Hi i still dont get the smooth sustaining leads like i hear on any of the songs.. is it that the volume of the amp should be cranked up high or is it the distortion or overdrive that causes it.. i tried overdrive distortion compression to get that..i just dont get that..so was wondering if anyone knows how to Thanks, Ajay
im guessing its the way u play - if u play well - itll sound good and sustained - other than that - u can try reverbs, pulling up the gain - removing any noise reduction mechanism, um... u mghit want to even change ur pickups
Add some vibrato to the notes you want to sustain. Its a very common technique used by many guitarist.
its ur playing skills of course..but the gear u use is im[ortant too.. for getting smoother i'll keep a low volume level and some reverb's going to help. a lot of ppl use echo for increasing sustain, though i would NOT recommend that.. a compressor may help you gettting smoother..
fortunately the 2 guitars i own.. a 50$ strat i bought a pawn shop and an epiphone SG 3 pick up custom have the best sustain i have seen.. I have a very ****ty effects pedal.. korg ax1.. even with that i get some cool sustains.. so it depends on yoru guitar and its pickups too..
Finger Vibrato is the first thing. Which any setup, if you do a quick and smooth vibrato it will sustain as much as you want. Other factors are using a Delay, increasing the gain and volume and your pickups. A compressor is a short cut to getting long sustain. With my simple cheap ass guitar, a Boss BD2 and an Arion Compressor, I could get a 2 minute long sustain at the 22nd Fret on even low E or A String. I didn't need so much sustain, just tried it as an experiment. After two minutes, the sustain didn't die, I cut it out because I got bored. But beware of using a Compressor. It cuts out a lot of dynamics from your picking. First of all, get a smooth finger vibrato and that will solve 90% of your poor sustain problem.
If you put sustain on Full, you can take it for guaranteed that all dynamics in playing will be killed. You might have a long sustain but there wont be any life in any of the note you play. Moreover this will introduce a lot of noise.
Thanks Guys for your recommendations. Here is what i tried: I used distortion the one on my combo amp itself..(no pedal) and used effects loop on the amp itself - setting at chorus and delay. and tried doing vibrato's on notes and found that yes that is what causes the notes to sustain and be smooth. The only thing now is that if i want more of that..i either increase the volume or the distortion..but the smoothness goes off if sound is getting too much distorted. i tried the november rain solo..but some parts didnot sound or sustain like it should...it maybe my fingers .. but i did play around and i belive i need something more dont knwo what..i am using les paul epiphone and fender princeton 65 dsp combo amp... Thanks in advance to you guys.. Thanks, Ajay
If you think at high volume the sound is getting harsher, try increasing the bass and mid and also decreasing the treble. Usually at high volume only the distortion really shines. May be slight EQ with your amp would help you. Work on that finger vibrato.
Vibrato means pitch modulation which again means changing the pitch around the original pitch of the note in a smooth and even manner. When you play a note and shake your fretted finger to produce that pitch modulation effect, then you call it finger vibrato. It can also be done by using a vibrato bar attached to the bridge, which is also wrongly and widely called as a tremelo bar. Tremelo is actually associated with volume modulation. That's history anyway.
