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Post subject: String Tree On '60 Strat NOS
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:43 am
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Just got an amazing lake placid blue '60 NOS strat from wildwood guitars (9.5 inch fingerboard radius and 6105 frets) and it's amazing. fantastic build quality and the glassy tones from those pickups blow me away everytime i play!

one question though - the string tree is mounted directly on the headstock with no spacer gromit (like every other strat i've ever seen.) is this period correct or is it an oversight in manufacture?

will adding the spacer drop the string tension on the high b and e strings? is this something i should do or is this really only a cosmetic difference?

lemme know!

karl


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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 6:23 pm
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You would do well putting a spacer under those butterfly trees.

I went to my friendly neighborhood hardware store and bought a little plastic tube which I cut to the right height using a razor blade. You will probably need to get slightly longer screws too.

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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:47 pm
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thanks for the reply... but i'm looking for specifics. what does the spacer beneath the string tree achieve - does adding it lessen the string tension on the high e and b strings?

i'm not about to stick a piece of plastic under the string tree on a 3000 guitar... as inventive as that is! i'm sure that spacer is a part from fender somehow... but really, do i need it? if so, why? if not, why?

thanks again everyone!

k


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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 6:51 pm
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There are more valuable guitars than yours that have plastic spacers under the butterfly string trees:

Peghead String Guides (or "String Tree").
String guides were used on most models to give the treble strings greater string tension across the nut.

1950 to Mid-1956: Single round "button" string guide for E & B strings.
Mid 1956: Changed to a "butterfly" string guide.
1959: a metal spacer is used beneath the butterfly string guide.
1964: the metal spacer is changed to a nylon spacer beneath the butterfly string guide during 1964.


from http://www.provide.net/~cfh/fender.html
I do believe that nylon is plastic.

As for "why need a spacer?" I think it's because without one gives too great of an angle off the nut.

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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 8:47 pm
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thanks - exactly the info i was looking for.

and yes, more expensive guitars than mine may have plastic parts - that's not what i was getting at.

not to beat a dead horse but what effect does "too much angle from the nut" have on playability etc? or is it simply an aesthetic difference?

i'm having my guitar guy install a metal spacer from a 62 reissue. hopefully that will work out okay!

k


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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 8:58 pm
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Perhaps your guitar guy would discuss with you the pros and cons of butterfly string tree spacers.

good luck.

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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 9:15 pm
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wow. excuse my desire for rational discourse. not sure why you're in a snit... did you get offended because i didn't want to use a razor blade to cut a little plastic tube to jury rig my brand new guitar? either way, i'm sure i'll live without further input from you...


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Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 2:14 pm
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It would have been much more 'grownup' to have just said thank you. :?

n.


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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:07 am
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grownupboy wrote:
i'm not about to stick a piece of plastic under the string tree on a 3000 guitar... as inventive as that is! i'm sure that spacer is a part from fender somehow... but really, do i need it? if so, why? if not, why?


Sorry to go totally OT but does this thread (and this post in particular) remind anyone of the discourse between the the main character and his road buddy in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainance (by Robert Pirsig), about the use of a shim to stop the slippage of his BMW's handlebars? That he refuses on the grounds that his perception of what Pirsig's character offers him, which is a cut off a can, isn't 'worthy' to be used compared to a shim from a BMW dealer, when in actual fact the only thing unworthy is his skewed preconceptions.

I am not saying that is how you feel, but the similarities (or atleast the reference) were strikingly clear to me, enough to warrent me to post to find out if anyone else felt the same way.


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