#1
|
|||
|
|||
Suppressing Afterlength Harmonics/Resonance
A lot of archtop mandolin family instrument players use leather straps or rubber grommets in the strings between the bridge and tailpiece (known as the afterlength). Some, like Mike Marshall do this in the area between the nut and tuner posts as well (forelength?). This dampens those parts of the strings to prevent vibration and unwanted tone. This is never done on orchestral strings, where the tailpiece is adjusted to make the afterlength 1/6 of the scale length. I don't think I've ever seen this done on an archtop guitar. Does anyone know why or why not? Thanks.
|
#2
|
|||
|
|||
I really do not have a clue about this kind of stuff. But I do know somebody who switched out the tailpiece on his guitar for a longer one which I assume was to lessen the string length between the tailpiece and the bridge and another who uses a leather bootlace as a dampener.
__________________
"You start off playing guitars to get girls & end up talking with middle-aged men about your fingernails" - Ed Gerhard |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Actually, it is - from Wikipedia:
Quote:
__________________
"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
The overall length of the strings (above the nut and below the bridge) affects what Ken Parker (and I) call dynamic tension. That is the change in tension as the string is fretted or bent. Long overall length strings feel softer when playing than strings that have no after-length (like a strat with locking nut, for example) but very short overall length strings bend notes more effectively. It's a subtle difference, but it's there. I am currently building a new neck for one of my archtops that is more of an electric guitar with a 6 on a side tuner setup like Parker's, to see what happens...
Sympathetic resonance from the afterlength is a thing with archtops. I quite like it, the more noise the better for me, and that echo/reverb is what I associate with an acoustic archtop. It's really common to see strips of felt wound through the strings to deaden the afterlength, and Herb Ellis used a string damper just below the nut to dampen all open strings. He never played open strings, I guess, and didn't want them to resonate at all.
__________________
Brian Evans Around 15 archtops, electrics, resonators, a lap steel, a uke, a mandolin, some I made, some I bought, some kinda showed up and wouldn't leave. Tatamagouche Nova Scotia. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Yeah, archtop guitarists weave wool yarn or a strip of felt between the strings or wedge something soft between the strings and the top.
|
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Cris Mirabella of NYC makes a version of the George Van Eps/Pat Farrand String Damper that Herb Ellis used. Scotty Moore (RIP) used them, too.
There is the Jennifer Batten String Damper. And hair scrunchies achieve the same effect just a little before the nut. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
I use a length of leather boot lace woven loosely through the strings right at the tail piece, leaving the space up to the bridge clear. Gets rid of high pitched overtones.
|
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Velcro wire ties work great for damping.
|