String dampening foam / strap / solutions

Diplomat383

Diplomat383

New member
Right now on a few of my guitars I get bad feedback from behind the nut on the guitar, which I remedy by stuffing a cottonball under the strings right behind the nut. I am sure I am not the only person who has this issue, but I was looking for something a little more... not so rigged looking. I see in almost every Keith Merrow video he has some sort of strap right behind the nut that appears to have a foam pad. Any ideas?

Thanks!
 
Re: String dampening foam / strap / solutions

First of all, what guitars are these? Secondly, when did you last have the top nuts on the guitar(s) looked at? Thirdly, how are you wrapping your strings around the machinehead posts?

Some of us actually make a feature of those behind-the-nut sympathetic resonances. Adrian Belew would be lost without them. :)
 
Re: String dampening foam / strap / solutions

These are all solid body electric guitars, no trem on any of them. One is a Godin Freeway EMG, one a Washburn Dime 332 and one a Washburn wg587 7 string. I had the Dime professionally set up with new nut and whatnot, and both the 7 string and Godin have done it since new. I wrap the strings so that on a regular headstock the string wraps around the left side of the tuning peg. All of them play excellent and sound great, just don't like that little noise when recording heavily palm muted high gain parts :P
 
Re: String dampening foam / strap / solutions

Diplomat383 said:
Right now on a few of my guitars I get bad feedback from behind the nut on the guitar, which I remedy by stuffing a cottonball under the strings right behind the nut. I am sure I am not the only person who has this issue, but I was looking for something a little more... not so rigged looking. I see in almost every Keith Merrow video he has some sort of strap right behind the nut that appears to have a foam pad. Any ideas?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Option A: Go to a pharmacy and go to the girls' hair section. Find some scrunchies in whatever color you like.

Option B: Find some black foam from an Office Supply store's mailing/shipping area, trim to size and wedge under the strings behind the nut.
 
Re: String dampening foam / strap / solutions

On the Dime 332, the run of string between the bridge saddles and the through-body ferrules can give rise to unwanted resonances too.
 
Re: String dampening foam / strap / solutions

Grindspine said:
Those fret wraps are nuts. $30 for something that a scrunchie and/or shipping foam can do?
Click to expand...

I won't be buying these, I was just happy that I was seeing correctly when I started seeing these foam like devices doing what appeared was the job of what my odd looking cotton ball does :P
 
Re: String dampening foam / strap / solutions

I just use a length of my wife's discarded pantyhose and tie it around my neck at the nut. It works and it's free.
 
Re: String dampening foam / strap / solutions

I use small chunks of neoprene foam that I got at Home Depot. I only put 'em behind the nut in the studio but I always keep it stuffed in the pickup cavities of my guitars and that cuts down on vibration a lot.
 
Re: String dampening foam / strap / solutions

I use electrical tape (black) around all 6 strings after i've got it in tune. That said all my guitars are trem loaded with locking nuts and a string retainer - which dampen string noise a lot when compared to regular bone or synthetic nuts. Foam is a must if you don't have a string retainer.
 
Re: String dampening foam / strap / solutions

even the foam you get when you buy a pup will work. bass players use it near the bridge as a mute to get more of an old school tone frequently
 
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