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Does a reverse headstock tighten up the low end?

#121
Bryan R. Tyler said:
What are you saying really works? If you mean attaching the string to a different string post, as we pointed out repeatedly in this thread, that is not adding any tension or tightness whatsoever; that's not a matter of conflicting opinions here either- it's actually scientifically proven.
Click to expand...
So I posted a similar question to the DB forum, thinking that the afterlength (between bridge and tailpiece) might be analogous to some extent with the nut-peg part, and there are some interesting comments coming there, in particular this one...
Arco; Afterlength; Dynamic Response; Tone/Attack and Intonation | TalkBass.com
Extending the length of the string beyond nut and saddle may not change the tension required to produce a given note, but it does change how the string responds to deformation, including pitch change for a given bend and force required to make a given deformation/bend. Given that fingering a note is deformation to some degree, changes to afterlengths (in which I include the bit from nut to peg) MUST have a knock-on effect on intonation (longer = less sharpening) and the effort required to press the string to the fingerboard, i.e. perceived stiffness.
 
#122
As covered in a link I posted earlier in the thread, it may be possible that the extra length would give an perceived looser feel, but it wouldn't be tighter as he was implying. And the degree to which this would exist, if at all, would be extremely minimal to the point of being non-existent in real world consideration. Particularly less so on an electric than a double due to smaller lengths post speaking lengths, string construction, and lighter attack used; the amount of string deformation is so little that once you pull on a string hard enough to be a consideration, you'd be pulling it out of tune.
 
#124
SteveCS said:
It is a consideration, which is why some basses (e.g. Stingray) have compensated nut.
Click to expand...

The adjustments a compensated nut makes exist without the factor of string deformation due to plucking/fretteing. It's a micro intonation adjustment and static, therefore no different than a standard nut in relation to the kinetic action of string deformation.

Even if it was not static and adjusted itself based on string movement, it still would not be of any consequence in real-world application; how much music have you heard that you would have loved if only it had micro adjusted to compensate for string deformation?
 
#125
Bryan R. Tyler said:
As covered in a link I posted earlier in the thread, it may be possible that the extra length would give an perceived looser feel, but it wouldn't be tighter as he was implying. And the degree to which this would exist, if at all, would be extremely minimal to the point of being non-existent in real world consideration. Particularly less so on an electric than a double due to smaller lengths post speaking lengths, string construction, and lighter attack used; the amount of string deformation is so little that once you pull on a string hard enough to be a consideration, you'd be pulling it out of tune.
Click to expand...

I think maybe you're talking past the point made by SteveCS:

SteveCS said:
So I posted a similar question to the DB forum, thinking that the afterlength (between bridge and tailpiece) might be analogous to some extent with the nut-peg part, and there are some interesting comments coming there, in particular this one...
Arco; Afterlength; Dynamic Response; Tone/Attack and Intonation | TalkBass.com
Extending the length of the string beyond nut and saddle may not change the tension required to produce a given note, but it does change how the string responds to deformation, including pitch change for a given bend and force required to make a given deformation/bend. Given that fingering a note is deformation to some degree, changes to afterlengths (in which I include the bit from nut to peg) MUST have a knock-on effect on intonation (longer = less sharpening) and the effort required to press the string to the fingerboard, i.e. perceived stiffness.
Click to expand...

So the string's pitch with a reverse headstock (or longer overall string length) will be somewhat less influenced by the same amount of string deformation than it would be with a standard headstock (or shorter overall string length). In other words, musically it may be perceived as "tighter" - or less prone to going sharp or flat when plucked. There is an effect on the string's dynamic performance with greater or lesser overall string length, as explained in several earlier posts. Semantics can get in the way of grasping the overall point ("It depends on what your definition of "is" is." ;)) so it may possibly be productive not to focus too ... tightly .. on the word "tighter", but more on the dynamics being described. The effect being discussed is quite noticeable on guitar, as I've said before, with a much shorter scale than a double bass, and so as we might imagine it is also noticeable on an electric bass. Consider that with tall frets one can easily hear and feel a string deformation just from the act of fretting, depending on how hard one presses (or even more so on a "scalloped" fingerboard) ... it doesn't take much at all to be noticeable.
 

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