"vibrating" sustain - top wrapping done wrong?

[gottalovethe80s]

two weeks ago I bought an used guitar, an ltd ec256, it was my first time using a guitar with a stop tail piece, so I was pretty curious about the whole "top wrap" myth that I read about.

the strings that came with the guitar were rusty so I replaced them to a set of 9-46 ernie balls. in the first few days I didn't notice anything weird (or it could be that I didn't pay enough attention), but about ten days into playing, the sustain of my guitar was getting all weird, it sounds as if I had a vibrato/tremolo pedal plugged in, especially with the pickups in the bridge position, at which I installed an sh4.

yesterday I went to a "guitar tech" and the guy said that my bridge pickup has gone bad and the only way to fix it is to replace it, well I didn't buy it and decided to try a new set of strings today - 10-46 dr's since the ernie balls were starting to go bad, and now not only does the sustain vibrate at bridge pickup position, but so does the neck. and to make it worse, I can even feel the sustain vibrate without the amp plugged in.

I did some more research and I found out that usually people set their tailpiece as low as they can and the tailpiece on the ec256 seems to be fixed...

so now I'm wondering if the problem is actually because of the way I strung the guitar, or the pickups, or the guitar itself, since I want to be 100% sure before buying another set of strings.

here's a picture of how my tailpiece currently looks:

thanks in advance

 

[DeathALT.]

Re: "vibrating" sustain - top wrapping done wrong?

I'm not sure, but I'm assuming that the bridge isn't a locking tuneomatic bridge, and that when you play, the bridge and/or tailpiece are vibrating.

 

[blakejcan]

Re: "vibrating" sustain - top wrapping done wrong?

I blame the cat

 

[Lucy Diamond]

Re: "vibrating" sustain - top wrapping done wrong?

Holmes, there's absolutely no way your tailpiece is vibrating with the kind of tension it takes to keep a guitar in tune.

Are you tuning down to...like...L...or something really noodley???

I tried the whole wrap around thing for a while and I was left with an overall loose and very uneasy feeling under my fingers.
Zakk Wylde swears by the wrap around, but I can't stand it. I've had a pickup die and it didn't make any tremolo sounds bro, it just went. The humbucker became a single coil.

Just from your picture, it doesn't look like there's anything wrong there.

 

[Chad]

Re: "vibrating" sustain - top wrapping done wrong?

That is a confusing bunch of info. My first guess is: bad solder joint or 3-way switch?

 

[esandes]

Re: "vibrating" sustain - top wrapping done wrong?

i'd look at the saddles. the adjustment screw gets loose sometimes and rattles.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: "vibrating" sustain - top wrapping done wrong?

First of all, nowhere in any Gibson manual does it say to crank down the tail piece and wrap the strings over the top of it.

Next, start with a factory spec setup. Make sure the bridge is set right and intonated perfectly. Make sure the nut slots are clean and letting the strings seat properly. Make sure the pickups aren't so close to the strings that they're magnetically pulling on them. (your pic doesn't indicate that problem)

Also, try a different guitar cable and amp, just to remove that variable.

I just noticed the metal plate behind the tail piece. What is that?

 

[esandes]

Re: "vibrating" sustain - top wrapping done wrong?

a lot of les paul users top-wrap their strings like that and lower the tail piece for better sustain.

 

[blakejcan]

Re: "vibrating" sustain - top wrapping done wrong?

right. all good ideas.

but seriously, have you even questioned the cat? He looks guilty as sin

 

[gottalovethe80s]

Re: "vibrating" sustain - top wrapping done wrong?

Don't blame the cat guys, something that cute can not be evil

I don't think the problem is the amp because I played through 3 different heads and it vibrated on all 3, and like I said I can even hear the the strings vibrate when playing without an amp. I'm tuning it standard and I don't think it's the nuts or the bridge either, since I'm not describing a rattling sound but more like the guitar is vibrating too much and the sustain fluctuates as if I have a tremolo pedal plugged in. Also, the metal plate below the tailpiece is just a piece of decoration

If this keeps up I'm probably going to buy a new set of strings later today and string it normally then see what happens. Thanks guys

 

[Dr. Vegetable]

Re: "vibrating" sustain - top wrapping done wrong?

Don't blame the cat guys, something that cute can not be evil

That's the first clue. All evil cats look cute. Non-evil cats just look bored.

 

[metalspider]

Re: "vibrating" sustain - top wrapping done wrong?

well however you string it should'nt be causing a tremelo effect,that usually comes from the pickups being too high and the magnetic pull effecting the strings natural vibration,it would also throw off the intonation on the higher frets.

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: "vibrating" sustain - top wrapping done wrong?

Kinda looks like the string is hitting the bridge from here...

Could easily be wrong,tho.

 

[erksin]

Re: "vibrating" sustain - top wrapping done wrong?

First of all, nowhere in any Gibson manual does it say to crank down the tail piece and wrap the strings over the top of it.

And yet guys like Billy Gibbons top-wrap their LPs without voiding the warranty... lol

First thing I thought of trying to comb through his post was that he had his pickups too close to the strings.

 

[erksin]

Re: "vibrating" sustain - top wrapping done wrong?

a lot of les paul users top-wrap their strings like that and lower the tail piece for better sustain.

The reasons for top-wrapping are to get a less dramatic break angle over the bridge saddles and to possibly get a slinkier feel when bending due to that decreased break angle - sustain doesn't really enter into it from my experience with it.

If your strings are contacting the back part of the bridge before they hit the saddles, you either need to top-wrap it or raise up the stoptail studs - otherwise, you'll have tuning issues due to friction at that bridge contact point.

 

[erksin]

Re: "vibrating" sustain - top wrapping done wrong?

well however you string it should'nt be causing a tremelo effect,that usually comes from the pickups being too high and the magnetic pull effecting the strings natural vibration,it would also throw off the intonation on the higher frets.

This right here.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: "vibrating" sustain - top wrapping done wrong?

have you still got the retaining wire on the tuneomatic?
If so - is it still doing its job?
if not, then the rattle is probably the saddle adjustment screws - or possibly the retaining wire itself.
If that is the case, a new bridge is in order. The gotoh ones are good cos they are designed with no retaining wire.

 

[Chad]

Re: "vibrating" sustain - top wrapping done wrong?

Some thoughts:

--strings likely have nothing to do with it.
--you may have rattle going on that is audible when played acoustically, but that likely has nothing to do with your pickups sounding like a tremolo pedal and/or dead.
--top wrapping likely has nothing to do with it.

I'd say there are two issues going on:

1. Some sort of electrical issue. Like I mentioned in the previous post, possibly a bad switch and/or solder joint.
2. Some sort of rattle. Could be anything. Most rattles can be pinpointed if you listen closely and intently. Could be a truss rod rattle, straplock rattle (if you have straplocks), tune-o-matic rattle, some sort of strange fret buzz issue, and the list goes on.