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Building a string dampener


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Yeah, I know they`re avalible through Michaels and Jennifers sites, but it seems a little expensive to me. I`ve seen the thing live and if you ask me I think it`s overpriced.

Dampner itself shouldn`t be too hard to make, but I need something to start from (closeup pic... :D )

The string dampener is the thing attached on the headstock.(image below)

dg1.jpg

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it's a girly way to play two necks at the same time and when fretting or plucking the strings you don't get any extra drowning from un-wanted open strings, right?

At first i thought you were talking about those funny things on old fender basses and rickenbackers that look like bridges over the strings... WHAT DO THOSE DO!?!?!

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take a pice of foam, soft foam, drill a hole on both sides of it. Tie a string to the holes. Then place The foam on the guitar strings and wrap both strings around the neck and tie them. Make sure it isn't too tight, or it will act as a capo, make sure it's loose, cause even if it is a bit too tight, it will pull your strings too far down and give some half-fretted fret buzz noise sounding sounds.

EASY.

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it's a girly way to play two necks at the same time and when fretting or plucking the strings you don't get any extra drowning from un-wanted open strings, right?

At first i thought you were talking about those funny things on old fender basses and rickenbackers that look like bridges over the strings... WHAT DO THOSE DO!?!?!

Girly or not, it's as valid a style of playing as any. Yeah, drown/dampen out open strings.

I never had a fender bass but my old rick's bridge did have a dampening device there.

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take a pice of foam, soft foam, drill a hole on both sides of it. Tie a string to the holes. Then place The foam on the guitar strings and wrap both strings around the neck and tie them. Make sure it isn't too tight, or it will act as a capo, make sure it's loose, cause even if it is a bit too tight, it will pull your strings too far down and give some half-fretted fret buzz noise sounding sounds.

EASY.

I used to just slide a piece of paper towel under the strings up to the first fret... but of course I did this just to play around with. It wouldn't be practical on stage.

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That's probably why they don't show close up pictures of it... because of people like you who want to make their own :D.

D'oh! Spoke too soon. There are close up pics on Michael's website here.

Hmm... and the price went up.

Thank you very much! I went to Michael`s web page before but somehow I didn`t found that. This link will be very useful though.

I told you about the price. B)

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I've yet to hear any of that double guitar playing...

You don`t know what you`re missing :D -just joking.

BTW you don`t need a double guitar to use a string dampener. It`s used for tuch style playing, no matter what guitar is used. But you probably know that right?

seee ya

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just a note...back in the 80s i remember people using a soft leather strap tied around the neck.it was loose and soft enough to drag on the strings.i also remember seeing someone with a big feather attached down by the bridge...but i don't remember where i saw it...it might have been jennifer batten herself

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john petucci uses a piece of satin ripped from a sheet to dampen for his solos when records. he just ties it around the neck, loosley of course. it's not girly, even if it was, tell jenifer batten it's girly, she would probably smile and shred you silly :D

jen rocks

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I use a VERY light and thin piece of foam under the strings. The foam is just the right size so it fills up the whole first fret. The foam is so light that it will only stop strings from ringing 'on their own' but if you pick an open string it will still ring. This way, if I have to use it in a situation where I do both two handed stuff and 'regular' playing, I don't have to worry about turning it 'on' and 'off' during the piece. Just play away, take it off when the song is done. The foam is about 1/2" wider than the neck and the thickness pretty much matches the distance from fretboard to the TOP of the strings at the first fret.

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Not so girly at all, Ive read Where dimebag used fouam by the locking nut to help and also put foam in the spring cavity. Someone tell dime hes girly, he'll outshred ya then bash you over the head with an empty bottle of crown royal! :D

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Well, I see the string dampeners as a viable way of playing. However, Diamond Darrell's use of foam is for something completely different. He uses the foam BEHIND the nut, not in front of it, to damp the nut-to-tuner pling pling sympathy vibrations. The foam in the trem cavity is the for the same thing, to get rid of the vibrations in the springs. I've been stuffing the trem cavities of my Universes with foam since about 1991 for the same reason though I don't have any problem with the headstock string noise.

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Well, I see the string dampeners as a viable way of playing. However, Diamond Darrell's use of foam is for something completely different. He uses the foam BEHIND the nut, not in front of it, to damp the nut-to-tuner pling pling sympathy vibrations. The foam in the trem cavity is the for the same thing, to get rid of the vibrations in the springs. I've been stuffing the trem cavities of my Universes with foam since about 1991 for the same reason though I don't have any problem with the headstock string noise.

:D

I stand corrected, sorry for the misinfo part. But I stand firmly behind the crown royal comments!

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FWIW, hi name is indeed dimebag darrell

Actually I thought his name was Darrell Abbott? At any rate, when I open my "Cowboys from Hell" cd and look at the credits, it does indeed say "Diamond Darrell" as his nickname in there. I know that in his attempts to become more 'metal' and less 'hair' he started wearing a razorblade and changed it to "Dimebag", but I always thought changing it to Dimebag was cheesier than just having it be Diamond in the first place, or better yet, just having people call him Darrell. No matter how you slice it or what you call him though, one thing is for certian, the man absolutely RIPS on guitar and chunks out some serious metal carnage!

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Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars

Well, his name is darrell abbott on his birth certificate, just like marylin manson is brian warner. But he went off on guitar world for calling him diamond darrell. So what ever, Im with you. The dude can shred, leave it be.

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