# What's with the hair tie on nuts?



## leechmasterargentina (Jan 2, 2013)

Since I got to this forum, I've seen a good amount of NGD pictures as well as people showing their guitar colection. In many cases, I saw they've installed hair ties in the nut of their guitars. Guess it might sound noobish, but other than cutting resonance from strings attached to the tuners, I don't see any other reason. I don't see a need when there's a locking nut, and my guitars have floyd rose except the acoustic one. 

Can someone enlighten me please?


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## WaffleTheEpic (Jan 2, 2013)

Prevents extra string noise past your nut. Some people do it with Tune-O-Matic bridges as well.

I don't do it, seeing as I've never had a problem with string noise, but I dunno. Maybe if I did it I'd start hearing the lack of noise or whatever


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## Hollowway (Jan 2, 2013)

Ohhhh, you perverts and the pony ties on your nuts make me SICK! Don't put those things on too tight, either. My uncle Jimmy wound up at the hospital!


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## Captain Butterscotch (Jan 2, 2013)

WaffleTheEpic said:


> Prevents extra string noise past your nut. Some people do it with Tune-O-Matic bridges as well.
> 
> I don't do it, seeing as I've never had a problem with string noise, but I dunno. Maybe if I did it I'd start hearing the lack of noise or whatever



You might if you tried. 

All wrapping the strings does is kill off the sympathetic vibrations and makes that disgusting high pitched noise go away after start/stop breakdown type things. I remember before I started to wrap velcro on my strings past the nut, I could never get my noise gate to get rid of the ringing noise after I palm muted. I was learning Open Arms to Damnation by BoO and that breakdown was making me so mad because I could never get the ringing to go away. After I tried it, I noticed that the ringing had gone away and I could turn my gate waaaay down. It's definitely one of those things that you notice or don't.


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## WaffleTheEpic (Jan 2, 2013)

Hollowway said:


> Ohhhh, you perverts and the pony ties on your nuts make me SICK! Don't put those things on too tight, either. My uncle Jimmy wound up at the hospital!



I was actually gonna say something about that 

"well... it keeps my nuts from getting in the way when I... pee"


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## leechmasterargentina (Jan 2, 2013)

WaffleTheEpic said:


> I was actually gonna say something about that
> 
> "well... it keeps my nuts from getting in the way when I... pee"




Hahaaaaaaa!


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## JosephAOI (Jan 3, 2013)

I use a sock but same difference, right?

I use it to prevent string noise but also for tapping stuff, I'll pull it down onto the fretboard like Luke from PTH does.


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## WaffleTheEpic (Jan 3, 2013)

JosephAOI said:


> I use a sock but same difference, right?
> 
> I use it to prevent string noise but also for tapping stuff, I'll pull it down onto the fretboard like Luke from PTH does.



Hopefully not a used sock...


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## noUser01 (Jan 3, 2013)

I only use one on my 7-string, simply because my hands aren't big enough to be soloing up high and muting my low A at the same time. 

I don't consider using one when playing "cheating" - at least when others use it - I just don't use one because I would feel like _I personally_ am cheating myself.


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## Scordare (Jan 3, 2013)

Now we're putting socks on our nuts??  ... 

But seriously... A hair tie or other dampening device can also be used, on the playing side of the nut, to dampen or prevent open string noise to help legato and tapping styles.


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## Sunyata (Jan 3, 2013)

I just keep it on the first fret, close to the nut to keep lead stuff cleaner sounding. Also I feel like I see discussions about hair ties everywhere all the time...strange that it fascinates people so much...


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## JosephAOI (Jan 3, 2013)

Scordare said:


> Now we're putting socks on our nuts??  ...


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## DespoticOrder (Jan 3, 2013)

Its so when people ask, I can tell them its my girlfriend's hairband. Then I'm not a loser who spends way too much time on a hobby... I'm a guitarist with a girlfriend! Woo! ... and I'm also a liar


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## Vicious7 (Jan 3, 2013)

I always thought it was cheating, because the only person I'd seen do it was Michael Angelo Batio and thought, "pffffft", but I think he uses his in front of his nuts (rimshot), as opposed to behind, for string dampening as opposed to...uh...shimmering feedback...


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## DespoticOrder (Jan 3, 2013)

Vicious7 said:


> I always thought it was cheating, because the only person I'd seen do it was Michael Angelo Batio and thought, "pffffft", but I think he uses his in front of his nuts (rimshot), as opposed to behind, for string dampening as opposed to...uh...shimmering feedback...


 
Andy James gets alot of shit for using one! But he's a bad ass, so its okay in my book. He does talk about how he doesn't use it live to show people that he can play without one. He just wants his videos and whatever to be a little more neat. Sounds fair enough


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## leechmasterargentina (Jan 3, 2013)

I'm not a great soloist but I've always got used to be precise when making solos. As far as shimmering feedback or resonance from the strings attached to the tuners, I hardly see they can pass the locking nut; or at least I never heard noise from that part of the guitar. On the other hand, I think I've heard those kind of resonances from my acoustic guitar, so probably that one could use a hair tie.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I think it's cheating, in fact, the excuse of having it to say it's your girlfriend's tie is way better hahah. Last shows I played having long hair, I had a hair tie in my wrist, not because I was going to use it in the middle of the stage, but because it looked cooler on my wrist while playing the guitar. Sadly I couldn't use it in my right hand cause it could interfere with palm muting sections, but it looked good on the fretting hand.


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## JosephAOI (Jan 3, 2013)

If Guthrie Govan does it, it's not cheating.


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## Randy (Jan 3, 2013)

Using a hair-tie was a REALLY useful tool in actually _helping_ with my accuracy and 'excess noise' reduction.

When you're playing fast or just leads that have a lot of moving around, sometimes it's hard to pinpoint where the extra noise is coming from. If you know where the noise is coming from, you can figure out what adjustments you need to make. If you pick a wrong note, hair tie or not, you'll hear it. If you A/B using the hair tie and not, and you notice a dramatic reduction in noise when you're using it, then your noise is likely due to your fretting hand or just sympathetic vibrations (which are best eliminated by your fretting hand).

Aside from that, they're obviously useful for recording. We don't need to get into the discussion about "studio magic" but, IMO, anything that gets a take done cleanly when you're recording for the 10th hour, at 3am, is a welcome tool. If it's still you playing the guitar, nothing tells me it's out of bounds.

There are some guitar techniques that are just near impossible without some kind of mute. Eight finger tapping at speed, even if you're a master, _will_ make unwanted noise if you don't use one. Particularly if you're using your high gain channel.

Lastly, even if you never use it down on your fretboat, a hair tie above the nut cuts down on minor sympathetic string noise between the nut and tuners. Another thing that's vital when you're recording.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jan 3, 2013)

This OP was talking about muting excess string noise at the headstock, not string dampeners. BIG difference between the two.



WaffleTheEpic said:


> Prevents extra string noise past your nut. Some people do it with Tune-O-Matic bridges as well.
> 
> I don't do it, seeing as I've never had a problem with string noise, but I dunno. Maybe if I did it I'd start hearing the lack of noise or whatever



Once you hear you will never be able to play a guitar without muting the strings and floyd springs again 

Slam your open strings with your pick and immediately mute with your fretting hand. That bright chime noise is the strings vibrating up at the headstock or between the Tom Bridge and Body if you have one. Now do that again but mute the headstock at the same time and you'll notice the noise is gone.

It can also be the floyd rose springs which gets picked up by your pickups.


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## Randyrhoads123 (Jan 3, 2013)

I put one behind the nut of my tune-o-matic guitar because when I play really staccato chords, there's extra ringing behind the nut. The hair tie mutes that. I used to have one behind the bridge itself as well, but the last time I changed strings I just left it off and it seems fine. On my new guitar with a Floyd, I had to put cloth into the spring cavity to mute noise coming from it, so same principle.


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## WaffleTheEpic (Jan 3, 2013)

I think some dude came out with something that looks like a hair barette that fits on both the exposed string section of the TOM and the strings after the nut. No idea what it was called but it actually looked somewhat less... out of place than a hair tie or a sweatband on the neck of your guitar. 

I'm sure my Les Paul probably has string noise between the TOM and the bridge piece, but like I said, I've never noticed it *shrug*


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## Cuddles (Jan 4, 2013)

it's to put your strings in a pony tail, just a different style


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## russtolium (Jan 23, 2013)

Randy said:


> Lastly, even if you never use it down on your fretboat



TOOT TOOT HERE COMES THE FRETBOAT.

But yeah I get nasty vibration past the nut on my 8 string Agile, a damper fixes that right up.


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## teamSKDM (Jan 23, 2013)

Do 2 hand tapping / fast sweeping and string skipping. Place hair tie on fourth fret.do it all again...profit


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