Neck Angles And Sustain

[masterpuppets]

Hello everyone,I have a question,once again haha! What difference would a neck angle make on a bolt-on guitar,besides accomidating for a tuneomatic bridge,or non-recessed Floyd? It seems people refer to a neck/headstock angle as having more sustain,BUT I really believe it is becuase most guitars with this design are set neck,with a tuno bridge,and that THOSE two factors increase the sustain primarily.With a tremolo on it(besides a flat-mount Kahler,which I personally use),so much wood is removed that the sustain would be lost anyway,regardless,I feel.

SO......what does the neck angle REALLY do,besides how the neck is connected,to the vibration of the string?

[rhoads56]

SO......what does the neck angle REALLY do,besides how the neck is connected,to the vibration of the string?

it has zero effect, at the angles you see on guitars.

[Mickguard]

BUT I really believe it is becuase

See, that's why I (among others) call this kind of thing Voodoo --it comes down to what you believe. Call it intelligent design if you must. Set neck, through neck, bolt on... none of that is quantifiable, if only because we're talking about wood.

FWIW, Fender Stratocasters have been measured to have longer PHYSICAL sustain. Gibson Les Pauls have been measured to have longer AUDIBLE sustain. Get it? (And that doesn't measure, say, MY strat vs. YOUR Les Paul.)

Besides which, the angled neck, as you pointed out, is used to accommodate the higher position of a TOM bridge. In other words, the strings themselves are no more angled than on a strat.

[ToneMonkey]

I always find a guitar with a neck angle slightly more comfortable to play (not that I've played alot of guitars, but that was just my impression).

As for adding to sustain - I'm with Rhoads and Mickguard on this. Having a neck angle will increase the break angle of the string over the bridge and having a angled headstock on creases the break angle of the string over the nut. Theoretically, it should make a tiny difference but I highly doubt it does.

At the minute, I'm working with a luthier on a resonator. It's very much like a National but we're making minor changes that we think will make it better. One of these is that we are altering the tailpiece to increase the break angle across the bridge. This should force the strings onto the bridge a bit harder when played (as we have increase the vertical component of the force and decreased he horizontal component). So on a resonator, it does make a difference (or at least we think it does, we'll find out soon). But then again, if this was done with neck angle rather than changing the tailpiece, then the difference would probably be minimal as there is a limit to what angle you can have.

[Mattia]

Pretty much diddly. In theory it probably exerts a tiny bit more downward force (angled headstocks on the nut, unless you use string trees and/or locking nuts taking the headstock out of the equation) due to the break angle of the string. However, in the ranges we're talking (between 0 and 3 degrees), this is going to do diddly in a measurable sense, let alone an audible sense. Perhaps if we get into neck angles in the 10-15 degree category, we MIGHT hear a SMALL amount of different. But those guitars wouldn't be very comfortable at all.

Solid construction an appropriate material selection is where the 'magic' lies.

Besides, sustain? Only one of many more or less desirable factors. What good is sustain if the harmonics are lousy, if the tone sucks? On its own it means nothing at all, and when you plug your guitar into a hi-gain stack, and have the amp interacting, that 'natural' sustain doesn't necessarily mean diddly.

[tirapop]

Think about it. A guitar with a string thru bridge, like a Tele, has much more break angle a the saddles than a tilt neck with a TOM. Does that make the Tele a sustain-aholic?

[thegarehanman]

This is just like people thinking that a neck-thru makes a guitar sustain for a substantially longer time than a set or bolt neck. Realistically, the difference is not that substantial if noticeable at all, and there are so many other factors effecting sustain that it's quite naive to think that one change will have such a big impact.