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Headstock Angle On a Slothead
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Author:  Terence Kennedy [ Thu May 01, 2008 6:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Headstock Angle On a Slothead
Greetings,
I finished a 12 fret 24.9 parlor a while back that has become a pretty darn good sounding little guitar. I notice however that the strings are definitely a little stiffer than my non-slot heads.
The break angle across the nut is steeper because of the slots. I used my usual 15 degree headstock angle. I'm wondering if that is causing the stiffness. If so do you guys use a shallower angle on your slothead headstocks?
Terry
Author:  Hank Mauel [ Thu May 01, 2008 9:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Headstock Angle On a Slothead
Terence Kennedy wrote:
Greetings,
I finished a 12 fret 24.9 parlor a while back that has become a pretty darn good sounding little guitar. I notice however that the strings are definitely a little stiffer than my non-slot heads.
The break angle across the nut is steeper because of the slots. I used my usual 15 degree headstock angle. I'm wondering if that is causing the stiffness. If so do you guys use a shallower angle on your slothead headstocks?
Terry



I use a 10 degree angle on slotted headstocks. By the time you bury the horizontal string shafts, you are back to about the 14-15 degree break found on most paddle style headstocks with vertical tuning posts. If you stayed with that angle, your string break angle should be in the upper teens, which might add some additional tightness, but I doubt it would be that noticeable. After all, it still takes "x" amount of tension (at a given scale length) on a string to get it to pitch. If the angle, in and of itself, added any significant increases to the string tension, then it should take "less" pull to get it up to pitch...think of how a short scale guitar feels as compared to a long scale...and the feel should remain relatively the same.

Of course, this is guitar building, so YMMV. [:Y:]
Author:  Howard Klepper [ Thu May 01, 2008 11:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Headstock Angle On a Slothead
Where it could make a difference is if the break angle is high enough that the strings are binding on the nut. That will make tuning difficult. It also can make the strings feel stiffer if you are bending notes, although their tension between nut and saddle is not affected.
Author:  Nigel Forster [ Fri May 02, 2008 6:13 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Headstock Angle On a Slothead
If the guitar feels stiff, my experience, is that this can result from too stiff a top. Put simply if the energy cannot move the top it stays in the string and you will get a stiff feeling guitar. Perhaps you are looking at the wrong end.

The Spanish makers call this phenomenon pulsacion. I can't claim be the first to think of it like this.

May I add this this is no more than my belief. And beliefs by there nature cannot be proven and when examined usually come to very little. If you want science, ask a scientist!



http://www.nkforsterguitars.com
Author:  K.O. [ Fri May 02, 2008 11:57 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Headstock Angle On a Slothead
Todd if the strings move freely through the nut slots when bending notes it has the effect of requiring the string to be pushed further to bend to a given pitch giving a looser feel. It acts as though it is a longer scale length.

If the strings bind in the slot effective scale length stays the same.
Author:  Howard Klepper [ Fri May 02, 2008 12:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Headstock Angle On a Slothead
ToddStock wrote:
Please educate me as to why the force required for sideways displacement of a string would have any dependency on break angle...I'm not seeing any linkage here for identical string sets, scale length, etc.

K.O. has it right, except it isn't the feel of a longer scale; that would feel like greater tension.

The force required to push a string to the side is dependent in part on the string being able to move through the slot (or over the bridge saddle at the other end, which can be a significant factor in the feel of an archtop or electric). When you bend (actually, when you just fret as well, but to a much lesser extent), the string stretch gets distributed over the whole length of the string between its rigid mounts. Longer length, including the afterlength IF it can move over the nut or bridge, makes for a looser feel when bending. You can imagine two identical strings at the same tension, with one being longer. The longer one will be easier to displace when pushed sideways. The player will need to push it a little further to get the same pitch increase, but it has a looser feel. I learned this from reading an article about Jimmy D'Aquisto, who said he could make a guitar feel like it had lighter strings by adding afterlength at the bridge end. I saw a spreadsheet someone ran that showed the difference in bending feel between a long and short tailpiece as about equal to going up or down one thousandth in string gauge.
Author:  Terence Kennedy [ Fri May 02, 2008 12:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Headstock Angle On a Slothead
Interesting stuff. Thanks for the info guys. I'll use a shallower headstock angle on my next slot
Howard you are right about the nut slots. Because of the high break angle I had to spend some extra time with them to get things right so there was no binding.
Terry
Author:  Daniel M [ Fri May 02, 2008 12:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Headstock Angle On a Slothead
Another possible (and probably too simple) explanation is that your first fret clearances are a bit high. I have found that filing the nut slots down a very little bit can make a big difference in a guitar's "feel".
Try it with a capo at the first fret & if it feels the same or a fraction tighter, that ain' it.
Author:  K.O. [ Fri May 02, 2008 12:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Headstock Angle On a Slothead
Howard is right of course. In an effort to say things simply I misspoke I need to be more careful...
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