Reading the post about the number of turns of a string on the tuning peg affecting sustain, it got me wondering what is the biggest contributor to the sustain of a guitar.

Not being a physicist, if everyone want more sustain why are more people not playing a hollow/semi hollow?

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CREDO ELVEM IPSUM ETAIM VIVERE

Hi nicholsoni: sustain is a function of the mass and rigidity of the system (instrument) upon which the string is stretched. The more rigid the system the longer the sound energy of the strings' vibrations will be transmitted around and around it, giving a longer decay - more sustain.

In his guitar building book Martin Koch gives a useful analogy. If the guitar was made of solid rubber you'd have a very vibrant system - but one which absorbed and dissipated the vibration energy from the string very quickly, so almost zero sustain. On the other hand, if you had a guitar made from concrete it would be very rigid, vibration would decay slowly and you'd have a fantastically long sustain. But probably rather unattractive tonal qualities.

The construction of the various types of guitars falls somewhere on a spectrum between these two extremes.

Does that help any?

Cheers - C

PS: This subject usually degenerates into bolshy argument about different neck joint methods. Let's see how long that takes...

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The notion of sustain being dependant on the number of turns around a tuner post is utterly silly. What on earth possible difference could it make? The string doesn't vibrate past the nut to any appreciable degree. Sounds like someone is getting confused and thinking scale/speak length and string length are the same thing. I read on that same thread a comment about locking tuners, hinting towards them reducing sustain because they don't use as many turns around the post. Well that is exactly the opposite of some other sales dogma/mythology that locking tuners promote sustain and reduce dead spots by adding mass.

Don't believe everything you read. You'll be clanging tiny cymbals and chanting mantra's with statues of multi armed blue elephants around you before you know it.



Hollowbodies don't sustain anymore than solid bodies. String through makes no difference either. If it did the Telecaster (one of the few string through guitars) would own everything out there. LP's, SG's, Strats. Non of which use a string through body bridge. However the opposite is pretty much true.
Scale length (how floppy a string is at a certain pitch), solid construction, good signal path and setup. Thats about all that effects sustain.

All good points, but it brings me back to one thing, is there one thing that affects sustain more than anything else...would it be wood?

But then wouldn't finish influence the absorbtion and resonance of the wood?

The neck joint is important as well because it transfers and resonates as well.

There are a million factors, but what is/are the biggest and which ones are really insignificantly small or myths(ie turns on a tuning peg).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAl3SahqGLU

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CREDO ELVEM IPSUM ETAIM VIVERE

Gosh, that didn't take long at all!

(Excluding the bolshy bit, of course. We're all friends here. )

Cheers - C

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Carlos Santana.

Oh...wait...I thought you said 'who' and not 'what'

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Yes, the more rigid results in the more sustain. So, stuff like block saddles instead of bent, and steel trem blocks are supposed to make improvements on this front. Also, do not forget that the pickups can make a huge difference, too. Because wood varies, one guitar might have amazing sustain while the exact same model guitar right next to it may be a dud.

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

Many thing's factor in. IMHO the drier the wood is the better the sound will continue to be projected ! I know that for instance Gibson use's 100 year old wood ? on their custom shop reissue's. Todd Krause picked the wood for my masterbuilt and with the Abby handwound pickup's I get sustain for day's. Degaussing the magnet's on the PuP's a little also let's the string's continue to ring since the magnet isn't pulling as hard to try and stop the string.

I can't quite remember but I believe it was on their custom shop web site. I wouldn't mention it here if I hadn't read it somewhere reputable. I don't like giving out bad info and would not do it intentionally. They use it supposedly only on their Historic reissue's.
They use regular mahogany for their other guitar's.

Now you did it !! I'm going to be searching until the cow's come home to find out where I read that ! I let you know if or when I find it !!

Something about that seems a little fishy. Where does one go to buy 100 year old wood? Did Gibson in 1910 find some "really good wood" and decide hmmm maybe I'll save this in case my great grand kids want to build a bunch of insanely expensive guitars.

Hmmmm.

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CREDO ELVEM IPSUM ETAIM VIVERE

Volume. Turn the amp up loud. You'll get more sustain.
Remember the old saying,`
If I`m playing too loud, you`re too old.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

I'm playing too loud when my wife says it's too loud.

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CREDO ELVEM IPSUM ETAIM VIVERE

I took that to mean it had been drying for 100 years...maybe I was wrong?

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CREDO ELVEM IPSUM ETAIM VIVERE

Not a slam fest !! Just a little discussion page. Most assuredly if they can date million year old dinosaur fossil's, 100 year old wood shouldn't be a problem . 'nuf said