If you’re into your guitar online forums, you’ll have certainly seen a dispute or 3 on the advantages of ‘leading covering’ your Les Paul’s stud or stop tailpiece over sticking with the basic string-through approach. Does it actually make any distinction?
Well, lots of individuals have strong viewpoints on both techniques. While the string-through technique is without a doubt the most typical, author Robb Lawrence in The Early Years Of The Les Paul Legacy: 1915-1963 states that “initially these products [the stud or stop tailpiece] were illustrated in the brochures and delivered typically with the strings over the top of the tailpiece (the method it was developed).”
Precisely when the stringing approach altered I have no concept, however in The Beauty Of The ‘Burst by Yasuhiko Iwanade, of the 80-something ‘Bursts imagined just 2 are leading covered– among which is Billy F Gibbons’ ‘Pearly Gates’.
With the stud tailpiece screwed right down onto the body, which lots of people think to increase string-to-body vibration, the string angle of the string-through approach is at its steepest.
If the tune-o-matic sits rather high (neck angles do differ), particularly if your guitar has a broader Nashville-style tune-o-matic, the electrical guitar strings may capture on the back edge of the bridge, which looks a bit messy and might trigger some tuning issues, not least on the injury strings. Consequently, you may then wish to raise the stud tailpiece a little.
When you top-wrap the tailpiece with it still screwed completely down, the back-angle of the strings is lowered, so it’s less steep. If you palm-mute a lot, you may discover this partially more comfy and, in theory, there may be a minor distinction in the viewed feel of the strings: high, stiffer; less high, slacker.
In time you’ll mark the top of the tailpiece, too, which might be an issue if you wish to return to the string-through approach or offer on your guitar.
Chris Peace of UK-based Lightning Guitars has actually sort of integrated the 2 techniques with his Lightning Stop Bar, a perfectly CNC machined, light-weight aluminium stud tailpiece, which at 32 grams is in fact 4 grams lighter than the Gibson tailpiece it changed. It’s created for strings-through however angles the string holes up, so the strings leave much greater on the tailpiece.
This indicates you get that less high angle of the top-wrapping technique, however the tailpiece can still be screwed down hard to the body. Unlike the Gibson part, and the majority of others, the string holes aren’t radiused.
“The Lightning Stop Bar has all the advantages of leading covering without the damage or visual problems,” states the site. “The Lightning Stop Bar can be placed as low as it can go. Your typical gauge strings will feel lighter and much easier to play and are a lot less most likely to break, and going up to a much heavier gauge string set will feel about a gauge lighter, too.”
Chris likewise informs us the Stop Bar need to fit any guitar. “I get asked that a lot: does the tailpiece fit on Epiphones? I’ve developed it to fit whatever. Put it by doing this, I have not discovered one yet that it does not fit.”
Fitted onto a Gibson Les Paul Timeless, any ‘lighter’ and ‘much easier’ to play assessments are at finest tough– not least with brand-new strings– however the geometry of those exit holes is definitely putting less back-angle on the strings and it’s one of those ‘why didn’t I think about this?’ minutes. It ain’t vintage-spec, however it’s extremely cool.
- The Lightning Stop Bar expenses ₤ 59.99 in brilliant nickel or chrome; pre‑worn nickel variation is ₤ 64.99. Gold and chrome are priced at ₤ 62.99. Learn more at Lightning Guitars
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