Top Wrapping??

B

Bman

Power User
Any top wrappers out there? I top wrap my Les Paul. I get less string tension and to my ears a bit more brightness and sustain. I've never been much of a drop D or C tuning guy but playing around more with it now that I've grown an interest in King's X. I think the lower tunings may not work well with top wrapping. And I'm baffled at how things feel tuned down in C. Do most people get heavier gauges or go with the slinkiness? It feels weird, but sounds brutal...good brutal that is.
 
I’ve never tried top wrapping with my Les Paul, but I’ve been wanting to.

Does it scratch up the top of the tailpiece?

As for string gauges for drop tuning, you can find several string manufacturers that make string sets just for drop C.
 
pharmd07 said:
I’ve never tried top wrapping with my Les Paul, but I’ve been wanting to.

Does it scratch up the top of the tailpiece?

As for string gauges for drop tuning, you can find several string manufacturers that make string sets just for drop C.
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It does leave marks on the stop bar. I've had this Les Paul since 2007 and there's a little bit of 'dig' mark where the some of the strings have worn. Maybe at some point I'll need to replace it. I'm used to a longer scaled neck. Top wrapping helps get less tension. It also has a slightly brighter sound. Billy Gibbons & Joe Bonamassa both top wrap. I can't imagine doing it playing with 8's like Gibbons. That's freaky slinky.
 

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Oh, didn't know what you were talking about- but I spent 3+ years looking for the perfect les paul

found one in vegas- actually went to buy a few pedals from a guy- he showed me two guitars he was selling one was like a $1000 custom shop L5 or something the other was a 2004 iced tea burst premium/premium plus LP STD. It was set up, perfectly- sent up professionally and extremely well- It had the strings wrapped over. And I've left it that way
 
Bman said:
I'm used to a longer scaled neck. Top wrapping helps get less tension.
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This is confusing to me. Longer scale necks have more tension, so I'd expect you'd want to increase the tension when using a shorter scale to make it feel more similar.
 
Not for every Les paul-
It's a guitar by guitar basis.

I have top wrapped one of my Les Paul's due to the guitars neck angle and just wanted to try it really. (but it was a good candidate for this)
I have another Les Paul were the neck angle is not as great and would be a bad candidate for top wrapping as would be two other Gibson I have.
Personally never noticed a tone difference, never noticed a tension difference.
What I did notice is since top wrapping greatly reduces the break angle over the bridge. When you rest your hand on that bridge for the first few times feels different (but no big deal). I do believe on my Paul's tuning is slightly better. Makes sense since you are greatly reducing that break angle.
 
unix-guy said:
This is confusing to me. Longer scale necks have more tension, so I'd expect you'd want to increase the tension when using a shorter scale to make it feel more similar.
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You know, you might be right. I don’t really know....only can say that my LP feels stiffer than my Fender. Now the Fender does have a trem which I’ve lost long ago. It probably does have some slight give. My Charvel and Ibanez both have Floyds so no comparing. Maybe it is the stop piece that has made me think that. However, top wrap definitely has more give.
 
Bman said:
You know, you might be right. I don’t really know....only can say that my LP feels stiffer than my Fender. Now the Fender does have a trem which I’ve lost long ago. It probably does have some slight give. My Charvel and Ibanez both have Floyds so no comparing. Maybe it is the stop piece that has made me think that. However, top wrap definitely has more give.
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The LP stiffer with or without the top wrap?
 
Without. Less stiff with top wrap. Makes 10s feel like 9s. Also as 6L6 mentioned the angle is reduced after the bridge. Every time I’ve had it ‘professionally’ set up they give it back with the back piece elevated from the body, reducing the angle. I always screw it back down. The thought is more sustain when it’s on the body.
 
Bman said:
Without. Less stiff with top wrap. Makes 10s feel like 9s. Also as 6L6 mentioned the angle is reduced after the bridge. Every time I’ve had it ‘professionally’ set up they give it back with the back piece elevated from the body, reducing the angle. I always screw it back down. The thought is more sustain when it’s on the body.
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Weird. My experience has always been less tension with shorter scale length...
 
unix-guy said:
Weird. My experience has always been less tension with shorter scale length...
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I’d defer to your assessment. Like I said the trem give may have an influence and screwing down my tail piece, creating a sharper angle could’ve created the feeling of more tension. My son has a small scale fender strat and it’s like playing rubber bands when tuned to standard. I think that realization supports your experience.

But...top wrapping does make it play easier in my experience. Give it a try if you’re ever curious.
 
Hey @unix-guy, where you the one who guided me into three note per string and learning the modes??

If so, thanks for nudging me.. things have opened up for me where I feel comfortable playing anywhere on the neck and in any scale. I feel like once I find the root anywhere I know where to go. I still don’t have all the modes memorized yet and some I’ll never use. But it’s been a cool journey and given me a purpose in practice every evening.
If it wasn’t you, I owe someone else a thanks.
 
Bman said:
Hey @unix-guy, where you the one who guided me into three note per string and learning the modes??

If so, thanks for nudging me.. things have opened up for me where I feel comfortable playing anywhere on the neck and in any scale. I feel like once I find the root anywhere I know where to go. I still don’t have all the modes memorized yet and some I’ll never use. But it’s been a cool journey and given me a purpose in practice every evening.
If it wasn’t you, I owe someone else a thanks.
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Yep... That was me. Glad it helped you :)
 
I thought top wrapping the strings was to reduce the break angle over the saddles for the benefit of less tuning issues? I know that raising the stop bar accomplices the same result but doesn't traditionally look right.
 
Sixstring said:
I thought top wrapping the strings was to reduce the break angle over the saddles for the benefit of less tuning issues? I know that raising the stop bar accomplices the same result but doesn't traditionally look right.
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Well, it does accomplish that. My LP has too much of an angle if I try to screw the tail piece down to the body. I always thought the idea is to get as much connected to the body as possible. I just did some googling, and some LP's have no problem pinning down their tail piece while others are elevated due to the bridge saddles and the angle created.

As far as tuning.... uggh.. That LP is always a struggle to get the truss adjusted and stay in tune. I really need to learn to adjust the truss myself, but I don't have a measuring tool to measure the string heights. So, it's something I've never done. If anyone has a simple method of doing it without the string rulers, I'm all ears.
 
use the strings as a straight edge when adjusting the truss. You should be able to set sting hight to taste with out any measuring tools. if they buzz on the frets they are to low, if the tuning goes a step sharp while fretting a note, they might be to high.
 
Yup, but set it with a very slight forward bow, there should be like enough space for a sheet or two of paper at the 9th fret using the strings as a straight edge

Also shorter scale length = less tension
But strats have a longer scale length than most Les Paul's so keep that in mind too. However they have a lot of tension due to the sleep break angle....without that break angle, such as the 'top wrapping', they should be much more easy to play than a strat due to the reduced angle and shorter scale length
 
Bman said:
Well, it does accomplish that. My LP has too much of an angle if I try to screw the tail piece down to the body. I always thought the idea is to get as much connected to the body as possible. I just did some googling, and some LP's have no problem pinning down their tail piece while others are elevated due to the bridge saddles and the angle created.

As far as tuning.... uggh.. That LP is always a struggle to get the truss adjusted and stay in tune. I really need to learn to adjust the truss myself, but I don't have a measuring tool to measure the string heights. So, it's something I've never done. If anyone has a simple method of doing it without the string rulers, I'm all ears.
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I hear you! When you start messing around with things to fix a known problem it seems as if there are a 101 ways to get it done.
 
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