gibson sustain

a_gherkin

im in the market for a gibson les paul and have heard wonders about the sustain. i just wanted to no if it a whole load of fuss about nothing or not. how long can you hold notes for?

Shred

the sustain is good yes, thats the reason there heavy guitars. but ppl not wanting a les paul just purchase sum EMG-81's they give so much sustain its unbeliveable.

my two best guitars:
i have a kh-602 with active emg-81's

and a les paul standard

so im totally used to exellent sustain so i barley notice it anymore

Pacomc79

I personally think SG's sustain longer than Les Pauls.

who's_pearljam?

I think it depends on the guitar and the strings and the pickups. Light strings don't sustain, put 11's on anything and it'll ring longer

I think a turned up loud SG sustains longer because it's lighter and vibrates and interacts along with the sound waves. (Wow ,, 2 posts in a row about vibrating guitars!) Unplugged, according to physics, probably a Les Paul will sustain longer, but who the hell is going to do THAT on stage!:)
If you turn any guitar up enough, it'll sustain. Look at Jimi Hendrix playing the Star Spangled Banner on a regular Strat.

I can still hear that!:D

nailz100

The sustain is good....thats for sure. I own a les paul studio and the sustain is very good. But I just bought a PRS Mark Tremonti model and I have never heard a guitar with as much sustain as it has. So yeah...gibson is good.....PRS is better.

frisbie

Originally posted by nailz100
The sustain is good....thats for sure. I own a les paul studio and the sustain is very good. But I just bought a PRS Mark Tremonti model and I have never heard a guitar with as much sustain as it has. So yeah...gibson is good.....PRS is better.

PRS does = better than a new Gibson, no doubt. Newer Gibson = shit. Older Gibson 60/70s, you can play a note, go grab a bite to eat and still hear the sustain. Not a big fan of the Tremonti model for PRS though, not because of the Creed connection, just because I prefer a Custom 24 or A hollowbody.

nailz100

Personal preference is personal preference....I guess it depends on what kind of sound you are looking for. Something about the PRS's just makes you drool though..doesn't it.

Shred

gibson are better then fender, gibson have a good name and they want to keep it that way. but fender..well there are so many crap fenders u can buy...

Pacomc79

Originally posted by frisbie
PRS does = better than a new Gibson, no doubt. Newer Gibson = shit. Older Gibson 60/70s, you can play a note, go grab a bite to eat and still hear the sustain. Not a big fan of the Tremonti model for PRS though, not because of the Creed connection, just because I prefer a Custom 24 or A hollowbody.

Hollowbody 2...lovely.

SMCICR

Les Pauls do sustain forever it does depend veru much on the strings, I went from 10's up to 12's lost a little sustain but gained some tone, I've just switched down to 11's now and am waitoing for them to bed in a little.

It also depends on what you're putting them through, lots of effects or anything valve driven will conpress the sound and take away from the sustain.

I'm a thinking that 70's Gibsons aren't very good and they started to get it together in the 80's.

MissYouAllDay

62 strat loves his new SG special.

And most people seem to think SG's are great.

Not to mention I am looking into buying one.

I don't see how high end gibsons could be THAT horrible. Like Ed plays brand new SG's on tour and so does mike once in a while.

According to lots of peopel they have the best action/neck there is.

PRS sounds pretty cool. The tremonti thing is pretty lame though, they sure know how to pick their featured artists eh

Here is the order I am looking to buy guitars in the next 5 years.
Gibson SG standard, american tele, LesPaul, american strat

frisbie

Originally posted by SMCICR
Les Pauls do sustain forever it does depend veru much on the strings, I went from 10's up to 12's lost a little sustain but gained some tone, I've just switched down to 11's now and am waitoing for them to bed in a little.

It also depends on what you're putting them through, lots of effects or anything valve driven will conpress the sound and take away from the sustain.

I'm a thinking that 70's Gibsons aren't very good and they started to get it together in the 80's.

NO Gibsons did not get it together in the 80's by then they were starting to mass produce shit, not in the same level as Fender, but still not what they were. Some 70's Gibsons are okay. But now, ALL gibsons are hit ot miss. You can find a good one, but you really have to dig. I am a PRS man myself, and even they are moving in a direction similar to Gibson or Fender, but not to the same degree yet. If I were looking for a real Gibson, a real Les Paul, I'd look at Heritage Guitars, they are handmade in the same factory that Gibsons were made in before Gibson became shit.

goto_l

just get an e-bow, you can hold a note as long as the battery lasts on a fender, plus fenders aren't as heavy as gibsons.

Jackdaniels202

Your hands do most of the sustaining. I have a Les Paul Custom, and it does ring longer than my Danelectro (don't hate, it's the best sounding $200 guitar out there.) However, if you got a amp thats cooking, and wiggle the notes, they'll ring forever, unless you're using an Ibanez. I had one, it sustained like a banjo. Ugh. But anyways, the set neck and woods etc. do change your sound and sustain, but not to the extent that people say. Hendrix made his strats sing. Lynard Skynard used Les Pauls to play chicken pickin stuff. Go figure. Anyways, get what feels nice in your hands. I love the Les Paul neck, if i want to sound fendery for some reason, I'll split the coils, or get P90s or something like that. If you buy a well built guitar, it will sustain sufficiently.

mccreadyisgod

Originally posted by SMCICR
It also depends on what you're putting them through, lots of effects or anything valve driven will conpress the sound and take away from the sustain.

Not true, my friend. If you want sustain, compression is the easiest way to get it. Tube (valve) compression gives you very good, very controllable sustain that is quite musical. Overdriven tubes will compress the signal, too, so turning up a tube amp will get you more sustain (like Hendrix with his Strat, right Bob?). Any overdrive/distortion/fuzz box will do the same thing.

Now, effects for coloration, like delay, reverb, tremolo, phase, chorus, flange, etc. will suck tone and sustain. The reason for that is that with every pedal like that you will lose a tiny bit of signal strength. If you put two or three of them in your signal path, they will suck enough power out of the signal to hurt your sustain. But use a compressor, an overdrive/distortion, or a boost in your chain, and you can really add sustain. For me, the easiest way to get a note to sustain is to use my overdrive and my MXR compressor together, and maybe drive the amp a little bit to boot.

Sustain can also be helped by controlled feedback from your guitar. Feedback is the result of signal from your guitar running through an amp, then out the speaker(s), and the sound hits your strings, causing them to vibrate at that frequency, looping on itself and getting louder and louder. Using anything that provides compression (comp pedal, overdrive, distortion, etc) will make that feedback controlled (read: not squealing annoying noise) and give you sustain. The problem arises when you get harmonic feedback, where you will get feedback loops two or three octaves above the string frequency, giving you that piercing squeal that makes me cringe. So it can be a difficult thing to work to your advantage. But with a nice, warm-sounding guitar, it can be used well.

Jackdaniels202

True bypass is the key.