What the hell is this contraption?

[Uncle Vinnie]

Seen it on the headstock of ES-175s played by Herb Ellis & Dennis Budimer.

 

[sonar1]

Snuffer.
It damps the strings across the nut (when in lowered position) to stop archtop hollow body feedback.
IIRC invented by George Van Epps (famous early 7-string jazz pioneer).
Kinda like leaving a finger on the strings to keep them from taking off if the body resonates.
Only old geezers like me remember this shit.
I just switched to a Telecaster for jazz and played at any volume I wanted.

 

[Uncle Vinnie]

Ahhhhh!!! Finally. When I first saw one of those I thought it was a gadget to hold the guitarist's cigarette between drags or one of Forest Gump's leg braces.

And I'm very familiar with George Van Epps. Super player.

Thanks for solving the mystery.

 

[Fret Hopper]

A friend of mine uses those when he does a lot of tapping.

 

[ReWind James]

 

[DavGrape]

CREEM magazine had a Ted quote once;
"I can play my guitar better with my hands then Hendrix could with his teeth."

 

[Bobby Mahogany]

(...) I thought it was a gadget to hold the guitarist's cigarette between drags (...)

Nope.
Cigarette holder looks like this:

 

[Bill Hicklin]

I thought it was a gadget to hold the guitarist's cigarette between drags

That's why you leave sharpies at the treble tuner posts.

 

[JTM45]

Jennifer Batten created one of those

 

[CB91710]

Less expensive version that doesn't modify the headstock...

FretWraps String Muters (3-Pack)

Finally, a professional string dampener / muting accessory that every studio, session player, and tapping aficionado should have! Slide on a FretWrap to effectively cut overtones and sympathetic resonance during recording, live performance, two-hand tapping, or any creative situation where you...

gruvgear.com