Top Wrapping: Yay or Nay?

Jonathangus

JerkMoans said:

Interesting solution/fix type advanced engineering.  I wonder whether soldering the twisted bits would work, too.  Risks of painful scrapes on the strumming hand?

Yes. 

Even with the ball-end, the end of the wrapped part is still fractionally proud of the rear edge of the tailpiece.  It hasn't been a problem when actually playing, though.

JerkMoans

Bridgehouse said:

The general consensus is that if you want 60s tort style then it has to be be Spitfire. 

Most modern tort is a pale imitation of the original and rather special tort Fender made before they realised the method they were using would eventually self destruct.

I considered swapping my tort plate on my 64 Precision for quite a while as it's shrinking and I don't want it to crack. Spitfire really was the only option. In the end I decided it's not going anywhere so put my brave big boy pants on and drilled new holes to ease the tension. Ho hum.

My tort:



Nice bit of Spitfire:



Modern tort:

Hardtail JM?  What fresh Heresy is this?!?

Bridgehouse

JerkMoans said:

Bridgehouse said:

The general consensus is that if you want 60s tort style then it has to be be Spitfire. 

Most modern tort is a pale imitation of the original and rather special tort Fender made before they realised the method they were using would eventually self destruct.

I considered swapping my tort plate on my 64 Precision for quite a while as it's shrinking and I don't want it to crack. Spitfire really was the only option. In the end I decided it's not going anywhere so put my brave big boy pants on and drilled new holes to ease the tension. Ho hum.

My tort:



Nice bit of Spitfire:



Modern tort:

Hardtail JM?  What fresh Heresy is this?!?

It's an anti @HarrySeven guitar. 

clarkefan

I cannot get my head around why wrapping would make the slightest difference to feel if the same guage strings are tuned to the same pitch?

Oh, and tarnished all the way

richardhomer

Bridgehouse said:

My tort:



Nice bit of Spitfire:



Modern tort:

You seem very knowledgeable - are you self tort?

p90fool

Top wrapping is a faff for no reason IMO, you're already talking about using old ball ends as spacers, the wire wraps cutting your hands, soldering the wraps (this will cause your strings to break!) and the general awkwardness of making it work.

It tried it once and broke two strings within a day where they exit the back of the tailpiece, and I never break strings normally.

You could just put the damn strings on the right way around in the first place! 

Bridgehouse

@richardhomer - you should be on Michael Macintyres show...

ICBM

clarkefan said:

I cannot get my head around why wrapping would make the slightest difference to feel if the same guage strings are tuned to the same pitch?

Because it reduces the down-pressure of the strings on the bridge saddles, and hence reduces the force needed to pull the strings over them when you bend them. It's surprisingly noticeable.

And always wrong . Unless you're Duane Allman...

If you can't get the tailpiece down fully tight without the strings pressing too much on the back edge of the bridge, then you have the wrong Les Paul .

richardhomer

Bridgehouse said:

@richardhomer - you should be on Michael Macintyres show...

I’ll take that as an insult....

RandallFlagg

Tortoise shell scratchplates look shit and are for gaylords

richardhomer

RandallFlagg said:

Tortoise shell scratchplates look shit and are for gaylords

No they’re not - impossible as I have one on my slide Strat - so there’s your proof!

paulnb57

I'm sooo old sometimes, I saw the thread title and immediately thought you had gift wrapped something and made a top job of it...

TheBigDipper

I changed to top wrapping for a while and didn't notice any difference. I'm back to standard now. 

Re OPs question - clean the guitar but don't polish the metalwork (apart from the frets). Preserve the mojo! 

Bridgehouse

RandallFlagg said:

Tortoise shell scratchplates look shit and are for gaylords

@RandallFlagg was delighted by the new decor in his "man boudoir"

He was hoping the fit lad next door would like it too

Neil

I always top wrap.

If I wind down the stop bar to the bottom the string angle is too acute across the bridge so I did  as per Dan Erlwine recommended.

It does give a  different feel.

HarrySeven

Bridgehouse said:

It's an anti @HarrySeven guitar. 

Actually, science has yet to devise an anti HarrySeven guitar.

Bridgehouse

HarrySeven said:

Bridgehouse said:

It's an anti @HarrySeven guitar. 

Actually, science has yet to devise an anti HarrySeven guitar.

Yeah, but a hardtail Jazzer? You'd actually have one?

normula1

I string most of my Gibson types normally apart from my (bought used) 339. It came topwrapped and when I restrung it normally it distinctly lost some of the feel it had so I put it back to topwrapped. I still don't like the look though.

HarrySeven

Bridgehouse said:

HarrySeven said:

Bridgehouse said:

It's an anti @HarrySeven guitar. 

Actually, science has yet to devise an anti HarrySeven guitar.

Yeah, but a hardtail Jazzer? You'd actually have one?

I already do.

Well, a partscaster Jazzmaster, assembled from primarily vintage Hofner and Fender components...

JerkMoans

Exciting update!

im cleaning the guitar to hell and back (save the metalwork). Irritated by the cloudy bits. Gibson guitar polish ain’t cutting it, so... car wax?