[Wade Hampton]

For a brief period in my callow youth I would tie a red bandanna on the end of my guitar peghead, which I would swirl around for dramatic effect during my (deeply heartfelt) performances.

After a while, I decided that it looked dorky rather than dramatic, and stopped doing it. I did continue to keep a bandanna handy when I played, to wipe either my forehead or the strings, as needed. But I no longer felt the need to tie one on. (And, yes, I mean that in every sense of the term...)

As for a scarf or piece of cloth having any sort of tonal effect on the instrument when tied onto it, I have trouble seeing where it could . The only way I can see it as possible would be if the player leaves the string ends unclipped at the tuner posts, leaving them to rattle and buzz against each other as the guitar is played. I suppose tying a piece of cloth over them would eliminate some of the rattles (probably not all, though,) but it would be much simpler all the way around to simply cut off the excess string ends.

So I suspect anyone who ties a cloth of any sort to their guitar headstock is doing it mostly for visual reasons, whatever the circular reasoning about "improving the tone" that they might claim.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller