How to stop open strings from sounding obnoxious

[Chistopher]

I've made the transition from a guitar modder to guitar player, and one of the things I'm struggling with is open strings.

When I'm finger picking on my acoustic or electric I can get all the fretted notes to sound beautiful, but as soon as I hit an open plain string it really stands out. Even with a zero fret they sound noticeably worse. I've figured out how to fix it with effects, but I'd rather hear what you guys have to say about how I can fix my technique. Right now I've tried palm muting, picking location, and picking intensity, but I still can't get it to sound right.

 

[ICTGoober]

Good technique takes time. Also, it occurs to me that maybe your guitar has an intonation problem? Can you post a clip of you playing that we could hear for ourselves?

 

[Chistopher]

It's not an issue with the guitar, it happens on all of them. What got me noticing this is the J. Edward's arrangement of Debussy's Clair De Lune. There are open strings played at the same time as higher fretted notes and harmonics throughout, and I can never quite get the open strings to balance soundwise with the other notes.

Is this a fault of me using an arrangement based around a nylon guitar and inherently unavoidable on a steel strung instrument?

Also, how do you upload sound clips with the new forum software?​​​​​​​

 

[Mincer]

Could you change the open strings in the arrangement to fretted notes?

 

[Chistopher]

I didn't even consider that, I'll run through it and see if I can't make it all work. There are a few parts where it might be tough though.

 

[Clint 55]

When fingerpicking, you can vary your attack. Usually the closed notes will sound rounder compared to the open notes and the open notes will sound a bit brighter or strident. I don't know your playing technique but find a way to use a more subdued attack for the open strings such as playing slightly softer, using a duller angle, or using a more fleshy contact of your finger with the string.

 

[GuitarStv]

I agree with Clint.

Switching between open and fretted strings I really have to work hard at hitting the open ones softer so they don't ring out too loudly when playing a clean piece. If it's only a little uneven you can also use a compressor or limiter as a bit of a band-aid to correct this, but it'll sound best if you can get a handle on using different attack for the open notes.