no sustain at all

[tab222]

I got a fender sp 10 amp with a boss me 25 fx pedal and a fender starcaster
and when i try to play a long note it would hold for 2 sec then fade out.
i dont know whats the problem.

any one knows?

[CSchlegel]

I got a fender sp 10 amp with a boss me 25 fx pedal and a fender starcaster
and when i try to play a long note it would hold for 2 sec then fade out.

Three things contribute to sustain:

1. Vibrato.
2. Volume.
3. Gain or overdrive.

You can use all three, a combo of 2, or sometimes just one.

Remember that any guitar note naturally has a quick attack followed by a gradual decay. Violins solve this by keeping the string singing out with constant bowing back & forth, keeping the string in motion. Brass & wind instruments will sound a note as long as they have a steady source of air blown through them.

So, the problem to solve with the guitar is: how do we keep the note singing out & sustaining?! The answer is vibrato. :)

Let's work on your vibrato technique. Make sure you're holding the string firmly right behind the fret, strike the string with your pick starting the note ringing. Slowly, evenly, and firmly wiggle the string back and forth across the fret you are holding. This method of vibrato will help keep this string sounding longer than it otherwise would.

Get your vibrato technique down right first. Because even if you have lots of volume or gain, the note will still just die quickly or your gear will fall over into feedback if you don't have the vibrato down right.

Next, try to turn the amp up or turn the gain (overdrive) on.

GT has lots of lessons on vibrato. This is a good one by HP using vibrato to sustain long notes:

http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=11359

Give it a try & let us know how it goes!

[RickBlacker]

I'm, not too familiar with the Fender Strat, but I'm assuming you can adjust the bridge height on those, are you getting fretbuzz? If so, you might want to raise your bridge a tad.

[tab222]

i got the vibroto down pretty good. the thing is i cant get a good sustain when i bend the strings. Like in santana's eruopa he bends the high e string hor a long time. thats is what i am trying to do.

[Jerry Dylan]

on Europa he has the amp turned up really really loud with a pretty good amount of gain on it. he has the amp so loud that if the sustains the note long enough it will turn into this feedback that's nice sounding and that will make it sustain forever.

[tab222]

thats a great trick. too bad i cant try it out because i live in a town house,and i have a baby next door.

[Jerry Dylan]

Yeah i can't try it either but if you ever get a chance to crank up an amp try it out

[Jays.traas]

Does the patch you are using with your Boss ME-25 have a noise gate running? This could be one cause of the note dropping out so fast.

[tab222]

What do you mean about a patch?

[Jays.traas]

Patch = Preset or Bank.

I've never owned an ME-25 so I'm not sure what sort of effects processor it is, but does it possibly have a noise gate running?

[tab222]

well yeah, i goes from 1 to 9 are the levels of noise compressor that or in my boss me-25. Do you think that could be the problem.

[Jays.traas]

It is possible that it could be part of the problem.

Try changing the settings and see if you get any difference in the length of sustain you are able to get in your notes.

[tab222]

It work a little bit is any kind of fx pedal that could give me more sustain.

[aschleman]

there's a lot of things that can contribute to sustain. sadly, strats have never been known for their sustain. being a bolt on neck style of guitar the disconnection between the neck and the body disipates some of the resonance... you can check to see if its your guitar by unplugging it and playing a note and listening to see how long the note rings out. a noise supressor or noise gate setting could be the issue... in this case you would have the sensitivity set too high. also, your pedal probably has a compressor. try playing with that. compression can really enhance sustain by closing the dynamic gap between softly played notes and loud notes. with that you get a more consistant volume note that rings longer.