software

Lately I've noticed a couple different guitarists from different bands putting what looks like a sweatband (just looks like it) type thing around the nut, on like the tuner side. Tonight at a show I noticed when the guitarist was playing a longgg solo that the little cloth thing or whatever it is was pulled down past the nut on the fretboard. Is this to mute the other strings to get rid of excess noise (like open strings during sweeping, for example) ? Has this technique always been around? Do they actually sell them? Sorry if this is a stupid question, I've just never seen it before.

Yeah, Some do that with Wrist bands (you can buy them at any place clothing store that catters to Kids that are trying to be Punk/emo). They slide it down over the first or second fret during a longer solo to Mute strings.

Its a way of A guitarist Being able to be a ****ty/sloppy player without people noticeing all the excess noise from them not being able to mute strings properly. (pretty much the same as a baseball player corking a bat)But yeah, They're just wrist/sweat bands. They're nothing special. You probably won't find them at guitar shoppes, But if you look in the Clothing/t-shirt section of samgoodie, or hot topic, or Claires, or other lame stores that are located inside shopping malls, You'll find the wristbands. They're fairly cheap. Somtimes you can even get them outta gumball machines. So have at it if you want.

-edward

hahaha i wouldnt be caught dead buying any sort of wristband unless it was from a sporting goods store. im not really interested in trying it, just seeing if that was what it was for.


Originally Posted by Low_fidelity2100Its a way of A guitarist Being able to be a ****ty/sloppy player without people noticeing all the excess noise from them not being able to mute strings properly.

It's also handy for two handed tapping, when you don't want open strings ringing out and there's no other good way to mute them

good call

Back in the early 60's Fender had the Jazz Master and Jaguars equipped with a bridge mute. This was a felt pad just in front of the saddles and it operated with a lever so you could get some real cool surf effects. The Ventures used them quite a bit. But I agree this is a technique for sloppy players. I have seen a lot of acoustic players who use a lot of open tunings mute the strings behind the nut. With open tunings some times the strings resonate beyond the nut and it can create some weird overtones.

ive been using a hair thingy on my basses for a long time. when you slide it down on the strings it helps mute those strings which is nice when tapping, it also helps get a little more of an upright tone when the proper fretting technique is used

I have two guitars (the Olympic and the Tele) that has a noticable amount of sympathetic vibration above the nut. If you play an open G chord, notes will ring on the strings between the nut. It's not so noticable unplugged, but it's really annoying when the guitar is going through an amp. I've used pieces of foam underneath the strings behind the nut, or a rag tied up above the nut.