Warmoth Strat String Tree Location

[DoobieK]

I am finishing up the Warmoth Strat I've posted about over the years and is in my avatar. The Warmoth neck has a shallower drop from the nut to the face of the headstock than the Fender neck it is replacing. The high E string certainly needs a string tree and I am considering one for the G/D strings as well, just to make sure there is enough break angle over the nut. Rather than measure and put the trees where they are located on Fender necks do you think it would be a good idea to position the trees so the break angle is similar to the A and low E strings? I am using staggered tuners so the break angle on the low E and A is already reduced somewhat. Thanks in advance.

[chuckocaster]

i've always just eyeballed on those things. i don't build replicas, so it ain't that important to me. personally, i'd go with a little shallower angle than E/A combo, YMMV.

i think you'll do just fine, just look at your other fenders and see how the angle is on them. when i do it i make sure that the strings aren't under much pressure, makes it easier to manuever the tree around.

best of luck.

[bluespower]

Ah.
the timeless question of String Tree Theory.

[bluespower]

Witten has recently proposed a string theory in twistor space whose D-instanton contributions are conjectured to compute N=4 super-Yang-Mills scattering amplitudes. An alternative string theory in twistor space was then proposed whose open string tree amplitudes reproduce the D-instanton computations of maximal degree in Witten's model.

[chuckocaster]

so mister k, did you put it on?

[Franklin]

I used the strings to line 'em up. Are they too far up or down? Maybe, I dunno. They have been okay for at least several years on both of the ones I installed.

[DoobieK]

Chuck, and everyone else. Yes I did. My camera is either too crappy to take good pictures or I am a horrible photographer. Probably a little of both.

I put the D/G about where Fender put them on the American Stds and the B/E back about a tuning peg. There is a pretty even amount of lessening break angle going from the Low E to the High E. It seems to work well. Thanks for encouraging me to eyeball them.

I really don't like the staggered tuners for this neck as the headstock is thicker than a Fender. I have trouble getting a couple string winds on the D and G posts and the E/A strings barely had any break to them at all so I put a couple of the short post tuners there. Now the windings have good break angle but I can't even get a full wind on the post. I found Angela Parts has non-staggered tuners and I'll order a set of those Tuesday (payday.) Those tuner shaft heights are between the staggered short and tall so those look like they will be just right.

The good news is the neck feels great. I played it for 2 hours Wed. at rehearsal and would have no problem playing this guitar for a whole night if I had to. Finally a Strat (clone that it is) that fits and feels "right" to me. This has been a project 4 years in the making. It has been rewarding and frustrating but I know in a couple weeks I'll have the guitar I always wanted and it will all be worth it.

[chuckocaster]

awesome dude! glad to hear things are working out for ya!

on a side note:

i've come to not like staggered tuners, they just don't "work" for me. i've gone full circle and have gone back to using the split shaft OG klusons. i never have ANY problems with them, tuning, wrapping, et all. sperzels are cool cause string changes are really fast, but i do a sort of reverse stagger with them. with a sperzel set (for fender) you get 2 tall ones (t), 2 mediums (m), and 2 shorts (s). they are supposed to go from low string to high ttmmss. but i always put them tmssmt. that's the only way i can get the break angle right. and i have to use a string tree.

as old marty dibergi would put it;
"anyways, enough of my yakking. what do you say. let's boogie!"