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Posts: 143
Joined: Jan. 23 2005
From: New York, New York
angle of string pull
A few of the posts in the "Two naked blond babes..." thread reminded me of a question I have regarding the angle of string pull at the nut.
If I wind all of my strings to the outside a roughly equal number of turns, the E strings end up with a straight pull from the roller to the nut, while the inside four strings pull at an angle toward the center of the nut (left to right for the A and D strings, right to left for the G and B strings). By winding the strings differently, I can either create a straight pull for all strings or an angle for all (although that angle is to the outside for the E strings and to the inside for the rest). Do these angles have any effect on tone, sustain, string tension, or tuning stability?
Thats funny... on my guitar (with standard winding) only the 2nd and 5th strings have a straight pull angle. The 1st and 6th angle INWARD toward the centre of the headstock, and the 3rd and 4th angle OUTWARD toward the edges of the headstock.
I don't think these angles have much affect on tone. You can try and test that out for yourself if you have sharp ears. But if anyone can correctly answer the question on sustain, tension and tuning stability, it would be interesting to hear.
Jb
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¡Si esto no está en compas, esto no es el Flamenco!
Tone shouldn't be affected. On my Strat the strings all go straight back, but I believe Strats were designed this way to make the vibrato arm smoother to operate. On a flamenco or classical guitar any influence the strings have stops at the nut.
I wind all my strings inward, except the two E strings, which go outward. The only strings that have a large deflection from straight are the G and D.
Thanks for the responses. I was curious because I've heard many times about the importance of break angle (forward and back) at both the nut and the saddle. I was curious if a left/right angle had a similar impact.