Bonamassa Gibson tip

[MrDINO]

Just reading how Joe Bonamasa takes his strings around the wrap around to allow lesser angle on strings to meet bridge. For bigger strings. I haven’t tried this. Has anyone tried this and noticed any sort of difference? Be interested to know

[AiRdAd]

Just reading how Joe Bonamasa takes his strings around the wrap around to allow lesser angle on strings to meet bridge. For bigger strings. I haven’t tried this. Has anyone tried this and noticed any sort of difference? Be interested to know

He copied that technique off BG!

[MrDINO]

And Jimmy Page.

[Molly]

Just reading how Joe Bonamasa takes his strings around the wrap around to allow lesser angle on strings to meet bridge. For bigger strings. I haven’t tried this. Has anyone tried this and noticed any sort of difference? Be interested to know

I've tried it. Supposed to make 11s feel like 10s or something. To me it's counter-intuitive. If you increase the length of a string then in order to achieve the same pitch it must need to be tighter. The overall length must matter and not just the scale length. Despite that, I do think they felt a little looser when top-wrapped.

[Scooter13]

You mean top wrapping? There's a noticable difference. Easy to change your setup to see the difference.
The main idea is that you don't get the strings touching the steel behind the saddles while having your tailpeice screwed right down. The tailpiece being fully connected to the body translates to more sustain and sometimes more bottom end. You'll also notice less tension on the strings.
My R7 has the tailpeice screwed right down but the strings still dont touch the bridge without wraparound. I prefer the tighter sound of that for the style of music I play, but if I was more of a blues guy I'd probably go back to top wrap.
Jimmy P did it for a while but switched back to regular string through.

[MrDINO]

I noticed the R4 Oxblood gets a clearer snap with the absence of a bridge but the wrap is way closer

[Molly]

I noticed the R4 Oxblood gets a clearer snap with the absence of a bridge but the wrap is way closer

Did you buy that R4 in the end then? Well done that man!

[jeremyb]

I noticed a difference when I did it, strings felt like I'd gone down almost a gauge, didn't like that so much, but being able to wind the stop piece right down to the body is good for sustain!

[Lyle]

I did it on mine originally to stop the strings hitting the back of the bridge. I think the strings feel a bit looser but it could just be imagining it.

[Single coil]

Less tension, somehow. Sloppier feel.


But some folks are into that.

[MrDINO]

I noticed the R4 Oxblood gets a clearer snap with the absence of a bridge but the wrap is way closer

Did you buy that R4 in the end then? Well done that man!

Na I’d need to sell something first. I’ve just listened to a swag of clips. Really like that snappy Gib sound.

[GrantB]

All the rage since 1956!

[Bg]

yeah and I wasn't even born then

[MrDINO]

There seems to be good feedback on this. Seems I’ve been behind the 8 ball. I’ll try next time I change the strings

[Dharmajester]

Top wrapping certainly takes some of the tension out of the strings as noted by many of the above posts however to my ears it takes some of the spring out of the tone. I think this is a result of the decrease in break angles over the tuneomatic bridge making for less pressure and contact with the strings so less transference. It's a subtle difference. But I'm sure if you were playing nightly through two cranked high powered Twins you wouldn't give a toss

Wraptail bridges being both bridge and tailpiece are a whole other ball game.