View Full Version : Snakehead origin?
Joe Robinson
Dec-08-2012, 10:33pm
Can't really say that a snake's head is the first thing that pops into my mind when I see one, but I get it. Just wondering if someone knows when that term first came into use. Was it a description used by Gibson in the day, or was it an aftermarket creation?
Thanks,
Joe
Jim Garber
Dec-09-2012, 11:08am
My guess would be that Gibson never used it in contemporary literature but that it came about much, much later when collectors first noticed the difference which may have been even as late as the 1980s. Pure conjecture... I would love to hear more documented facts.
Here is a 1923 Catalog N page showing the A2Z mandolin. The headstock is described only as a "tapering headpiece".
pfox14
Dec-09-2012, 12:50pm
The term "snake head" was never used by Gibson to describe any of the instruments that had that particular peghead shape in any catalog or piece literature I know of. My guess is also that it was a term invented by owners and collectors much later on.
Nor did they use the term "paddle head" I assume.
Jim Garber
Dec-09-2012, 7:35pm
Nor did they use the term "paddle head" I assume.
That would be like a retronym -- like acoustic guitar (after electrics became common).
brunello97
Dec-09-2012, 9:26pm
That would be like a retronym -- like acoustic guitar (after electrics became common).
Retronym. I had never heard that concept before, Jim. I like it. Kind of like "operable" windows in my business.
Mick
Jim Garber
Dec-09-2012, 11:05pm
List of retronyms (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_retronyms) -- for your entertainment.
pfox14
Dec-10-2012, 8:22am
Speaking of which, I wonder when the term "electric guitar" became synonymous with the LPs and Strats of today. Originally, Gibson referred to them as "electric Spanish" and "electric Hawaiian" for the two main styles of guitars. I would venture a guess that after the lap steel's popularity died down in the 50s, electric guitars became just that - all electric spanish-style. Sorry, this is a bit off-subject.
I also find it interesting that Gibson called the snake head a "tapering head piece" rather than headstock or peghead.
Nor did they use terms like
cannon
bark
sweet spot
tubby, and
Son!
:mandosmiley:
Joe Robinson
Dec-10-2012, 8:28am
Nor did they use the term "paddle head" I assume.
and no mistaking this for a paddle...
brunello97
Dec-10-2012, 8:53am
Nor did they use terms like
cannon
bark
sweet spot
tubby, and
Son!
:mandosmiley:
:)) Or at the pinnacle of my 'most loathed term' list: "Gibby".
Mick
Jim Garber
Dec-10-2012, 8:58am
:)) Or at the pinnacle of my 'most loathed term' list: "Gibby".
Hah, Mick: Great minds run in the same gutter... I always felt that way but never expressed it in these forums (is the proper plural fora?)
allenhopkins
Dec-10-2012, 12:25pm
...Gibson referred to them as "electric Spanish" and "electric Hawaiian" for the two main styles of guitars...
Believe the "ES" prefix as in Gibson's ES-335, stands for "Electric Spanish." I'm waiting for the Language of Gibson dictionary to come out, especially after long discussions as to whether the "F" in "F-5" stands for "Florentine" or not.
I used to compare Gibson's chaotic designation systems (if you can call them "systems") with Martin's fairly orderly methods: the prefix ("D") for the size/shape, the suffix ("18") for the materials/ornamentation -- mahogany vs. rosewood, how much mother-of-pearl inlay is used, etc.
Now I look at Martin's catalog and have no idea whatthehell is going on, the "XM model with the turbo-plastic fretboard" or whatever. Gettin' too old to adapt, time to leave the field to the more-mentally-agile.
John McCoy
Dec-10-2012, 4:30pm
My guess would be that Gibson never used it in contemporary literature but that it came about much, much later when collectors first noticed the difference which may have been even as late as the 1980s. Pure conjecture... I would love to hear more documented facts.....
Not really documentation, but I know that I first heard the words "Gibson" and "snakehead" in the same sentence in 1968 or '69. It was a one-off comment, and I have no idea how wide-spread the usage was at that time. But I seriously doubt that the person I heard it from (in high school) can claim to have coined the term.
pfox14
Dec-10-2012, 5:15pm
There is little rhyme or reason for Gibson's letter designations. F does not stand for "Florentine" any more than L (for guitars) stood for "little", which I've also heard. L for guitars; A and F for mandos; H for mandolas; K for mando-cellos: J for mando-basses and flat-top guitars. The letters are NOT short for anything, except....
ES does stand for "electric Spanish" and EH stood for "electric Hawaiian". Models like the EM-150 make sense as it stood for "electric mandolin" and sometimes Gibson would number instruments based on their price like the Super-400 costing $400; The J-55 was $55, etc.
Darryl Wolfe
Dec-11-2012, 10:42am
Not really documentation, but I know that I first heard the words "Gibson" and "snakehead" in the same sentence in 1968 or '69. It was a one-off comment, and I have no idea how wide-spread the usage was at that time. But I seriously doubt that the person I heard it from (in high school) can claim to have coined the term.
This is my same experience. The term snake was being used along with "Mocassin" on the 20's banjo's that tapered similarly. Some folks interchanged them too. I am not too sure when it originated, but I suspect it was in this Tut Taylor, Randy Wood, George Gruhn era that spawned the larger dealers we know now.
mandobassman
Dec-14-2012, 9:24pm
Can't really say that a snake's head is the first thing that pops into my mind when I see one...
I don't know, seems like a fairly accurate description to me.
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