Why I shape my headstocks by hand

The JTal Guitars headstock shape

Every guitar manufacturer, big and small, does something unique. For me, I knew early on that if I wanted to do something different, it would have to start with my own unique headstock.

The problem with that, of course, is that there were so many shapes already spoken for in effort to avoid the legal property of Fender and their Stratocaster shape. So I had to not only avoid the Strat design but everyone else’s design avoiding the Strat design. Easy, right?

In the beginning, the shape started off my drawing about 50 different ideas on paper. I hated all of them. Then I drew 50 more. Finally, I accidentally drew a line in a spot that ended up being interesting. I drew some more around it and I was getting closer to what I thought could work.

Then I had my friend Shawn Cox at NoMoonLaser help me do the headstock shaping. His work was phenomenal.

I was messing around with an orbital belt sander for another job and I accidentally hit a Strat headstock with the belt sander that was switched on. (The Strat headstock was for another build, for another client, but that’s another story). It ended up giving this curve to the lower part of the headstock. Pure accident.

Now, I had an idea to take the headstock shape to the next level.

I started with a paddle headstock and began to shape it with hand tools. The only machine I use for that work is a small Dremel and occasionally that orbital sander. There’s a general shape I’m going for, but each one comes out slightly different. I find that artistically satisfying.

If you put a few of my guitars next to each other, you’ll see those differences. Doing each headstock individually gives me some room to play with the shape.

Everybody else has a headstock that is the same, why not yours?

I think about it the same way I think about the finish of a guitar.

The wear and aging vary from guitar to guitar, and even the position of the logo can change a little. Basically, I simply decided to carry that approach over to the headstock.

I could have someone at a factory cut the shape on a CNC so every headstock matches. But I enjoy doing it myself. The person who ends up with the guitar gets something I’ve shaped by hand, with small differences that belong to their particular instrument.

With all the AI and automation around us, I think it’s pretty cool to be able to pick up a guitar and know someone did that work by hand. Even if we’re talking about one component, that means something to me.

One of my newest builds will also have a larger headstock with a similar shape. That one will get the same hand shaping, with its own variations.

“I don’t like your headstock shape”

That’s cool. I hope you find one you like.

“I don’t like that your headstocks aren’t all identical.”

That’s cool. I hope you find one you like.

“I’m the customer. If I tell you to change your headstock, you should change it. Otherwise, you’ve lost my business.”

That’s cool. I hope you find one you like.