Strings on stringed instruments resonate. That’s what they are supposed to do. When you’re strumming open chords that may be exactly what you want. But if you’re recording a particularly low or downtuned part that only uses the lowest strings on your guitar, that extra resonance may just muddy everything up. Or, if you’re playing a part that you want to sound very clean and controlled, unwanted string resonance can spoil the sound. Even worse, if you have a part loaded with delay or reverb, unwanted strings ringing will just make a mess of things.
Even the best guitarists struggle with this, so we’ll let you in on a studio A-lister secret: A quick solution is to use tape — gaffer tape leaves no residue — and secure and mute unused strings by taping them down to the fingerboard. The tape will keep the strings from ringing out, keeping your recording clean from sympathetic ringing and unwanted resonance that might interfere with your desired results.