Where is Your String Tree?

Silence Kid

Silence Kid

New member
Fender folks; ever mess with the height of string trees? Most newer Fenders arrive with some variety of spacer (metal or plastic) underneath the tree, but seems most vintage Fenders had the tree screwed right onto the wood with no spacer.

I ditched the spacers on few couple guitars, kept it on a couple, or else eliminated the tree depending on what I want; the increased break angle seems to allow for a spikier, more percussive tone (at the expense of a bit of compression/smoothness for chords and such.) Anyone ever pay attention to this or have a preference?
 
Re: Where is Your String Tree?

For my pickier clients, I do adjust the height of string trees... You really want just enough to keep the string in the slot and provide a downward angle. Severe angles just add tension to the string feel. Also - keep them as far away from the nut as possible. It softens the angle.
 
Re: Where is Your String Tree?

In my drawer-o-parts :p

I took it off completely when I replaced the stock Schaller tuners with staggered Sperzels, never looking back.

EDIT: Correction, I looked again and it is still on the headstock, all the way down, not anywhere near the strings but still there for aesthetic reasons. The rest still stands :D
 
Re: Where is Your String Tree?

KeeperOS is right, there. With staggered tuners and a properly cut nut, you don't need string trees.

Headstock 1.JPG

Headstock 2.jpg
 
Re: Where is Your String Tree?

Both of my tree-less guitars either have or at one point possessed staggered lockers; when I pulled the lockers off one, I discovered I still liked the tree-less sound better (I added it with the new tuning heads,) so filled the tree-hole and matched the headstock to the body.

Someone added a second tree (G/D) to my Mustang at one point, it barely even touched the strings and was installed in a non-correct location; removed and doweled.
 
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