Just bought a used, mint condition Eric Johnson model strat, but it has a string tree on it. I'm confused because my understanding is that the EJ models don't have/need string trees. This was an early model, 00586. Did they used to come with trees? Anyone know? Thanks

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Scott
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Hi scottatjoy123: Eric spec'd that guitar to have no tree from day one. They've never been issued with a stringtree.

It not only has the staggered height tuners but he also had them make the headstock with an extra couple of millimetres shaved off its front to take the peghead face a little further back relative to the fingerboard and so increase the breaking angle of the strings across the nut. All of that is to do away with the need for a stringtree, which potentially interferes with return-to-pitch after whammy use.

That thinner than usual headstock is a good way of ID'ing a genuine EJ Sig Strat. I've never heard of a fake with that particular feature.

However, there is no reason why a previous user couldn't have added a tree if he felt he needed one or if he just didn't understand the reason for it not being there. So check the thickness of the peghead against a regular Strat: that'll confirm it yours is legit or not.

Cheers - C

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