Excuse me, but what the hell is this?

[OmnitzGarima]

And what the heck are these silver speed-bump looking things on the long, straight part of my guitar?

Those are mineral deposits built up from years of sublimation of the metal in the strings. Get a pair of pliers and remove them right away!

 

[Sufenta]

That's the thing about the internet though...people tend to feel a certain sense of superiority because they can be anonymous.

Wow! Now that's ironic.

 

[bassteban]

Actually, I'm so incredibly beyond Chuck Norris bad-arse that I need to have my immense ego checked and bellittled now & then- if not it grows large enough to eclipse the sun. So who's this Geddy guy?

 

[grrrr!!!!]

And what the heck are these silver speed-bump looking things on the long, straight part of my guitar?

Those are "frets" and count yourself lucky 'cos yours look quite regular. I find that mine are further and further apart as you move down the neck!

 

[Rush-2112]

Wow! Now that's ironic.

I don't feel superior at all man...I never bashed on anyone

 

[Sufenta]

I don't feel superior at all man...I never bashed on anyone

 

[Turock]

It's your bass' "man in the boat". You rub it when you want to play an arousing tune.

 

[Invisible_Kid]

Whatever it is there is no need for such an aggressive thread title. It also worries me that OP has a Fender instrument and does not even know what the function of the string tree is....

I don't have a Fender, it's just that all my friends do so I took a photo from theirs.

 

[Obese Chess]

ah, the internet. Where even light-hearted silliness is considered "bashing" or "flaming."

 

[Invisible_Kid]

Guys, just answer my stinking question O:<

 

[spade2you]

Guys, just answer my stinking question O:<

We did, then we got bored/destructive like my Corgi.

 

[Beginner Bass]

It was answered on the first page.

 

[Invisible_Kid]

It was answered on the first page.

I thought they were just kidding.

 

[Dark Horse]

To summarize -

I've been wondering ever since I started playing.

Strings pop off the nut without it. That's all

What's it called?

It's called a "string tree."

and the reason why some basses dont have them like the epiphone thunderbird is that the headstock is angled back enough that the headstock angle presses the strings into the nut...

If the strings don't cross the nut at the correct angle they might buzz, and will definitely lose a lot of sustain.

Too much of an angle is bad, too.
The string gets bent and tone/intonation goes in the toilet.

I have been known to add washers under the string tree, or grind away the bottom, just to get it right.

The name "string tree" comes from the way they are made for Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters, etc.
It's a smaller design that has to be seen to be understood.

 

[Invisible_Kid]

To summarize...

Thank you.

 

[Bassmastertim]

A.........String Tree.

For maintaining proper tension and intonation on...you know....Strings.

 

[BASSKADET]

On the Japanese ones it contacts G-Force in case of an attack by Godzilla.

I thinks it's the G string not force

[/IMG]

 

[Beginner Bass]

If you remove it, the universe will descend into flaming chaos. Jupiter will crash into Earth, resulting the shattering of the bedrock, and we will all be flying willy-nilly through the galaxy on our own little pieces of Earth.

 

[Stealth]

You can't believe the flack I got when I didn't know who Geddy Lee was; I thought it was a Civil War Memorial or the name of a Mississippi River Stern Wheeler.

Also, does anyone know if there's a string bonsai tree club I can join? Mine has blossomed into quite a beautiful shape... spans double-necked basses now!

 

[Aspidites]

I don't feel superior at all man...I never bashed on anyone

That wasn't the point.