Are Fret Wraps Cheating?

[BeZo]

I used them a lot on bass to clean up complex tapping riffs. I got pretty good at sliding them up to the third fret or so and back to the headstock while playing. I have them on all my instruments (except ukulele) because even if I don't use them, they still mute the strings up past the nut. I wrote a song recently that does complex chord work up past the 12th fret and I have been sliding it up to mute the open strings.

Does anyone else use them? Are they cheating? Should I learn to play better?

 

[Mike Oxhuge]

I'd never heard of them before this thread so I am a interested to learn.

 

[BeZo]

I should have mentioned them in the thread @skoora posted about a small Sweetwater purchase.

Here is a link.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...Yx-Vn-dJC4b7S5cx7WXH6pgPetDP_T9EaAoxkEALw_wcB

I didn't even know they made a wood finish one. I might have to get this one.

 

[marvcus]

Satch used to put a bandanna around his guitar neck in the 90s, at least. I suspect it’s a good recording tool to eliminate the random open Gs from lead line playing, or if you have a time limit in a studio. I’d rather work on technique though

 

[VonBonfire]

It's something incorporated into a style of playing, I don't think it's cheating anymore than using a slide is cheating. Both of the Wooten brothers use hair scrunchies to accomplish the same thing.

 

[stephen sawall]

I don't use them. Some techniques they are useful.

 

[Kagami]

Nope, just another tool to help clean up the sound is all. Music-man used to sell basses with mutes on the bridge to accomplish something similar and Rickenbacker still does.

 

[skoora]

I should have mentioned them in the thread @skoora posted about a small Sweetwater purchase.

Here is a link.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...Yx-Vn-dJC4b7S5cx7WXH6pgPetDP_T9EaAoxkEALw_wcB

I didn't even know they made a wood finish one. I might have to get this one.

Some guitars seem to me more susceptible than others to that vibrational ring.

 

[stephen sawall]

Some guitars seem to me more susceptible than others to that vibrational ring.

Absolutely

I have a Les Paul that needed to be muted at the nut.

 

[griff10672]

I used them a lot on bass to clean up complex tapping riffs. I got pretty good at sliding them up to the third fret or so and back to the headstock while playing. I have them on all my instruments (except ukulele) because even if I don't use them, they still mute the strings up past the nut. I wrote a song recently that does complex chord work up past the 12th fret and I have been sliding it up to mute the open strings.

Does anyone else use them? Are they cheating? Should I learn to play better?

not cheating if you put it back where you found it when you're done

 

[Music&Chaos]

Not cheating, as certain things require it I feel for the best sound, regardless of your technique.

 

[PeteLaramee]

Cheating Shmeating LOL. I started using them when I started playing 7 string. Never needed them before.

 

[stratjacket]

I have them on all guitars, helps when soloing. It’s great practice to try to deaden the strings without but just makes it a little easier.

 

[skoora]

Absolutely

I have a Les Paul that needed to be muted at the nut.

I only ever hear it when I’m doing lower aggressive playing, usually a muted chug or palm mute. It will pop out in any pause like a reverberation but when you record you can hear it in the background even more.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

It's music. It is 100% aesthetic. Whatever you need to do to get the right sounds to come out of the speaker is what needs to be done. Is compression cheating? Is distortion cheating? Is it cheating to use a stringed instrument when you could sing the same notes with your mouth?

It's music. "Cheating" is impossible.

 

[nightlight]

I used to use those Gruv Gear fretwraps until I realised that playing open strings sounds very muted and muffled. The strings don't ring out and sustain is reduced, so I chose not to use them (after buying something like nine of them lol). I've since worked to improve my muting using my hands, and that has given me better results than the fret wraps did.

 

[Music&Chaos]

I used to use those Gruv Gear fretwraps until I realised that playing open strings sounds very muted and muffled. The strings don't ring out and sustain is reduced, so I chose not to use them (after buying something like nine of them lol). I've since worked to improve my muting using my hands, and that has given me better results than the fret wraps did.

I slide mine into place during the part of the track where it is desired/needed and slide it back out of the way. That being said - I use it for super specific parts and things, and in general do not use one, but find it to be extremely useful if you are doing a lot of 2-handed tapping stuff.