Strat Headstocks

[gardo]

Large or small which do you prefer

 

https://fender.com/articles/tech-talk/how-the-strat-came-to-have-two-heads?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01-29-17&utm_term=Weekly-Content&ajs_uid

 

 

[DeepEnd]

Large. It just looks right. More curvy. I like my women that way too.

[gardo]

you forgot to vote

[gardo]

The large may have more sustain due to increased mass but the small just looks right. Of course mine has the small so that's what I'm accustomed to seeing

[DeepEnd]

Actually, I did vote. I guess it didn't take? Anyway, I just voted again.

[t_e_l_e]

i like the look of the large one much better, its just the look, and thats why i have two of them

[Grant Harding]

I have a big head, so the 70's looks more balanced.

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

Should be 70s large, 60s small, early 50s small.

 

Regardless I love em all, but the 50s small is my favourite, and the 70s should have the bullet truss rod adjuster....and of course we can't forget the 60 large headstock with heel adjust

 

 

 

 

[t_e_l_e]

Should be 70s large, 60s small, early 50s small.

 

Regardless I love em all, but the 50s small is my favourite, and the 70s should have the bullet truss rod adjuster....and of course we can't forget the 60 large headstock with heel adjust

 

 

 

 

i stand corrected, for me it is the late 60s large headstock with heel trusrod adjustement. i do not like the bullet on the strat, and that means also 4 screw neck mounting.

 

the question is really more diverse than only asking large vs small

and don't start discussing neck profiles and fret board radius.....

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

But the 70s bullet truss rod adjuster had the lovely F stamped tuners too

 

[WRGKMC]

When you consider a Tele neck is nearly identical except for the heel shape and headstock size, The size of the headstock does seem to affect the tone. Of course the fret board and wood quality does too. You can definitely hear a difference between an excellent piece of curly maple and most cheap white maple necks lacquered darker to look like better maple

 

I recently changed the neck on my 84 Strat with one of the large headstock. I didn't think it would make as big a difference as it did. They both had maple fret boards and there wasn't a big difference in the neck shape but there was a big enough difference to realize it wasn't the same guitar.

 

I've done dozens of builds using various Strat and Tele necks too. I've long concluded the necks are responsible for 50% of the string tone which makes sense because its connected to one end of the string.

 

My vote would be wood and build quality over headstock size. I don't care how it looks so long as the neck fits my hand and the wood sounds great,

[onelife]

I spent a couple of years looking at the picture of 'brownie' on the back of the Layla album then bought a brand new strat in 1974.

 

I yearned for a small headstock but played 70s strats for the most part until Fender started making strats in Japan in the early 80s.

[onelife]

These pictures fueled my youthful strat lust

 

 

[thatsbunk]

I spent a couple of years looking at the picture of 'brownie' on the back of the Layla album then bought a brand new strat in 1974.

 

 

Same artist for me but different album cover with blackie;

 

I always thought that guitar was the tits (although I didn't get my first strat until the early 2000's- small headstock of course)

[Ancient Mariner]

Small headstock generally, but I'd really like a 70s paisley strat with the big headstock (pref MIJ too).

[DonK]

Small, but only because the large ones immediately identify the guitar as late 60's/early 70's. I actually started playing guitar in 1971, so my first couple Strats had the large headstock. Aesthetically, I don't really care much. The large one just seems anachronistic at this point, though.

[Phil O'Keefe]

I've always preferred the look of a smaller headstock on a Strat.

 

A Mustang OTOH looks funny with anything other than a large one.