Volutes!

[Woody Sound]

Check out this bad boy volute on my Richelieu plectrum. I think it's awesome. I don't know why many people are bothered by them.

[grahambop]

They don’t seem to bother violinists much.

[Eck]

Do I spot a Yamaha bad pre + power amp?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Marty Grass]

Some of the prejudice against the volute may be part of an overall dissatisfaction with the Norlin era.

The pitch angle of the headstock predisposes to fracture due to the wood grain architecture and thinness. Gibson experimented with the volute and found that it reduced breakage, presumably with their focus on factory shipping to dealers. Guitarists are often traditionalists and may not embrace change.

There are innumerable posts everywhere about whether volutes reduce breakage. Most of them are anecdotal and therefore unreliable.

There is no doubt that you can break a Fender headstock if you try. It's unusual. Gibson fractures are common. If a volute reduces the fractures in the initial shipping by 15%, that may work for Gibson but the average consumer could not detect that degree of protection. All they will know is that they have a bump on their neck.

Gibson must have had confidence in its value because it has been a mainstay on the Citation and the Kalamazoo Award.

The volute survived mostly.

[citizenk74]

I find them handy as thumb-rests in first position, and appreciate the extra mass at the headstock. I do have some dearly-loved guitars I could afford only because they were busted, so I'm kinda torn....

I'm in favor. All my Ibanezes have them, and some of my Gibsons, and I get along with all of them.

[Woody Sound]

Do I spot a Yamaha bad pre + power amp?

No, both are Adcom 555's.

[John A.]

I have a Seventy-Seven that has a volute. It doesn't bother me.

[Max405]

I dont have an issue with volutes.
In fact, the volutes I've seen on the Citation and the Unity are just down right elegant. It doesn't get in the way when I am playing. Not at all.
I remember looking at the Volute on the Unity that I picked up from Patricks house to ship to a buyer. I actually sat and stared at it for a while and thought, "this is the most beautiful feature I've ever seen on a guitar". I'm being serious.
IF the original purpose of a volute was to add strength and protection to the connection between the neck and the headstock of a guitar, than so be it. No complaints here.
Joe D

[vinnyv1k]

The only disadvantage I can see is no sexy stinger but nothing more sexy then a bound volute like a Citation, Unity, or Cameo.

I can say this, my Campellone's all have volutes and I rarely need to tune them.

[Crm114]

Volutes don’t phase me in the slightest
The only time I ever didn’t like a guitar with a volute was a 1980 Gibson ES 175 that was just fucking dead Guitar
The volutes on my Unitys are just the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen

BigMike

[deacon Mark]

Volutes never bothered me and they make sense. Actually the maker can adjust the thickness of the whole headstock to make the headstock beefier. Adding thickness behind without a volute can do the same thing. I noticed this on some guitars. A laminated overlay of rosewood on the back will also help not just a painted stinger.

[charleyrich99]

As long as it isn't poison tipped...

I just inventoried my guitars and I found I have a volute. I never noticed it before! It's on a Martin HD28. I guess I am fine with them.

[Gitfiddler]

IIRC all of Ibanez's Benson models have a volute.

Mark Campellone's models all have them. His incredible Cameo model has one of my favorite volutes...

[Jimmy Mack]

1981 Gibson L5 CES here - with volute. I don't even know it's there when playing, even in 1st position, my fingers and my brain are pre-occupied. And it IS a fine guitar.

[Cunamara]

I don't notice when a guitar has one and I don't notice when it doesn't, in terms of playing it. I wonder, though, if people who tend to use their thumb on the bass string might be more bothered by it than people who don't. And I suppose a badly shaped or badly placed volute might interfere with one's hand.

[vintagelove]

Only guitar players could hate a volute…

[Stringswinger]

I don't like the Gibson volute, (love the Martin volute however). I don't like Witchhat knobs either. And I hate the 1 9/16 nut, so Gibson guitars made between 1965 and 1981 require careful consideration for me.

[rpjazzguitar]

I've never been bothered by a volute while playing. The only time I think about them is when I see a guitar with the commonplace break right in that area. Then, I think about the protection of a volute in a thin neck.

[Litterick]

A neck is naked without one.