Anyone know where the Fender headstock design came from?

[SPudnik]

I beleive I know, but I'll let it simmer a while...

BTW, this very topic got zapped in less than an hour in another forum.

(edit: Thanks Jay, for the move.)

[nealescott]

was it this....??

[Orang Goreng]

Isn't it essentially a violin-style scroll headstock viewed from the side? There's some old variants here.

(deep-linking from that site:)



I'm pretty sure uncle Leo nicked the Bigsby design though, yeah.

[dc]

that's a great question, guys, i'd never thought about that before. good answers too.

now here's food for thought: what if back in the day, Leo had had a totally different design aesthetic, and given us a headstock shaped like, mmm, a BC Rich? would history have happened in reverse: metalheads caressing supple, Jazzmaster-like curves, and we off-setters trying not to impale ourselves?

(shudders at thought)

[fullerplast]

I've always heard the theory that it came from the Merle Travis Bigsby guitar (as nealescott said), but that theory is always qualified with a statement such as 'though no one knows for sure'.

Although it's speculation, I personally feel that it's very likely, as that design pre-dates the first Fender that used it.

[sookwinder]

and if you look at Leo's first design (the broadcaster) it is a very subdued version of the bigby headstock. The 6 inline tuners are there , but the shape is , shall we say, conservative.

The strat was next and it  takes on a bit more shape.  Then the JM and finally with the Jaguar we have almost the bigsby headstock

[mezcalhead]

Then CBS appear and all of a sudden the headstocks bloat up like Elvis did around the same time.

[fullerplast]

The pine-bodied proto Tele from the late 40s actually had a 3x3 headstock!

Lol @ mecalhead... 

[Stereordinary]

that's a great question, guys, i'd never thought about that before. good answers too.

now here's food for thought: what if back in the day, Leo had had a totally different design aesthetic, and given us a headstock shaped like, mmm, a BC Rich? would history have happened in reverse: metalheads caressing supple, Jazzmaster-like curves, and we off-setters trying not to impale ourselves?

(shudders at thought)

[pullover]

that's a great question, guys, i'd never thought about that before. good answers too.

now here's food for thought: what if back in the day, Leo had had a totally different design aesthetic, and given us a headstock shaped like, mmm, a BC Rich? would history have happened in reverse: metalheads caressing supple, Jazzmaster-like curves, and we off-setters trying not to impale ourselves?

(shudders at thought)

You mean this could have been an offset?

[i love sharin foo]

You mean this could have been an offset?

[SPudnik]

OK

Leo may have ripped it off from Bigsby but...

The "original" design came from old furniture!
Yes, it's true.

My parents had a rocking chair built in the 1800s, and the back edges were that very design - more like a Tele...

I doubt if it is coincidence as it was used a lot, and given Leo's & Bigsby's ages, he [they?] was [were] bound to have seen it.
Of course YMMV... Sorry, no pics.

[idiotbear]

Then CBS appear and all of a sudden the headstocks bloat up like Elvis did around the same time.

Man, but I love 70s Fender headstocks. The huge headstock was one of the reasons I fell in love with Jaguars in the first place.

[enormous]

Then CBS appear and all of a sudden the headstocks bloat up like Elvis did around the same time.

Man, but I love 70s Fender headstocks. The huge headstock was one of the reasons I fell in love with Jaguars in the first place.

Same here, a Jazzmaster headstock is as small as I am willing to go on a Fender.  Stratocasters just don't look right until they get a big headstock.

[SPudnik]

More mass in a headstock supposedly adds sustain and reduces dead spots.
The experts, (physics folks) claim that this makes more difference than adding a heavy bridge, hence the use of Fatfingers, etc.

As an experiment I tried attaching a large metal clamp to the Bass VI's headsock - made a noticeable difference... + Serious neck-dive.