rwfelton Posted May 19, 2014 Posted May 19, 2014 what are peoples' opinions on wrapping your guitar strings around the stop bar on an sg? i just did it to my 61 reissue and i don't seem to like it. it seems like i lost some resonance and the the stop bar leans forward a little now....
EVOL! Posted May 19, 2014 Posted May 19, 2014 Before I started using Bigsbys, I would top wrap because I play a lot between the bridge and tail piece. One of the tricks to doing this is to screw your stop bar all the way down and work from there. You may need to raise it a little if your strings are not clearing the back edge of the bridge.
rwfelton Posted May 19, 2014 Author Posted May 19, 2014 Before I started using Bigsbys, I would top wrap because I play a lot between the bridge and tail piece. One of the tricks to doing this is to screw your stop bar all the way down and work from there. You may need to raise it a little if your strings are not clearing the back edge of the bridge. i also play pretty far back alot of times and my pinky will rest on the bridge adjustment nut. since i did the the wrap i can feel tons of vibration in the that nut through my pinky finger. it does seem like i lost a little of the sustain. and the stop bar seems to be leaning forward even screwed all the way down. i have some extra strings. i may just switch it back.
Jimi Mac Posted May 20, 2014 Posted May 20, 2014 This is an oft visited topic... It produces alot of varying and often conflicting experience and opinion too... A general response is it is a meaningless/moot thing to do. The differences are so minute (in general terms) as to be so vague that telling any difference is pretty much based on personal perception... So try it and if you like it then you like it if you don't you don't and if you can't tell the difference, that happens alot too... I did it on my Vintage (brand) Goldtop Les Paul w/soap-bars... (V100GT) I really couldn't tell much of any difference in sustain, but there were some dynamic factors there in my case because I undid a Peter Green mod to my Wilkinson W90 pickups at the same time and didn't have an apples to apples comparison before and after... My personal perception did however note a slinkier feel to the action. The bends seen smoother, more fluid, and easier... It seems even more comfortable to play than it was. There could also be some sustain dynamics that changed, but frankly I can't tell for sure... I suspect like with most options, some guitars react, some well others not so much and some not at all... I think each guitar is probably different responsively to such things and the best thing is simply to try it for oneself and see what you think of it and decide for yourself if it's right for you. I left the Vintage V100GT top-wrapped while I have not tried it on my Vintage V100PGM or either of my Gibson Les Pauls yet, nor am I really planning on it in the near future... I did also bury my stop-bar posts down as far as they would go; bottomed-out. This may or may not alleviate the forward pitch you noted. If you don't like it for yourself, then it may not be right for that particular guitar and you combination... Put simply, it's personal preference more than anything else, mostly...
rwfelton Posted May 20, 2014 Author Posted May 20, 2014 This is an oft visited topic... It produces alot of varying and often conflicting experience and opinion too... A general response is it is a meaningless/moot thing to do. The differences are so minute (in general terms) as to be so vague that telling any difference is pretty much based on personal perception... So try it and if you like it then you like it if you don't you don't and if you can't tell the difference, that happens alot too... I did it on my Vintage (brand) Goldtop Les Paul w/soap-bars... (V100GT) I really couldn't tell much of any difference in sustain, but there were some dynamic factors there in my case because I undid a Peter Green mod to my Wilkinson W90 pickups at the same time and didn't have an apples to apples comparison before and after... My personal perception did however note a slinkier feel to the action. The bends seen smoother, more fluid, and easier... It seems even more comfortable to play than it was. There could also be some sustain dynamics that changed, but frankly I can't tell for sure... I suspect like with most options, some guitars react, some well others not so much and some not at all... I think each guitar is probably different responsively to such things and the best thing is simply to try it for oneself and see what you think of it and decide for yourself if it's right for you. I left the Vintage V100GT top-wrapped while I have not tried it on my Vintage V100PGM or either of my Gibson Les Pauls yet, nor am I really planning on it in the near future... I did also bury my stop-bar posts down as far as they would go; bottomed-out. This may or may not alleviate the forward pitch you noted. If you don't like it for yourself, then it may not be right for that particular guitar and you combination... Put simply, it's personal preference more than anything else, mostly... thanks for the replies. after playing on it for most of the day yesterday i may leave it for a couple of weeks or until i change strings again. that vibration i am getting from the adjustment nut on the high end of the bridge is what is making think that i am losing sustain. from what i have read (and i may be wrong) any vibration in the parts of the guitar take away from the sustain. i don't know if that is true or not but it doesn't have the tone that it used to. here's a pic of the tilt on the stop bar. it may be nothing.... but it seems like it could be adding an uneven about tension on the guitar. maybe even adding too much stress at the top of the post... i don't know. just making assumptions. that's what this amazing forum is for though. great input from tons of people. ps. after looking at the pic i need to do a hard cleaning on her.
charlie brown Posted May 20, 2014 Posted May 20, 2014 One reason, for top wrapping, was to decrease the angle of the stings, from the tailpiece, to the bridge. It was felt, that screwing down the tailpiece as far as one could, against the body, increased sustain. It also increased the string angle from the tailpiece to the bridge, and often easily broken strings were the result. Top wrapping minimized the string angle, "seemed" to allow easier bending, and because the tailpiece was down against the body, sustain was greater, as well. CB
quapman Posted May 20, 2014 Posted May 20, 2014 I think top wrapping started when some guy who didn't know how to string his guitar the correct way, did it that way. And when asked why, to avoid embarrassment, he came up with some silly reason,, which stuck.
rwfelton Posted May 20, 2014 Author Posted May 20, 2014 I think top wrapping started when some guy who didn't know how to string his guitar the correct way, did it that way. And when asked why, to avoid embarrassment, he came up with some silly reason,, which stuck. i can see that.
capmaster Posted May 20, 2014 Posted May 20, 2014 I think top wrapping started when some guy who didn't know how to string his guitar the correct way, did it that way. And when asked why, to avoid embarrassment, he came up with some silly reason,, which stuck. i can see that. Seriously, top wrapping will create varying breaking angles, not just depending on desired action. Also small tolerances of neck set angle and, if applicable, of top height due to slightly different carving come into play here. I'm pretty sure the breaking angle would be very shallow on my hardtail SGs, and also on one of my Gibson USA Les Paul guitars if I top wrapped on them. Looking at the two of my Frank Zappa "Roxy" SGs, even the tiny tolerances of Maestro/Lyra vibrola and neck set cause significant differences when adjusting for virtually same string action as I did.
John Rutherford Posted May 20, 2014 Posted May 20, 2014 I think top wrapping started when some guy who didn't know how to string his guitar the correct way, did it that way. And when asked why, to avoid embarrassment, he came up with some silly reason,, which stuck. Precisely.
rwfelton Posted May 20, 2014 Author Posted May 20, 2014 Seriously, top wrapping will create varying breaking angles, not just depending on desired action. Also small tolerances of neck set angle and, if applicable, of top height due to slightly different carving come into play here. I'm pretty sure the breaking angle would be very shallow on my hardtail SGs, and also on one of my Gibson USA Les Paul guitars if I top wrapped on them. Looking at the two of my Frank Zappa "Roxy" SGs, even the tiny tolerances of Maestro/Lyra vibrola and neck set cause significant differences when adjusting for virtually same string action as I did. very shallow. look at the pic i posted.... in 440 tuning it is ok but if i drop to open d they jump right out of the saddles.
EVOL! Posted May 21, 2014 Posted May 21, 2014 i also play pretty far back alot of times and my pinky will rest on the bridge adjustment nut. since i did the the wrap i can feel tons of vibration in the that nut through my pinky finger. it does seem like i lost a little of the sustain. and the stop bar seems to be leaning forward even screwed all the way down. i have some extra strings. i may just switch it back. No, I am saying I pluck or strum the strings between the bridge the tail piece. Top wrapping gives you more string and a louder sound.
EVOL! Posted May 21, 2014 Posted May 21, 2014 Please also note that years of top wrapping will ruin any finish on your tail piece. I never really cared about cosmetic things like that; some people do.
rwfelton Posted May 21, 2014 Author Posted May 21, 2014 No, I am saying I pluck or strum the strings between the bridge the tail piece. Top wrapping gives you more string and a louder sound. oh cool. thanks. i'll check it out.
troysgguy Posted May 24, 2014 Posted May 24, 2014 I also did this to my 61RE and I love it. The strings are more slinkly and the sustain is almost endless. I guess it depends on the guitar and person.
rwfelton Posted May 24, 2014 Author Posted May 24, 2014 I also did this to my 61RE and I love it. The strings are more slinkly and the sustain is almost endless. I guess it depends on the guitar and person. its growing on me. i haven't done anything different to my sg except replace tuning knobs that petered out over the years. but i am starting to like the slinky feel....
charlie brown Posted May 24, 2014 Posted May 24, 2014 Some like it on top, other's down under! Whatever works, is cool! CB
rwfelton Posted May 25, 2014 Author Posted May 25, 2014 Some like it on top, other's down under! Whatever works, is cool! CB the best reply yet. haha
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