The Songwriter Forum - songwriting reviews, tips and chat
Songwriter Forum => Recording => Topic started by: Saeed AlSuri on August 11, 2013, 08:56:01 AM
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Hello there ..
Any body knows .. which is the best guitar sustain stump box is good for long sustained note ??
thanks guys ..
Cheers
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you generally get more sustain by adjusting the threhsold and release times on a compressor....
Compressor stompboxes abound, varying in price from under £50 to a few hundred. Generally, you get what you pay for. For the cheaper units, you will probably find it very hard to get much sustain without the horrible artefacts associated with over compression.
Strymon do very good pedals, and have an opto-comp they are in the expensive range (~ £200)
The Keeley 4-knob compressor is in a similar price range, but allows direct control over sustain...
I've heard good things about the Dyna-comp which is a bit cheaper.
As far as a dedicated sustain pedal, EHX's 'Freeze' is the only one I've heard of...it's a different kind of thing, no idea of it's merits/pitfalls...
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Hello Ramshackles ..
I have Dyna comp .. MXR .. and the Boss -CS3 .. but the sustain is not that long .. which you would say its good .. very medium type of length .. not beyond 2 or 3 bars type .. if you have like 8 Bars then that is great .. medium tempo .. ;D ;D
Any setup tips for the knobs on these two to get longer sustain ???
Thanks man ..
Cheers ..
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If it's sustain for a guitar you probably need to think about another guitar or pickup to get better sustain.
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Hello Alan ..
Could you please elaborate more .. what kind .. the guitar or the pickup ??
Thank you ..
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If you're using a strat, sustain is not going to happen as easily as a Les Paul for example. Les Paul's have humbucker pickups which give better sustain and gain whereas Strats have single coil pickups which aren't as good at giving sustain. The body density/wood also makes a huge difference. If you're after more sustain from an acoustic, that's a whole different subject.
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There are many factors to getting good sustain such as pickups, wood, fx etc.... But if you want 'great' sustain the best advice I can give you is to practice your technique. If it's a stomp box you're looking for then your Dyna Comp is as good as any out there Saeed. If it's good enough for David Gilmour then who am I to argue. A good tube amp, a nice ash bodied guitar with a rosewood neck, and your Dyna Comp should give you all the sustain you will ever need. If you're not getting it then I would suggest that your pickups need looked at or you need to work on your technique. I know you're into Santana, so you should look at a good set of Humbuckers (Check out Seymour Duncan's web site), or a set of active EMG's.
Hope this helps
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Thank you Alan .. and thank you Mark ..
Some of the information I was not aware of .. the Humbucker picks I thought they only have a different sound .. but sustain is new to me .. I don't use Amplifier in my recording .. I use the zoom R8 for all my work fr almost 2 years now .. and the sustain effect in the R8 is great but the notes dies fast ..
and Mark it's not that I need the sustain .. to sound like Santana .. but I need some time to use the long notes for riffs .. as a change ..
Thank you guys for the good information ..
Cheers ..
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A ha!
You mentioned that you are not using an amp when you play/record
Depending on the sound in your head you are chasing I suspect you are wanting to achieve the style of sustain that you get from a cranked amp working with the guitar strings, body etc. (before the feedback kicks in)
I am not sure you will get where you want with a stomp box without the "magical" interaction between guitar and amp
Modellers (including software amp sims) are getting better all the time and you may get more out of one of these that tries to replicate a guitar amp response
Amplitube and Guitar Rig are probably worth checking out if you have a PC to use
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Hello Boydie ..
I do have Guitar Reg copy .. I got it with Alesis Guitar Link Plus USB Cable I bought many months a go .. never really used it ..
If you've used it .. could you tell how to integrate it in the chain ?? .. and any other advice on using it .. :D :D :D
Thank you ..
Cheers ..
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dont take finger off fretboard ;D
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OK guys I have a small Amp .. the practice type .. will it work ??
Cheers ..
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Also your R8 might have a noise gate, turn that down/off as any notes that fall below the treshold will be cut short. Depending on the sound you are after, Overdrive and distortion can add some sustain too (the tend to compress and boost gain).
I've also heard of a trick using a delay pedal set to a very short delay and some other voodoo that gives an 'infinite sustain' but cannot for the life of me find it...
Humbuckers and wood types do help greatly. My guitar teacher uses an Ibanez Jem, and I have a Les Paul, he played my guitar and was blown away by the sustain it has. Other bits of the guitar affect sustain as well. A fixed bridge vs a trem (vibrato/whammy) bridge will generally have more sustain as there is more vibration transfer.
Also, you could look at an E-Bow. You just hold it over the strings and the note will sustain as long as you hold it there...or until the battery dies...
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Hello NicBDA ..
Man you've mentioned a machine I've seen 30 years ago hooked to a bass has a belt spins around the strings when you press any where on the fret bored .. to get the sustain notes .. my be this is done electronically .. ;D ;D ;D
By the way I've tried the Guitar Rag .. through USB cable hooked to my guitar .. It EATS the CPU .. and the sound is in Morris code .. and the delay between playing and the sound from my PC is not nice at all .. that's why I'm not a fun of software based effects .. too much strain on the computer ..
Thanks guys ..
Cheers ..
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Hello NicBDA ..
Man you've mentioned a machine I've seen 30 years ago hooked to a bass has a belt spins around the strings when you press any where on the fret bored .. to get the sustain notes .. my be this is done electronically .. ;D ;D ;D
Yup now is all done though magnetic magic, The Modern Ebow (http://www.guitarcenter.com/EBow-PlusEBow-Electronic-Bow-for-Guitar-100387716-i1125703.gc)
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By the way NicBDA the E-Bow .. is the pick you use to play the string .. isn't it ??
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I use a Barber Tone press as both limiter and sometimes as sustain/boost for acoustic guitar. Wonderful with Strat too, but only gig with acoustic and it does both well.
If you're using a strat, sustain is not going to happen as easily as a Les Paul for example. Les Paul's have humbucker pickups which give better sustain and gain whereas Strats have single coil pickups which aren't as good at giving sustain. The body density/wood also makes a huge difference. If you're after more sustain from an acoustic, that's a whole different subject.
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By the way NicBDA the E-Bow .. is the pick you use to play the string .. isn't it ??
Sort of, its is used instead of the pick. In my last post the last bit is a link to the item at a large US music store (available from other places too).
It creates a magnetic field that causes the string to vibrate (as long as they are ferrous, so it won't do squat to a nylon string). As long as the string is in the field it'll vibrate playing what ever note is fretted (or open). You can do neat things like swells by moving the bow towards the string then away again (sounds like a violin being bowed), sweeping arpegios ect.
I first saw it when I went to a Vinnie Moore guitar clinic here in Bermuda. He used it to great effect (though in all fairness he has a bit of skill to begin with ;) )
It's just another tool in the box that you may not use all the time, but when you need it, it does it's intended to do.
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Most of the items mentioned in this tread are not locally available ..
buy it on line in our country cost an arm and a lag to pay for shipping charges .. ;D ;D ;D
thanks guys ..