Question: I have been playing and listening to A LOT of Jimi H. lately and was wondering how did he get so much sustain? I know he was playing at very loud levels and what not but I'm sure there's probably a trick or two out there if you're playing at somewhat reasonable levels. Anyone got any pointers?

I'm playing a 2000 MIM Std with Vintage Noiseless P'ups thru a Dunlop CryBaby & Boss Distortion into a Fender Blues Jr.


You're expertise is appreciated!

Try a little compression combined with a Russian Big Muff and hold a note for as long as you want.

As I said in a thread the other night Jimi's pups were set low, almost even with his pickguard. That would allow for the string to vibrate longer and allowing him to turn the volume up higher on his amps.

_________________
Chet Feathers

Authorized TonePros Dealer
Authorized WD Music Products Dealer
F/A Official Southpaw Compliance Certification Tester http://faamps.com/

http://www.facebook.com/cafeathers


I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

Was already said, but a good tube amp, cranked up, in the right hands, can make notes sustain forever, and sound the best doing it.

Throwing a bunch of pedals in the chain to get same effect at a low volume might work, but you're just trying to simulate that basic scenario.

And you were correct sir!

Turn your 3, 100 watt stacks up full and stand no further than 10ft away from em. You will hear certain notes ringing for weeks, long after you put the guitar away anyhow.

Seriously a lot of his sustain is feedback generated by excessive volume.

_________________
No no and no

It's all about the feedback loop between your speaker and your strings. You don't have to play super loud, but you do have to play loud enough so that the speakers excite the strings creating an infinite loop. Anything you do to create feedback in some other way will never feedback as easily or controllably. Plus, with acoustic feedback, which is what that FB loop I described is, (as opposed to say a compressor etc) you can get that infinate feedback WITHOUT a ton of gain. Thats the big difference. You can have almost a clean sound and get it to feedback infinately. It's a different world than boosts and compressors and all that.

If thats the case would not the distance from the speaker cause different feedback as your distance from the speaker changes. Plus that I would think that would cause a haunting unwanted ocillation and unwanted harmonics. Also I thought most systems are enginered to add negative feedback to make it more stable in the loop.

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

this is correct. although I don't know how much compression Jimi used. But a Big Muff is a sustain pedal. Thats what it is meant to do.

also, a lot of sustain comes from the player. you have to know how to hold a note just right to keep it ringing.

and Jimi being the player that he was, most likely knew how to hold it.

Volume, volume, volume. Thats how he did it. Also, I said a hundred times before, and I'll sayit again. Get a solid steel tremolo block. I use 11 gauge strings, with a 52 gauge low E. On the MIM reissue I use, it has the smaller vintage style frets, so the smaller frets along with the heavy gauge strings in conjunction with the crappy zinc block that came stock, if I played the low E at the higher frets, it had vintually no sustain. If i played the low E at the 21st fret, the note would play and die immediately, now it actaully rings out.

It's sort of like there are two kinds of sustain.

1. The sustain inherent in your guitar, not even plugged in.
2. The sustain you get from high amp volume (the feedback loop), amp gain, and foot pedals.

I think it's important to address your guitar's inherent sustain first. And I agree completely with the poster who stressed the steel sustain block. I've found no other strat mod that will increase sustain more. Steel saddles are important, too. Some saddles are just zink or some "pot metal" and should be thrown far away. Nut material is also a factor, although I personally am happy with the stock nut.

Increasing your inherent sustain doesn't just mean that your guitar will produce longer notes. Greater sustain makes all your notes sound more powerful. If you're playing a quarter, half, or whole note, it'll sound more powerful because there's less decay for the length of the note...IMHO.

I think the OP was asking about sustain at lower volumes(such as in a house etc.) It is my understanding that there is a difference between sustain and feedback(standing in front of several 100 watt amps and moving around) and being able to hold a note for a specific amount of time at low volume. Am I missing something as I'm known for that?

No you are not missing anything. I have not heard anyone say play it so loud that the string just vibrate from the speakers sound Talk about unwanted tones at unwanted time. Theres other instruments playing through amps themselfs. And feedback SCREEEECH

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

Thanks for setting me on the right track again CV!