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Is Zachary Right?


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Anyway, I had a thought related to the actual topic of this thread :D

If you did a classical style tuner arrangement you could make the headstock pretty much as thick as you want, and plus the tuner posts will be at a much lower level and may help increace the break angle at the nut.

Of course the two big slots could weaken it a bit.

Just a thought.

I've been working on that one for a while too... and yeah, it would work, but you'd have to have staggered tuners (it looks like Gotoh has a new type that allows you to dial in the tuner height). And for a six in line, you'd have to shape the sides so that the tuners remain flush against the wood. It'd work on a 3X3 though...

I'm not too worried about strenght, since you can easily reinforce it, and anyway, the headstock can be nice and thick.

It's on my list of headstock ideas to try out one day. First, I'd like to play around with the Byrd headstock idea.

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First, I'd like to play around with the Byrd headstock idea.

Keep us posted on the Byrd idea. His reasoning is interesting and if even a portion pans out it would be very cool.

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well, I'm a bass player, and according to my knowledge of physics, byrd is wrong, unless there's a big decrease in tension on the solid strings. the lowest tuner should always be closer to the nut, for more even FEEL. tension only depends on the linear mass (gauge), vibrating length (distance from nut/fret to bridge), and pitch (tuning). the extra length of string near the tuner has NO effect on actual tension. i repeat,

NO effect on tension.

however, it has an effect on feel. to demonstrate, take a used/broken/whatever string. cut it into two different lengths. somehow support them so you can't move the ends (like a normal string, anchored at the bridge and tuner). now, take the midpoint of one and pull it a centimeter to one side. repeat with the other string. the shorter string should be harder to deflect, as there is less length for it to stretch over.

for an attemp at making that last bit easier to understand, imagine two strings, L and S. L is twice as long as S, but otherwise they are identical. both are stretched an equal distance. it takes more effort to stretch S, as there is less distance for it to strech for. L acts like two Ss, each stretched half of the distance.

so, longer non-vibrating length (long headstocks, string-through body, etc...) makes for a string that feels looser, but has the same amount of tension. this is desirable for strings that feel unnecessarily tight, and can be reversed to tighten the feel of "flabby" feeling strings.

another demo of this would be to try out a floyd-equipped guitar with a long headstock. play it with the nut unlocked, then with the nut locked, and feel for the difference.

yet another side effect of this is the distance of bend required to raise the pitch a certain amount, which decreases as the string feels "tighter", though the force required remains the same, but that's a different story

just my attempt to get us arguing about something more constructive...

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Wow! Mattia, you are famous! :DB):D

That guy must not get much feedback if that is "front page news". It is good to see that he reads his messages, and takes the opinions of fellow "hobbiests" to heart. I think the architecture of his site is looking more and more Romen-esc.

Peace,Rich

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HAHA! :D:DB)

Did you get this:

All the hobby tinkerers are watching and may learn something. Most likely they would have no idea what to do with this type of info and technique. This is not an information site for kids in kindergarten.

And whats with that dead mouse photo? :D

EDIT Also, I know its petty, but did anyone else notice he spelt Amsterdam wrong? (He wrote Amstardam B))

Edited by Ben
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EDIT Also, I know its petty, but did anyone else notice he spelt Amsterdam wrong? (He wrote Amstardam :D)

Probably just spillover (think onanistic googler...ick) from his puffy ego.

It's a shame, I kind of like some of things he does with the guitar (not the playing, the building). Too bad he has to be such a dork.

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HAHA! :D:DB)

Did you get this:

All the hobby tinkerers are watching and may learn something. Most likely they would have no idea what to do with this type of info and technique. This is not an information site for kids in kindergarten.

And whats with that dead mouse photo? :D

Zachary is...odd? We knew that already though.

EDIT Also, I know its petty, but did anyone else notice he spelt Amsterdam wrong? (He wrote Amstardam B))

No no, clearly it's AmstARdam because I'm a STAR, baby!

Go Me!

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First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win

You know, I can't seem to get over the second phase. I mean, sure I could fight him, but if he fights like he plays guitar, it'd be a depressingly easy match :D .(gotta sink to his level eventually, right?)

Oh, and just to point out, if you look at Adolf [schicklgruber] Hitler's life, you'll see that he had a simular story. Seems he never quite made it to that last step though. Gotta love when ghandi's taken out of context.

Oh, and for the record, mattia, I envy your glory.

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On his spiel about guitar strings:

"Also, for those of you and me who like to tune down or play in alternate tunings, when we tune the 6th string down 2 whole steps from E to D, having the wrong gauge is a recipe for tonal and and technical disaster."

I didn't know there were two whole steps between E and D.... :D

He might have something going for him when it comes to the string guages and tensions, however I'm not sure how exactly how uniform linear tension affects the uniformity of sustain, etc, between the strings.

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Maybe we ought to have a contest to see who can be next?

First one on the idiot page wins! :D

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I used the term linear to stress ACTUAL tension, rather than the resistance of the string to be pulled away from the fretboard (which would seem to also be affected by string gauge - bigger strings would be harder to pull away from the fretboard than smaller strings... or maybe the other way around, I'm really not sure). And by uniform, I meant having the same tension from string to string (i.e. every string having a tension of 16lbs).

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Well, as long as we're talking about string tension, what do you think of The Byrd ™ 2 plus 4 ™ Equa-pull ™ Headstock?

He manages to get away with no string trees on a drop down (doesn't look like there's an angle there).

(He also manages to get THREE 'trademarks' in a single line, but that's another issue :D )

The biggest problem I have with this headstock is the brake it places on the momentum of the design.

th_byrdheadstockcomparison.jpg

Although I like the shape of the headstock by itself. It's just that it makes the guitar look like an arrow that cannot possibly ever hit its target.

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