The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Could not find this on the web. Gibson used tapered headstocks on their guitars until about 1950 or so I read. My 1947 ES 300 has one. What exactly is its function? TIA.

    DB
    Last edited by DB's Jazz Guitar Blog; 11-09-2019 at 06:52 PM.

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  3. #2

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    there is none as far as I can tell, just cosmetic.
    they probably stopped as a cost cutting move.

  4. #3

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    Less weight at the end of the neck and a straighter string pull. Both can be useful.

  5. #4

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    Agree with wintermoon. I think it was mostly an aesthetics thing. Maybe the thin f-holes too. Personally, I like the look of both these features. I have four Gibson archtops from the 30s and they all have the tapered headstock. I also have a 1933 Kalamazoo K-11 and it too has a tapered headstock. It just looks right.

    BTW DB, you do come up with some interesting questions...

  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
    Less weight at the end of the neck and a straighter string pull. Both can be useful.
    Tapered refers to the thickness front to back on a headstock not the width. I think you're confusing the two. The string pull is straighter on a snakehead shaped headstock but not on a tapered.

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by wintermoon
    Tapered refers to the thickness front to back on a headstock not the width. I think you're confusing the two. The string pull is straighter on a snakehead shaped headstock but not on a tapered.
    Thanks. I did assume he was talking about width.

  8. #7

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    i've read that the taper was a result of the tools used..the sander...who's to say?..but, many of these things we now deliberate over and try to assign mystical meaning to, were often just a result of ease of manufacture!!!...

    like pickups!!! with the magic resistance numbers!! back then, they did it by wind count... a worker did that long enough, and the count would become an eyeballing..they knew when it looked right...they didnt have digital multimeters to check!! haha


    cheers

  9. #8

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    I have two acoustic archtop f-hole guitars from the thirties; a Kalamazoo and an unbranded instrument. The Kalamazoo has a pronounced taper, with the result that the (probable replacement) tuners vary in perceived height. Both have no trussrod. The no-name has consistent headstock thickness. Both have vee necks; the Kalamazoo qualifies as humongous.

    As to why?

    My PRS Custom 24s, on the other hand, are basically snakeheads with Paul's ingenious locking tuners, a straight string pull, and a flat refusal to go out of tune. An absolute delight to play.

  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by citizenk74
    I have two acoustic archtop f-hole guitars from the thirties; a Kalamazoo and an unbranded instrument. The Kalamazoo has a pronounced taper, with the result that the (probable replacement) tuners vary in perceived height. Both have no trussrod.

    yes, absolutely!..the tuners were uniform and the taper may have been a way to compensate for equal height..esp a holdover from the static 3 on a plate tuner days...


    also the trussrod, or lack there of, may have been an issue

    all valid theories! yes..but definitives will be hard to come by at this point..things change..fender put trussrod adjustment on bridge end of neck!!! and tuners on one side (ala bigsby)..gamechanger

    gibson still plays with taper and headstock angle


    cheers

    ps - gibby did same taper with their mandolins!

  11. #10

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    I don't think having a truss rod or not having a truss rod is a consideration relating to the tapered headstock. Examples of both are readily available. In my case, my Kalamazoo doesn't have a truss rod but my late-30's ES-150CC does. Both have tapered headstocks.

  12. #11

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    For what it's worth: my 1982 ES 335 DOT does have a tapered headstock......