Changing from Top Wrap to Normal

[LPguitarman]

I posted another thread the other day: my son bought a Gibson Flying V, 2016 T. It came with the strings Top Wrapped, which neither of us like. He put on a new set of strings (.10's vs. the .09' that it came with).

 

A few questions:

1. Am I correct in telling him to make sure you raise the tail piece, and possibly lower the bridge, so that the strings to not touch the back of the bridge? They should only rest on the saddles, right??? What would it do to the tone, string life etc... if they do touch the back of the bridge?

2. He thinks the tone changed. When I came home from work and looked at the guitar, he had the strings touching the back of the bridge. I raised the tail piece and slightly lowered the bridge so they weren't touching. He had been playing for awhile with the strings touching the bridge. I also pointed out to him that my Gibson LP, and his Epiphone LP, have the strings not touching the back of the bridge. He thinks, when I messed with it, it changed his tone. Is this possible?

3. Was changing from .09's to .10's in any way going to affect the intonation? I played it in both scenario's .09's Top Wrapped and .10's normal (not touching the bridge). I felt a little difference in the feel of the strings (possibly tension), but I think the tone thing is in his head and the intonation seemed okay all the way up the neck. Not sure... anyone with experience with this?

[Dub-T-123]

The string gauge change will affect the sound and intonation

 

A little adjustment to the tailpiece height.. IMO you probably won’t notice a difference

[Black Dog]

I posted another thread the other day: my son bought a Gibson Flying V, 2016 T. It came with the strings Top Wrapped, which neither of us like. He put on a new set of strings (.10's vs. the .09' that it came with).

 

A few questions:

1. Am I correct in telling him to make sure you raise the tail piece, and possibly lower the bridge, so that the strings to not touch the back of the bridge? They should only rest on the saddles, right??? What would it do to the tone, string life etc... if they do touch the back of the bridge?

2. He thinks the tone changed. When I came home from work and looked at the guitar, he had the strings touching the back of the bridge. I raised the tail piece and slightly lowered the bridge so they weren't touching. He had been playing for awhile with the strings touching the bridge. I also pointed out to him that my Gibson LP, and his Epiphone LP, have the strings not touching the back of the bridge. He thinks, when I messed with it, it changed his tone. Is this possible?

3. Was changing from .09's to .10's in any way going to affect the intonation? I played it in both scenario's .09's Top Wrapped and .10's normal (not touching the bridge). I felt a little difference in the feel of the strings (possibly tension), but I think the tone thing is in his head and the intonation seemed okay all the way up the neck. Not sure... anyone with experience with this?

 

1) The consensus answer seems to be: "only if it bothers you", which is probably correct. Having the tailpiece lower, (higher break angle) just puts more overall downward force on the bridge. Personally, I like the look of the tailpiece low.

 

2) I can't see how that would change the tone at all.

 

3) Changing string gauge can effect intonation, but if intonation was previously correct, then you probably wouldn't be able to hear it easily going from 9's to 10's. I have never top wrapped so I don't speak from personal experience but what I have read about it says that it may make make the strings "feel" less stiff, easier to bend. That is due to less downward force on the bridge (see answer #1).

 

I bet the biggest change was just fresh strings in a new gauge. It'll just feel and sound different with new strings of a different gauge, especially, if the previous strings were very old and/or of a different material.