Trouble with hammers

[hunter60]

I am now sure that it's a technique problem but I have a capo on the second fret and trying to do hammers on the A and D strings on the fourth fret. The D is fine but the A is dead. I've done this on all three of the guitars sitting here and it happens to them all. It has to be my technique. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.

Any ideas? It's not the greatest capo, just a cheap one. (Yes, a cheapo capo...hmmm, that's odd). Any help would be appreciated.

[jeffhx]

not exactly sure what you mean...when you mentioned hammer on the fourth fret on the A string, do u mean 0h4? it doesnt matter if ur using a cheap capo or not i think..just as long as there arent any string buzzes when u strum it openly...hammerons requires some precision at times...but its not hard...

[hunter60]

not exactly sure what you mean...when you mentioned hammer on the fourth fret on the A string, do u mean 0h4? it doesnt matter if ur using a cheap capo or not i think..just as long as there arent any string buzzes when u strum it openly...hammerons requires some precision at times...but its not hard...


You're right - Oh4. I agree, hammers should not be that difficult. I'm doing this little hammer run across the 4th fret and the rest are fine. It's just that the A is dead. No sustain at all which makes the hammer sort of moot. When I don't have the capo on, the A string rings fine. Plenty of sustain even with the hammers. So I am not sure what it is that I'm doing wrong.

[jeffhx]

oh the sustain yea...ive tried it on my guitar it seems to work fine though...or it cud just be my ears....i was trying it out on my acoustic..its too late in the night here for me to try it out on the elctric...no sustain at all? hmm im pretty sure theres nothing to do with your technique at all if it rings fine on open strings..but then again im not sure...thats weird tho hunter...perhaps someone else can shine more light into this..cud it be your strings are old? ha i dont know abt that for sure...fourth fret relative to the capo yea...what if you hammeron a little harder?

[hunter60]

Thanks for checking! Appreciate it. You know, you may be on to something there; the strings are old and could stand to be replaced. I'll have to try that. I gotta figure this out. It's making me crazy - I can get a little OCD when I can't figure something out. :)