Chords for Why top wrap strings on Les Paul and SG tailpieces?

Hey there fellow guitar geeks guitar guts back with a discussion of top wrapping your strings on SG and Les Paul guitars
You can see on the one I have in frame right now.
I've top wrapped my strings
Which was not the way I think that Gibson intended for that tailpiece to be used
When they invented it, I think rather they meant for it to be used
like the one on this Les Paul with the strings going in from the back and
_ Then heading out the front of the tailpiece _
Angled up toward the bridge here, _ but on this SG
I've installed the strings backwards on purpose and brought them up around the back of the tailpiece and wrapped them across the top
now this does
_ Create some scratching on the finish on your tailpiece.
So if you're a stickler about looks
You might not want to do this because it can mar the finish
It'll it will you know scratch the chrome or the nickel plating on on your tailpiece
But I do it for several reasons
I'm a little more of a fan of function rather than form
And I've always thought that having that tailpiece secured down tight as close to the body as you can get it
prevents the possibility of both rattle
which you can get if parts are loose and
_ Play if these bolts are
Up as far as you can get them out of the guitar body
That gives you a little more of a possibility that there's a little bit of play a little bit of wiggle
To that bolt in its socket and any wiggle in the guitar while you're playing it can produce tuning problems
So I like to have that as tight down as I can get it on the guitar
_ _ and
There's a reason for top wrapping beyond
_ _ the beyond the look and beyond the rattle and
That is that the angle of the string coming across the bridge and heading down toward the [Eb] tailpiece right here
Can a flat affect the playability of the string itself if you have that string at a great angle?
Let's see if I can get this turned up where you can see it
If you have that string coming at too steep of an angle it can make for a stiffer feeling
Guitar [F] when you play it if you have it coming down at too shallow of an angle
It can make for fret buzz
Well something that sounds like fret buzz to you, but it's actually the buzz behind the saddle there
_ so having at the perfect angle is what you're shooting for and sometimes you can achieve that by top wrapping that
_ tailpiece
Now coming over to my Les Paul guitar.
I had trouble doing that.
I had tell I had
wrapped the tailpiece
For four years and you might be able to see I don't know if you can or not
But you might be able to see some scratching from where I used to have my strings top wrapped on that one
_ But I got sick of the retainer spring rattle on this particular Les Paul
It's not always a problem
But sometimes it is let me take you back over to the SG and I'll show you what I'm talking about
_ If you can see right on the front of the bridge here, there's a little retaining wire
I don't know if you can see that or not
But there's a little retaining wire that goes across those screws and that's kind of a traditional way to make those things
But that little retaining wire is a really thin piece of wire and it can get rattly if it's not on there tight enough
And that was the case [Eb] with this Les Paul.
So I replaced the bridge with this
_ _ Replacement bridge for Les Paul's
So I put that on there and this bridge has a little bit more intonation adjustment, which I like
It's a little bit wider, but it was also a little bit shorter.
It didn't have the thickness that the original bridge had
_ _ And that caused the strings here to be a little bit lower and when I tried to top wrap the bridge
Or sorry top wrap the tailpiece like I usually did it created [N] an angle that was too high and
it created a little bit of string buzz because the angle wasn't steep enough behind the bridge here behind the saddles and
It let them buzz in their slots just a little bit
So I had to stop top wrapping this one and you can see what that causes
I've got that bridge _ up
Pretty far away from the body there, which I don't like, you know
That's not my favorite way to have one set up
But it's the best way to set this guitar [F] up and [N] I'd rather go with what works for this one than to try to do something that's
_ What I like for some other guitar in the back back here.
I've got a
Another Gibson SG and it's not top-rathe either for a couple of reasons
Number one, it's a Gibson SG and the other two are Epiphone guitars
So I'm a little more hesitant to top wrap this one because it's gonna ruin the tailpiece here
And if I ever wanted to sell it, that would be you know, it would detract a little bit from the look of the guitar _
but also I
Thought about it, but then I noticed
That this tailpiece is a lot taller.
I don't know if you can tell that from the video
I'll take you back to the Les Paul in a second
But this tailpiece is a lot taller than the one on either of my other guitars
It's got a very sharp little hump to it right here in the center and it looks really nice
But I think if you try to top wrap that
The strings are going to be up too tall
Even with the bridge screwed all the way down
They may be up too tall and create too shallow of an angle going over the bridge here and could create some string buzz
So I still have that one set up like normal _ now
_ And let me show you before I go back to something else here that this
_ Tailpiece is flatter.
It doesn't have that big hump on top like the Gibson SG did it's a lot flatter here
So you can top wrap those unless unless you've done something to other components that throws off that
Angle ratio.
So let me take you over here and explain why I think
Top wrap makes for a more playable guitar because I think this this is why a lot of people
Have their guitars set up that way.
I've got a tube of cardboard set up here.
Let me get this SG out of the way _
I've got a tube of cardboard set up here that I'm gonna say is
Representative of either the guitar nut or in this case what we're talking about is the guitar saddle
_ _ And if we're looking at guitar string _ on the bridge coming across the guitar saddle
_ _ If the angle stayed as it was coming from the guitar
Then _ _ the string wouldn't be tight enough into the saddle to prevent rattling
So you have to have a little bit of an angle over the top of the saddle
But it depends on how much angle you give it over the top of the saddle as to how much of that string surface is
Hitting the saddle if you don't have it at too steep of an angle
You've got a little bit of the string surface hitting the saddle _ in order to hold it in there secure and prevent rattle
But there's not enough of the surface to prevent it from moving a little bit in the saddle slot
Having just a little bit of play to it.
And I think that makes for a slinkier
easier playing string if you increase the angle behind the nut
Then you're getting more and more of the surface of that string in contact with the saddle
Which makes the string stiffer because it's not going to move much and it makes for a much stiffer
Harder feeling string when you play the guitar
So there is a reason to top wrap beyond just aesthetics you're trying to prevent rattle
It actually affects the playability of the guitar and that's why I prefer it over the normal setup of those tail pieces
Well, that's what I've got to say about it.
If you've got other opinions or have other experience
Please tell us in the comment section below and be sure to LIKE our videos.
We'll be back pretty soon with another topic