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| I notice a fair amount of custom guitars of all makes have the slothead. Many out there seem to prefer the slothead. If you would opt for the slothead, could you explain the fascination? Thanks! |
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Location: Cincinnati | I like the the way it looks. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Tone is improved due to increased pressure on the nut. Or so they say ... |
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Location: Brisbane Australia | Is that the Nut that is holding the guitar?
AJ :D |
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Location: Route 66, just east of the Cadillac Ranch | Englishplayer,
Like the others, I like the appearance and I'm told it improves the sound due to increased pressure at the nut. Also, ergonomically speaking, I think the slothead is a little easier to tune. I suspect it's a bit more difficult to manufacture a slothead (read - more expensive) which could be another reason they tend to show up on custom guitars.
Nick |
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Location: Michigan | Wouldn't the angle of the headstock have more to do with the pressure on the nut than weather the head is slotted or not? |
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Location: Hanau, Hessen, Germany | For me it's simply the looks. I just love looking at a slothead. And Ovation's slotheads are the prettiest I've ever seen ;) |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Originally posted by twistedlim:
Wouldn't the angle of the headstock have more to do with the pressure on the nut than weather the head is slotted or not? The strings are at a greater angle as they are wrapped down into the headstock not on posts above the surface. |
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Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | I don't know how much the tone is improved but I do know it's a pain to change the strings. Yeah, they're pretty, but so is a standard Ovation headstock. (Oh, do I sound grumpy?) I complain about changing the strings on fiddles too. With all this modern (?) technology such as geared tuners, why do they insist on still using friction pegs? |
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Location: Sydney, Australia | And why does a string change on a 12 string take more than twice as long as a 6 string?
And why is belly button lint always grey when most of my clothes aren't? |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | +1 on changing strings. |
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Location: Michigan | Originally posted by Jeff W.:
Originally posted by twistedlim:
Wouldn't the angle of the headstock have more to do with the pressure on the nut than weather the head is slotted or not? The strings are at a greater angle as they are wrapped down into the headstock not on posts above the surface. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Do guys are doing it all wrong if it takes you longer to restring a slothead. I just put the strings on the "other way around". I feed the ball end through the tuner posts and tie off the bare end on to the bridge just like a classical guitar. Been doing this for years. I bet I can restring my slothead faster than you can restring your paddlehead. |
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Location: south east Michigan | Good idea Dave, but I'm afraid that the knots would ding up the bridge.
About improvement in tone, let me say this about that.
At the Amelia clinic, in the first 10 minutes, Matt showed us a simple right hand technique that made an immediate, very noticable improvement in tone. After experiencing that I've given up on caring about minor features like slothead angles and fretboard density.
To sum it up, my better guitars make me sound a tiny bit better dispite the fact that it's me playing them. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by Slipkid:
Good idea Dave, but I'm afraid that the knots would ding up the bridge. Not if you use String Tubes |
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Location: closely held secret | There you go. |
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Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Slotheads...
Paddleheads...
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Location: south east Michigan | Hmmm... Once again I think I've fallen victim to my own gullibility.
Oh well. I'm sure it won't be the last time. |
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| gul⋅li⋅ble /ˈgʌləbəl/ [guhl-uh-buhl] –adjective
easily deceived or cheated.
Synonyms:
credulous, trusting, naive, innocent, simple, green, Slipkid (See accompanying illustration).
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Location: Bluffton, SC | ...so who won the pool...? |
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Location: SoCal | Now that's a picture that should be destroyed. Whoever cooked that hog's head did a terrible job.... |
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Location: Munich, Germany | Always hated slotheads. Reason why: They didn't look like the "real" guitars the guys on TV played, and my kiddie classic had this stupid "non real" slotted head.
Then, after my fifth or tenth "real" guitar, I got me a custom made Country Artist (that can be seen in my signature) and fell in love with the looks of the Ovation slotheads.
And then g##gle brought me here... Well, go figure.
Best regards,
Kurt |
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Location: Hanau, Hessen, Germany | Nice story, Kurt :) |
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Location: Atlanta, GA. | I like "slotheads" cuz they bring the most $$$ when you sell 'em! :cool: |
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Location: Brisbane Australia | Originally posted by cholloway:
I like "slotheads" cuz they bring the most $$$ when you sell 'em! :cool: ;) :D
AJ |
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Location: Taichung, Taiwan | There is just something classy about a slothead... |
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Location: South of most, North of few | Most here know how I feel about slot heads. There is no real difference in changing strings, you just have to turn your thinking around 90 deg. As far as sound from a greater break angle over the nut, I never have noticed much difference as it's hard to find another guitar with the same design (except for the headstock) to do an A B comparo. There's a lot of other factors involved too, including headstock mass. Most of the guitars with great sustain that I have encountered have slotted headstocks. (the UTE, 1680, 1114, and even the Martin CE0-5) I just like the way they look, classic. |
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That Slothead thing