Shortscale Snakehead

[Simon Barden]

That's certainly your choice, but with a strat/tele type of nut, and presuming it's cut properly, the E A D strings shouldn't require a tree or bar even with that distance to the post.

Which is normally true as a blanket statement for a standard 6-in-line headstock but this is a 3+3, so the D and G strings have the lowest break angle and they will be the ones most likely to need a string tree or equivalent.

And you also need to remember that the tuner positions start further away from the nut than on a normal Tele or Strat, so you need to consider the actual distances involved. Going by relative lengths on the photos and comparing to a Tele neck, the two Es are about as far from the nut as the A tuner normally is, the A and B tuners are roughly just beyond the normal D tuner position and the D and G tuners about halfway in-between the normal G and B tuner positions.

So whilst the headstock looks very long, tuner-wise, it ends up about 4cm more compact than a normal Tele headstock. The nut to top of headstock depth also looks a few mm deeper than normal (it's typical for the tops of the tuners to be level with the top of a well-cut nut and these are certainly lower than that, though post heights can vary), so that will help with break angle, so you may well get away without needing any string trees. See how it plays and then decide. As a bar-type string retainer isn't inherently adjustable, you may find a standard one pulls the strings down too low, as you can have too great a string break angle, given that extra headstock to nut depth. Positioning one so it doesn't interfere with the truss rod access could also move a bar-type a long way back, which itself will look a bit odd.

I agree with McCreed on the E tuner windings. A standard string wind will also give better tuning stability. It doesn't matter if the two E break angles are a bit greater than the other strings. The extra distance to the nut will stop the break angle from being excessive.

Maybe consider adding a decal to fill in the gap visually?

[impala59]

Wrist slapping deserved and accepted guys! I must admit to not being too attentive on this test string up, I promise to do better!
It seems to hold tune ok at the moment and I think perhaps it is aesthetic more than necessary to look toward a string bar. I will hold on that for the moment. I agree that the step from the nut does seem somewhat deeper than usual, also the amount of wood beneath the nut and into the headstock seems thicker or maybe it’s an illusion created by the distance between the nut and nearest pegs. I suppose this neck could be aimed at a heavier string set up?

[Simon Barden]

Some necks are just like that. I once had a 'bitza' Strat with that deep headstock profile. No particular requirement for heavier gauge string set-ups to have that sort of deeper headstock. Don't forget that when Teles and then Strats came out, there were no light gauge string sets, so the norm was probably 0.012"s. So designed for 'heavy' gauge strings from the start!

[impala59]

I wonder if anyone uses the heavier gauges? Certainly everyone I know seems to use 10-42 or lighter. Maybe worth an experiment as I often use open tuning DADGCD or EADGCE. The heavier strings may enhance the “ring” that appeals to me

[Simon Barden]

I've been tempted to use 11s at times, especially when I've been playing regularly and my fingers then find bending the strings very easy. I do have one guitar set up in open G with 11s on, but it's really for rhythm playing. And of course, quite a few people tune down a whole semitone and use 11s to counter the lower string tension. Useful for doing Thin Lizzy tracks. SRV used to downtune a lot as well.

[Sonic Mountain]

I use 11's on the Deluxster and also just strung up the ES build with them. They take a bit of getting used to, but I quite like them now. Much brighter and they don't clash on the frets nearly as much during enthusiastic strumming. I used to run 9's on everything, but in building and fiddling with a multitude of guitars I generally found better overall results from 10's. It depends a lot on playing style really but I can see advantages to using all those sizes, depending on that and the particular guitar.

[impala59]

I did a bit of finishing on the 25.5 scale snakehead. After priming, I covered with snakeskin vinyl wrap. It is unfortunately one of those good from far, far from good jobs. The vinyl, being textured, seems to have varying degrees of stickyness so i will get some vinyl adhesive and re-attach where it seems not to have stuck too well. It also does not seem too hardy and I wonder how it will stand up to normal use. If the worse happens I will strip it off and paint it black. Having said that, I quite like the look although I will probably change the tuners for black or at least black buttons. Wired up, the Wilkinson M series single coil is certainly potent enough (through the Pignose)

edit...
I would appreciate if you guys could peruse my single pick-up wiring, it works fine but just doing a bit of reading it looks very different to what is apparently recommended

[Simon Barden]

The wiring will certainly work.

It is more normal to have the input and output wires on the volume pot the other way round, so the output is on the central (wiper) tab. Having it your way around alters the way the taper works slightly, so volume reduction may not be quite as smooth. It's the way you'd wire up the volume pot if you had two volume controls for two pickups, but no selector switch (e.g. on a lot of Jazz bases), so that you can turn one volume all the way down without also grounding the sound from the other pickup.

The tone pot is connected to the output, but with this wiring arrangement I don't know if this creates the same effect as on 'vintage' Gibson wiring, giving a more interactive tone pot so that it also alters the volume a bit when used, as well as keeping the signal treble level up when the volume control is turned down.

No right or wrong with this, just user preference.

Guitar looks great. I don't normally like that sort of finish but on this it looks good. I quite like the white buttons. Certainly easier to see against the black headstock if tuning up on a dark stage.

[impala59]

Thanks Simon, you just about nailed it with your description, with the tone midway it is a very Gibson like sound and 2 finger power chords sound pretty epic (I may have upset the neighbours a touch earlier as I cranked up the old AC30) who needs pedals? With the tone at full treble it screams, though at the other end at high volumes it is a touch muddy. At more sensible levels it is a usable round, warm tone. I am quite pleased overall as the wire up was more by luck than judgement! I would be interested if you have a diagram of what you would consider an optimum single pick-up loom as I hope to finish a couple of others for friends shortly

[impala59]

I've been laid up for a while, (not C19 thankfully, but a foot problem) so no building etc. Been sitting at home playing and practising scales etc. As a way back to this obsessive pastime, I decided to finish the shortscale in walnut wax, after some success with the tenor and wax. The wood is a bit uneven in shade and I may apply another coat in the future to darken and level the shades. The wiring fell together without problems and the only hiccup was the bridge humbucker was very low volume. After cursing the maker, supplier and myself, I realised that it was at its lowest possible position about half an inch away from the strings! Homer Simpson moment Doh! Pulling it up many turns on the set screws revealed a real screamer. Of all my builds, this Tele has always been the nicest to play when it was initially put together and rested, virtually no set up issues were encountered. I took the brass nut down a few thou and it is even better. So, happy with this one!