You might also add some palm muting to your technique.

Lay the fleshy edge of your hand (near the pinky) on the bridge, just on the side away from the pickups. You can reduce the sustain of a note or chord by rolling your hand onto the bridge to mute the strings.

This also gives your picking hand an anchor, so you know exactly where you are, relative to the strings.

Adding a bit of 'chop' to your strumming action can help funkify your sound.