Headstock design and string 'angle'

[SoloBill]

Hi all,
I did a quick look on resonator websites and I tried a search on here.

Is there a slotted headstock design that is wider than seems to be the norm so that the top and bottom E strings are not at such an angle across the nut? On a standard classical guitar the strings are much straighter when viewed head on, so I don't understand why the resonator headstocks are so narrow.

Is there a reason for this (perhaps to do with their construction)? Or does it not cause any problem in tuning or wear of the headstock by the strings as I am imagining?
TIA,
Bill

[tark]

Hi Bill,

To me this is a really interesting question because it seems musical instrument design evolves slowly over the years and the reasons behind design choices often aren't documented or are regarded as secret.

'Classical' nylon strung guitars have wide flat fretboards. The headstock is therefore wide to match the neck with parallel slots. This means on a slot headstock the strings are not constricted as they pass over the nut so the angles aren't too extreme.

On the slot head resonators and most of the early flatops it is as though the makers had decided on a narrower neck and then just tapered a wide slot head down to meet the neck. It's odd that none of them thought to taper the headstock the other way to minimise string angle over the nut. I suppose that if you use a reverse taper, the ends of the old style three on a plate tuning posts for the two inside strings get very close together and the central strip of wood also would get very thin at that point. In fact, thinking about it this is probably the answer, the headstock design was dictated by the tuner design available at the time. With the available tuners you could not design a headstock any other way because you could not get the tuners any closer together. The tuners for the two outside strings are probably the closest they can get. Even if you make a parallel sided headstock to suit a narrower neck the central wooden strip is thin and weak.

With a paddle style headstock and modern tuners this is not a problem and you can achieve a straight string path with a reverse taper head.