What can I do to increase the sustain on the 1st and second string of my Strat? I'm new to Strats and am used to fixed bridges and neck through the body (Gibson, Epiphone) guitars. What can I do for my new Strat to give it more sustain in the upper registers?

Is it a mex or ameri? The metals used in the block bolted behind the bridge are said to affect sustain. There are multiple upgraded special alloy blocks you can order to replace it.

Vibrato will also increase sustain if practiced!

If your tremelo is floating, tightening the springs to flatten it against the body will help, but you lose some of the flexibility of a floating trem obviously. Some people who don't use their whammy bars as much will wedge a piece of wood between the block and the body cavity to get better contact and increase sustain, but by doing so, you essentially eliminate the possibility of using the whammy bar. There are also replacement tremelo blocks of different materials which may help.

It's an American Standard '08 or 09. I've heard of Callahans.

I'm not a big trem user. That's not the reason I bought a Strat. It's for the sounds and flexibility. I did screw the trem claw screws in almost to the point where the bridge meets the body but not quite. It's about a sixteenth of an inch away. Will putting a block in there really increase sustain to the point where I notice it? Does the type of wood matter? My guitar is Ash.

Okay. I just adjusted the bridge so the treble side is closer to the body. It was a bit off compared to the bass side. The main issue I have is with the high E. The B is acceptable. The E is just not sustaining long enough. Could it be a bad string? They're new. I didn't notice this when I bought the guitar a week ago. But then I was a bit distracted with all the guitars I was trying.

Tightening the trem claw so the brigde sits against the body is an option, you should not need to adjust the front bridge settings. A new denser trem block is said to add sustain. The wood used building the guitar is said to factor in to sustain. Moving up to .10 or .11 strings will also add sustain due to the larger vibrating mass. (will most likely require some sort of truss adjustment if you move to .11s.

Good point. I'm used to 10s. These are 9s. I'm tightening in he trem claws now.

The 1st string is still dead. Could that be the string or the guitar. I have 22 days to return it.

If all the strings ring long and clear but the high e, it is likely that string has metal fatigue or some other phenomena. The new mia strats have good trem blocks, and overall, higher grade materials then lower models.
Make sure the saddle for the high e isnt set to low causing the note to buzz or just die. It may be to low, or your strings are shot. If your going for extreme sustain like santana, you may have purchased the wrong axe my friend. The strats are great guitars, not bashing here.
Try .10. Youll be amazed. I just converted my strat from .09s to .10s and it is like a new guitar. I played it for 10 years with .09s and I can't believe it took me so long to move up.

I was just thinking, what pickup position are you in? Is the problem occuring in all pup positions? Try raising the treble side of whatever pickups are in question.

Hi gldfshkpr: if it's just one string that's problematic then the likelyhood is that is where the problem is, as has been mentioned by others. At any rate, change your e string, because it's the first and easiest check to make.

If you have staggered pole pieces on your pickups then the output on the top two strings may be lower than you are used to, coming from other guitars. You can raise the pickup a touch on the treble side to counteract that - or better, lower it on the bass side. Nothing too extreme though.

Most of us get used to the different output of staggered pole pickups and learn to vary our picking attack to accommodate it - probably without even realising it. But if you really don't like it but want to keep the guitar there's plenty of non-staggered Strat pickups out there to think about.

Last thing: nobody's mentioned bridge saddles; so I will. If you have the bent steel type "vintage" saddles found on current Mexican and American Standard Strats (amongst others) then you could think about switching them for solid milled steel saddles, such as these:

http://www.wdmusic.com/tremolo_saddles_ ... hrome.html

Many different brands and variations, so shop around.

The conventional wisdom is that solid steel saddles contribute to sustain while the bent steel vintage type are better for classic "twang". Your choice.

Some thoughts.

Cheers - C

EDIT: spelling...

How is the nut slot on your affected string? Is it tight and stopping the string vibrating properly? Look to see if the string slides easily through it. Or is the slot cut too deep? see how it compares with the others.

Did you get a set-up with this new guitar? A halfway decent tech would sort this in moments. A new guitar shouldn't have issues like this, but sometimes they slip through the QC net.

If all the strings are sustaining correctly but the E something is off. Like the guys mentioned the first thing to do is change the string. If it is still a problem bring it back where you bought it and the store tech should be able to take care of it.

Does it sound dead even unplugged?