Sustain...

[Philly Q]

I know it's ludicrous, but I sit around playing electric guitars unplugged more often than not, so I'm very aware of how they resonate, sustain and sound acoustically.

In guitar shops I prefer not to plug in, because I can assess the guitar better that way.  Saves embarrassment too.....
 

[tekbow]

Not ludicrous at all, best way to trial an electric IMO. If it sounds good acoustically then it's pretty much going to sound good amplified. I've bought electrics without plugging them in based on a good hard strum on open strings. I think if there's an aspect of the sound you don't like once you plug it in then that'll be more to do with the electrionics and PU's.

Building a house on solid foundations and all that.

course if you're playing ultra high gain amps with active pickups, i feel the acoustic properties of any guitar become less important.

Bought my kotzen tele this way. held it good and tight to my ribcage, good solid hard strum, the body and strings where still going a minute later.

I'm in the school of thinking where if the resonance is good, then the sustain should be good, It hasn't let me down yet in terms of testing guitars out. if it's not then there's something inhibiting long term string vibration. maybe the nut, maybe the saddles, maybe the coupling of the body to the bridge, maybe the tuners in a non locking trem guitar.

[Ian Price]

I know it's ludicrous, but I sit around playing electric guitars unplugged more often than not, so I'm very aware of how they resonate, sustain and sound acoustically.

In guitar shops I prefer not to plug in, because I can assess the guitar better that way.  Saves embarrassment too.....
 

I hardly ever plug in whilst in a guitar shop. The last time I did I nearly walked out with a LP, sounded stunning though the Bogner rig in the amp room they had. I don't own a Bogner or amp room so convinced myself that it wouldn't sound anything like that at home.

The fact I can't play that well also now makes me only play unplugged in store - that and that you can hear much more of a difference (IMO) in guitars when played unplugged.

[Twinfan]

But they're ELECTRIC gutars, designed to be played through an amp.  Playing acoustically to check out the basic properties is a good idea, but I also plug it in and check it too...

[juansolo]

I know it's ludicrous, but I sit around playing electric guitars unplugged more often than not, so I'm very aware of how they resonate, sustain and sound acoustically.

Likewise. Don't even have an amp at home at the moment (it's over at a mates). Ridiculous really when you consider all the pedals I have ;)

[Ian Price]

But they're ELECTRIC gutars, designed to be played through an amp.  Playing acoustically to check out the basic properties is a good idea, but I also plug it in and check it too...

Can't disagree with you there Dave!

Imagine getting an ultra exclusive PRS and just playing it unplugged.  :lol:

[tekbow]

But they're ELECTRIC gutars, designed to be played through an amp.  Playing acoustically to check out the basic properties is a good idea, but I also plug it in and check it too...

Each to their own, the guitars acoustics tells me most of what i need to know really. not all amps have a play room either, so if i'm going to plug in it'll be thru something small. about the only time i do that is when i'm trying out effects though.

[Ian Price]

Yeah - good point. I couldn't imagine trying out a pedal without plugging it in first. I do think that a nice firm rotating action on the pots is a good sign, as well as a rugged switch and solid in/out jacks.

I'm now thinking that perhaps I don't really need to plug pedals in either.  :P

[Copperhead]

FWIW- Pickups too high will dampen the string vibration because of the pull of the magnetic field.

[tekbow]

Yeah - good point. I couldn't imagine trying out a pedal without plugging it in first. I do think that a nice firm rotating action on the pots is a good sign, as well as a rugged switch and solid in/out jacks.

I'm now thinking that perhaps I don't really need to plug pedals in either.  :P

not always believe it or not...  :|

japanese stuff tended to be made for a bunch of brands with different enclosures, so, same guts, varying degrees of enclosure quality. i have a frontline distortion, plastic stomper. Sucky bypass, sounds awesome, looks like itll fall apart if you eye it too much. Goes for 25 quid on the bay, but contains the same guts as Grant and Memphis pedals (sometimes locobox) which can go for considerably more.

[Dmoney]

i was just thinking, which is dangerous, about sustain and resonance...

I imagine that maximum sustain might depend on the rigidity of the material making a guitar and stopping energy transfer from the string into the body of the instrument but that in the end it all comes down to whatever pleasing compromise anyone can come up with. or something.

[tekbow]

Right track i think though, really means that you have to look at all point where vibration or energy is transferred to the body and all point where that contact may be inhibited or broken. I guess you're looking at the bridge assembly, neck join and nut. Mebbe the tuner posts as well (thinking the sleeves being the right size).

How old is the guitar? does it use one of those tone pro's style bridges ones or one of the one where bits fall off when you change strings? I dunno, never had to change strings on a trad style LP bridge. I heard things spring off sometimes.

How about the wrapping the under and over on the bridge to decrease the break angle ala bonamassa

[Ian Price]

Yeah - good point. I couldn't imagine trying out a pedal without plugging it in first. I do think that a nice firm rotating action on the pots is a good sign, as well as a rugged switch and solid in/out jacks.

I'm now thinking that perhaps I don't really need to plug pedals in either.  :P

not always believe it or not...  :|

japanese stuff tended to be made for a bunch of brands with different enclosures, so, same guts, varying degrees of enclosure quality. i have a frontline distortion, plastic stomper. Sucky bypass, sounds awesome, looks like itll fall apart if you eye it too much. Goes for 25 quid on the bay, but contains the same guts as Grant and Memphis pedals (sometimes locobox) which can go for considerably more.

Good point. I know some of the Danelectro stuff is held in pretty high regard on the tone/cost factor. I think the cool cat drive has a similar circuit to the OCD but at a quarter(ish) of the cost.

[richardjmorgan]

I can rest my PS SC245 with the neck free (on a table, for example) and pluck the low E string and it can be heard vibrating for about minute - the pernambuco neck is what does it I think.  One of my doublecuts with a mahogany neck will do about 40 seconds.

You know I'm just itching to get all my guitars out and grab the stopwatch now..... what a geek I am.  :roll:  :lol:

Yup, that's my Saturday evening in taken care of!

[itamar101]

I know it's ludicrous, but I sit around playing electric guitars unplugged more often than not, so I'm very aware of how they resonate, sustain and sound acoustically.

In guitar shops I prefer not to plug in, because I can assess the guitar better that way.  Saves embarrassment too.....
 

I play guitar unplugged most of the time as well. I like my amps cranked or not at all. I think that it really helps the whole "tone is in the fingers" thing. I can feel like I can now 'feel' any sound that I'd hear with an amp. Gain is felt in the dynamics, as is smooth jazz sounds.

Right track i think though, really means that you have to look at all point where vibration or energy is transferred to the body and all point where that contact may be inhibited or broken. I guess you're looking at the bridge assembly, neck join and nut. Mebbe the tuner posts as well (thinking the sleeves being the right size).

How old is the guitar? does it use one of those tone pro's style bridges ones or one of the one where bits fall off when you change strings? I dunno, never had to change strings on a trad style LP bridge. I heard things spring off sometimes.

How about the wrapping the under and over on the bridge to decrease the break angle ala bonamassa

I've wanted to try wraparounds for a while but I've never gotten to it. As for the bridge, It's pretty sturdy and it only falls of if you take of all the strings at once - it relies on string tension to hold it together.
The tuners and neck joint are very sturdy.

I have just noticed that I can hear this dissonant buzz that seems to cut any fretted notes short. I haven't gotten round to setting it up today but at the moment it seems very plausible to me that it only needs a good set up (although it plays excellently). Maybe a new nut in the worst case scenario.

I can rest my PS SC245 with the neck free (on a table, for example) and pluck the low E string and it can be heard vibrating for about minute - the pernambuco neck is what does it I think.  One of my doublecuts with a mahogany neck will do about 40 seconds.

Do the same check on your guitar and see what you get.

If you're talking about how long a fretted note that's been bent up will sustain, then that's a different thing.  A lot there will depend on your fretting technique and the frets themselves.

I was talking about fretted notes :lol: 6 seconds is way too ridiculously short to be plausible for an open note, isn't it?

I do a number of things to try to make Les pauls and suchlike really sing out
These are MY favourite things that I BELIEVE help - you don't have to agree
A lot of what PRS calls his rules of tone I concur with

these are all acoustic factors:

Fresh strings
Decent tuners that feel rock solid - I do like Sperzel but gotoh, grover, scahller or TonePro Kluson are all good
EArvana compensated tuning nut (I know I'm like a broken record over this - but it makes a lot of difference)
Well cut nut slots and well cut saddles grooves  smooth with no burrs, with the right angle to let the string sit well
Aluminium tailpiece - big fan of these! Gotoh are the best value.
Tonepro locking tailpiece studs - these clamp the tailpiece rigid - and with an aluminium tailpiece I think it's a good way to go.

A good fret job - nice clean crisply shaped fret-tops
I also like big heavy frets - makes for clean contact without fingertips needing to touch against the board

Very nice advice, thanks.
Unfortunately I don't have much money to spare at the moment but I've been thinking about a new nut for a while.

Pickups will affect things.. It's a bit of a hack, but something compressed (like a warpig) will increase sustain.

Generally I prefer Jonathan's tips though.

Do you think a tubescreamer would help?