The Hot Rails

[fearofthedark]

Hey, I have an SHR-1 seymour duncan hot rail at the bridge of my strat and it responds to any movements. if i lift off a string to go to another one, lifting off the string causes it to ring or "play" an open note so my solos sound sloppy. Is this the pickups fault or is it my playing? Im wondering if this is what they mean when they say this pickup responds to sublest finger movements and is sensitive. Someone give me some input please.

 

[Davey]

Re: The Hot Rails

i'm afraid its you =/

 

[fearofthedark]

Re: The Hot Rails

How do you fix that. If i dont play at all, and just simply put my finger on the string and lift off, i get that same sound, i think its impossible for it to be me.

 

[Low_fidelity2100]

Re: The Hot Rails

How do you fix that. If i dont play at all, and just simply put my finger on the string and lift off, i get that same sound, i think its impossible for it to be me.

No no, its deffinately you. Theres no way a pickup would make a string ring out, Unless The player (in this case you) Had plucked it, intentionally or otherwise. I mean except for the fernades sustainer system, But a hot rail won't do that.
The thing is with highout put pickups, even the tinyest movement of the string the pickup will pickup, And it'll appear louder than it really is. Because Higher output pickups Tend to compress the signal a bit, Thus makeing tiny sounds, Much bigger. It works for you and against you. The highout put of a hotrail Makes it much easyer to overdrive the pre-amp in an amp, Or get Massive distortion from a Pedal. But the downside is, If your a sloppy player, It comes through Much louder.
Its a simple fix though. Be less sloppy, problem solved. When you Lift your fingers off the strings For any reason, Its gonna make them ring out a bit. To Cut down on this, When ya take your freting hand off the strings, Make sure your Picking hand is On them (to stop them from ringing out). Its quite simple really.

 

[fearofthedark]

Re: The Hot Rails

So what your saying is that, you have to adjust to the pickups? Like what if i got the DiMarzio Tone Zone S at my bridge, would this have less of the ringing or output? This is a message to the last reply or to anyone who would like to answer for him/her. thnaks guys

 

[Davey]

Re: The Hot Rails

the thing is, the hot rails has a TON of output and such will pick up even the slightest string vibration.

if you completely take your hands off the strings (meaning, you dont silence them with your right or left hand) EVERY guitar will ring, no matter what pickup (though, depends on the volume, output and distortion/gain)

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: The Hot Rails

Hey man, a better-sounding pickup showed you a way to improve your playing? I'd say it's a win-win situation...just practice bro.

-X

 

[kjrocks]

Re: The Hot Rails

You could try lower it a little too.You may lose a little output but that may do the trick until you get a little more precise and then you can raise it back up.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: The Hot Rails

Practice until your fingering isn't as sloppy. The pickups aren't the problem - they have merely revealed something that is wrong with the way you play. Don't worry, it happens to a lot of people. Just practice until it goes away.

 

[fearofthedark]

Re: The Hot Rails

Ok but how can it be me when i dont even have to play guitar, all i have to do is put my finger on a string and simply lift off, that gives me a pulloff throughout. So imagine how a solo would sound....see what i mean? Is it that i just have to adjust to these pickups?

 

[Farkus]

Re: The Hot Rails

Two things:

First, do you have the pickups too high? Are they hitting the strings at all? Has your setup changed since you had other pickups in the guitar?

Second, if the answer to the first is no, then it's a technique problem. The point everyone is trying to make is this...in your last response you're saying that putting you finger on a string and simply lifting off is giving you a "pull off". Well, you axe has always done this, just not as easily perceived. It's just that you notice with the Hot Rails b/c it is so hot.

Even lowering the pickup is not enough. You have to learn how to mute the unwanted strings.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: The Hot Rails

Ok but how can it be me when i dont even have to play guitar, all i have to do is put my finger on a string and simply lift off, that gives me a pulloff throughout. So imagine how a solo would sound....see what i mean? Is it that i just have to adjust to these pickups?

Dude, listen ... when you play with one hand, you are still PLAYING. That is YOUR FINGER making the sound. This is because your fingers are not moving in a precise enough fashion to avoid causing the other strings to ring. Your fingering needs practice to prevent this from happening. You didn't notice this before because the Hot Rails has much more output than your old pickups. Pickups don't invent sounds - they can only reproduce what the strings are doing. Understand?

Now get off the Internet and go practice your fingering!

 

[fearofthedark]

Re: The Hot Rails

so i pretty much have to adjust to these things then eh?

 

[Low_fidelity2100]

Re: The Hot Rails

so i pretty much have to adjust to these things then eh?

Sweet Jesus Man....NO you don't have to adjust the pickups.....YOU to adjust YOUR PLAYING.
Everyone has repeatedly told ya, There is NO WAY that the ringing out is a Pickup Problem. Because It just isn't possible. A Pickup isn't gonna Cause your guitar to Ring out, Its only going to PICKUP any noises that YOU cause it to make. Understand? If YOU are causing the string to ring out, By Pulling your finger off the strings (even it its not Fretted simply Lightly touching, or rubbing the string will Make noise), Then it you will hear the string Ringing out. But That Ringing out, is In NO WAY caused by the Pickup. Its Caused by you.

So To Reiterate.

We Have all told you. NO IT IS NOT THE PICKUPS FAULT. There is Nothing you can adjust on the pickup to make this go away. To solve this problem, YOU NEED TO PRACTICE MORE, AND MAKE SURE YOU MUTE THE STRINGS WHEN YOUR NOT PLAYING. If you Don't Mute the strings when your Not playing (even simply lifting your finger OFF the string is considered "playing") Then it will Ring out, and you will hear it through your amp. YOU ARE THE CAUSE OF THIS PROBLEM. and the ONLY way to fix it, is for YOU to Adjust your PLAYING TECHNIQUE in such a way as to Solve it (i.e. Makeing sure to mute the strings when not playing).

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: The Hot Rails

^ Chill. I think he meant adjust his playing to avoid these ringing strings, in which case he is correct.

 

[JHN]

Re: The Hot Rails

so i pretty much have to adjust to these things then eh?

Yes...It happens to all beginers when playing with overdrive or distortion.The more drive you have the more 'unplayed' notes you get.Practice your chromatic patterns and scales on your electric with drive,as slowly as you can then when you are clean from unwanted sounds,try a little faster etc.
When i first gabbed an electric having a background in classical guitar i thought i
would burn the fretboard :headbang:

The result was quite :lame: at first
Practice makes perfect though...

 

[open]

Re: The Hot Rails

The Hot rail is a high output pickup with a ceramic magnet,and it will respond to string vibration,even sight movement of the string.
You need to clean-up your playing a bit.

 

[fearofthedark]

Re: The Hot Rails

Sweet Jesus Man....NO you don't have to adjust the pickups.....YOU to adjust YOUR PLAYING.

If u read what i said dude....i didnt say adjust the pickups, i said adjust TO the pickups meaning fix my playing...dont be a smartass

 

[LesStrat]

Re: The Hot Rails

Adjusting the pickup height still might help. But yes, we have to clean up our playing when we use better equipment. I went through the same thing. This will teach you MUCH better control of your playing with BOTH hands.

As someone said earlier, it's a win-win proposition.

<----HR/CR/HR