Andrea Paesetti Posted November 17, 2022 Share Posted November 17, 2022 Ciao everyone and thank you in advance for any feedback. I'm trying to learn a bit my brand new LP (it's a Tribute model). I was finding super difficult to bend, super hard on the fingers and extra painful on the fingertips (like no calluses were there...same feeling as the first time with the fingers on the strings) I was coming from a Squire Strat with 9s and the LP comes with 10s. Ok the string gauge difference, but I felt the difference was too much. Then I've investigated a bit on the stopbar height and I've realized that it was so low that the strings were touching the back of the bridge. I've decided to raise it a bit, at least until the strings were not touching the back of the bridge anymore, reducing also the strings angle. Now i feel much easier and les painfull to bend. But here my question: is it now the stopbar too high or is it fine? (see image attached) I also read about the top wrapping, but this baby is just few weeks old and I would prefer not to scratch stopbar finishing. Just to anticipate potential question: neck already checked with Gibson specs, as well as the action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinch Posted November 17, 2022 Share Posted November 17, 2022 Someone w more knowledge than me will have to answer that, but I recall Slash's tech saying his stopbars are set high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marco mancini Posted November 17, 2022 Share Posted November 17, 2022 5 hours ago, Andrea Paesetti said: Ciao everyone and thank you in advance for any feedback. I'm trying to learn a bit my brand new LP (it's a Tribute model). I was finding super difficult to bend, super hard on the fingers and extra painful on the fingertips (like no calluses were there...same feeling as the first time with the fingers on the strings) I was coming from a Squire Strat with 9s and the LP comes with 10s. Ok the string gauge difference, but I felt the difference was too much. Then I've investigated a bit on the stopbar height and I've realized that it was so low that the strings were touching the back of the bridge. I've decided to raise it a bit, at least until the strings were not touching the back of the bridge anymore, reducing also the strings angle. Now i feel much easier and les painfull to bend. But here my question: is it now the stopbar too high or is it fine? (see image attached) I also read about the top wrapping, but this baby is just few weeks old and I would prefer not to scratch stopbar finishing. Just to anticipate potential question: neck already checked with Gibson specs, as well as the action. Which area of Italy do you live ? if you are in Lombardy region i have a master luthier for you to set well your guitar cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted November 17, 2022 Share Posted November 17, 2022 They are adjustable for a reason! Nothing I see off with what your photo shows. it's more personal preference/feel issue, if it helps the tension you were feeling ease up a bit, go with it. but a good setup is never a bad idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Paesetti Posted November 17, 2022 Author Share Posted November 17, 2022 Thank you very much! 1 hour ago, marco mancini said: Which area of Italy do you live ? if you are in Lombardy region i have a master luthier for you to set well your guitar cheers I'm from Milan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted November 17, 2022 Share Posted November 17, 2022 Yeah.. No real right or wrong.. A lot of people say that top wrapping makes it a bit easier to bend and stuff... So if you feel it helps, nothing wrong with that... Some people will say its best to lower the tailpiece to the body as it helps with sustain but no one has any real proof. As said, its just what feels good to you that counts. Also you could also try getting some hybrid strings.. I use the Ernie Ball Hybrids.. I think they are awesome as you get the best of both worlds. 10s on the bass strings and 9s on the high strings.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marco mancini Posted November 17, 2022 Share Posted November 17, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, Andrea Paesetti said: Thank you very much! I'm from Milan Look if you live in Milan you can easily go to the best luthier of the area who he's also mine , and he will tell everything about your guitar , on top of that he's very knowledgeable on Gibson guitars ciao ! http://www.molinelliguitars.com/ Edited November 17, 2022 by marco mancini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marco mancini Posted November 17, 2022 Share Posted November 17, 2022 Oh gosh i quite forgot to tell you that tomorrow in Milan at PALAZZO DELLE STELLINE Corso Magenta 61 there's the Second hand guitars you can even trade your gibson for a high end model for few quids. https://shgmusicshow.it/?lang=en ciao ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NighthawkChris Posted November 17, 2022 Share Posted November 17, 2022 I set the stopbar where I get the greatest break angle I can before any string hits the back of the bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Paesetti Posted November 18, 2022 Author Share Posted November 18, 2022 10 hours ago, NighthawkChris said: I set the stopbar where I get the greatest break angle I can before any string hits the back of the bridge. Good, that's exactly what i did. With the setting I shared in the image embedded in the first post, I almost have 5/64" between the string and the back of the bridge. Probably because of perspective in the picture is not visible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHenry Posted November 18, 2022 Share Posted November 18, 2022 I believe the stopbar should be set so that the strings just clear the back edge of the bridge, clearance of about the thickness of a piece of paper, very little more. I think any difficulty bending the strings is probably more likely to be related to the Truss rod, worth taking it to a guitar tech if you don't feel confident doing it yourself. For strings it's probably worth trying something like the Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinky's: Ernie Ball 2222 Hybrid Slinky 9-46 Electric Guitar Strings (stringsdirect.co.uk) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted November 18, 2022 Share Posted November 18, 2022 (edited) If scale length and string gauge are the same then the string will require the same amount of tension to come to pitch. The break angles at the nut and bridge will affect how much downward force is applied to those parts but not overall tension it stands to reason that with a lower stopbar the higher downward force on the bridge can increase the transfer of energy from the strings to the body of the guitar Edited November 18, 2022 by Dub-T-123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NighthawkChris Posted November 18, 2022 Share Posted November 18, 2022 I like a decent break angle for whatever reason why - I get buzzes on some strings when the break angle is small enough at some point - on some guitars. To blanket this problem, I just try to get the break angles as high as they can go. I'm sure there's science behind this, but I know it just works for me this way. We can get into not hitting the back of the bridge here, but in reality, if you are hitting the back of the bridge on any string, you have achieved the max break angle - relative to the point of contact in the bridge slot and the back of the bridge. I don't see any benefit to lowering the stopbar more after this. But again, I'm one of those guys that pays attention to if the strings are banging the back of the bridge and makes sure it doesn't happen. Overall, a good neck angle will provide more "adjustability" on the stopbar. Neck angles differ from LP to LP, so you get what you get basically. Knowing this, I do my best to lower the stopbar as much as it can taking all mentioned above into account to get the largest break angle - within reason of course. Neck angle is important for a guitar - why there are neck resets done on acoustics to get action where it needs to be and to get better break angles on the strings pinned in at the bridge. Same thing for LPs pretty much when you think about this set-neck business - regarding what kind of angle will the guitar will have when the neck is set in... But I digress. Simply wanted to add the point about this because stopbar height and neck angle are related the way I see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted November 19, 2022 Share Posted November 19, 2022 The break angle over the nut is about 15 degrees. I always figured it'd be o.k. to have as little as 15 degrees or so of break over the bridge, like the nut. Looks fine where it is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GibSinCity Posted November 20, 2022 Share Posted November 20, 2022 Nothing wrong with Top-Wrapping if if you feel it makes a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 If someone could explain how the break angles affect tension without changing the pitch of a string my mind will be blown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinch Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 On 11/25/2022 at 5:57 PM, Dub-T-123 said: If someone could explain how the break angles affect tension without changing the pitch of a string my mind will be blown Less tension on the point of contact with the bridge, I guess? The actual string would have to be as tense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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