slotted headstock or none

slotted headstock or regular

  • slotted head stock

    Votes: 42 66.7%
  • regular

    Votes: 21 33.3%

  • Total voters
    63

tangimango

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Ive noticed mostly most professional ukulele players have a slotted headstock, and also most high model customs have a slotted in them.

I like how the tuner knobs are facing back and not sticking out like mickey mouse ears on non slotted headstock.

If you had a choice would you want a slotted head stock on your ukulele?
 
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I have two standard head ukes and one slotted. From the time I start playing until I put the uke down, the design of the headstock is not relevant. When I glance over at the three ukes sitting on their floor stands, my eyes are drawn to the slotted headstock.

For all the qualities and benefits that you might read here in subsequent posts, my take is that the only significant distinction between either approach is esthetic. I like the look of a well executed slotted headstock. OTOH, I have seen some slot heads that reflected poor attention to detail. Slotted heads don't allow much leeway on construction quality. A poorly made one looks really tacky.
 
Pro:
Tuners all turn the same way.
Tuners are way easier to reach.

Con:
They are a pain to restring.
 
All other things being equal, I think a slotted headstock looks really neat. But I'd never trade sound quality for one.
 
I have both and find no difference between them, at least that I can discern. I've seen beautifully crafted designs with intricate layering and purfling.
 
Pro:
Tuners all turn the same way.
Tuners are way easier to reach.

Con:
They are a pain to restring.

:agree: Exactly THIS^.

Slotted headstock is a PITA with a string winder if you want to lay the uke flat on it's back to restring, but the ones that have the peg to the side are much easier in this position. (I do lots of changing and testing of all different kinds of strings).

All other things being equal, I think a slotted headstock looks really neat. But I'd never trade sound quality for one.

:agree: with this too. On the right uke, it looks nice, on others, not so much to my eye. Sound, playability, proper tuner function and intonation of an instrument are far more important to me than visuals.

My Fluke and Flea ukes have a sort of slotted headstock, but they come no other way. Other ukes are with a solid headstock. No worries either way in playability or sound to me.
 
I think a uke with NO head-stock would be difficult to tune, but maybe I'm over thinking it
;)

I think the slotted headstock is SLIGHTY easier to re-string, with the disadvantage, on my kala at least, of being thicker, so harder to fit-up the Snark. Other than that, it's your uke, so get what makes you happy.
 
Just my two cents worth, I think that the slotted ones look chunky and heavy.
 
A slotted headstock is a little heavier. They are a little harder to restring. But they can look nice. It depends on the design and the execution. To me its a toss up.
 
For concert or soprano, I'd gravitate toward an unslotted headstock, where the balance might be more of an issue and the slotted headstock might appear too "cluttered".

I agree with that. For the bigger ukes, I don't see one type of headstock or the other as being necessarily better, so I didn't vote.
 
You need a third option in the poll: indifferent.

I've had both and doesn't really matter to me. If I was getting a custom with inlay, a solid headstock gives more design area. On some ukes, I think solid looks better, on some others, I think slotted looks better.
 
Not a fan myself. They look a little pretentious to me. Like a wanna be classical guitar or something. More difficult to restring. I'm a fuddy duddy traditionalist.
 
A slotted headstock is a little heavier. They are a little harder to restring. But they can look nice. It depends on the design and the execution. To me its a toss up.

This is what I was going to post, exactly. I am not quite used the the slot head restringing. I have restrung guitars and my other uke many times, but the Pono with the slot head took me a long time to get right the first time.
 
I voted "none" because none of my ukes have slotted headstocks. I really don't care that much for them, I had one, and it was poorly executed, so I'm soured. They look too clunky on a concert size uke, to me. Although, if I came across the right uke, it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me.
I don't understand though, how could the extra weight affect sustain? Can someone please explain?
 
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