The Allure of the Headstock

thegummy

That's the same with me which is quite weird.

When I was buying a Les Paul I fell for the hype that no other brand would sound like a Gibson LP.  Now I own one as well as a copy, I know it's not true. But I'd never actually cared about the logo, purely wanted the sound.

Yet with Fender guitars, I'm happy to believe higher end Squiers and other copies are just as good as fender yet for some reason I just want fender.

To be honest, I'm against Squier more than for fender. If Schecter, for example, came out with a strat I'd have considered it. It's not that I genuinely believe Squier to be bad, it's at the deep level. I suspect it's that when I was young I had a Squier which was bad and desired a fender and all those years affected my gut feeling. Whereas I was never in to Gibson as a kid.

I wish I could feel as happy right now as the 11 year old me would have felt owning an American Strat!

barnstorm

Ta-da!

http://www.schecterguitars.com/guitars/artist-models/nick-johnston-traditional-2017-01-04-detail 

Flatter board than I like, but otherwise it's a great guitar, and I can live with the headstock shape.

TINMAN82

I’d like to be as measured as some of you are, but for me a Strat should say Fender and a LP should say Gibson. It’s partly a mojo thing because I’ve grown up watching my hero’s play these guitars. Partly as I’m conditioned to think they’re versions still look the best (and in Gibson’s case play and sound the best). Also probably a bit to do with honouring the original designer and company. I have an irrational dislike of Chapman guitars and what they represent. To me, they are rip offs of classic designs and “designed” by a guy who is not a luthier or builder by any stretch.

TTBZ

All I ask is that its not a fugly shape! I like how Epiphone guitars play and feel but like a lot of others I just don't really like the headstock shape compared to a Gibson. I know it's shallow.

SteveF

I like to think I don't care about the name.  In some ways, I don't.  I am quite happy to own and play guitars that are by neither Fender or Gibson, even if they are copies (e.g. Tokai).  That said, I do still like a nice Fender or Gibson guitar.  It still has the special something.  I'd even go further and suggest that I don't see Mex Fenders as 'proper' Fenders (even though I own 2 lovely ones) and don't get that same special feeling I get when playing my Gibson.  I suspect it may come with a US Fender, or perhaps only with a CS. 

But yeah, I can live with another name on the headstock as long as I like the shape and the guitar plays well. 

gringopig

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meltedbuzzbox

gringopig said:

I'm a sucker for a guitar that sounds good acoustically. I had an interesting chat with someone in a local guitar shop who has been in the industry for a long time and his opinion was that people  come in and buy not the guitar but an expectation of an experience; a possibility of obtaining some of the 'magic' of their favourite players.
Hence, the old folks buy the Gibson Les Paul models because of Paul Kossof/Jimmy Page/Duane Allman et al and custom shop Stratocasters to try to live the Rory Gallagher dream and so on...

I can see this and understand it but it's a horrible error. Buy with your ears open and buy a guitar based on how it feels and sounds not some imagined expectation which surely will be illusive.

For full disclosure purposes, I have 2 custom shop Les Pauls, a custom shop Strat and a Telecaster.

My Suhr Alt T pro and Fano JM6 sound just as good though. Not one of them sounds alike,

What about the jags?

gringopig

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RMJ

Yep. I've owned various strat variants and wasn't happy until I had a Fender one. Likewise Les Pauls...had to have Gibson on it.

Irrational.

grappagreen

Ironically I do care about the brands I buy (and what they represent) but I’m definitely not hung up on it being the brand synonymous with the style.

My favourite S type guitars don’t have an F on the headstock and that’s because a) I believe brand F is over priced and b) I don’t think they are as good as some of the competition.

I really don’t mind that they look similar and can be viewed as ‘copies’, I just care that they sound and play at the highest level.

Schnozz

If it's the same construction and of equal or better quality and the headstock is not daft shape, then I'll buy the most cost-effective option.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I played a Tokai that was better than my Fender at half the price and the only difference was poly vs nitro, which I don't care about.

Strat54

I often wonder how the guitar market would look now had the big F not stopped the likes of Suhr, Anderson, Schecter etc from using their headstock shapes for their S & T-type guitars. I have to say for me personally I'd have had more of these had they not had those dreadful headstocks (and that Suhr logo too)

terada

Well, I'd like to say that it doesn't matter to me, but I pretty much just own Gibson, fender and martin instruments, so I guess it does.

In part it is because as a kid I spent many hours staring up at guitars made by the big names that my heroes played but I could in no way afford.

The other part is that I'm obsessed with design. To me the design language of the big names is iconic for its time. When I see copies they remind me of copy versions of anglepoise lamps. The design language just doesn't sit right.

I'd far prefer other brands would come up with something completely new, I could really get behind that.

skullfunkerry

gringopig said:

My Suhr Alt T pro and Fano JM6 sound just as good though. Not one of them sounds alike,

Something where I think I differ from a lot of the people on here; I play with a lot of gain, pretty much just one kind of music... I don't really have different guitars for different sounds, so that's a lot less important to me. It's pretty much down to how it plays & how it looks for me 

Creed_Clicks

I had a Charvel with a pointy headstock I grew to hate. I'm not that worried about the name on a headstock though.

jrc2806

I always say the name on the headstock would not worry me but then would walk out of the shop with a Fender/Gibson etc. Only exception for a Strat type guitar for me would be a Suhr - still can’t bring myself to feel the same about the PRS Silver Sky though......

skullfunkerry

jrc2806 said:

I always say the name on the headstock would not worry me but then would walk out of the shop with a Fender/Gibson etc. Only exception for a Strat type guitar for me would be a Suhr - still can’t bring myself to feel the same about the PRS Silver Sky though......

Is that because S-type guitars just look wrong with 3-a-side headstocks?

(they totally do: Strats need 6-in-line headstocks, always)

chris78

I’ve sold great guitars that weren’t the real deal. I’ve even put together great partscasters with musikraft necks that have the right shape, added a fender decal and sold them as I know they’re not the real thing. A particular broadcaster clone was a stupidly good guitar, much better than my cs nocaster and it went for that reason. 
It shouldn’t matter but it does. 

My only exception currently is my Maybach Lester. It’s the best les Paul style I’ve played. I still want a “real” one, even though I’ve had 2 before, but I doubt the Maybach will go even if I do get a Gibson

jrc2806

skullfunkerry said:

jrc2806 said:

I always say the name on the headstock would not worry me but then would walk out of the shop with a Fender/Gibson etc. Only exception for a Strat type guitar for me would be a Suhr - still can’t bring myself to feel the same about the PRS Silver Sky though......

Is that because S-type guitars just look wrong with 3-a-side headstocks?

(they totally do: Strats need 6-in-line headstocks, always)

Exactly that - oh and the birds on the fingerboard.....

Jez6345789

I am totally unfussed by headstock or at least names on headstocks.
For Strat things I love the Valley Arts variant but can’t really warm to the Surhr bird beak. Same the headstock on my old Washburn HB looks nothing like a gibson other than the three aside tuners. But as good as they probably are I can’t stand the Heritage on a gibson style guitar. The Washburn is a great semi and really as much as I have a gibson sitting here the Washburn is a better thing for me. Yeah it’s used as a pickup platform when I want to mess around but it plays lovely and sounds as good as the real thing.

As for the future it may not go the same ways as it did for us. I am old enough to covert the old gibson and Fenders. But do you see the generation after me searching out all the Vai and Satch stuff or much of that market era, yeah few people going after Charvrl and stuff but don’t see anyone paying 6 figures for an 80’s Super Strat but time will tell