tenkezomenkatze Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 Hi there. I newly bought myself a Gibson SGJ, but I have some difficulty in getting used to the Gibson stop bar. I am used to playing on a Jackson DXMG with locked floyd rose, but when I play on the Gibson I feel the stop bar is always in the way, especially when I play fast tremolo picking stuff (I play mainly black metal and more classic rock/blues). My hand tend to get kind of stuck between the bridge and the tailpiece, if that makes any sense. After searching the net I found an alternative way of attaching the strings called top wrapping, used by some people so they can lower the tailpiece. What I hoped for with this top wrap thing is that I would have a greater surface to rest my hand upon, making playing simpler, but I cant seem to find anyone using this technique for this reason. Do you have any advice for me?? Will the strings become looser? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenkezomenkatze Posted December 5, 2017 Author Share Posted December 5, 2017 It's not as uncommon as you seem to explain it to be. Nothing wrong with doing this IMHO. Your tailpiece will scratch a bit of course, but if you don't mind this, go for it. And I have heard that the same idea that because there is less tension behind the saddles due to a smaller break angle that the strings are "slinkier". I haven't tried top-wrapping and I usually have my tailpiece near touching the body - just enough for the string to clear the Tune-O-Matic (TOM) bridge. I have a relatively "large" break angle, but I have no issues playing with my LP in this configuration. But you may find all the difference in the world to make your guitar better via top wrapping. Interesting that you play some metal and want to go to a Gibson... Jackson guitars I think are awesome metal guitars. I will never part ways with my Dinky DK2M... That thing is a metal machine - but those days are not ahead of me. I don't play metal anymore and I am saving this guitar for my son when he is old enough to hold a guitar - when the guitar is not bigger than him, haha! Thanks for the reply! So its more common that I thought :) I think Ill try it right away, a 0.010 set is supposed to be in my living room somewhere. The reason for the guitar change is that I have been borrowing the Jackson for several years and for a new guitar I really wanted to try something completely different and luckily another friend would sell me an SGJ 2014 in mint condition for appr. $300 (cheap in Norway:) I do agree the Jackson is a really nice guitar and the neck feels good, though I made a promise to myself to never get floyd rose again. Got any recommendation for a good metal guitar w/o floyd rose? Do you know if the Schecters are any good? Edit: prefer second hand and price can be anything between £100 and $400. Double edit: the day your son will carry his first guitar will probably be way sooner if its a jackson guitar waiting and not gibson :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70Falcon Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 Hi there. I newly bought myself a Gibson SGJ, but I have some difficulty in getting used to the Gibson stop bar. I am used to playing on a Jackson DXMG with locked floyd rose, but when I play on the Gibson I feel the stop bar is always in the way, especially when I play fast tremolo picking stuff (I play mainly black metal and more classic rock/blues). My hand tend to get kind of stuck between the bridge and the tailpiece, if that makes any sense. After searching the net I found an alternative way of attaching the strings called top wrapping, used by some people so they can lower the tailpiece. What I hoped for with this top wrap thing is that I would have a greater surface to rest my hand upon, making playing simpler, but I cant seem to find anyone using this technique for this reason. Do you have any advice for me?? Will the strings become looser? Dan Erlewine explains how to do this in his book, "How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great - Second Edition". I just finished reading about doing that, and how to set it up. Hope this helps, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenkezomenkatze Posted December 6, 2017 Author Share Posted December 6, 2017 Top wrapped the strings today. Made the hole difference :) Strings havent popped out yet (10-56) so I hope i wont have to file down the bridge. Guess Ill keep the pickups, maybe not typical metal pickups but they sound good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenkezomenkatze Posted December 6, 2017 Author Share Posted December 6, 2017 Thanks for the book tip, maybe I should check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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