in What way does your type HEADSTOCK effect stringtension, and vibration flow?

a verry debateble topic A.D. believe that some achetype  Headstocks  will be the ultimate design, and others fluxs ,but surely on string tension and playebillety there are some  do and don'ts.

I thought this was an interesting topic and I was looking forward to viewing the peghead designs of other builders and like A D Eker hearing the reasons for that design. I’m sure it’s not just only to hold the strings away from the bridge.
However not wanting to be the first in I thought I would wait a while, and as I am only seeing half of this site, I thought I would wait until things got sorted. Waiting, waiting, waiting….
I suppose many builders use their peghead as their signature, so when you see it, you know who built the guitar, and that’s why I did it at first. The design I chose was not an easy one to execute but did stand out from the others and that’s what I wanted. On stage in photos etc.
My first peghead...
I had noticed that when a guitarist was performing on television the peghead was always cut out of the screen. So my thinking was to have a peghead that was recognizable by its distinctive shape and not have to see the actual logo.
However, this was ok if I only built one style of guitar, I don’t and soon found out that one peghead does not suit all body shapes and sizes. So now I have five or more different styles to suit different instruments. With CBG’s I do not worry so much and use whatever shape comes to mind.

As far as the effects the peghead has on the playability, tension, or sound of an instrument, there are a few facts I keep in mind.
The angle of the head determines the amount of pressure is applied at the nut by the strings, too much angle can cause the strings to drag and effect the tuning. Too little angle and string could buzz in the nut slots. I use a 15deg angle on a solid peghead and around 5deg or so for a slotted peghead so as to get the same string angle over the nut.
On CBG’s I’m not so fussy so long as I have a decent break angle over the nut.
Applying mass to the peghead can improve sustain and volume in the instrument, metal plates and lead slugs buried in the head have been used by some builders. Heavy tuners can also help.
I don’t think the angle of the head has an effect on the tension of the strings, a stiffer feel for instance. I say this due to the fact that the tension of the string between the nut and the saddle is governed by the diameter of the string and the tension applied to it to bring it to its desired pitch. The scale length does affect feel, but that’s another story.

I hope this is what you had in mind QA.D Eker.

Taff

Thank you Taff Evans ,for your illustativ info on your type heads ,verry informativ, and Yes !! this is what i did have in mind ,consurning posseble reaction to the Blog Post on the Topic. i do believe that you ,by using the distinktiv"E "on your heads , found a way to put a mark out there that assosiates whit something ,i hope for you it is the qualety that it radiates,  and i did notis that in CBG Building there are some that go for a distinct head as a form of reconnision, while others are purely functional.

well in this realm i was wondereing ,are we free to do what we want? is there a tonal law ,on how long the string may bee after the necknut on to the tuner? do we need the angle for better tension?  That 4s ,6rs, 8ts and 12 string instrument heads have there own induvidual  dictated shape,  how can we diviate whit in what laws & Shapes can we opperate.

Or if we use differend insites can adapt and change these laws & shapes to our own creatif benefit?

Thank you taff for not waiting to long and showing us your craft and instruments , in this blog 

appriciated and kind greetings  A.D. 

adapted  headstock from a 6 to a 4  in mahogany Whit Gotoh SE 700 machine heads in Gold 1:15 ratio

Hi again A.D. Eker, as this is a CBG forum I thought I had better post some of my Box guitars pegheads. Not a lot to explain about these sometimes just functional and if the rest of the guitar warrants it, a bit fancy.

There are more but these will do for now. Some are factory necks modified. I rarely use a spliced peghead on a box guitar. 

Taff

Thanks Taffy ,i see the resemblance whit the great brands  ,fender Gibson  Vox  GPR   and the standard strait cbg , must say like your sixer heads better !! Thanks for comment !

I never done a Leo Fender type headstock, mostly Gibson angled headstock.

For me, it does matter.  A good angled headstock can give good string tension and adds more precision to the action of the strings.  

For instance, when using a tuneomatic bridge, I find a 12° angle headstock and 2° to 3° angle in the neck pocket, gives me almost perfect playability. It's not too tight, not too loose, just right.  For the Strat type bridges, I like the headstock angled at 15° with the neck straight and flat to the body with the fingerboard just 1/4" above the body.

Hello Ill Green ,

the Fender headstock is one of the most underestemated headstocks ,it is verry well balanced, and gives the player direct acses to the tuners in a easy to use way ,thanks for agreing on the subject ,my reson for the article was that most CBG Builders use the streat on headstock whit out the leanback angle, and i think this is crucial to the string tension, and playebillety of the instrument, you have ofcourse the use of string trees on the headstock, fender uses usaly one ,but i have seen the use of up to tree(3) , while the Gibson & Martin headstocks are more traditional they  give other  benifits to the instrument, like durabillity, strenght, liniar estetics, weight distribution, 

and like taff say's the playebillety is allway's in the hands of the player , cause everyone has a differend feel to any instrument, thats  why  it is good to be abble to choose from differend builders. thank for your contribution to the  Topic Gents ! Appriciated  Greeeettsszz A.D.

I don't discriminate the Fender type headstock, it's just I'm still a budding builder and haven't wrapped my head around the geometries yet.  I will soon enough try it.

I do like to build from 24 inch to 24.5 inch scales, most times it's 24.25". Gives me flexible playability and a decent sustain.  For a high action guitar, I go 12° degrees for the headstock and for low action I go 15° degrees. I do this so the strings not too tight or too loose like a pair of jeans.  But I like to draw a lot and will spend a month or two drafting and measuring before I cut into wood.  So I'll plan it out first before finalizing what the end result will be.  Sometimes, it's opposite.