It looks sort of like a capo except with a giant pad on the inside of the wrap instead of a bar as would be on a capo. It's made with really tough elastic in 3 different sizes for various neck sizes (it also works great on acoustic and electric guitars or dobros). It's black with the GruvGear 'checkmark' logo on the front that faces the audience while you're using it, and it just wraps around your bass neck through a plastic loop. I am a bassist personally, so I figured I'd put this in the bass column. I also play keys, and have been a musician since I was four years old. I'm currently working on several projects, including my own CD of music, to be released in the not so distant future.
I got this direct from the manufacturer for review. It is available online for $22 plus shipping.
It works fantastically. Mainly, it's so much more controlled than the traditional 'hairtie' method. You can adjust the tension to add or reduce the amount of pressure on the strings, and it cuts out transients and harmonics like a champ. And Velcroing the FretWrap on and off is a ton easier than taking your entire neck off to add a hairtie, and then stringing your bass through the hairtie...since most of them don't fit over the average headstock. And you can still pull it out of the way just as quickly as anything else. There's no reason to use a hairtie ever again. For the amount of control you get and ease of use, there's no reason you shouldn't get one if you happen to be a fan of tapping or just recording a clean lick. As Norm Stockton put it, 'Sure, you might be able to do it cleanly in 15 takes without the strings ringing, or you can just slide this over...and voila! You've got a clean take.'
I'll be honest. I've got nothing. I could always just say 'make it cheaper.' But hey, who wouldn't?
It's cloth, so it may get a little dirty with years and years of use, but it's certainly not going to break without being mistreated. It's soft and easy on your hands to put on and push out of the way.
Absolutely great product. Even in comparison with the hair tie you can get for free, it's still a great product, because it gets the job done so much better than any hair tie or any other solution ever has. It's without a doubt the best tapping, string-silencing, harmonic-stopping solution on the market. Well done.
Don\'t close the FretWrap too tight or you\'ll totally drown a string\'s natural resonance. You don\'t need to hold them down that much to stop the other strings from ringing. Tighten them too much and you\'ll start to pull your strings out of tune as well.
