# Foam behind the nut?



## krsp (Feb 26, 2009)

I recently bought a Septor 727, and have noticed that when I play note and mute it, I get a high pitch sound for a short period of time. After screwing around a little I figured out that the high pitch noise was coming from the string vibrating BEHIND the nut. I put some foam between the strings and the headstock which got rid of the problem all together, however, it deadened the sound somewhat. I'm wondering what my options are:

- give up and just live with it 

- keep the foam, but maybe there is a specific choice of foam to use (I don't even know where this foam came from, packing for a toolbox I think)

- a string retaining guide (if this is the suggestion, where to get one/what should I look for)


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## Groff (Feb 26, 2009)

I've been thinking of making metal clips (with foam padding) that slid over or cliped on the strings to mute the noise, while making it look cool (skulls, pearl dots etc) But I lack any kind of equipment.

I get noise between the bridge and string-thru holes as well.

I use electrical tape in the meantime.


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## TomAwesome (Feb 26, 2009)

It's a pretty common problem/solution. It shouldn't be dampening the sound, though. It should only be dampening the excess ringing between the nut and the tuners.


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## zimbloth (Feb 27, 2009)

I prefer black electrical tape over the foam, better results I've found.


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## MF_Kitten (Feb 27, 2009)

you could put tape on each string above the nut. does the same job 

or you could put one long piece of tape that covers all the strings, but that doesn&#180;t look as nice and tidy 

foam does the job though, as long as it&#180;s tall enough to dampen it enough. it doesn&#180;t really dampen the sound though, you&#180;re probably just used to the overtone resonance ringing a little all the time, but not noticing it until you hit certain notes.

no dampening above the nut can deaden the sound of the open strings. it simply doesn&#180;t do that. 

i recommend wraping a piece of tape around each string, not just above the nut, but also between the bridge and the holes where the strings come out of the body. i found out they do a whole lot of ringin&#180; too


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## WhiteShadow (Feb 27, 2009)

zimbloth said:


> I prefer black electrical tape over the foam, better results I've found.



I use a similar method, an old pink bar pencil eraser with electrical tape covering it.

I've never really noticed any ringing behind the bridge though.


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## The Atomic Ass (Feb 27, 2009)

Groff said:


> I get noise between the bridge and string-thru holes as well.



I thought that was where you were supposed to pick.


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## F1Filter (Feb 27, 2009)

Higher density closed-cell foam generally works best on headstocks. 

Here's a thread I posted about it a while back. 
http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/se...inline-headstock-damping-tape.html#post934307


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## MF_Kitten (Feb 27, 2009)

i just noticed how funny the thread title is, with the foam behind the nuts and all...


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## MerlinTKD (Feb 27, 2009)




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## sol niger 333 (Feb 27, 2009)

MF_Kitten said:


> i just noticed how funny the thread title is, with the foam behind the nuts and all...




I thought this thread was about teabagging a rabid dog


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## SteveDendura (Feb 27, 2009)

sol niger 333 said:


> I thought this thread was about teabagging a rabid dog



 Epic!!!

tape or foam will work.


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## ugmung (Feb 27, 2009)

sol niger 333 said:


> I thought this thread was about teabagging a rabid dog


 
 

great post though. i've had questions about this too, although i've been thinking about resorting to electrical tape, that suggestion with the weathering foam might be a more practical solution. 

great thread.


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## Harry (Feb 27, 2009)

I've used hair ties in the past, works okay I guess but I imagine electrical tape works better.


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## frank falbo (Feb 27, 2009)

I had an article in Guitar Shop magazine in like 1994 or 95 that talked about this, trem springs ringing, and a bunch of other stuff about tone and sustain. I'm not saying I invented anything, but no one was really talking about that back then. Since then, as pickups get more sensitive, and amps get gainier, recordings get cleaner, mics get better, etc. all of this stuff that would never have plagued a Van Halen record is perceivable. 

One of my thoughts was something that would clip to, or be part of the tuner. It would reach down and dampen the strings while not affecting tuning stability.


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## SuperD (Feb 28, 2009)

I'm not familiar with this model...I looked it up but can't tell if the headstock is angled back (like a Les Paul) or not (like a strat)?
If it's an angled headstock, I don't really know why there is ringing.
Regardless though, muting behind the nut (I used a hair tie myself) should NOT have any effect on the strings speaking length...so I wonder if the nut slots are the culprit here? If the angle that the string passes through the slots is too shallow there could be audible ringing...sometimes the easiest fix is to A) make sure windings go down the post or B) make sure there are enough wraps down each post to ensure the angle over the nut is sufficient. The closer the post is to the nut, the less problem, right? With a stock headtock, 6 in line, the lowest tuned strings are closest, reverse headstock obviously the plain strings are closest...did you notice some strings ringing more than others?


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## MF_Kitten (Feb 28, 2009)

the problem is there in all guitars really, it&#180;s just the short pieces of string vibrating sympathetically to the playable parts of the guitar. it&#180;s the same thing as if you play the strings above the nut, except they resonate with the pitch of whatever you&#180;re playing, resulting in a nasty ringing overtones type sound when distorted.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Mar 1, 2009)

HughesJB4 said:


> I've used hair ties in the past, works okay I guess but I imagine electrical tape works better.


 
I still use hair ties, probably because they come in handy for tapping wise; George Van Eps and Jeremy Barnes style. It didn't take long when I'm putting hair ties on all my electrics.


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## caughtinamosh (Mar 1, 2009)

What about string trees? Or do they have undesirable effects on tuning stability?


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## damigu (Mar 2, 2009)

i think the "deadening" of tone you're hearing is actually a matter of you not having the extra noise of those strings.

they vibrate sympathetically as you play. with a non-locking nut, the vibration is relatively easily transmitted to the main part of the string and to the pickup. it's a small amount of sound compared to your direct picking, but it still has a subtle texture that's added to your overall tone.

so when you use foam or tape, you're killing that little extra contribution they make to the tone. there's no way to do it that will keep their influence during play but will also silence them immediately when stopping play.

of course, it's also partially in your head. you're been using to hearing it that way for long enough that your ears are telling you that something is missing when you put the foam in.
you'll get used to it over time and find that the tone is still very much alive.


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## RthrTylr (Apr 1, 2012)

I never post here, and this thread's long dead, but I found it fairly high in a search on this subject, and I just wanted to say...

...This is *awesome*! It's fixed my ringing problem 100%, and it has indeed robbed the overall tone of a bunch of nasty resonance (what I think the OP meant by deadening the tone). It's amazing what you can get used to, I'd even adapted my playing to compensate, but this simple little thing's made such a difference.

So to anyone else who happens upon this while Googling desperately in irritation, this is a must try, even if you don't have an obvious problem!


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