Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

[Falloffthebonetone]

I've heard it advertised by Fender before that their larger 70's style headstocks offer more sustain and such but am having a hard time believing that a sliver of extra wood would make a distinguishable difference. Anyone have any experience with this or is it hogwash? I've heard that Robin Trower and Yngwie say "more wood on the headstok means more sustain" but how well does that actually hold up and why?

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

Dunno,but they look cooler!!!

:headbang:

 

[LReese]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

I guess it could but I don't hear a difference. These days you can add locking tuners to add mass.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

Do an experiment. Take your capo and stick it on the headstock. Then you can get a feel for the changes (if any) that you can detect by adding weight to the headstock.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

Wasn't this issue central to the controversy back in the day, over putting heavier, more modern tuners on old guitars that had begun life with old Klusons? People had different opinions on what it did to the sustain and the tone. Does it matter whether the mass is part of the headstock? If it's glued on? If it's dead weight that isn't going to resonate? What did we decide last time?

 

[ex-250]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

I'm with Rando. They just look far cooler.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

I'm gonna say no. There were plenty of CBS era large headstock Strats that were complete dogs. Same with those with small headstocks, pre and post CBS. If it resonates/sustains great, that just means that everything came together on that one.

 

[LReese]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

Not sure I'm going along with the looks cooler angle... When I was a kid the big headstock was definitely cool. In the 80s up until a few years ago its was the pre-CBS style HS. Now - Its just a Fender to me either way you go.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

I have one on my strat, and I don't think it makes a difference.

 

[vinta9e]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

A bigger headstock puts a bit of mass there. It works on the same principle as the fatfinger, which means that it will affect some necks considerably, while on others it will hardly make a difference. Heavier tuners are going to do the same thing.
I believe this extra mass right there tends to lower the neck's own resonant frequency. Such has been my experience.

High mass bridges and sustain blocks do something similar, except they are mounted at the other end of the string, of course. The other difference is they conduct vibrations between the strings via the tremolo assembly to the guitar body and back. The headstock "just hangs there in the air" - so rather than a coupling point, it is an end point. Jackson fans are probably going to grin reading that, haha.

The smaller headstock on strats looks prettier to me.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

The best sounding Strats IMHO are from the early 60's. all of the 61 through 68 or 69 are just killer sounding Strats. The big headstock Strats didn't happen until 69 or 70. For me I would love a 61 slab board

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

Everyone knows pointy headstocks sustain the best.

 

[esandes]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

remember when the nerdy bassists (*cough* billy sheehan *cough*) would put vice grips to their headstocks?

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

remember when the nerdy bassists (*cough* billy sheehan *cough*) would put vice grips to their headstocks?

I think that would have the affect of tightening up the vibrational response (getting rid of some low-end flab) rather than adding sustain. But I may be wrong (I'm no Sheehan or Wooten).

And my vote goes to the small headstock for esthetics, the large headstock looks cheap/Squire.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

I don't know if you could put it down to just headstocks, but the 70s Strats were so bad compared to what came before and after that it doesn't matter. I like the smaller one better though- better balance, less weight.

 

[Lucy Diamond]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

This reminds me a lot of those clips I see people using.

I don't have a name or a brand, but lately I'm seeing people on youtube clipping a block to their headstocks and one guy said it was for more mass to give it sustain.

I dunno. Seems whonkey to me :sad:

 

[uOpt]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

I dunno about the headplate but heavy tuners are generally not an improvement sound-wise.

There's also the Dunlop sustainer thing that you can attach to the headplate which also does no good.

 

[fourwayswitch]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

I can definitely see some merit to it. I used to own a PRS Johnny Hiland signature that had a particularly bad wolf tone whenever you hit a G at the 17th fret of the D string or the 12th fret of the G string. A Fender Fatfinger provided enough mass to move that wolf tone right off the fretboard.

 

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

Not that I've noticed, and I've had numerous of both. To me the block material in a strat trem makes the biggest difference (steel block)

 

[blueman335]

Re: Fender BIG headstock "more resonance/sustain and tone"?

I'm gonna say no. There were plenty of CBS era large headstock Strats that were complete dogs. Same with those with small headstocks, pre and post CBS. If it resonates/sustains great, that just means that everything came together on that one.

That's probably it, more than anything else. The headstock size is probably just incidental.