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stopbar height?


jameswithesg

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I emailed Gibson cuxtomer service while back asking if there is a height in which it should be and this is the response.Not sure if it helps in your questions or not

 

 

The height of the stopbar tailpiece is personal preference. The lower the tailpiece, the more sustain—the higher, the less sustain. But if the angle is severe between the bridge and tailpiece, such that the strings actually touch the back of the bridge, then you are at risk for string breakage. Most techs recommend that the tailpiece sit up off the body a bit, but not too much. I hope this helps.

 

 

 

Best regards,

 

 

 

Vincent Wynne

 

Gibson customer service

 

service@gibson.com

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i dont raise my stopbar only because my friend did that to his firebird and the posts that hold the stopbar bent over (crushed the wood) at about a 25 degree angle

i fear this

so i top wrap so my strings dont touch the back of the TOM, and the stopbar can sit all the way down

 

it was such a shame, he had a tobaccoburst firebird=p~

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i dont raise my stopbar only because my friend did that to his firebird and the posts that hold the stopbar bent over (crushed the wood) at about a 25 degree angle

i fear this

so i top wrap so my strings dont touch the back of the TOM' date=' and the stopbar can sit all the way down

 

it was such a shame, he had a tobaccoburst firebird=p~ [/quote']

 

What's with this top wrapping? Wouldn't that scratch the chrome finish and also can't the strings slide side-to-side when wrapped this way? I know Zakk Wylde does this but A. He's a frickin' maniac and B. He can afford a new Les Paul every day.

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What's with this top wrapping? Wouldn't that scratch the chrome finish and also can't the strings slide side-to-side when wrapped this way? I know Zakk Wylde does this but A. He's a frickin' maniac and B. He can afford a new Les Paul every day.

 

I tried the top wrapping thing on my SG, but stopped this after a couple of weeks as the strings were eating into the chrome (it looked like acid corrosion- not massively noticeable from a distance granted). The damage occured at the point where they exit the rear of the stop bar and make contact with the top back edge of the stop bar. For what it's worth I did feel that the sustain was better with the tail piece screwed right down this way.

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I prefer the tail piece screwed right down and the strings wrapped around .

 

Some guitar greats have done this - on les pauls as well ( eg Joe Bonamassa being one ) and its recognised to give more sustain , better tone and less string breakage . It also looks quite cool ...

 

But having said that Dereck Trucks does nt and personally I dont think there is s any change in tone , but it does look good and I can see how it will reduce string breakage .

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What's with this top wrapping? Wouldn't that scratch the chrome finish and also can't the strings slide side-to-side when wrapped this way?

 

1) my guitar is a player's guitar,chrome gettin' eaten away is the least of my worries

2) no, unless you have no grooves in ur TOM

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  • 1 year later...

I only recently began to wonder about this, having always screwed the tailpiece down to the body (based on the truism regarding sustain). But I was restringing my Epiphone Les Paul Special and decided to try to set it up properly for once (it's my beater; I generally don't bother), and I noticed that even with the bridge screwed down as well (as I've always had it), the strings were in contact with the top of the holes where they exit the tailpiece. It occurred to me that it might be better if they didn't touch, but were more "free-floating" within those holes. So I raised the tailpiece enough to achieve that (about 1/4") and it completely changed the sound of the guitar. Frankly, I never thought it sounded very good before, but now it actually has some of that "Les Paul growl" that we all love. It's a whole new instrument.

 

However, as ninety1vee described, the inserts are pulling slightly out at the back, for obvious reasons (higher posts = more leverage). It doesn't concern me in the least, in this case; but if it was a more expensive instrument I'd think twice about raising the tailpiece. Then again, 1/4" is pretty high; I'd guess that 1/8" ought to be low enough to avoid this issue, so if one could achieve "free-floating" strings at that height then I'd recommend it. As far as sustain goes, I've noticed no loss of it -- if anything, it seems to have more now.

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I raised my stop bar a little bit so the 1st 2nd and 3rd strings wouldn't touch the top of the stop bar. That way they won't break at the stop bar. I'm not top wrapping this time, so i'm a little concerned about string breakage this time.

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