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I'm working on an electric guitar design that incorporates a 2 point floating tremolo. I learned a while ago that it is important to have a headstock where the strings go straight to the tuners to keep from getting caught in the nut slots. Also a slight angle to alleviate the need for strings trees. This one is a 3x3 which forces me to get far away from the traditional shapes so I figured I'd design my own unique headstock.

Just HOW important it is though? Obviously the answer is just to make them dead straight. Unfortunately, things happen (like being a mere mortal) and unless you are using a CNC or some other expensive precision device, you may be slightly off. I've gone to the trouble of using right angle/side calculations and taking into account the exact post diameter(s), string gauge, string angles etc. to pinpoint exactly where the tuners would go for this design. Maybe overkill but I want to make it the best it can be of course.

I've never achieved perfect straightness in the past. The strings are always just the slightest bit off one way or the other when sighting down the neck. The problem is that I have no idea if it will even be worth the trouble of getting it "perfect". Any opinions/experience to offer?


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"I'm not going to say that perfection has never been achieved. However, if it has, it probably went unnoticed due to it's lack of character."

Locking tuners can be a great help in the area of tuning on vibrato equipped guitars, as much of the tuning problem stems from the wraps loosening around the tuning post when the vibrato arm is depressed.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I had an Epi Strat with a factory Floyd Rose Lic. While it took a little longer to tune the first time, the thing stayed in tune forever....

Locking tuners can help, but a locking tie of the strings onto the posts of non-locking tuners works just as well. I don't have locking tuners on any of my guitars, and the ones with regular 6-screw floating bridges stay in tune as well as the hardtails. Watch the video in the pane numbered "5" in the link below.

https://snapguide.com/guides/properly-l ... r-strings/

I use locking tuners on all of my tremolo guitars.

My question is how important it is to have the strings going straight to the tuners. My question revolves more around the idea of reducing friction at the nut and what my tolerance for straightness should be concerning the string paths.


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"I'm not going to say that perfection has never been achieved. However, if it has, it probably went unnoticed due to it's lack of character."

There have plenty guitars w 3/3 heads that have had tremolos as well as 6 in-line.
It stands to reason if there were major issues with the 3/3 resulting with too much angle then they wouldn't be selling.
Style in which the tremolos are used is a major factor in the different setups IMO.

Since your question revolves more around the idea of reducing friction at the nut then it stands to reason that the straighter the better.
( especially if the playing style is like Vai or Satch)
Less pressure on contact areas - less friction.
If not straight? Then nut slot cutting becomes even more of an issue.

That's my take on it FWIW.