I really love my Les Paul, the way it looks, the way it sounds, and up until recently the way it played. I was so enamored with having my first real Les Paul, that I overlooked one very critical aspect of it, string tension. Everything else felt really good with the guitar, the nut width was 1.75″, chunky 50’s neck profile, beautiful aesthetics, good sounding pickups, all the goodies for a first higher end guitar buyer.
So, when I finally realized that I needed to do something about the string tension because it felt too tight, I did what any normal, slightly confused guitar player would….hit up Google and YouTube. What I found was a way to reduce string tension by wrapping the strings over the tail piece before going over the bridge. Even some famous guitarists recommended it. So why this works is because when you feed the string in the wrong direction in the tailpiece and wrap it over the tailpiece the angle at which the string hits the bridge from the tailpiece is lessened. Less of an angle on the strings between the tailpiece and the bridge means less string tension. But what I am here to help you realize is that you do not have to wrap the strings to achieve this affect.
Granted, if you want to do this for an aesthetic as well as functional purposes, go right ahead….but I did not want to scratch up the chrome on my tailpiece to get this done. I am not saying that wrapping the strings over the tailpiece is bad, I am just saying that it is a little unnecessary from a functional standpoint.
So here is how you can achieve the same effect without wrapping…
Your Les Paul’s tailpiece has 2 threaded studs on each side you can adjust. to raise the tailpiece and lessen the angle of the strings, simply turn each of these counter clockwise. Pretty easy to do in fact. This is the route I have taken to lessen my string tension and it works like a charm. The tailpiece can be raised pretty far, but do be careful not to scratch your finish or raise the bridge so far that the studs no longer are grabbing the threads….especially when all your strings are on the guitar. It will be best to loosen your strings to where there is only a small amount of tension so not to cause any damage. Remember that you do this at your own risk, and I will not be held responsible for any damage you cause yourself or your guitar, so take things very slow and carefully. Remember too that I am not a professional guitar tech, but rather a DIY’er. Also, be aware that if your angle is too shallow, your strings will not stay on the bridge saddles when playing and you will occasionally hear a pling of one of the strings slipping off whilst playing. So there is definitely a happy medium when adjusting. So take things slow and easy and you will have your Les Paul playing right in no time!
