Tele string trees; One or two?!?!

[TeleCarlos]

So... what is the common or consensus on how many string trees does a Tele need or should have?

My main guitar has been a Strat and it has two string trees, which I changed to the Graph Tech ones, for no particular reason other than it sounded like they are better than the originals. Good marketing and copywriting I guess!

My Hwy One Tele came with just one string tree. It bothers me to see the D and G string with so little angle at the nut! Am I nuts?!??! Sure, a bit. I even think it may affect their sound a bit.

Has anyone ever added another string tree to their Tele? Is it common? What is the consensus on when is that string tree needed? Heck, what do they even do?!?!? Inner ramblings of the psyche.

Please share your thoughts! I am open to suggestions and to changing my mind. Or maybe I need a bit of a talking into doing the right thing and put that dang extra string tree in the darn geetar!

 

[shallbe]

I have never needed more than one on a Tele, and I prefer the round type.

 

[Hey_you]

 

[Hpilotman]

Most Strats and Teles use 1 string tree and both of my have one with no issues. The 52 reissue uses 1 round tree.

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=52...5949/62f7be04-0d3a-40b5-a0ab-eadf18441be1.jpg

 

[OmegaWoods]

One round.

 

[That Cal Webway]

Best picture of get the one that holds the E, B and G string down.

Joe glazer sales to finish looking one, Reverence guitars sells really nice more meaty smooth chrome ones


Stewart Mac sells the vintage f looking one, but they're too much money overall

 

[Killing Floor]

There’s no rule. As long as intonation is ok don’t sweat it unless you want. I like the old round ones for looks.

 

[Boreas]

Some people do fine without any - especially if you use staggered tuners. Also can depend on how your nut is cut.

 

[fleezinator]

I've got one TUSQ XL for decreased friction

 

[Racer5]

I prefer 2, if mine doesn't come with 2 I usually add a second one on.

if I'm adding them myself, graphtec/tusq

 

[LutherBurger]

All three of mine have two trees. The second one prevents the G from ringing between the tuner and the nut.

 

[lammie200]

I wouldn't leave a hole in a headstock if it had a string tree but all of my partscasters have staggered tuners so no string trees are necessary.

 

[rze99]

I can’t bear the look of two. I know it’s pedantic but that’s the way it is.

But some really need two to stop the behind the nut G ringing. I use a tiny bit of sellotape pushed up against the tuner post and that shuts it up.

 

[TeleCarlos]

I prefer 2, if mine doesn't come with 2 I usually add a second one on.

if I'm adding them myself, graphtec/tusq

Thank you sir for your input! I guess I'll be adding another tree soon, the graph tech kind, like the ones on my Strat. It's the natural order of how things should be!

 

[WingedWords]

The late Tom Wheeler's 1961 Tele had 3 at one time in its life.

 

[Asmith]

Depends lots of teles have 1 and are fine, on the other hand my Tele needs something to keep the g string in check. For the time being there some extra winds in the g tuner to increase the break angle but it's not ideal. I'm going to get a triple string tree at some point like someone posted on this thread.

 

[fender4life]

I LIKE having little angle at the nut after a time where i had switch tuners and found the tele got very notably brighter. I couldn't figure out why till i realized the new tuners had considerably shorter posts causing more break angle and i switched back and the tone returned to normal. Makes sense now because same thing happens at the bridge. And i know what you will say, but fretting a note does not IMO take the nut or anything back there out of the equation. In any case, now i like less angle and in fact on the tele where i have goto HAP (height adjustable posts) locking tuners i adjusted them up high as they'd go and that tele dropped a bit of top too. Not as much as that first time i heard this but I now consider break angle at the head when assessing a fender's tone.

 

[G.Rotten]

So... what is the common or consensus on how many string trees does a Tele need or should have?

My main guitar has been a Strat and it has two string trees, which I changed to the Graph Tech ones, for no particular reason other than it sounded like they are better than the originals. Good marketing and copywriting I guess!

My Hwy One Tele came with just one string tree. It bothers me to see the D and G string with so little angle at the nut! Am I nuts?!??! Sure, a bit. I even think it may affect their sound a bit.

Has anyone ever added another string tree to their Tele? Is it common? What is the consensus on when is that string tree needed? Heck, what do they even do?!?!? Inner ramblings of the psyche.

Please share your thoughts! I am open to suggestions and to changing my mind. Or maybe I need a bit of a talking into doing the right thing and put that dang extra string tree in the darn geetar!

One is good. None of my Fender Telecasters have two. Some of my Stratocasters have two but I find they actually can cause tuning issues and often run the strings over them rather than use them. Lately I've been using Staggered tuners and no string trees at all.

 

[UPtele]

I got none on 3 of my partscasters. Don't need them

 

[Roger66]

So... what is the common or consensus on how many string trees does a Tele need or should have?

My main guitar has been a Strat and it has two string trees, which I changed to the Graph Tech ones, for no particular reason other than it sounded like they are better than the originals. Good marketing and copywriting I guess!

My Hwy One Tele came with just one string tree. It bothers me to see the D and G string with so little angle at the nut! Am I nuts?!??! Sure, a bit. I even think it may affect their sound a bit.

Has anyone ever added another string tree to their Tele? Is it common? What is the consensus on when is that string tree needed? Heck, what do they even do?!?!? Inner ramblings of the psyche.

Please share your thoughts! I am open to suggestions and to changing my mind. Or maybe I need a bit of a talking into doing the right thing and put that dang extra string tree in the darn geetar!

Hi. My old tele has 1 round one.My newer one has 2 rectangular ones. I would use as many as it needs not to buzz or have the string pop off. I would say to use the fewest possible because they can bind there.
If it works, don't fix it is really appropriate in this situation. I would love to not have any string trees at all because they DO bind sometimes. The last thing you want is to drill a hole for one and then find out that it binds. The angle is great the way it is if you have noticed any problems. That way one can bend the G behind the nut for solos like the one on Heartbreaker (?) By Led Zeppelin. You know the one that sounds like popcorn. Way easy access to behind the nut string bends. Also on Running with the Devil, the first guitar notes, I think, are a strum behind the nut. That little squeak thing right before the guitar comes in. Also on my old tele, the chord it makes when strummed behind the nut is a really crazy G 'chord' and you can use it as a neat little sound which resembles crazy feedback when strummed really fast. It does come through the pickups very nicely. As I said, you can bend the G or D string there and during a chord, you can get a 'G bender' sound. I find it very useful to bend the G string there, for things like turning a barred E minor chord, say on the fifth fret, subtly 'sneaking' an A minor into an A major chord. Or use it to suspend the 3rd on any barred E major chord. Sometimes I want to bend the G string up, which is abundant in leads, but you cant bend an open G unless you bend it behind the nut. If the angle 'bothers' you, you can use a few more windings on the tuning peg, spiraling down, pulling the string lower on the tuning peg shaft. That would work much better on the D string because it's fatter. If you use a WOUND G string, you definitely dont want a string tree there because of possible binding/tuning issues.
In other words, you are crazy for that to bother you, lol. (In a good way) and the benefits of having no string tree there FAR outweigh the reasons to have one on the D and G strings. You should try some behind the nut string bending and figure out what 'chord' the strumming behind the nut and use it sometimes. I hope I caught you before you drilled the hole. And feel lucky that THAT issue bothers you. Some people have much worse problems occupying their attention, lol.
Don't do it! That will completely destroy the resale value of your tele! (kidding) If you do, the poor next guy who owns it might never know that it DIDN'T need one, robbing them of many cool sonic possibilities. Now your assignment (challenge) is to learn that Jimmy Page lead and use the behind the nut string bending technique! I will be expecting a video of you doing that in a week. Tab is available, and there is a great video of a nice pretty lady nailing that lead with that technique, and I think She is using a blue tele, I think. Now can anyone help us out with the name of that song? You know, with the Jimmy Page solo that sounds like popcorn popping after it starts using hammer on and pull offs on the G string at fret 5, 2 and open and starts climbing and using behind the nut G string bending before the 'popcorn' part? It IS in A.
I think that that will be the best hole you never drilled in your life!
Good luck. Test next Monday! It's easier than you think. Don't be intimidated by it. Good luck!