Slotted headstocks

bertie

notice the difference in the "slot widths"  and/or  "amount of wood surround"   between the Furch and the Lakewoods

just an observation, nothing meant/suggested  

PAL

Break angle across the nut does change the sound and tension of the string. They can be difficult to restring at first but
 once you get use to it it's not a problem.

Tannin

^ Stewth! Them's fighting words. 

(Tannin goes out to get some popcorn)

LastMantra

I've only noticed it on "normal" steel string acoustics fairly recently tbh. I think it can look quite good (like @Basher 's).

PhilKing

The only ones I find a PITA are the Rickenbacker 'blind' slots on the 12 strings.  I have several guitars with regular slotted headstocks and have no issues with them.

BillDL

With a slotted headstock, and this includes nylon strung guitars, it is important which side of the hole in the barrel you make the winds go so that the strings don't scrape against the inside of the headstock slots at the nut end of the slots.  Generally you want to try and get the straightest string line from nut slot to tuner post on a guitar, but on a slotted headstock you have to figure out how to get enough winds onto the barrel while still making the string miss the edges of the slots at the nut end.  Most often the A, D, G and B strings have to be wound going inwards towards the centre of the heastock, and the outside E ones wound towards the outside edges, but this is far from being a rule as every guitar is different.  To achieve this in some cases you need to try and keep the string takeoff point on the tuner barrel close to the middle of the barrel but a bit to the left or to the right of the hole when it reaches your preferred tuning pitch.  In this case you can do a wind or two to one side of the hole and then cross over the hole (as you can do on a classical to help lock the string) for another one or two winds on the other side of it.  It can take a few string changes before you find the best method for a particular guitar.  On some guitars you have to have the string takeoff point from the tuner barrel almost completely to the inside or outside of the headstock slots for the strings to miss the edges of the slots on the entry point down to the posts, and you can end up having to do more winds than you would have preferred to achieve this alignment.  When restringing it helps to manually align the string over the barrel before putting the end of the astring through the hole and look for where you would like it to be coming off the barrel.  Pi x D is then helpful to work out how much string slack you need (one wind is very approximately 3 times the diameter of the barrel).

bertie

something I just noticed/remembered  -  Ive two holes on each barrel/roller 

seems all the Grover ones do too................................

assume that you use the hole closest to the tuner first then back through the hole nearest the centre "block" as you wind on string,  the coils move towards the centre, over the "spare bit" thus  "locking" the string onto the barrel/roller  

Kilgore

I love the vibe of small 12 fret slotted headstock guitars. Changing strings is a bit of a faff but it's not something you do every day. 

Stuckfast

Wait. You're supposed to change strings?

camf

^^^ Haha! 

DavidR

Anything you do to a guitar will change how it sounds, but some things not very much. I suspect that slotted headstocks are one such thing.

On the restringing issue, a string winder is a must for slotted headstocks and makes it a lot easier. Those not brought up on classicals at the learning stage will find it different initially, but more difficult? No not really.

String Winder Black | Musicroom.com

The main difference is aesthetic IMO. You can make different shapes with slotted vs. non-slotted. Both look very nice sometimes and awful at others and that's subjective. Personally I've never really liked Seagull headstocks.

(Interesting info - the carving at the top of a luthier-made classical slotted headstock shows the individual luthier. They all have their own shape - bit like a mason's mark.)

drofluf

Regarding string winders, I had my "Judas moment" and went electric, really makes changing strings a breeze on both flat and slot heads.

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guitarjack66

I have to admit that I think slotted headstocks look really nice and I associate them with expensive guitars. Probably because they seem to have once been widely used on classicals,possibly,maybe? The replacing strings quandary does fill me with dread(no pun intended.)

GTC

I like the look of them and they aren't particularly more difficult to string. I tend to agree that they do look better on smaller guitars, but this isn't always the case.

The only downside as far as I can see is that there isn't enough room to put a custom headstock inlay on them. I've just commissioned a left-handed Brook Weaver (the inevitable result of travelling down there with a friend and playing Simon's). I sort of justified it by having a special inlay (a Jack job) on the headstock and around the 12th fret on the fretboard in memory of my late wife who died on Boxing Day. So, it will have a standard headstock despite a Weaver (sort of 00-sized) normally having a slotted headstock.

guitarjack66

GTC said:

I like the look of them and they aren't particularly more difficult to string. I tend to agree that they do look better on smaller guitars, but this isn't always the case.

The only downside as far as I can see is that there isn't enough room to put a custom headstock inlay on them. I've just commissioned a left-handed Brook Weaver (the inevitable result of travelling down there with a friend and playing Simon's). I sort of justified it by having a special inlay (a Jack job) on the headstock and around the 12th fret on the fretboard in memory of my late wife who died on Boxing Day. So, it will have a standard headstock despite a Weaver (sort of 00-sized) normally having a slotted headstock.

So sorry for your loss. I hope the guitar brings your comfort in your bad times and helps you remember the good times alongside her.

bertie

guitarjack66 said:

GTC said:

I like the look of them and they aren't particularly more difficult to string. I tend to agree that they do look better on smaller guitars, but this isn't always the case.

The only downside as far as I can see is that there isn't enough room to put a custom headstock inlay on them. I've just commissioned a left-handed Brook Weaver (the inevitable result of travelling down there with a friend and playing Simon's). I sort of justified it by having a special inlay (a Jack job) on the headstock and around the 12th fret on the fretboard in memory of my late wife who died on Boxing Day. So, it will have a standard headstock despite a Weaver (sort of 00-sized) normally having a slotted headstock.

So sorry for your loss. I hope the guitar brings your comfort in your bad times and helps you remember the good times alongside her.

sound words

nowt more spiritual places than Easterbrook, tis hobbit land 

GTC

guitarjack66 said:

So sorry for your loss. I hope the guitar brings your comfort in your bad times and helps you remember the good times alongside her.

Thank you for your kind words. I actually miss the hard time (of short duration) she used to give me when she sensed I was about to raise the subject of a new guitar I was interested in. I really miss her, but I've so much to be thankful for - and life goes on.

Getting a bit off-topic here, but I've also commissioned a nylon-strung harp guitar (with 8 sub-basses and 8 super-trebles) from the excellent Glastonbury-based luthier Alan Miller. He recently made a beauty for the talented Jon Pickard.

bertie said:

nowt more spiritual places than Easterbrook, tis hobbit land 

The Local Authority have recently resurfaced and tarmac'd the approach roads which takes some of the excitement, magic and, dare I say, sprituality out of the trip down. Still a lovely friendly place though with the same bumpy approach track.

DartmoorHedgehog

FWIW I'm in the "no harder to restring" camp.  Do the people who reckon it's difficult to string a slotted headstock usually wrap the string round the post on a normal tuner, rather than sticking the end through and winding it on with the tuner?  Otherwise I don't see why it's any different.

bertie

DartmoorHedgehog said:

FWIW I'm in the "no harder to restring" camp.  Do the people who reckon it's difficult to string a slotted headstock usually wrap the string round the post on a normal tuner, rather than sticking the end through and winding it on with the tuner?  Otherwise I don't see why it's any different.

for me its the anchoring of the string,  especially on the E and B  - on a normal peg you can anchor "the reverse wind and kink" then take up the slack by hand before using the "tuner" to tighten to pitch -   but you cant do that on a slotted - however now Ive discovered "two holes" on my slotted tuners,  it should be easier next time  

DartmoorHedgehog

bertie said:

DartmoorHedgehog said:

FWIW I'm in the "no harder to restring" camp.  Do the people who reckon it's difficult to string a slotted headstock usually wrap the string round the post on a normal tuner, rather than sticking the end through and winding it on with the tuner?  Otherwise I don't see why it's any different.

for me its the anchoring of the string,  especially on the E and B  - on a normal peg you can anchor "the reverse wind and kink" then take up the slack by hand before using the "tuner" to tighten to pitch -   but you cant do that on a slotted - however now Ive discovered "two holes" on my slotted tuners,  it should be easier next time  

Ah, fair enough - that would make it more difficult.  I always just stick the string through, pull back enough slack for a couple of winds, then just wind it on with the machine head while tensioning it with the other hand - one over the string end, then under.  So it makes no difference to me.  Only time I ever do a fancy locking thing is with rubber u-bass strings (and even then they have a habit of snaking back through, the slippery bastards)