Heritage headstock sizes?

[barrymclark]

Continuing the discussion on mass/sustain...

 

One thing we didn't discuss is the material making up the mass. The more dense the material, the harder it is to vibrate. The higher the tone. The less dense, the more low end you get.

 

I had a luthier buddy show me a trick when I was selling guitars with regards to sustain tests on guitars.

 

Hang a guitar on wall like at a store. Pluck the E string and touch the guitar only behind the neck joint. If you can feel it vibrate... awesome. You have a guitar with good acoustic properties. Another one is to hit the E and stop it. If you can hear the other strings vibrating from the momentary vibration of the E string... another good sign that this guitar has good acoustic properties.

 

Of course, that test only means something if those are properties that you want.

 

The other thing that I have found is that you don't really have to have a more massive headstock to increase sustain. That mass can be anywhere. But... like above, I think it has to be the right kind of mass.

[Paul P]

Hang a guitar on wall like at a store. Pluck the E string and touch the guitar only behind the neck joint. If you

can feel it vibrate... awesome. You have a guitar with good acoustic properties. Another one is to hit the E and

stop it. If you can hear the other strings vibrating from the momentary vibration of the E string... another good

sign that this guitar has good acoustic properties.

 

Of course, that test only means something if those are properties that you want.

 

There was a thread on sustain just a little while ago and what I took away was that sustain

and acoustic properties are opposites.  The more the guitar resonates the shorter time the

string will vibrate because the guitar is sucking up the string's energy.  So to get the most

sustain you need a guitar with the least acoustic volume.

 

Again, only if that's what you want.

[barrymclark]

I think also, a big problem with usable sustain from a solid body is what isn't the problem with an acoustic. With an acoustic, you have a sound hole blasting the strings and keeping it going. Solid bodies don't have that without the speakers and the more your guitar body resonates from the speakers, the more it will transfer that energy back to the strings. Funny enough... I almost like a fairly dampened guitar.

 

One of the reasons I like SG's so much.

[GuitArtMan]

The 'straight string pull' is part of it and I would certainly rather it for that reason. Helps with the intonation of the instrument when you really get into active string bending or Bigsby use or something. There is also adequate pressure against the nut. All that stuff.

How does straight string pull help with intonation???  ???

It helps with not binding at the nut but has nothing to do with intonation.  Straight string pull has nothing to do with pressure at the nut; headstock angle does. 

[barrymclark]

How does straight string pull help with intonation???   ???

It helps with not binding at the nut but has nothing to do with intonation.  Straight string pull has nothing to do with pressure at the nut; headstock angle does. 

Double post. See the one after this.

[barrymclark]

How does straight string pull help with intonation???   ???

It helps with not binding at the nut but has nothing to do with intonation.  Straight string pull has nothing to do with pressure at the nut; headstock angle does. 

The binding is what can cause intonation problems. The string isn't allowed to settle back to its original position completely. A straighter string pull better allows it to more easily return. Of course, if the neck angle gets too steep, you end up with the same problem again. Not to mention that string catching during the tuning process can create issues (usually minor) when tuning up.

 

For guitars that I have a Bigsby on, I routinely put on a graphite nut and roller bridge to aid in this as there is nothing I can do about the string pull.

 

Maybe talking about two different intonations? I am referring to the instrument's ability to remain intonationed and not just the adjustments at the saddle.

[Paul P]

I think also, a big problem with usable sustain from a solid body is what isn't the problem with an acoustic.

With an acoustic, you have a sound hole blasting the strings and keeping it going. Solid bodies don't have

that without the speakers and the more your guitar body resonates from the speakers, the more it will

transfer that energy back to the strings.

 

So what is the sustain that guitarists usually talk about ?  Is it the guitar's ability to hold

a note on it's own, for instance when there is no speaker, or is it the ability to hold a note

with the speaker supplying the energy ? (preferably without going all the way into feedback).

When someone says that a guitar sustains 'forever', what do they mean ?

[barrymclark]

So what is the sustain that guitarists usually talk about ?  Is it the guitar's ability to hold

a note on it's own, for instance when there is no speaker, or is it the ability to hold a note

with the speaker supplying the energy ? (preferably without going all the way into feedback).

When someone says that a guitar sustains 'forever', what do they mean ?

I also mistyped a bit. The strings will straight up vibrate from the speakers. They don't wait on the body. I was meaning to put that they body and the strings have some transfer of energy and that the speakers will affect the body as well.

 

I think what they usually mean is the guitars ability to sustain without the speakers. The more sensitive it is to that.. it stands to reason that the guitar will be more senstive to what the speakers will do. These days though... with all the compressed signals and overdriven amps... sustain can be gotten from about any guitar with a half decent setup.

 

Kinda makes this lengthy exchange moot. haha.

 

In my mind... the end result is king. Don't care how it got there. It could have a headstock as big as Texas and made of cork... if it works... I dont really care.

[GuitArtMan]

The binding is what can cause intonation problems. The string isn't allowed to settle back to its original position completely. A straighter string pull better allows it to more easily return. Of course, if the neck angle gets too steep, you end up with the same problem again. Not to mention that string catching during the tuning process can create issues (usually minor) when tuning up.

 

For guitars that I have a Bigsby on, I routinely put on a graphite nut and roller bridge to aid in this as there is nothing I can do about the string pull.

 

Maybe talking about two different intonations? I am referring to the instrument's ability to remain intonationed and not just the adjustments at the saddle.

Ok, that makes sense.  I tend to look at this as two seperate, but related issues.  I tend to think of binding at the nut as a tuning stability problem, not an intonation problem.  After all, the string will still have proper intonation with itself, it will just be out of tune with the rest of the instrument.

[Gitfiddler]

So what I'm reading here is...size matters? >

 

 

 

[brentrocks]

So what I'm reading here is...size matters? >

 

 

 

 

[glow=red,2,300]LMAO[/glow]

[Kuz]

Sometimes you just have to go with Yoslate's credo....

 

"Just play the fu***** thing !"

 

Small headstock, big headstock, long tenon, short tenon.... I think I have a migraine.