yes it's a hair tie , and i find it works better then any of those fancy metal dampers, there to bulky and usually block the first fret, no good .I do use a bit of compression you need to control the lower strings especially if you have a strong left hand.I like the action on my guitar higher even thou i tap alot ,this allows me to still play more triditional stuff too.As far as overdubs there's only a couple in the vox songs the rest of the guitar playing is done all at the same time.