Tuners: Perpendicular to the neck or to the curve of the headstock?

[DustyCat]

An interesting problem I had not taken into consideration has just arisen from a recent call from teh Chief, who has finally gotten a chance to put my new neck onto my Thinline tele.  :toothy10:

Warmoth shaped headstock. 3 + 3 Tuners.
Do we align them vertical to the center line of the headstock, or do we align them so as to follow the curvature of the headstock?

My gut tells me to follow the curvature of the headstock, so long as the angle to twist/tune is still accessible, but it would be great to have some pics to see the difference.  :kewlpics:

Does anyone have any pics of both examples? Or have advice on the subject. I thought i might try here first, before going in personally to have a looksee because still sometimes the visualization is different from the end result.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Pelagaard]

Check the work in progress thread for Updown's Yella Terra, there's examples of the tuners oriented both ways when he had a similar question.

 

[Cagey]

I like them perpendicular to the neck centerline, but it's a subjective thing. Performance doesn't change.

If they follow the headstock outline, they look ok as long as all the buttons are aligned, but the chances of that happening in reality once it's strung up are probably nil. So, they end up looking like a blind person installed them.

 

[line6man]

Do your tuners have guide pins or screws? Put a set of tuners on and try it both ways before you do the drilling for what you decide upon.

 

[line6man]

If they follow the headstock outline, they look ok as long as all the buttons are aligned, but the chances of that happening in reality once it's strung up are probably nil. So, they end up looking like a blind person installed them.

+1. Looks awful IMO.

 

[DustyCat]

Planet Waves Auto Trim Locking Tuners

Yeah, no sorry Pelagaard, not seein' that thread you mentioned:

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?action=search2

I guess this site will not allow you to link to the search results. Well, I tried, I might default to center line alignment. It does seem very risky that the tuners will look very uneven and very unproportioned if not aligned to the headstock absolutely. perfectly. Lemme see what da Chief thinks.

 

[Pelagaard]

Here's the thread, but the pics fell victim to the SG/Short Horn linking fiasco when the Gibson shenanigans happened a few months ago.

 

[bagman67]

Here it is in the gallery, mutatis mutandis as far as the corrected photo links go.  THere are photos of the headstock from the back and the front.  For my money, what Updown did is the right way to do it  - perpendicular to an imaginary line bisecting the headstock lengthwise.


http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=20346.0

 

[SustainerPlayer]

I went with following the curvature of the headstock. Partly because I liked it from the Ibanez Talman headstock. And partly because I have good taste.  :sign13:

I don't have have any close ups for the moment. But I think you can find pictures around the forum.

But as someone else mentioned. Try to make a mock-up with the tuners and decide from that.

 

[DustyCat]

Godspeed Chief... :sad: