the string that reaches further up the headstock. More specifically, we are talking about the angle between the nut and the strings that are further away from it. Technically, there is only one real issue here, its simple design, which requires complicated solutions. But, where there are pros, there are also cons, and straight headstocks have a few of the latter. A lot of budget brands, such as Squier, opt from straight headstocks since they keep the production cost down. Another reason why it’s cheap, apart from simplicity, is the fact that there isn’t a lot of waste, so you can use thinner pieces of lumber or laminate. The straight headstock type is very cheap to produce since less work is needed. Even if you are using laminate wood to build the neck and the headstock, you will still end up with very rigid construction. And since the neck and the headstock are just a single piece of wood, this design is very strong. Unlike the headstock which involves an angle, straight headstock has a very thin profile, which means that you really only need lumber that is about 2 inches thick or even less. It would go on to be used for the construction of the Stratocaster. The resulting design was the straight headstock, which Fender used on his Telecaster guitar. The goal was to come up with a headstock that would be rigid enough, cheap to produce, and that wouldn’t waste too much wood in the process. This type of headstock design was popularized by Leo Fender himself back in the 1950s. In this guide, you will learn everything there is to know about different guitar shapes, designs, variations, and sizes, as well as how they affect not just the looks, but also the tuning and playability of your guitar.
Supposedly, Leo Fender came into contact with the instrument through his college roommate who was from Croatia, and he liked the headstock so much that he decided to create his own take on the existing shape.
If there are any stringed instrument aficionados reading this, they will probably find the shape of Strat’s headstock similar to the shape of the headstock found on the tamburitza, which is a stringed instrument that is played in Croatia, parts of Serbia, as well as throughout most of the Balkan region. For example, there is an interesting story behind the Fender Stratocaster’s headstock shape that not too many people are familiar with. Although the main function of the headstock is fairly obvious, it affects the sound and playability of the guitar in numerous other ways, as well as provides an aesthetic element to the guitar itself.īrands such as Gibson, Fender, and PRS have very distinctive headstock shapes. While not quite as major of detail to consider as factors such as tonewood or pickup, the headstock of the guitar is something you’ll want to consider.
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