Re: Explain compressors
A compressor might help but what you are describing sounds like technique, not equipment. With strong enough finger vibrato you can keep a note going a long, long time with enough volume and/or gain. Develop good hammer on/off fingering and you can drift up and down that string all night if you want to. I used to play a slow solo of about 30 seconds or so, playing notes on three different strings, without striking the strings at all. Right hand at my side. My left fingers did all the work. No compressor, just a very sensitive SG with a Super Distortion pickup running through an EQ pedal for midrange boost into a solid state Randall RG100ES into a 2x12 cabinet with Celestion G12-65 speakers.
I could do it with other equipment but that exact combination made it relatively easy. The mid boost into the gain channel provided enough levelling of the signal to act "compressed" without a compressor.
Prior to that I had a Peavy Studio 50 amp and it took an Arion compressor with all 3 knobs cranked to get the same basic effect.
With both setups the key was to keep the strings moving (vibrato, side-to-side) so the notes would not fade out or devolve into uncontrolled feedback.
You could also try an eBow. I tried one once and found it less responsive than the SG/Randall pairing but it literally allows unlimited sustain on one string for as long as you want.
A compressor might help but what you are describing sounds like technique, not equipment. With strong enough finger vibrato you can keep a note going a long, long time with enough volume and/or gain. Develop good hammer on/off fingering and you can drift up and down that string all night if you want to. I used to play a slow solo of about 30 seconds or so, playing notes on three different strings, without striking the strings at all. Right hand at my side. My left fingers did all the work. No compressor, just a very sensitive SG with a Super Distortion pickup running through an EQ pedal for midrange boost into a solid state Randall RG100ES into a 2x12 cabinet with Celestion G12-65 speakers.
I could do it with other equipment but that exact combination made it relatively easy. The mid boost into the gain channel provided enough levelling of the signal to act "compressed" without a compressor.
Prior to that I had a Peavy Studio 50 amp and it took an Arion compressor with all 3 knobs cranked to get the same basic effect.
With both setups the key was to keep the strings moving (vibrato, side-to-side) so the notes would not fade out or devolve into uncontrolled feedback.
You could also try an eBow. I tried one once and found it less responsive than the SG/Randall pairing but it literally allows unlimited sustain on one string for as long as you want.
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