DefinitelyAWig

I still think I'll go with the staggered D & G posts (from a 6 in line). I take your point though. That blog is fascinating and would certainly make me think twice if I were making a 6 in line. But it does seem to be focusing on the posts at the far end of the headstock. But that obviously not an issue on a 4/2.

I've got my eye on some Gotoh matching 6 in line and 3/3 sets. I've got a fretboard blank which from memory is about 6m. So I'll do my best to keep that thickness.

Could you not use a staggered 6 in line set for the 4 (with the low part of the stagger on the D and G), and then use 2 from a 3-per-side set for the other side of the headstock (the E and B string)?

Yes I think the staggered tuners are the way to go. And look, It's my first build and everything could (and probably will) go wrong! So if all I have to deal with a string tree, then I'll take that now!

Thanks for the replies @mistermikev & @Bizman62! Much appreciated. What you've both said makes perfect sense. I feel a little more emboldened to go for it! One thing that I'm still not entirely sure about is that you never see a MM headstock with string trees. Obviously the to E and B strings are moved back towards the nut have a bigger break angle than a Fender, so the pressure over the nut is sufficient. But occasionally on Fender headstocks you'll see a second string tree covering the G and D strings, and as far as I can tell those tuners are in essentially the same place on a MM headstock ...I think? So what is it about the MM design that doesn't necessitate a string tree (particularly on the G string) when it's sometimes necessary on a Strat or a Tele? Thanks again!

Hi everyone, First foray into this forum! Be gentle! I need some help around the potential construction of a Music Man 4/2 style neck. I was originally looking at making a Fender-ish neck (for my first ever build!) and acquired neck and fretboard blanks accordingly. I’ve since become distracted by the possibility of changing my plans to a 4/2 MM. So the question is; are the basic dimensions of the starting blanks the same (i.e, for Fender and Music Man)? I’ve not been able to find any helpful info online, at least nothing categorical. To the eye they look very similar, if not the same. So there’s no headstock break angle on a MM, but does the headstock dip lower than that of a Fender, therefore requiring a thicker blank? Or to put it another way... Is the depth/distance between the face of the headstock and the top of the fretboard the same on both MM and Fender? I hope that makes sense!