KVR Audio

mumpcake · Post by **mumpcake** » Wed Jul 27, 2022 9:17 pm

I have been noticing on a lot of guitar demos lately people have been wrapping cloth around the neck of their guitars just above the nut. One example is in the video below. A lot of them look like the scrunchies girls use to keep their hair in ponytails.

Is there any purpose to this?

nix808 · Post by **nix808** » Wed Jul 27, 2022 9:37 pm

yah,
sometimes they go under the the first fret space,
between the nut and first fret.
used to dampen the strings when open,
it stops mistakes

I use some cable velcro on my bass to play Roland SYB pedal, synth bass

tapper mike · Post by **tapper mike** » Thu Jul 28, 2022 3:24 am

I use a "Felt capo on the first fret.

There are a lot of tapping scenarios which require it.

Back in the 50's and 60's many jazz guitarists such as herb ellis would use string dampeners. Jennifer Batten had her own line of them for years

rp314 · Post by **rp314** » Thu Jul 28, 2022 9:00 pm

I have no experience with this but there is some information at this webpage regarding their use in the old days that might be of interest.

http://www.scottymoore.net/dampers.html

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Thu Jul 28, 2022 10:20 pm

mumpcake wrote: Wed Jul 27, 2022 9:17 pm I have been noticing on a lot of guitar demos lately people have been wrapping cloth around the neck of their guitars just above the nut. One example is in the video below. A lot of them look like the scrunchies girls use to keep their hair in ponytails.

Is there any purpose to this?

deadens open strings. slide uses it or similar, if you're too lazy to use your finger

Mr Arkadin · Post by **Mr Arkadin** » Thu Jul 28, 2022 10:57 pm

I believe what this is for is damping any noise generated by the strings from the nut to the machines, especially at high gain, not about damping the playable strings.

I use these more aesthetically pleasing (but pricey) versions, rather than a scrunchy:

http://tesla-pickups.com/shop/item.php? ... kattempt=1

P.S. In researching this reply I found out the difference between dampening and damping. We definitely should be talking about damping, unless you like to soak your guitars.

Winstontaneous · Post by **Winstontaneous** » Fri Jul 29, 2022 4:54 am

Aside from the above-mentioned applications, they are apparently useful for inspiring conversations on music forums.

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Fri Jul 29, 2022 4:58 am

… or when you need to convert your mullet into a man bun

GVTS · Post by **GVTS** » Sat Oct 22, 2022 11:40 pm

It mutes unwanted noise from the strings past the nut caused by vibrations. Muting them particularly becomes a benefit with hi gain amps and low tunings. I use a velcro cable organizer. The kind you'd use to keep 1/4" instrument cables together. Just wrap it around the strings and velcro it to itself. Super low profile.

"Scrunchies" on guitar necks?