Sustain

[mattfeltham]

Ok im sure your all aware by now that i have a Lefty SG Std, so ill cut to the chase.

It really lacks in sustain. Even when i blast my amp im getting maybe 3-6seconds max sustain playing chords or individual noted anywhere on the fretboard. I dont know what - in terms of playing style/fingering - effects sustain so im just wondering what can be done to get some more life out of my guitar?
Im not sure what strings ive got, and i had my guitar professionally setup in the store i bought it from...but in australia (from my experience) 'professionaly setup' means "someone who knows how to setup a guitar the same way every time regardless of differences"...
Could that make a difference?
Ill try anything.

[alligatorbling]

setup makes a difference for sure.... some claim you get more sustain with a straighter neck (less relief) ... then theres the case thats been made about more sustain as a result of topwrapping/flushing the tail peace with the body... strings will play an issue as well. there are tons of factors. some pups will let you squeeze out the notes longer than others... and most of all there is technique. strong hands and vibrato and help you stretch out your notes longer as well.

[Blues Power]

could be weak pups or a weak grip too

[TheWellGoodShow]

Strings, they take a toll to. Set up also and string tension.
Also how hard you pick it to, and how you pick it. Type of pick also.

[dwagar]

how old are your strings?
how loud are you playing? There is a reaction between speaker and guitar that extends sustain.

as mentioned above, on single notes, vibrato will extend the note.

I'm not sure I understand fully, 6 seconds seems like quite a long time to be hanging onto one note anyway.

[tarddoggy]

Originally Posted by alligatorbling

setup makes a difference for sure.... some claim you get more sustain with a straighter neck (less relief) ... then theres the case thats been made about more sustain as a result of topwrapping/flushing the tail peace with the body... strings will play an issue as well. there are tons of factors. some pups will let you squeeze out the notes longer than others... and most of all there is technique. strong hands and vibrato and help you stretch out your notes longer as well.

+1,right on.Im also interested in your pup height,sometimes raising OR lowering can play a big part

[mattfeltham]

Im not too knowledgable when it comes to setting up a guitar, so i couldnt tell you my pup heights. But i can tell you that at low or high (high as in a barley standable level for home playing) volumes, i dont get anywhere near the sustain im looking for, even with vibrato.
I use a 1.1mm pick (i think - its REALLY thick), and when im trying to get good sustain, i hit the string(s) prety hard and clamp on tight...ive tried every combination of picking strength, grip and pick size i can...
Im thinking maybe new pots n caps - see how we go there - and after that ill look into a setup somewhere else and possible new pups if need be.

[toneguy86]

Originally Posted by mattfeltham

Ok im sure your all aware by now that i have a Lefty SG Std, so ill cut to the chase.

It really lacks in sustain. Even when i blast my amp im getting maybe 3-6seconds max sustain playing chords or individual noted anywhere on the fretboard. I dont know what - in terms of playing style/fingering - effects sustain so im just wondering what can be done to get some more life out of my guitar?
Im not sure what strings ive got, and i had my guitar professionally setup in the store i bought it from...but in australia (from my experience) 'professionaly setup' means "someone who knows how to setup a guitar the same way every time regardless of differences"...
Could that make a difference?
Ill try anything.

Setup is key. Also, a new nut makes a big difference. It really helped one of my Gibsons.

Mark

[TxMack]

With my 61 RI, volume is the key to sustain.

With my 76 Custom, it would sustain any time plugged in at any volume.

However, with my r8, it sustains ridiculously well unplugged, it's kind of weird.

In fact, right now I usually play my sg, and when I strap on the Paul I have ro readjust
to the lengthy swells.

But I would say that for the real deal,,,sustain forever thing...the volume has to hit the string, and hit it just right. Santana has a spot marked at soundcheck to tell him where to stand to hit Europa, I'll bet Gary Moore does too for Walkways.

[ES350]

Pots and caps are not going to do much if anything---sustain beyond the acoustic resonance of the guitar is about acoustic coupling with the amp. Try moving closer to the amp and some different positions relative to the speakers...if that still doesn't work, buy an LP.

[TxMack]

PS-these are just my perceptions, I am sometimes guilty of totally misunderstanding
or misinterpreting sonic properties in live settings.

[geochem1st]

Worse comes to worse, if your willing to sacrifice some tone you can alway add a compressor to your signal path (small DOD type). It will give you tons of sustain.

[dtube]

What does your SG sound like unplugged? Do the strings freely vibrate? Or do the strings rattle and buzz when strummed? I've been subjected to a couple set-ups where the luthier dropped the action to an unreasonably low level. I noodle around with my electrics unplugged while watching TV. I can't stand hearing fret buzz/rattle when playing like this. Granted, my action is probably set higher than most; but I've found that any electric that doesn't have a decent enough acoustic tone to play unplugged while watching hockey at a normal volume level won't sustain worth a turd while plugged in.

But, that is merely my opinion - YMMV.
-Darren

[mattfeltham]

Originally Posted by dtube

What does your SG sound like unplugged? Do the strings freely vibrate? Or do the strings rattle and buzz when strummed? I've been subjected to a couple set-ups where the luthier dropped the action to an unreasonably low level. I noodle around with my electrics unplugged while watching TV. I can't stand hearing fret buzz/rattle when playing like this. Granted, my action is probably set higher than most; but I've found that any electric that doesn't have a decent enough acoustic tone to play unplugged while watching hockey at a normal volume level won't sustain worth a turd while plugged in.

But, that is merely my opinion - YMMV.
-Darren

My SG sounds and sustains awesome unpluged...its plugged in that im worreid about. Honesltly i could play this thing acoustis if it was loud enough. Ive found that cranking my amp and krank distortus maximus ives a fair bit of sustain, but its still ;ackiing 'character' without high gain or high vol. i think im gonna chuck ome new pots n caps in it...and if hat doesnt solve the prob then ill throw in some WB pups too.

[dtube]

What kind of amp are your using? Have you tried playing through other amps? As ES350 mentioned, caps and pots won't change anything sustain related. If the guitar rings acoustically, then it sustains. A couple "out-there" things to try:
1 - clean the output jack on the guitar with contact cleaner and the input on the amp the same (if your amp has effects sends and returns, clean those as well). Spray the contacts, then run a 1/4" plug in and out several times. Repeat. Sometimes, a dirty contact can act like an intermittent resistor by passing signal that is at a reasonably high level, but "insert" itself as the level falls off. I've seen this several times in the effects send switching-jacks on old Peavey solid-state heads.

2 -reverse the speaker leads on your amp (flip the positive and negative wires connecting the speaker to the amp). Long story on this one - just try it sometime.
-Darren