String Retainer for non Floyd Rose?

[Marley]

I just switched out necks on my electric and it seems like the strings are all really high off of the headstock. The neck I took off had 2 string trees but it was also a longer Strat style headstock, so the 2 trees just kept the D-G-B-and E strings down.

The new neck is a Guitar Fetish Tele style, that I cut off the end of the headstock (B & E holes) and drilled new holes on the bottom a la EB Music Man 4+2.

I'm considering installing a straight retainer bar to catch all 6 strings like the kind they use with a Floyd Rose. I don't have a Floyd Rose, it's all just regular Grover tuners and a fixed bridge.

Anybody have good or bads with doing this? Or reasons to do it or NOT to do it?

I'm just figuring it will give me a steeper angle between the nut and the tuners and will keep the strings down. Right now they are all pretty high it seems. I'll try to post a picture.

Thanks!

[sandspike15]

I don't know that you'd get the effect you want from doing this. If the retainer bar alone was enough, I don't know why they would use the string retainers in the Floyd nut?

It may just be end up being an annoyance for string changes and another couple of new holes in your headstock.

Pics would be helpful. Other ideas- have you thought about swapping out the tuners for some lower shaft height ones? You could kill 2 birds with one stone- string height at the headstock and easy string changes!

[Marley]

Originally Posted by sandspike15

I don't know that you'd get the effect you want from doing this. If the retainer bar alone was enough, I don't know why they would use the string retainers in the Floyd nut?

It may just be end up being an annoyance for string changes and another couple of new holes in your headstock.

Pics would be helpful. Other ideas- have you thought about swapping out the tuners for some lower shaft height ones? You could kill 2 birds with one stone- string height at the headstock and easy string changes!

Thanks for the thoughts!

The only effect I want to accomplish is to get the strings to break more after the nut and lower them. So I know installing one would accomplish that. Right now besides the low E string all of them are about 1 1/4 cm from the flat part of the headstock after the nut to the string. That's really high.

No extra time or annoyance in changing strings and I don't mind the holes or the look of the bar for that matter so I should not have any issues there.

I like your idea of changing the tuners but don't want to go through the cost especially if I can buy a bar for $4.

I'd like to post pics but I forgot about the pics needing to be hosted on a site in order to post to the forum. It's been a while since I posted but now I remember hating that part of it. I'll still try, I think I have to open up a photo bucket account.

Thanks a lot for the help!

[Marley]

[Marley]

[Marley]

[Marley]

[sandspike15]

Looking at the pics, I think the retainer bar may be your only choice. Those tuners already look like the lower shaft models.

That's about as steep a set-back on a headstock that I've seen!

[Marley]

Thanks.
So do you think this would affect the tuning in any way or apply too much bad pressure on the strings?

[blue]

Looking at the pics I would wait to the next restring, and put a lot of winds on the 3 high strings.

You have a lot of space there where you could bring the strings down to the face of the peghead.

[David Eastwood]

Here's my OLP MM4 with much the same headstock geometry. I've never had an issue with this - yours looks much the same. Maybe another wrap or two around the string post, but as long as the nut is cut properly, I don't think you really have a problem.

[Marley]

Thanks all! I think I'll put some extra wraps on it and see how it goes. I sure missed my 2 new holes I think. They both should be further away from the nut which would have given me straighter strings. I don't really like how the B and E pull off to the right to get to their pegs. I hope that is not an issue as well. It's not too bad, but I should have put in more time before I drilled. Lesson learned but I was anxious. I got the neck delivered this past Saturday. By the time I went to bed Saturday I had, cut off the end of the headstock, used my circle dremmel tool to sand the little curved part, stained the cut parts with dark stain, applied about 12 coats of gloss spray lacquer, drilled the two new holes, reamed out all 6 holes to fit my tuners, neck didn't fit into my neck pocket so I had to sand both sides of the neck to fit it, drilled the 4 holes for the neck screws and got the neck put on, strung her up, had a feeling the strings were going to be high after the nut but was more concerned with how much the E & B strings would pull to the right. Now if neither of those two things become an issue then I'm happy. I had this guitar built for me and I designed the whole thing. I wanted a guitar that felt small and comfortable. I had him move the bridge as far back on the body as possible. I had him try to do a body copy of a Paul Languedoc. I've always loved the look of the MM headstocks with the 4 + 2 and I feel it fits with the overall smallness that I'm going for. The guitar weighs 5 pounds which helps when you're playing all night. I did a build thread sort of when I got it, Ill post the link.

Thanks for the advise!

[Marley]

Here's the post with some build pics: http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f....php?p=3790303