Tidy Headstocks

twocorgis

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How many here are a stickler for tidy headstocks? I know I sure am, and ever since I started using the Taylor method for restringing guitars, mine come out like this every time.

46700734424_fd72a089bb_b.jpg


Using my power winder, I can do this in 15 minutes or less. This is the F50ce, and damn, does it sound good with a fresh set of EJ16s. Man am I glad I goaded myself into buying this one!
 

gjmalcyon

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I do a modified version of the Taylor method. First wrap goes over the hole in the post. Subsequent wraps go under. Gives me very stable tuning - guitars are still in tune after several months cased.

DDhfPSUh.jpg
 

davismanLV

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Nope, I'm really careful about measuring the cut, then I take my needle nose pliers and bend exactly the amount of string that will catch without any extra, drop that puppy into the slot and then pull down and use the string winder until it can catch in the slot. All neat and tidy. If there's any any tiny extra bit that sticks out..... before my mind melts down.... I snip it was my cutters. Sandy, we're on the same wave length, brother!!

gjmalcyon, close but you got some extra on there that would drive me crazy. I know..... "short trip!!" but the exact width of my small needle nose pliers is enough to lock the strings with maybe a micron over the depth of the hole.

Anyway, tomorrow night, I gotta pack up my kit and go on the road to my brother and sis in laws new house here in Vegas. He has his daughter Heather's old Washburn dread (and honestly it's a fairly decent guitar!!) and he wondered if it needed new strings. They haven't been changed since she was 16. She and her twin brother turned 39 yesterday.

Uhmmmm, yeah, time for new ones. So now I'm a traveling man. Honestly, it's far out in Vegas terms but Dana is such a gambler that the M Resort already comps her $200 per two weeks (for food and alcohol) and she has her own parking space. They also got a catered event and loaded into one of the huge limos with the other top gamblers to the Golden Knights game the other month!! They had a box with catered food and booze...... (how much money does this woman gamble???) oh well. They're nice enough and they treat us like royalty. So.... string change tomorrow for the bro.

It's not like i don't have extra strings.

Nice job Sandy..... neat the trim!! just like I like 'em and that rosewood is beautiful!! i'm gonna start a headstock photo thread. Not tonight though..... :encouragement:
 
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Nuuska

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Hello

Depending on my mood of the day - I use two different methods - the old curl-them-up and the newer cut-them-as-short-you-can

At the moment my F512 is curly and F212 is short.

But it just happens that for unknown reason my LG2-3/4 is schizophrenic - or I have put in three new plain strings in a hurry :watermelon:

img_3411.jpg
 

F312

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I must say, I have to have my strings on just right, with the last wind of the string low on the post for the best brake angle, to keep it copasetic. There is no other way, and the Taylor way has taken it out of my lap. Done the same way, just out of my lap now and on a table. The Ernie Ball string winder is the key.

Ralph clarification
 
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TBK711

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Where might I find details on this Taylor Way .... sounds like I may have some more to learn.

I’ve always just changed them and not thought too much about it and it has always been fine for me. But I bet I could get better. (And my headstocks might drive you nutty).
 

Guildedagain

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The Taylor method looks not one iota different ( the winding on the capstan) than the way I was thought going back to the 80's easily.

Whether you come though the strings or over the top is a personal choice, I've done both. Usually never come through anymore.

The short nubs of strings coming through the post in the first pic are against everything I've been taught on stringing guitars.

On any Gibson/Guild 3 on a side headstock, I pull the string up away from the hole clockwise on the bass side, counterclockwise on the treble strings. This counter motion is against the direction of the wind, not with it. Provides a very secure anchorpoint against slipping.

I give all six strings a very good tug in the proper direction with a small pair of needlenose pliers to "set" the break, then cut all strings flush with the top of the post, leaving roughly 1/4" of string from the hole to the top of the post, just in case. Seeing barely any string protrude scares me.

I also don't cut the strings until the strings are all through preliminary stretching.

I always wind around the post in the time honored way, striving for a couple turns of winding, sometimes three if I'm trying to get more down angle behind the nut.

On Fenders with the old tuners, I cut the strings two holes past the tuner, if I want more down angle, I go three holes past and make the cut. Works great everytime.

I've never used a power (electric winder) and never will. Even the handcranked ones can damage headstocks if you're not careful.

I use pencil lead (graphite) in my nut slots when restringing, always.

I use a tuning fork to Verdi's A=432Hz and tune the rest of the guitar by ear, most often using the "James Taylor" method of detuning certain strings, like the B for sweeter sounding chords. The human ear does not like slightly sharp tones much at all...
 

F312

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I like to get 3 wraps on the low E, but some of my posts are not tall enough to accomplish that, is the post adjustable? I never thought of it before.

Ralph
 

kakerlak

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I like to get 3 wraps on the low E, but some of my posts are not tall enough to accomplish that, is the post adjustable? I never thought of it before.

Ralph

I believe Gotoh has a model with height-adjustable string posts.

I've always just done the first wrap over the string end, rest under and tried to stagger length to get the strings as close to the bottom of the posts as possible for break angle. The Guild method of threading the loose end around the string is super secure, but too pokey when de-stringing for me. I have some right angle wire cutters that let me trim nice and close once strung w/o risking nicking the headstock.
 

Guildedagain

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Forgot to mention I use a pair of super top of the line Snap On Electronics sized (small) "pair of dikes" as in diagonal cutters and it's reeeally important to cut the string ends square, not an angled "boloney cut", a cut like that will pierce your fingers easily, a dead straight cut with the right pliers, not as much it makes a difference. I use the top of the tuner post as a stand to brace the pliers, way far from any other strings or the headstock.

I don't like any sort of locking tuners, prefer the old way.

Nigel says the old way has better sustain?


;-)

My D28, gone now, turned into two Guilds. Pics like these mean the chopping block. You can seen the ends of the strings well enough, tucked around the post in a way that won’t hurt anyone or snag polishing cloths. To me, that’s tidy. The tidiest.

large.jpg


1980 Gibson The Paul I sent to a guy in Ireland just in time for New Year’s Day, about ten years ago… You can see the directional wraps around the capstans, tuner shafts. Hhaha, you can see the high E string leftover needs to be tamed a little, tucked in.

large.jpg


Also, check out the scalloped nut, anyone familiar with scalloped nuts? My last Flametop, gone, same old wrap.

large.jpg


I guess I could say I’m a bit of a wrap artist when it comes to guitars, to borrow an line from a old Joni Mitchell song, “Nobody does it, quite the way I do”…

And now for something completely different!

The curled up strings ends on my F30 because I didn’t know how long I’d be leaving them on. Just about the prettiest job I ever done, I’ll say ;-)) That's the new nut I tried my hardest to screw up, but some force (not Murphy) made it come out nearly divine, and the guitar is freakin loud now.

large.jpg
 
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chazmo

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I'd never considered the break angle over the nut before... What do you guys perceive is the advantage of a more extreme break angle over the nut? I'd actually think less is better as you don't want strings binding on the nut during tuning.
 

Nuuska

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. . .to borrow an line from a old Joni Mitchell song, “Nobody does it, quite the way I do”…

And now for something completely different!


Two Bravo's - One for Joni - One for Monty Python
 
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bobouz

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Funny, what's being called the 'Taylor Method' here is essentially how I first learned to install strings in 1971, except for leaving more string exposed at the end & putting a sharp kink in it.
 
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