String tree good or bad?

Wondering if staggered tuning posts in the headstock, eliminating the need for a string tree, really make a difference. Supposedly a string tree inhibits the tone and sustain of the high strings. That is why Eric Johnson has staggered tuners on his strat. Any truth to this?

One less friction point. Makes it easyer to play behind the nut. One less hole to drill.

Wondering if staggered tuning posts in the headstock, eliminating the need for a string tree, really make a difference. Supposedly a string tree inhibits the tone and sustain of the high strings. That is why Eric Johnson has staggered tuners on his strat. Any truth to this?


The strings are breaking over the nut first... I would think the sustain is affected more there. Let's see the research study...:-). Physics majors???
Eric can also here the difference in battery composition if I recall...

I have one guitar with staggered tuning posts. Can't remember which one... which tells you right there, how dramatic the tonal difference is!

The strings are breaking over the nut first... I would think the sustain is affected more there. Let's see the research study...:-). Physics majors???
Eric can also here the difference in battery composition if I recall...

It's very easy to hear tone differences in some pedals (esp. OD and distortion FX) as a result of battery voltage. IIRC correctly, the battery composition thing has more to do w/ the discharge rate of different types of battery. The cells he uses stay at the voltage which produces the tone he likes for the longest amount of time.

I still think the guy is a bit "touched" in the head and certainly over-obsessive, but a few of the famous "he thinks he can hear..." stories about him are actually based in surprisingly logical concerns.

He has his tech put the pickguard screws in the same order every time, which I unequivocally do not believe can be heard by him or anyone else....but the screw holes are less likely to wear and strip which would then require repair to the body wood, which has a small potential to alter tone, and a large potential to alter $ value :)

Re: the actual topic....
regardless of any tonal/sustain effect, it can be better to use staggered tuners on a Strat because the string trees are a common point of "binding" when using the whammy bar. On a fixed bridge guitar that's a minimal concern.

Another factor here is that the mass of the tuners can have very noticeable effect on sustain and tone. Almost any set of locking staggered tuners is going to have a good deal more mass than than vintage kluson-style tuners. That can have a "hear-able" effect, whether it's better or worse is up to you of course.

Ive installed three sets of staggered tuners. Two of those guitar still needed a string tree.

Eric can also here the difference in battery composition if I recall...

LOL!!! I think that sentence sums up a lot of the discussions re: "tone" on these boards.

Although, in all seriousness, I too am often curious as to what good my stringtree is doing.

I built a partscaster with a tele headstock and Spertzel staggered tuners. Meant to install a string tree, but never did. It stays in tune, sounds good. I don't play hard enough to worry about the strings popping out of the nut, so I never had a problem. If Eric can play without one, I guess it's not an issue. As far as sustain goes, it seems to be the same (at least) as my other guitars.

I've always used staggered tuners, and have not used string trees in years - I don't think it makes any tone difference (on the battery thing though... after making a lot of my own effects - especially a lot of fuzzfaces and old-school fuzzes in general - I've tried a lot of different batteries and there is a difference in batteries if they are super cheap/Chinese and average copper-top kind of battery - that is true): I just don't like he way string trees look and staggered tuners do a wonderful job for me.

With the added break angle using staggered tuners, staying in tune is mostly about lubricating the nut, and the string will stay in the nut if the nut has enough to keep it in.

Can't stand the fugly things and their dinky little screws :roll:. Staggered locking Spertzels, accept no substitutes :grin:

What staggered tuners are you guys using?

All aspects of possible differences in tone aside, IMO string trees adversely affect tuning stability and I try to avoid them at all cost. I really cannot see the point of them.

What staggered tuners are you guys using?
I love Spertzels, I have a set of the Fender staggered tuners that Ping makes - those are quite nice too - I would buy them again, but Spertzel is the best IMO.

The break angle over a Fender nut is rather shallow. If the string is not in full contact with the bottom of the slot, over its entire length, then you can get a strange mosquito whine from the headstock string "singing" against the but slot. A tree can prevent this. But a bad nut can whine even with a string tree. I've had this happen on both my Baja06 and AmSer07 whilst learning to cut nuts properly - the seat has to be curved and opened into a Vee.

If you want to go without a string tree then you need a very, very good nut, and lowered tuner posts (staggered type) at the top end. The staggered Spertzels (e.g. AmSer) cannot do this on their own.

Also consider that the lighter the tuners the better resonance of the headstock, hence Pings good, locking tuners bad.

A friend of mine plays for Bruce Welch of shadows fame replacing Hank Marvin.
He was having a problem with string tree and would not change it due to the amount of guys (anoraks/trainspotter types:lol:) who insist on everything being totally original etc. So what I did was take the tree off, turn it upside down and fill slots with mixture of grahite dust and glue. I then cut a string slot into the mix turned it rightway up and fitted it back on.
The string tree looks identical to what it was before yet string only connects with Graphite slot and moves freely. :cool: