# Fretwraps?



## noise in my mind (Sep 3, 2012)

Hey guys,

I have been using ducktape behind the nut for some time, but I still do get overtones every once in awhile (mostly on chugging ect. lol). I do two handed tapping sometimes, and I don't have any trouble at all with anything ringing out there. I have tried using scrunchies, but I don't like how they produce added tension to the strings. Fretwraps look cool, but at $30 I want to make sure they are worth it.


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## Lorcan Ward (Sep 3, 2012)

They are a bit of a novelty item but I like how easy they are to put on and that I can swap them around each guitar. As for muting behind the nut they work perfectly. For string muting you put them on lightly/loosely so there is only a slight bit more tension but each string is properly muted.


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## Wrecklyss (Sep 3, 2012)

I just cut a piece of felt and weave it between the strings. It works very well and cost under $3.


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## noise in my mind (Sep 3, 2012)

thanks guys! It seems that they only sell one size per 3 in a package, which kinda sucks cause I would like to have one for my 6,7, and 8. Does anyone know if the large size will work well with 6 strings?


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## Lorcan Ward (Sep 4, 2012)

noise in my mind said:


> thanks guys! It seems that they only sell one size per 3 in a package, which kinda sucks cause I would like to have one for my 6,7, and 8. Does anyone know if the large size will work well with 6 strings?



Yep they work for all 3 unless you 8 string has a massive neck.


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## Corrosion (Sep 6, 2012)

Just ordered a set of the large ones, after going to 10 places to find wristbands, which apparently no one other than dick's sells anymore. We will see when they get here.


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## noise in my mind (Sep 6, 2012)

^^ cool! let us know how they work!


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## Corrosion (Sep 10, 2012)

Ok, so the fretwraps came today. First off, speedy ship time for a free ship offer. I think if I paid shipping I probably wouldn't have ordered them, as it makes it closer to 15 a piece. The packaging was an envelope as I guessed. Imagine if you had a sweatband, cut it in half, and sewed it to a piece of velcro to wrap around. That's how simple this thing is. I'm not sure I'm a fan of the plastic loop, as it means unhooking before sliding to avoid potentially scratching the neck or headstock. They work as well as any other dampener, except for the fact that they are more stylish and slightly more durable. If you really don't want to look at a scrunchie or wristband, or want to easily remove it, buy a set, otherwise, stay with the current stuff, because it wont function any more efficiently. Just my take on this product.

Edit: The large fits my 4 string bass, 6 strings, 7 and 8.

9/11 update. After recording a few takes with them vs a wristband, I have determined that there is an audible difference between the 2, with the fretwraps being tighter. They also can be adjusted very easily to provide more or less dampening, which I don't think is possible with the ghetto dampeners. The tag also works as a pickholder, but I'm pretty sure that's an unintentional bonus. I was sort of disappointed at first glance, but after using them for a short while, I keep finding more things that i like about them. All in all, if you require a dampener, its 30$ well spent.


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## noise in my mind (Sep 12, 2012)

thanks for the review! I ordered and they should be coming soon!


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## Corrosion (Sep 12, 2012)

Like prolly on friday... actually, you're in ca so maybe even tomorrow. haha.


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## sear (Sep 12, 2012)

$30 for an adjustable velcro strap?

Yeah, I'll pass.


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## Corrosion (Sep 12, 2012)

Yea, but you get 3... I dunno, I'm not disappointed.


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## noise in my mind (Sep 13, 2012)

I just got mine today. I ordered the large pack and they fit my 6,7, and 8 strings perfect. I am really happy with my purchase! They keep from harmonics ringing out much better than tape and hairbands. I know $30 is kinda steep, but considering how long these will last and how well they work I think it's a fine investment.


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## LeAdEr (Sep 14, 2012)

Ive received some a few weeks ago. The wraps works really well


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## Holicx (Sep 14, 2012)

They are awesome, specially for recording!


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## Lives Once Abstract (Sep 14, 2012)

Corrosion said:


> After recording a few takes with them vs a wristband, I have determined that there is an audible difference between the 2, with the fretwraps being tighter. They also can be adjusted very easily to provide more or less dampening, which I don't think is possible with the ghetto dampeners.


 
me and my buddy found that the wristbands by themselves dont work well. if you put a wristband around the frets and a rubber band or two around that wristband they work EXCELLENT. it tightens the tension and mutes perfectly when sweeping for recording or double tapping and is easy to slide up and down the neck when playing live. also is a very good dampener when above the nut. plus no shippng


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## Corrosion (Sep 14, 2012)

I did the same thing on mine, but with a scrunchy instead of rubber bands. It didn't work as well as hoped. I bet the bands work really well tho, good advice man!


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## Lives Once Abstract (Sep 14, 2012)

Corrosion said:


> I did the same thing on mine, but with a scrunchy instead of rubber bands. It didn't work as well as hoped. I bet the bands work really well tho, good advice man!


 
i had seen lots of bands that i had played with live use wristbands that they slid from above the nut onto the fretboard for leads for a while. but when i tried it on my six. it wasnt tight at all and didnt mute anything. so i just stuck rubber bands around it and WALLAH! 

also ive seen people use wristbands and or some kind of elastic clothe that is thick and tighten it on the back of the neck with a saftey pin. it doesnt rub or wear on your neck at all and works well. but i will stick to rubber bands


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## guitarfan85 (Dec 13, 2014)

Does anybody think that using these is sort of cheating? I've never tried them and have been playing for many years. I do see how they can come in handy. Obviously they dampen the strings so they don't ring out when you don't want them to, but isn't that a technique that can and should be practiced without the wraps? Shouldn't we be able to keep the string-ringing to a minimum if we adapt our technique to do so?

On one hand I think they could be awesome. On the other hand, it seems like cheating. What do you guys think?


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## pushpull7 (Dec 14, 2014)

EDITED: wasn't trying to be that way, now for the review.....

First, if you think you need "size a" then get the next one up  I remember distinctly reading that for 6 string guitar and 5 string bass the small was good. I don't really agree especially for 5 string bass. I'd go a step up.

Second, that little plastic thing gets twisted and funky in a hurry. Maybe they have changed the design since I got mine? But I remember in other threads other's complaining about the same thing, so it's not "just me"  Also, I personally thing the "back" part is a little too wide......maybe even the whole thing??? It doesn't fit super great on all my guitars.

But, they are a pretty nice tool overall. The thing I like is that they absolutely work. They deaden the post-nut overtones and don't really pull at the strings too much (unless you really tighten it, which of course you just retune) For FR types, this isn't an issue obviously. I've got one right now on my strat and it works fine (can dive bomb, pull back, it's fine)

So, I think it's a reasonable alternative, but unless they have redesigned, there are a couple of minor issues to work past. Personally, I hate that ring


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## guitarfan85 (Dec 14, 2014)

Omg.

Anyways, anyone want to weigh in a non-condensending way?


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## Chi (Dec 14, 2014)

Massively overpriced. I just use foam-ish stuff I had left from a package, works just as well.


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## OWHall (Dec 14, 2014)

Not really worth it in my opinion. I managed to blag a free one just to try out and didn't think much of it. Definitely not worth the money they charge, no better than anything you could make yourself.
Plus I kind of feel like they encourage sloppy playing in some respects and I'm not sure I agree with that.
On the plus side they do look pretty cool and lots of top players use them so I get the appeal. Just be aware you're essentially paying for the image.
Long story short, they do the job and look cool but you could do the same thing for a fraction of the price.


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## Dusty Chalk (Dec 14, 2014)

guitarfan85 said:


> Does anybody think that using these is sort of cheating? I've never tried them and have been playing for many years. I do see how they can come in handy. Obviously they dampen the strings so they don't ring out when you don't want them to, but isn't that a technique that can and should be practiced without the wraps? Shouldn't we be able to keep the string-ringing to a minimum if we adapt our technique to do so?
> 
> On one hand I think they could be awesome. On the other hand, it seems like cheating. What do you guys think?


My NS/Stick has it built-in, so no, I don't think it's cheating.


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## WhoThenNow7 (Dec 14, 2014)

I'm seeing that the "large" wraps says it fits 7 and 8 string guitars.. Obviously I know they're big enough for a 6; but do they fit well, or are they too big for a 6? I too, have never had fret wraps, but I have been wanting to get some just to see how much of a difference they make. Of course, my ultimate goal is to not need fret wraps; but I think they would be great for recording.


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## Meddl (Dec 14, 2014)

i got some and they are really cool but i think they're not worth 30 Euros for a set of 3 here in Europe. If you just wanna dampen out overtones then get some foam, if you wanna get something you can use to provide cleaner-sounding tapping parts and fast solos you might get some tho!


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## pushpull7 (Dec 14, 2014)

guitarfan85 said:


> Omg.
> 
> Anyways, anyone want to weigh in a non-condensending way?



Sorry man, wasn't really trying to be. Was just shocked at the date. I think my review is pretty cool though, wasn't it?


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## Pav (Dec 14, 2014)

guitarfan85 said:


> Does anybody think that using these is sort of cheating? I've never tried them and have been playing for many years. I do see how they can come in handy. Obviously they dampen the strings so they don't ring out when you don't want them to, but isn't that a technique that can and should be practiced without the wraps? Shouldn't we be able to keep the string-ringing to a minimum if we adapt our technique to do so?
> 
> On one hand I think they could be awesome. On the other hand, it seems like cheating. What do you guys think?



I could write a whole freakin' essay on this topic.


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## possumkiller (Dec 14, 2014)

I just tie a sock around the neck and move it where it is needed...


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## chopeth (Dec 15, 2014)

Pav said:


> I could write a whole freakin' essay on this topic.



do eet then


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## pdbeaton87 (Dec 15, 2014)

Just purchased a pack of these last Friday, wasn't sure of what size to pick up so I purchased a 'sampler' pack from Gruv Gear. Can't wait to try 'em out!!


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## guitarfan85 (Dec 15, 2014)

Pav said:


> I could write a whole freakin' essay on this topic.



I got nothing but time my brother haha


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## russmuller (Dec 15, 2014)

guitarfan85 said:


> Does anybody think that using these is sort of cheating? I've never tried them and have been playing for many years. I do see how they can come in handy. Obviously they dampen the strings so they don't ring out when you don't want them to, but isn't that a technique that can and should be practiced without the wraps? Shouldn't we be able to keep the string-ringing to a minimum if we adapt our technique to do so?
> 
> On one hand I think they could be awesome. On the other hand, it seems like cheating. What do you guys think?



I've always thought of myself as an Ibanez guy, and my main guitars have LoPro's. I had to fight resonance in the springs on the back side, but with the locking nut I never had to deal with much resonance past the nut.

I just got a Carvin DC7X with a hipshot bridge, and holy cow is there a lot of audible ringing without something to dampen the strings on the headstock.

I was a little annoyed to see that you have to buy a 3-pack of the same color. I only really needed one, and if I had to get 3 I didn't want them in the same color. Oh well... I ordered the large black ones.

They are as as simple as you'd expect, but they feel like they're made of good quality materials. Made a night and day difference on the Carvin. While I think I paid too much (since I had to buy 3), I don't feel ripped off at all. Very functional. I'm a fan.

I haven't used it at all to mute while tapping, and the idea of moving it over the nut in the middle of a performance sounds like it can be awkward.


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## guitarfan85 (Dec 15, 2014)

So what's the consensus for a 6 string to get size small?


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## jovima69 (Dec 16, 2014)

Just picked one up. They have a sale going right now on "themed" wraps. If all black is a "theme", sign me up. For eight and change, plus free shipping, why not?


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## bouVIP (Dec 16, 2014)

guitarfan85 said:


> So what's the consensus for a 6 string to get size small?



get medium


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## chopeth (Dec 17, 2014)

russmuller said:


> I've always thought of myself as an Ibanez guy, and my main guitars have LoPro's. I had to fight resonance in the springs on the back side, but with the locking nut I never had to deal with much resonance past the nut.
> 
> I just got a Carvin DC7X with a hipshot bridge, and holy cow is there a lot of audible ringing without something to dampen the strings on the headstock.
> 
> I was a little annoyed to see that you have to buy a 3-pack of the same color. I only really needed one, and if I had to get 3 I didn't want them in the same color. Oh well... I ordered the large black ones.



So you just don't move the fretwrap from its base position and it dampens unwanted sounds in guitars without locking nut. Does this really work? Can you clearly tell the difference? Is it cheating anyway?


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## Hertz32 (Dec 17, 2014)

I use 2 loom bands bracelets for mine. I'll take photos later. I have a load of foam under the strings, under my TOM bridge and those things round the nut. I can have both off the fretboard, one on one off for a bit of damping, or both on the fretboard for some serious muting. 
I can even adjust the tension of them by adding or taking away bands, and they come in whatever colour or pattern you want. Bargain


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## TonyGD (Dec 23, 2014)

guitarfan85 said:


> So what's the consensus for a 6 string to get size small?



Small should be ok, I have a 6 string that small works on.Tried it on a different one and it fit properly, but there wasn't any space for it to sit correctly just because of the guitar's design (weird)...Apparently you can buy a size sampler (SM, MED, and LG in 1 pack) direct from them so perhaps try that out just to be safe?


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## guitarfan85 (Dec 23, 2014)

TonyGD said:


> Small should be ok, I have a 6 string that small works on.Tried it on a different one and it fit properly, but there wasn't any space for it to sit correctly just because of the guitar's design (weird)...Apparently you can buy a size sampler (SM, MED, and LG in 1 pack) direct from them so perhaps try that out just to be safe?



Thanks I may try that


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## Unleash The Fury (Jul 15, 2015)

heres a thought. If you definitley only need one fret wrap, you can just buy the expensive 3 pack, you can always sell the other ones for $10 each. you'll have your money back in no time.


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## FreakOfNature (Jul 16, 2015)

russmuller said:


> I just got a Carvin DC7X with a hipshot bridge, and holy cow is there a lot of audible ringing without something to dampen the strings on the headstock.



Yea I have 3 Carvin's and they're all the same way. The guitars are EXTREMELY resonant overall (Just play one without an amp at all and you'll hear the difference) and I consider that a good thing overall but yea, the behind the nut overtones are VERY pronounced.

I currently use foam under the strings like many others do. The downfall is I have to replace that foam every few months because eventually the strings just create a groove in the foam and it stops working as well.

As much as I HATE paying $30 for something that probably costs them a few buck to make, I'll probably end up ordering them for convenience sake. Seems like a lot for such a simple item but really, as long as you take care of them they'll last a VERY long time making them a decent investment regardless.


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## OmegaSlayer (Jul 16, 2015)

How do they work with open strings?


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## crystallake (Jul 16, 2015)

Unleash The Fury said:


> heres a thought. If you definitley only need one fret wrap, you can just buy the expensive 3 pack, you can always sell the other ones for $10 each. you'll have your money back in no time.



That's what I did. I put them on eBay for $10 + $2 shipping. Both sold in 24 hours.


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## Unleash The Fury (Jul 16, 2015)

Yes I was wondering also how they work with open strings? Like open chords and such. Are they supposed to be placed before or after the nut? Halfway?


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## bzhan1 (Jul 17, 2015)

Such a scam, probably $1 worth of materials in that thing, but they work better than anything you can make in your bedroom so not much of a choice here.


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## vividox (Jul 17, 2015)

You can order them in a one pack...

Small
Medium
Large

Also, when I bought mine a few weeks ago there was a promotion where I got 50% off, so it was only $5.50. Doesn't look like that's running anymore, though. :/


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## Unleash The Fury (Jul 19, 2015)

what if you want three small ones? (No homo)


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## Humbuck (Jul 19, 2015)

I use a little bit of foam, felt or rubber tubing stuck under the post nut strings, or just a rubber band...the small wide kind that comes on bunches of broccoli from my local veg market. A little bit of fitting and things are silent with no tuning issues.

I like mine to be as unobtrusive as possible. I hate the way the big commercial ones look and would absolutely never pay for one...esp what people are paying for them.


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## XMetalcheFX (Sep 27, 2015)

For those saying this is "cheating" or bad technique, do tell me something....

How should I adjust my playing to not have excess ringing coming from my headstock area when I am trying to get a tight high gain rhythm track recorded?

This us a tool. You either buy one to see what it's all about, or you say you don't see the need. I'd buy this before I buy an electric peg winder...

I love mine. I would agree to get the large set tho. Sm and Md seem too iffy size wise. I got a single small oNE and didn't like how it fit my guitar neck. I went with larges and they are awesome.

Great to dampen the ringing behind the nut ( I tune to drop b and use 60-12 strings so alot of metal on my headstock).

I am recording deMos right now and I gotta say it is retarded how much time I am saving not having to compensate tracks for excess ring and not having to tape strings for tapping passages or for divebombs.

There are dozens of home remedies you could do, but I am satisfied. They look pro as hell, are a good convo poece, and there are worse all gimmick products you can by for guitar that are far more expensive.

I reccomend them to anyone.


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## XMetalcheFX (Sep 27, 2015)

Unleash The Fury said:


> Yes I was wondering also how they work with open strings? Like open chords and such. Are they supposed to be placed before or after the nut? Halfway?



Most of us place them behind the nut to dampen string noise at the headstock to prevent overtones when recording.

You slide it on top of the nut and make it just tight enough to stay on in order to dampen open strings. Which is helpful for machine gun riffing and not allowing the vibration of the guitar to resonate the unplayed strings.

Then you tighten it slightly after the nut to tatally mute strings, which allows you to do tapping and divebombs very clean for recording purposes. Total lifesaver.

I only use them live to prevent overtones behind the nut. The only other time I use them is to prevent excess string vibration when recording. Which makes a difference.

I got em cause I hated how foam looked and hair scrunched don't really work. I use them as a recording tool and limited live. When I record riff ideas and song ideas it's too easy to get anal about stupid crap like an excess ring on a take. If 10 bucks saves me 10 hours of eliminating a problem that I'll spend time fixing, worth it for me.

I don't know of anyone that uses these live to help play cleanly for tapping and all that. That's where this "cheating" malarkey comes from.

Meshuggah use a device like this. Not sure if it's a gruv gear, but same apparatus. I don't think they cheat.


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## Unleash The Fury (Sep 27, 2015)

So when strings are ringing, it's coming from behind the nut? Why is that? My strings ring out and I put a hair scrunchee behind the nut and it did nothing. I put it a little closer to the fretboard and it stopped the ringing but it muffled the strings.

How can you play open strings or chords woth open notes without it muffling the notes?


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## Kobalt (Sep 27, 2015)

Unleash The Fury said:


> So when strings are ringing, it's coming from behind the nut? Why is that? My strings ring out and I put a hair scrunchee behind the nut and it did nothing. I put it a little closer to the fretboard and it stopped the ringing but it muffled the strings.
> 
> How can you play open strings or chords woth open notes without it muffling the notes?


The ringing he is referring to are metallic overtones you can hear very faintly behind your playing (I'd guess mainly when palm muting, at least that's where mine were going ape ....). Try this, pick the strings behind the nut (or behind a tune-o-matic if you have one), that's the ringing he is referring to that the majority of us use fretwraps to get rid of. 

If your strings ring out, that is due to hand technique; not properly muting open strings. Fretwraps aren't designed for this except in specific situations where you indeed don't need any open strings: solos, tapping, chords, etc...


They look nice and are useful, but for the price I expected a little better quality. I've had to reverse one of them for it to work better on the wound strings.

Here's how mine sit.







Also, here's a nice video demo of it.


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## Lorcan Ward (Sep 27, 2015)

KingVee said:


> Also, here's a nice video demo of it.
> [/MEDIA]



I do a lot of transcribing and you can hear that noise on so many albums. Its crazy that muting your headstock is only becoming the norm in recent years.


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## Unleash The Fury (Sep 27, 2015)

KingVee said:


> The ringing he is referring to are metallic overtones you can hear very faintly behind your playing (I'd guess mainly when palm muting, at least that's where mine were going ape ....). Try this, pick the strings behind the nut (or behind a tune-o-matic if you have one), that's the ringing he is referring to that the majority of us use fretwraps to get rid of.
> 
> If your strings ring out, that is due to hand technique; not properly muting open strings. Fretwraps aren't designed for this except in specific situations where you indeed don't need any open strings: solos, tapping, chords, etc...
> 
> ...




Ah ok, I think I got it now. But yet, I have a different problem. I can stop all my strings from ringing. Then play a power chord on the lowest strings without touching any other strings, and my B string rings out. Constantly. like I said I won't even touch it and it will ring out on anything I play and it's hard to always palm mute that string in all different situations. I don't know if it's the pickup height or whatever, but the B stays ringing


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## XMetalcheFX (Sep 27, 2015)

KingVee said:


> The ringing he is referring to are metallic overtones you can hear very faintly behind your playing (I'd guess mainly when palm muting, at least that's where mine were going ape ....). Try this, pick the strings behind the nut (or behind a tune-o-matic if you have one), that's the ringing he is referring to that the majority of us use fretwraps to get rid of.
> 
> If your strings ring out, that is due to hand technique; not properly muting open strings. Fretwraps aren't designed for this except in specific situations where you indeed don't need any open strings: solos, tapping, chords, etc...



Exactly. Thank you for clarifying. I use it for the exact same things.

When your doing high gain palm muting in the studio, that ring under close monitoring is the devil. It's like pick chirping. Once your tuned into it it will drive you crazy.


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## XMetalcheFX (Sep 27, 2015)

Unleash The Fury said:


> Ah ok, I think I got it now. But yet, I have a different problem. I can stop all my strings from ringing. Then play a power chord on the lowest strings without touching any other strings, and my B string rings out. Constantly. like I said I won't even touch it and it will ring out on anything I play and it's hard to always palm mute that string in all different situations. I don't know if it's the pickup height or whatever, but the B stays ringing



What's your tuning so I can make sure you mean the 5th string on your guitar.

Is the ZTRING sounding, or is it a buzz/rattle. If your playing g a B power chord with gain, but hear the b string ringing Lear that's odd.

What's your vuitar, what kind of bridge and what tuning?


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## Unleash The Fury (Sep 27, 2015)

Well I have two noisy guitars but the one I'm refering to is my gibson les paul special with .013 to - .065 strings tune to standard B/drop A. But it is the second highest string, the B string in Standard E tuning. The bridge pickup, the noisy one, is a DiMarzio dominion. And I just lowered the pickup height but that didn't help

It happens on all of my amps I have a Peavey VK100, a 6505+ and a Peavey vyper2.

I dont know if its ringing or feedback or both. But it sounds similar feedback to that if you were standing next to a loud amp without a noise gate and you take your hands of the strings. I just was playing now and it's always ringing like a high pitched "ring" or "ping". Even if I'm quite muffling a note on the lowest string. Pluck. Stop. Pluck. Stop.......whenever I pluck, the B string rings out. 

And while it's ringing, I can Take my fretting hand off the board and just touch the B string to stop it from ringing and it's always the only one ringing.

It's a high pitched feedback type ringing. 

I also have a prs se soapbar p90 equipped guitar that's even noisier. But I think it's just the p90 pickups are noisy natural, which is also annoying because it's noisy when I mute the strings. 

Mind you I have my decimator pedal on the while time. If I shut if off, it's so much worse


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## Ordacleaphobia (Sep 28, 2015)

Just figured I'd drop this here since people weren't pleased with how the Gruv wraps were priced, a couple weeks back Rondo sent me an email and they've got their own now. 
Link since they're hard to find.

Being able to buy just one is nice, I might give 'em a shot.


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## Unleash The Fury (Sep 28, 2015)

Ordacleaphobia said:


> Just figured I'd drop this here since people weren't pleased with how the Gruv wraps were priced, a couple weeks back Rondo sent me an email and they've got their own now.
> Link since they're hard to find.
> 
> Being able to buy just one is nice, I might give 'em a shot.



Those look silly. Even the 8 string one in the pictures look too big for the 8, theres alot of extra slack hanging off. Can't imagine how much slack there would be on a 6. But it's cool that you can buy just one.


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## gfactor (Sep 28, 2015)

I use schruncies, make sure to get to get the kind with lots of extra fabric, not just regular headband. The fabric handles the muting without having to have it tight on the strings.


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## Low Baller (Oct 5, 2015)

I just tie the sleeve of a kind sleeved shirt or hoodie around the nut and it works great.


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## XMetalcheFX (Jan 30, 2016)

Low Baller said:


> I just tie the sleeve of a kind sleeved shirt or hoodie around the nut and it works great.



Only Kind Sleeves?

What about the not so approachable ones? Gotta give them a home too!!!!


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## Unleash The Fury (Jan 30, 2016)

I just bought two fret wraps for both of my agile Sept or 627 guitars size medium and I love them.


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