The angle of the dangle.

Over the years I’ve gone back and forth between flat and angled headstocks. They each have their pros and cons, both from a building perspective, and as an end user. I’ll discuss a bit of those here, and share where I’ve landed after it all.

The flat headstock is synonymous with Fender style instruments. The headstock is on the same plane as the fingerboard, just set back a little bit to help with string angle over the nut. From a user perspective it’s rock solid, lessening fears that a tumble will bring tragedy (fears our Les Paul owning friends are familiar with) and is a fairly elegant construction method. It seems they work best in a 6-inline layout, probably just due to our conditioning - people are just used to seeing a 3x3 layout with an angled headstock.

When it comes to construction, they’re a breeze. It’s a slab of wood with a fingerboard and the appropriate setback. Done. Making a neck could be a one day affair if you’re keen.

The biggest con with this style of headstock is string angle over the nut. Because it’s different for every string, things can feel a bit un-even, and string trees are required to keep the angle steep enough on certain strings. It’s not an elegant solution, and without care can cause some tuning issues, but it’s one that has done the job for the last 70 years.

The angled headstock brings it’s own issues - drop it, and it’s more likely to break. Too steep an angle (I’m looking at you Gibson) and you’ve also got tuning problems from the strings snagging in the nut. They’re a bit harder to build too, especially if you want to make them strong. But there’s something elegant about the look - no need for string trees, no curved transition, just a flat surface that gently angles away, taking the strings with it.

Despite the added complexities of building this style, it’s the way I’m choosing to do it from here on in - for guitars at least, I’m still undecided what to do with basses.

The pros outweigh the cons, and the cons can be dealt with to some degree.

I’m going with an 8º angle - shallow, but not too shallow. That should help rigidity and overall strength.

I’m also laminating the neck from 3 pieces, with fine veneer between each. For starters, it looks swish. Classy AF, as the kids would say. But it has the added advantage of turning the flat sawn timber I use into quarter sawn, much better for stiffness.

I also plan to go a bit thinner with my headstocks - not much, but I’ve noticed a change in resonance from a thinner head. The faceplate will help reinforce this area, making it stiff and strong.

There’s a fair bit of added time and effort involved in building necks like this, but it’s all worth it in the end!