The worst thing you can do to a Les Paul is coat the strings and fretboard with marshmallow cream. It will really slow you down because it’s really sticky.
LMAO now this man speaks truth. Whos cares if someone top wraps or not. I top wrap all my Gibsons. Les pauls, sg and my es 335td. The best thing to do to a LP is a bigsby
Damn fellas play it even more until its not the worst thing. I guess if your gonna give up just get a Tele they sound like shit no matter who is playing. Except page he is always the exception. When asked why Hendrix didn't play a tele. He said they got 2 sounds good and bad.
@@patricksommer3971 He used his telecaster on most of the early zep albums, notably on the stairway solo and all of Zep 1. He only used his Les Paul live, but people heard the recordings, and went out and bought Les Pauls because they thought he used his Les Paul on the recordings
@@richsackett3423 I don't think true musicians give it that much thought to be honest; Chris summed it up with "who knows, who cares"... life's too short. I guess it never kept Hendrix, Lennon or Peter Green awake at night. It's something you think about when you've got too much time on your hands. Maybe players stress over it when they're learning...
@@LennyJohnson5 Funny, no other areas of art or expertise think ignorance concerning their tools is desirable, or indeed preferable. I've seen none of the three players you mention playing just any old shit instruments. Guess they must have cared. It's something I think about because I build guitars.
@@PaulMcCaffreyfmac I watched the Dazed And Confused live video from The Song Remains The Same, it definitely won that fight. Within two minutes the strings on the bow were hanging off everywhere. Those things aren't cheap.
I’ve never really heard too much of a sonic difference between sting through or top wrapping but where I’ve noticed a difference is in its playability. Top wrapping for me feels better in string tension making it feel more comfortable to play and by that changes the sound for me. Anyways, that where I come from
Absolutely agree. To my ear, acoustically, strings seem to ring slightly more with a bit more open sound, topwrapped - but plugged in I don't think there's any difference. The most important thing is the slinkier feel which makes it easier to play and in turn I play better with more control. My opinion.
Top wrapping meaning ? I ask because I recently got a 2019 SG jr but after reading all kinds of comments ordered in the 2020 that has this lightning bar bridge. I’m I making a mistake ?
@@benallmark9671 Personally speakung Ben, the type of metal used to make the bridge actually makes the biggest difference . Go for alumunium only because I have noticed Gibson using heavy-weight metal for bridges.
I swore I could hear a difference in your examples. Then I converted your video to an audio file, chopped the examples out of it and have a friend play those to me at random, then we swithed. If our life depended on ot we could not hear a difference. It became nothing but simple guessing.
Gonna give a shoutout to Johan Segborn's channel as it was his video that made me decide to top-wrap my Epi LP. His test videos are always done with a real sense of scientific rigour, with all possible variables removed to really just look at the differences in sound from what he's testing. His top-wrap video had the same R8 through the same amp (a dimed Marshall) mic'd the same way and completely left untouched for both tests, and with a new set of strings for both tests too. There's still clearly a difference in sound. It's not that I think one was better than the other, but I could definitely hear a difference and I preferred the top-wrap sound so that's what I've done ever since!
Would it make the difference between 010 and 09 ;-? id love to put 010s but they are too stiff for me, would top wrapping make that difference in playability so i can play 010 ?
Being that I’m a touch older - here’s what happened at Gibson - the person they hired to do the illustrations in the catalog simply looked at the previous year and because it was a wraparound tailpiece, they simply assumed that that’s how you would do it for the next year - it was actually 100% a mistake and was corrected the year after - as soon as they put out the next catalog - so the whole thing about wraparound being affirmed in the Gibson catalog is simply the mistake of an illustrator
Also before the tune o matic bridge the stop tails were always wraparound so when old school wrap arounders strung up the new tune o mattic the naturally wrapped it over thinking its how it should be done. I top wrap because it puts direct downward force on the bridge and no chance of the string touching the bridge itself before it breaks over the actual saddle. Strings feel somewhat slinkier to me and it looks cooler. You can slam the stop tail as well no matter how high or low the bridge is. Put old string balls on your strings before you go through the stoptail if your gonna top wrap though.
That's an awesome piece of information.... I have more info about Les Paul him self and the SG..... Les Paul loved and designed the SG but Gibson made the mistake of releasing it weeks before his divorce to mary ford... It was cheaper for him to disavow all knowledge and collaboration than it was to pay Mary Ford royalties on the design of the sg... Mary didn't settle for less at all she took him for all he was worth
@@keithadams812 also he wanted a neck through design like the firebird. The original Sg was the double cut special in late 58 59. Called the SG. Its why the call the SG the sg after 63
@@big_bicep_bill7594After having some success with the 1935 single-coil "bar" pickup and later the modified single-coil "Charlie Christian" pickup, in 1946, an improved and much simpler, smaller and lighter design designated P-90 became Gibson's flagsihp pickup. Like the bar and Charlie Chritian pickups, they, too, are single-coil and were installed in virtually every Gibson electric guitar until 1957 when they were joined by the dual-coil PAF (patent appied for) "Humbucker" (which sucessfuly "bucked the hum" of a single-coil) pickup which was the "preferred" (but not by me) deluxe pickup and was installed in all of the higher-end Gibson electrics. The original Juniors, Specials and ES-330s retained P-90s, but all others now had Humbuckers.
I find that everything that is done with feeling or by feel is a very personal thing. Guitars, musical instruments, bicycles, hot rods, motorcycles, and LIVING YOUR LIFE. If it feels good to YOU If it sounds good to YOU If that makes YOU play more Then that is what YOU should do. YOU! Great players do a bunch of different things but they are NOT you. What they do may not FEEL good to you try it then make it your own or not. At the end of it all WE all find OUR own way. Do YOU!
No. You can test for which way gives you maximum sustain, and Gibson should have done that already and issued a statement about it (but I doubt they ever have)
I remember in a interview from the mid 1970's with Bob Glidden the drag racer, he said "This how I do it but don't do it because I say so, learn to think for yourself"
More contact and more resonance would mean LESS sustain. Energy goes into the guitar, and some of it and very slightly heats up the wood. If you look at Les Paul's original experiments, he got the most sustain with least resonance, as you'd expect.
The scientific breakdown of how top rapping actually increases string tension just goes to show how your brain can really trick you into believing something that isn't correct, even the most skilled guitarists. Our brains are really amazing at tricking us with things like this.
I remember the first time I top wrapped... I was so enthused to have found a better sound and feel out of my guitar, and at no cost whatsoever. Glorious.
Well as long as he isnt pushing climate change is man's fault then im ok cause Our sun has way more to do with it than the UNs and liberal lefts bullshit agenda lies. I agree there is climate change I've seen the reports and who and how all the "facts " That get pushed are far from facts manipulated data manipulated surveys to say 97% of scientist agree is bullshit. Canada's climate guru woman is a lying fraud that uses her own false data and research as proof. It was proven wrong she even got in hot water over it yet still using it as if its valid. All lies. The truth mainly the sun. The berkland currents the ocean itself. Its normal earth cycles. Will it be good for us meh maybe not maybe nothing much at all. Depends on our sun our weaking magnetic fields. So stop buying MSM climate bullshit they are trying to make money.
@@plaga9_ioc954 cause he was a great president like Trump is now. Why would you allow that to bother you. Get your leftist mental disorder under control.
Chris, your explanation is as artful and articulate as your playing. I’m a Page, Beck, Gibbons, Green (you didn’t cite him, but RIP) fan, and had never heard of top-wrapping. Thanks.
I think the effect is to lengthen the string under tension. That means the strings bend easier, because you have a string willing to stretch the same percentage, which is a larger distance since the string is "longer".
@@dragonpundit.6443 But the total string length is longer by the width of tail piece - so say another 12mm. When a string is bent it will stretch across its entire length from end to end. The angle will reduce friction and downward pressure on the bridge which will help with bends and prevent long term damage to the bridge and reduce string breakages.
@@philberry1981 That assumes the strings actually move across the bridge and nut under normal string bending. I believe there is more contact and less angle so it effects something, mostly fewer breaks but the idea your strings are always moving across the connection points after leaving the tuners or tailpiece, is suspect.
@@dragonpundit.6443 It’s not a lot of movement granted but that’s why they make nut juice etc to help stabilise tuning. Try plucking the string between the nut and tuner peg then bend the string and do the same - the pitch goes up - hence that section of string is now tighter and will have therefore moved fractionally.
I am surprised that Slash never used the top wrapping and his tailpiece is kept really hight to avoid an extreme angle.But still amazing sustain and tone.And he uses 11 48 half step down
I wonder how many of those early Les Paul players top wrapped simply because that's how the guitar was setup when they bought it and never thought about stringing up differently.
It makes more sense to me that resonance would be transferred to the body from the bridge not the tailpiece. I go through and raise the tailpiece just enough to prevent the strings leaning on the back of the bridge (nowhere near as high as in your picture) and hastening its ultimate sagging. Preventing bridge collapse seems the only good reason to do it.
It matters on electrics but accoustics more. Hard wood gonna be brighter softer wood darker. Use all the fancy names for the woods you want but it boils down to hard and soft dry and wet.
I have yet to see anyone, including professional studio guitarists, be able to tell from listening to and playing a Les Paul, whether or not it's top wrapped (blind test of course). I for sure can't, after 25 years of playing LPs. I would bet good money it's entirely a placebo thing for most people who claim they can tell, but do whatever makes you feel better of course.
In the early nineties I somewhere read an interview with a guitar tech, who said that players like Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Billy Gibbons originally did topwrap as a way to reduce chance of string breakage at the bridge. So maybe nothing about tone or playability, just about reliability...
I used to think I absolutely needed to screw down my stop tail until I started to experiment. My findings were, each guitar is different. As of now none of my LP’s are screwed down. I hate the tight feel. I top wrap and bring the tail up until I find the feel and tone that works best for me and the guitar. I prefer a shallow angle between the bridge and tail. Feels like playing a wrap around bridge. Like a jr. Coupling is important, but you have plenty of it from the string tension alone. Experiment, you may find something you like in between much better.
Thomas Jefferson true, he did buy his #1 from joe already shaved down, but when he bought his #2 1959 les Paul he had that one shaved down to match his #1
I'm deformed from years of playing a LP Custom three times week and most weekend nights. The thing was so heavy, my left shoulder is lower than the other AND my left arm is longer than the right. And I won't even talk about guitar nipple.
Nice breakdown. Either configuration does not appear to affect sustain considerably. I could see where tension could feel a bit lower. However, the one thing that people ALWAYS neglect to mention is that if your tension is lower when you bend, it just means that you have to bend FURTHER. Don't believe me? Try Silk & Steel strings on an acoustic. Those things are so slinky that you can bend the strings right off the fret board, but you'll only get about a half step bend when you do. What does this mean? Well as Joe B. put it, you get a little bit of buffering when you dig in. You won't bend your strings out of pitch too far if you hit them hard enough to deflect them. Also, you should see less sensitivity to detuning when it comes to the pressure that you apply to hold down the sting. On the other hand, your vibratos will require larger movements, which could be difficult if you like very fast vibratos. Finally, your bends will have to bend farther to hit the same note.
I m lucky to have 2 Les Paul’s, and from the factory the 2016 58’ True Historic was not top wrapped, but the Collectors Choice No8 “The Beast” was. So I continue stringing both exactly as Gibson intended and with the same gauge strings on both I cannot tell any discernible difference in string tension.
I'll be honest, the two Gibsons I own are the biggest pieces of shit I've ever bought. My ES-335 and Les Paul have hands down, easily the worst intonation I've ever had on any guitar. Sadly, they are also the most expensive. I also bought them as an adult and have treated them with far more care than my others. I'm massively unimpressed with this company and I'm just giving my honest opinion. Chris Buck can make any guitar sound good, doesn't mean the guitar itself is worth price they ask.
Ok sure worst thing you and I could to an LP but Jimmy can do whatever the hell he wants to one. He is Jimmy page and is infallible he is the wizard he is the greatest of all time he is our God and musical savior Jimmy Page. Ok onward
I tried it out of curiosity. There was definitely an increase in resonance throughout the guitar, just like a one piece wraparound bridge. Bends were a little easier too.
i have mine top wrapped too, and it could be true that it fells less resistent,easier to bend with elevens , even tens...cheers take care these awful days....
I’m shocked so many famous guitar players top wrapped and that I never noticed that they did.. Lol I think I’m gonna stick with my through method, I’m always sad when I see an old Les Paul from the 50s that was top wrapped and how messed up the tailpiece looks from the damage.
Loved this one buddy. I personally top wrap both my LP’s. Why? Its basically because i use heavy 11/52’ strings and top wrapping definitely makes it easier for me to play and bend these chunkier strings. It 100% works for me. Plus it looks cooler and more rocknroll ha ha
Longer strings require more tension to bring up to tune. Strats, with 25-1/2" scale feel different than Les Pauls with 24-3/4" scale length because of the difference in string tension. Short Scale bass guitars is were you really notice the lighter tension of 30" or 28-1/2" scale length compared to standard 34" length.
That is so. But here's the truth: the longer the length behind the nut or the bridge, the less tension there seems to be on the fretboard. So if you get a Fender Strat vibrato block that is longer than usual and holds a greater length of string, the instrument tuned at pitch has a less tight feel than if the length of the strings in the block were very short.
@@thomasspencer8157 That's more of a personal preference thing; not only did the guitar come to him that way, but that was done in the 60's.... The B bender addition was done in the 90's-2000's. Page even admitted the Lp deluxe was therefor ruined.
I'd played Les Paul's for around twenty years before I tried top wrapping for the first time this year (first week of 2020), and I can say it definitely does make a difference. I'd say it makes the guitar feel a little slinkier, and to my ears, gives it a slightly fuller tone. I was a little concerned that the stings could pop out of the saddles when I'm going for those Gilmouresque bends but, so far so good. Haven't done it on all my LP's yet but I think I probably will. Haven't tried the double ball end thing yet.
Before I replaced my Dean's arrangement with a Babicz Full Contact bridge, I was top-wrapping with the string run through a loose ball end and it was just fine that way. Now with the Babicz I run with the tailpiece elevated to produce a modest breakover angle at the saddles; I don't see any reason to just crush the bridge into the top of the guitar (the point of the Babicz is that it rests directly on the body).
@@hubbsllc yes I always cut the ball ends off an old set and run my strings through the ball end then the stopbar to top wrap. It keeps your string end backed off the break over the tail peice cause if you dont that break over the back can cut into or break the string where its wound around the ball and over itself. That's w weak place the bend the string so use a loose ball on the string to back that ballend up away from the breakover of the tail peice. Hope that makes sense.
That bit at 6:00 ish was pretty clever. I always knew the length of the string behind the nut/bridge made a difference, but never really thought to prove it the way you have.
Amazing to get the view out of that window - I had always imagined you were in a cottage deep in the Welsh countryside gazing out at the mountains. Magic playing as always! Pob hywl!
Another RU-vidr, Robert Baker, did a video on this where he discovered that when he top wrapped his les paul the strings actually had more tension, which corroborates Dylan Talks Tone's results. Baker tried to figure out why and through speaking with a friend of his he may have discovered that it simply doesn't work the same on every les paul. I believe it was the angle at which the neck joins the body that determines whether or not it increases or decreases string tension when you top wrap.
Hey Chris, off topic here but I felt compelled to tell you that I just ordered up a Yamaha RS502T (Bowden Green, of course!) SOLELY due to your influence...I had never heard of the guitar before I saw/heard you playing it on an outro to one of your vids and was immensely curious - and impressed...I think I saw another vid later where you went into more detail and that convinced me more than ever that I should own one... It's on back order, so I don't know when I'll get it but when I do I'll let you know...In the meantime you can tell the folks at Yamaha that at least one person out there bought one of their instruments after having fallen under the "Chris Buck effect"...Thanks man, I'm really excited to get it!!!... p.s...I don't top wrap my LP...
Top wrap the three smallest strings, don't do it to the wire wrapped Strings e - a - d. I am a Luthier, and the sharp angle on the strings from the Tailpiece can cause the smaller strings to break. By wrapping the strings obviously changes the angle to the bridge, eliminating that problem. With a ES335 I built I added an inch of space between the Tailpiece and the Bridge and that fixes the problem. So if Gibson changed the distance between the Tailpiece and Bridge the problem would go away.
7:30 The fact that top-wrapped strings produce more tension when bent to the same position also means that you don't NEED to bend the strings as much in order to produce the desired higher pitches, hence making it easier overall to play. All makes sense. A great video and playing, please keep it up!
No. In the video mentioned, Dylan compares how far you have to bend a string to reach a full step up. The top wrapped strings needed to be bent further with greater force to reach the same pitch. That were the findings of his video, i'd love for someone to repeat the test to see if it can be corroborated as the testing methodology could probably be improved. Certainly a fascinating question though, makes you wonder if there is also a difference between string through and top loader Tele's and stuff.
@@flakey414 yes. this is true. i top wrapped my les paul again and it's actually a bitch to play and i regret it. turns out it adds a lot more tension than i remembered.
Thank you for your nice guitar playing and your RU-vid episodes :) If we want to set the tailpiece down to the wood without spacers, the strings sometimes hit the back edge of the ABR bridge as the Gibson neck angle is "big" on some of the Les Paul's. May be the main reason "top wrapping" was done in the old days.
I think the term "tension" is misused here. The term "flexibility" is more appropriate. To have a particular gauge of string reach a particular pitch at a particular scale length - it MUST BE at a particular tension between the nut and bridge. Reducing the grip in the bridge peak and the nut frees up more length of string to be affected by stretching of notes. This gives more flex which SEEMS like less tension. Regarding increased sustain with more post contact: the less downward force on a bridge the less it transfers energy to the body, so the sustain benefit is a wash. Of course in the fog of war on stage none of this makes a nickel's difference! LOL!
I thought for sure you were going mention when Page shaved down the neck of his 59 Burst. When asked about it he replied "Well, it is still Jimmy Page's guitar isn't it?"
The fact there is more tension on strings when top wrapped makes sense to me because you would then need less bend to increase by a tone. This would then give the impression that it is easier to play as you would need to bend the string less to reach the desired pitch. I have a 57 historic gold top and 10 - 46 strings, and for me it is almost too easy to play especially compared to my Strat and Telecasters. No top wrap needed.
There's no string vibration on the tailpiece, the string note rings out from the nut to the bridge, so it wouldn't matter how far down the tail piece is screwed into the body, it wouldn't make a difference. The tension on the string is gonna be the same either way, because if there was less tension on the string behind the bridge, the string would be detuned. The only real difference is break angle, does that make an actual difference in tone and playability? 🤷♂️ Personally I think this is all hocus pocus snake oil.
You are absolutely correct, but I think the lesser break angle would help with preventing string breakages. It mayyyyy also make the strings feel ever so slightly slinkier? But it’s almost non existent. If you want slinkier feeling strings, just get thinner strings lmao
Hmmm, If what you said is true, then there is no string vibration above the nut either... so a headstock tuner shouldn't work. My Les Paul has a Bigsby tremolo so to test my theory I put a clip on tuner at the very end of the tremolo arm, which is basically a long extention of what would be the tailpiece and I was easily able to tune the guitar.
Thanks mate, awesome vid.... bought a Yamaha SL500 that had been top-wrapped by the previous owner and had wondered about the pros and cons. Love your work. 👍
@@DMSProduktions Jack Daniels,heroin & coke....actually made me play better.LOL. I've actually seen Jimmy & he was spot on all four times...fortunately.
Very interesting, Chris! I top wrap both my LP and my Collings I-35LC. The difference on that specific LP is... close to nothing both in tone and in feel. I admit I just do it for the fun and the look of it. BUT on the I-35 the difference is truly noticeable: the guitar comes factory set for 11-49s, that I found a bit heavy for my taste. Before goin' down to 10-46s, I tried to top wrap, and man...the new set of 11s felt like 10s. Went back and forth for a few times, and finally decided I'll top wrap her from now on. Tone, something changes, but it's hard to put the finger on it. Feel, depending on the guitar, may change substantially.
