getting no sustain

anewdefguitarist

anewdefguitarist

New member
as the title says, im not getting any sustain out of the high E string on my guitar. not sure whats going on. its an LTD Viper 301 - Duncan Distortion in the bridge. could it be the huge magnet in the SH6? or could it be that im also getting frett buzz on the OPEN high E? i wouldn't think this would affect it however, when im hitting a note on the 20th, and 19th, and 22nd fret ya know? maybe it does though. any thoughts or comments appreciated. thanks in advance guys, have a good one :friday:
 
Re: getting no sustain

how high is the pickup?

I generally start by fretting at the last fret and raising the pickup to 1/8 inch from the bottom of the strings
level
measured at the E strings

then up/down tilt/rock till its just right

sounds like yours is a bit closer on the one side and the pickups feild is damping the strings
 
Re: getting no sustain

uOpt said:
Cannot parse original post. Which frets lack sustain, again?
Click to expand...

answer this.

also, theres no sustain at all?

like *strum* and thats it? sound dies? staccato?

we need more details, pics if possible, sound clips, anything at all that will give us more info.
 
Re: getting no sustain

From what I can gather, you're getting fret buzz all over the fretboard?

It's not the pickup. I'm guessing it's the action being set too low. Try raising it.
 
Re: getting no sustain

sorry its been awhile. to answer a few of the questions:
-when i play just a plain on open high e, i get fret buzz. after the 4th fret i believe the buzz goes away.
-most of the sustain issues are on the g,b, and e strings and mostly at or over the 15th fret. its like i hit the note, i get the pitch, and within about 1/2 a second, the note totally decays and either feeds back or just totally dies off.
-i have had the guitar setup, but its been at least a year.

hope i got all your questions answered. thanks again for the replys!!
 
Re: getting no sustain

it could be the nut, but it's probably the bridge. it sounds like its choking the string or something...

your best bet is to take it to a tech. he/she will automatically know what to do.

try coloring in the nut with a pencil, to get graphite in to lube it.

try this on the saddle as well, just for the heck of it
 
Re: getting no sustain

Sounds like a problem with your bridge saddles. Check the intonation on your guitar along with the saddles to see if there are any burrs on them. I would consider changing them to a set of Graph-Tech's.
 
Re: getting no sustain

Check the clearance of the strings above the pickups when you play above the 15th fret. I had a similar problem on my SG when I bought it. above the 21st fret the e & b strings would drop out. It was really wierd. But when I found the pickups were interfering with strings when I depressed them at the 21st & 22nd frets it made sense.

Good Luck
 
Re: getting no sustain

uOpt said:
Sounds like too low action and a slightly warped neck to me.
Click to expand...

God i hope you're wrong, lol. no offense, i appreciate any/all advice but d*amn*t i hope its not this. i wasn't going to say it... but thats deffinately been in the back of my mind.
 
Re: getting no sustain

I think what he means by a warped neck is you need to adjust the truss rod. seeing that you are very concerned about this ans you really sound like you are unable to adjust it yourself I would recommend you take the guitar in for a setup. A guitar typically should be set up 2X per year. If you don't know how to do it you should learn. But Dan Erlwines book

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Books,_..._To_Make_Your_Electric_Guitar_Play_Great.html
 
Re: getting no sustain

Bludave said:
I think what he means by a warped neck is you need to adjust the truss rod.
Click to expand...

No, since he has the problem only on the higher frets that means the neck is warped, unless he has high action on bass and low on treble.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top