Legwarmer thingy on the nut

midiman1962

Sorry , but what's this about and why do i need one ?
I'm so out of touch...

TheBigDipper

I think it’s for damping/muting open strings without using your hands so they don't ring out when they're not wanted. My Chapman Stick had something similar. 

I love chimey open strings, so they're not for me!

Roland

Hair bobbles can be used to mute open strings when you’re tapping.

Vaiai

Usually you are seeing Gruv Gear Fret Wraps - and they can be used to mute strings as some have said above. Can be quite useful in a recording scenario so you don't get unwanted string noise and yes, most people use them for tapping - if you are out of touch it prop means you are "older" like me and learned how to control the string noise years ago So you don't need one! (They are a good cheat for recording tho...)

EricTheWeary

https://youtu.be/h4zed1v13Rk

For those of us of a certain place and age I enjoyed watching this, at some point past the 5 minute mark he gets his sock out.

Vaiai said:

Usually you are seeing Gruv Gear Fret Wraps - and they can be used to mute strings as some have said above. Can be quite useful in a recording scenario so you don't get unwanted string noise and yes, most people use them for tapping - if you are out of touch it prop means you are "older" like me and learned how to control the string noise years ago So you don't need one! (They are a good cheat for recording tho...)

Not something I've ever done or likely to do but if guitarists like Guthrie Govan employ a hair band from time to time I don't see it as something proper players don't need.   
 

axisus

We all like to keep our nuts warm

DLM

Legwarmer!

Here's what it's for, turn on the annotations on YouTube and let my chum Pao from the Racer X forum explain:

Roland

EricTheWeary said:

Not something I've ever done or likely to do but if guitarists like Guthrie Govan employ a hair band from time to time I don't see it as something proper players don't need.   
 

I’ve used one to deafen the strings behind the nut. On a guitar like a Parker Fly you can get sympathetic resonance between nut and tuners. A hair bobble stops it. 

midiman1962

Thanks for the heads up and help for the elder members - i think with singing the song , playing guitar and lead guitar (badly) on the song and talking to the audience , the legwarmer thingy is a bridge too far .....