Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Bernstein
Interesting theory, but gears are still gears. I've never had good tuners that worked better on one part of the headstock. They just turn. Some players care about gear ratios, but again, all the gears in the set should work the same regardless of ratio.
That angle affects the sound, not the turnability. That's why Fender electrics have string trees holding down the two strings farthest from the headsrtock.
The problem is with the tuners, not the headstock. Get new ones.
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It's not about the string break angle but rather the post angle created by the taper of the headstock. The tuning machine posts are held in place via a bushing that has some play in it and then the nut on top which is tightened down on top of a washer. The post protrudes perpendicular from the back of the headstock where the tuning machines are mounted. The washer and nut then tighten down from the top slightly angled due to the tapered top and therefore the pressure might not be evenly distributed causing the post to bind in the bushing which makes for more difficult turning, especially on the lower strings.
I'll admit that these are just thoughts that have crept into my tiny pinhead mind with zero actually engineering knowledge to back it up. It just makes sense logically to me. In fact, I would think/hope that any guitar manufacturer would know about this stuff in advance and know that it's not an issue. I wonder if a tuning machine with a sealed bushing might work better/smoother. I might bore out the holes again after I do the headstock refinish this spring/summer and try some Gotoh 510's.
I'm also wondering, are there any other guitar headstocks out there that have a taper in them? I remember having a Bourgeois slope dread that had the same issue with binding/hard to turn tuners (Waverly). I reached out to Stewmac and they replaced the tuners (free of charge) and the new ones were just as bad as the ones they replaced which led me to believe the problem was with the guitar and not the tuners. But I can't remember if that headstock had a taper like the IRIS as it was long ago.