sustain on strat?

[LesPaulFetish]

I don't know... It sounds like one is dead or the other defies physics.

[BoneNut]

Stop.
Don't {censored} with it.
The guys are off their game today. I can't believe they're telling you it's dead wood and to start buying new parts.


It's a brand new guitar. Take it to a tech... a good one and have him do a full setup. Once you have it back and get over your initial surprise, you can thank me then.

[mrbrown49]

Stop. Don't {censored} with it. The guys are off their game today. I can't believe they're telling you it's dead wood and to start buying new parts. It's a brand new guitar. Take it to a tech... a good one and have him do a full setup. Once you have it back and get over your initial surprise, you can thank me then.

 

good point

[venusshore]

Stop. Don't {censored} with it. The guys are off their game today. I can't believe they're telling you it's dead wood and to start buying new parts. It's a brand new guitar. Take it to a tech... a good one and have him do a full setup. Once you have it back and get over your initial surprise, you can thank me then.

 

I'll try that....just a good setup here charges quite a lot.... around $60...

I basically done the process myself..maybe not in a good way.

It's a new guitar - shouldn't have those problems...;-;

 

(1) adjust truss rod, now there is little relief

(2) adjust action a bit,

still have a small buzz on 12th fret or up on D,G string. No buzz on open string. don't know how to do next..maybe dress the fret?

(3) intonation, now its perfect intonation

(4) I change a little bit spring tension on the back

(5) pickup height. even sound on three pickups now

 

two things i don't like about the 50's now are

(1) first string is too close to edge. This IS a problem sometime.

(2) the pick guard is not stable. means the pickup can be floating and tilt sometime. which is not good.

[stormin1155]

Get a GFS Brass block.

 

 

 

 

I just put one of those in my MIM Standard, and was really quite disappointed with the lack of improvement. The guitar had pretty good sustain to begin with, and with the brass block I was hoping it would sing for days, but quite honestly, I really can't tell much if any difference. It does look cool though.

 

Lots of things that will contribute to sustain... the wood for one. and that's not something you can do anything about. You have the trem on your deluxe floating, and it looks like the RW is laying on the body. Contrary to what would seem logical, I get better sustain with a floating bridge.

[venusshore]

 

I just put one of those in my MIM Standard, and was really quite disappointed with the lack of improvement. The guitar had pretty good sustain to begin with, and with the brass block I was hoping it would sing for days, but quite honestly, I really can't tell much if any difference. It does look cool though. Lots of things that will contribute to sustain... the wood for one. and that's not something you can do anything about. You have the trem on your deluxe floating, and it looks like the RW is laying on the body. Contrary to what would seem logical, I get better sustain with a floating bridge.

 

 

Thanks!! i wound like it to "sing for days" as well

Yup...I was thinking of this point. maybe the floating bridge!

 

Do you know why "normally" floating bridge has less sustain?

[BoneNut]

I'll try that....just a good setup here charges quite a lot.... around $60... I basically done the process myself..maybe not in a good way. It's a new guitar - shouldn't have those problems...;-; (1) adjust truss rod, now there is little relief (2) adjust action a bit, still have a small buzz on 12th fret or up on D,G string. No buzz on open string. don't know how to do next..maybe dress the fret? (3) intonation, now its perfect intonation (4) I change a little bit spring tension on the back (5) pickup height. even sound on three pickups now two things i don't like about the 50's now are (1) first string is too close to edge. This IS a problem sometime. (2) the pick guard is not stable. means the pickup can be floating and tilt sometime. which is not good.

 

 

$60 is actually a pretty good deal. Probably run up to $100 if you get a nut made for it. Is it worth it? Absolutely, if you want your new guitar to reach its full potential.

 

One cool thing about bolt on necks guitars, like the Strat, is that the neck angle can be tweaked by using a shim. Some need it, some don't but let the tech look at it and decide. I have a shim on mine and have really nice, low, even action, up and down the neck, with no fret buzz. I don't have the action as low as it will go because I find it a bit uncomfortable to play like that. Plenty of sustain too. If anything, more sustain than I need.

 

Maybe you don't want to spend the $ on a setup or just prefer to do it yourself? Take a look at some of these videos. There are a few really good series.

 

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=stratocaster+setup&aq=f

 

Funny thing about Strats... considering how simple they are, they can be a real bitch to set up. Change one thing and everything else changes. All of it has to work together but once you play a Strat with a great setup, you'll be spoiled for life.

[BlueJames]

Stop. Don't {censored} with it. The guys are off their game today. I can't believe they're telling you it's dead wood and to start buying new parts. It's a brand new guitar. Take it to a tech... a good one and have him do a full setup. Once you have it back and get over your initial surprise, you can thank me then.

 

Agreed. One step at a time. I would do a setup, a bone nut if you have the extra cash, and maybe think about a better quality trem block.

[bsman]

Sustain's sort of a mystery to me -- the guitar I have that sustains the longest (and it sustains practically forever) is a Route 101 Solimar Custom. These have bodies made in India of Kapere (Indian red cedar) and Duncan Designed pickups. It's about the lightest strat clone I've ever hefted, but for some reason, it just plain sings.

[Orange Jackson]

see pic: 50's RW Deluxe:

 

 

one is like ringing a bell with your hand on it, the other is like ringing a bell that's hanging freely.

Which one do you think is going to ring more clearly?

 

There are a lot of guys who set the trem to be flat against the body, basically they do it to avoid tuning stability issues, but any strat that I have ever owned has sounded much better with the bridge floating.

So, to remedy this you can take a spring off or adjust the claw to be looser.

This will get the back of the bride to sit off the body, I set mine to be about an 8th of an inch up off the body, the back part of the bridge that is.

 

 

***The technical advice you get on this forum seems to get more piss poor each time you look. ***

[venusshore]

one is like ringing a bell with your hand on it, the other is like ringing a bell that's hanging freely. Which one do you think is going to ring more clearly? There are a lot of guys who set the trem to be flat against the body, basically they do it to avoid tuning stability issues, but any strat that I have ever owned has sounded much better with the bridge floating. So, to remedy this you can take a spring off or adjust the claw to be looser. This will get the back of the bride to sit off the body, I set mine to be about an 8th of an inch up off the body, the back part of the bridge that is. ***The technical advice you get on this forum seems to get more piss poor each time you look. ***

 

Great explanation. I definitely will try this. Report you result later.

[venusshore]

 

$60 is actually a pretty good deal. Probably run up to $100 if you get a nut made for it. Is it worth it? Absolutely , if you want your new guitar to reach its full potential. One cool thing about bolt on necks guitars, like the Strat, is that the neck angle can be tweaked by using a shim. Some need it, some don't but let the tech look at it and decide. I have a shim on mine and have really nice, low, even action, up and down the neck, with no fret buzz. I don't have the action as low as it will go because I find it a bit uncomfortable to play like that. Plenty of sustain too. If anything, more sustain than I need. Maybe you don't want to spend the $ on a setup or just prefer to do it yourself? Take a look at some of these videos. There are a few really good series. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=stratocaster+setup&aq=f Funny thing about Strats... considering how simple they are, they can be a real bitch to set up. Change one thing and everything else changes. All of it has to work together but once you play a Strat with a great setup, you'll be spoiled for life.

 

 

Thanks for those videos. I've been learning some of them before.

[fretmonster]

Get a GFS Brass block.

 

 

Brass or steel and change out the nut to bone, graphite or tusq and it should sing. Those roadworns are generally pretty resonant, so I would doubt deadwood.

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Steel-and-Brass-Tremolo-Upgrade-Blocks_c_216.html

[DaleH]

I'll try that....just a good setup here charges quite a lot.... around $60... I basically done the process myself..maybe not in a good way. It's a new guitar - shouldn't have those problems...;-; (1) adjust truss rod, now there is little relief (2) adjust action a bit, still have a small buzz on 12th fret or up on D,G string. No buzz on open string. don't know how to do next..maybe dress the fret? (3) intonation, now its perfect intonation (4) I change a little bit spring tension on the back (5) pickup height. even sound on three pickups now two things i don't like about the 50's now are (1) first string is too close to edge. This IS a problem sometime. (2) the pick guard is not stable. means the pickup can be floating and tilt sometime. which is not good.

 

 

If you have buzz take it in for a setup. Your doing something wrong.

[billybilly]

With sustain, the sum is greater than the whole. Everything combined contributes to sustain. It's impossible to come to a conclusion some times. Believe me, I have tried.

 

Good luck and I hope it works out for you. My best playing guitar has terrible sustain, {censored}s me to tears. I have tried everything.

[mrbrown49]

 

With sustain, the sum is greater than the whole. Everything combined contributes to sustain. It's impossible to come to a conclusion some times. Believe me, I have tried. Good luck and I hope it works out for you. My best playing guitar has terrible sustain, {censored}s me to tears . I have tried everything.

 

 

Is it enough sustain though? I don't think I've met the guitar yet that I couldn't coax enough sustain out of it.

 

Frankly I think guitarists put too much importance on sustain. It's not that big of a deal IMO as long as everything is working properly.

[webwarmiller]

 

There are a lot of guys who set the trem to be flat against the body, basically they do it to avoid tuning stability issues, but any strat that I have ever owned has sounded much better with the bridge floating.

 

 

First off, I'm the most skeptical of people when it comes to things that supposedly make big tone/sustain differences. I say this because I was skeptical of the differences having the bridge floating or not would have on a Strat with a 6pt trem. Well, let me tell you, it makes the biggest difference of pretty much ANY single change I've ever heard on a solid body electric guitar outside of a pickup swap. In my case the guitar went from a closed somewhat lifeless sound (decked) to this big open sound (floating) that I had a hard time believing could come from such a simple change.

[mrbrown49]

 

First off, I'm the most skeptical of people when it comes to things that supposedly make big tone/sustain differences. I say this because I was skeptical of the differences having the bridge floating or not would have on a Strat with a 6pt trem. Well, let me tell you, it makes the biggest difference of pretty much ANY single change I've ever heard on a solid body electric guitar outside of a pickup swap. In my case the guitar went from a closed somewhat lifeless sound to this big open sound that I had a hard time believing could come from such a simple change.

 

 

Wait, which sounded more open, floating or flush?

 

Personally I've had the best luck with floating trems.

[webwarmiller]

 

Wait, which sounded more open, floating or flush?

 

 

FLOATING....and I've fixed my original post to clear this up..

[mrbrown49]

 

FLOATING....and I've fixed my original post to clear this up..

 

 

Ah, that's what I suspected. Not sure what it is, but I have a hunch it's the vibrating springs and perhaps allowing the bridge to move too helps that in some way.

[venusshore]

one is like ringing a bell with your hand on it, the other is like ringing a bell that's hanging freely. Which one do you think is going to ring more clearly? There are a lot of guys who set the trem to be flat against the body, basically they do it to avoid tuning stability issues, but any strat that I have ever owned has sounded much better with the bridge floating. So, to remedy this you can take a spring off or adjust the claw to be looser. This will get the back of the bride to sit off the body, I set mine to be about an 8th of an inch up off the body, the back part of the bridge that is. ***The technical advice you get on this forum seems to get more piss poor each time you look. ***

 

OK I raised up the bridge now about 8th of an inch and it's floating now...

However...doesn't seems to make any difference....

 

I've taken it to two guitar shops.

They said that if the brige/trem lay down on the body that they might get some resonance from body as well.

Then I added two more springs on the back.

 

So a technician is setting up the guitar for me now. I'll see how's this going

[venusshore]

If you have buzz take it in for a setup. Your doing something wrong.

 

 

I've taken my guitar to two shops today. They said this is what it should sound like for Strat...little buzz is because the maple neck (density) and the dunlop narrow fret.

[100 watt]

Take the bridge saddles off & see if the block is tightened down to the main plate. Ive noticed alot of MIM strats always are a bit loose. Dont know if they just get that way over time, or if they leave the factory that way.

Try brass saddles if you can find some. Those made a world of difference in the partscaster I just finished (with a MIM bridge). It had a loose block as well.

[venusshore]

 

Is it enough sustain though? I don't think I've met the guitar yet that I couldn't coax enough sustain out of it. Frankly I think guitarists put too much importance on sustain. It's not that big of a deal IMO as long as everything is working properly.

 

 

I am not try to pursuit as much sustain as possible. I just bought this one new and played it, feels not right sometime and I played my old Strat and I know its because the sustain. That's why I asked. I just try to get enough sustain as it should be

[venusshore]

 

Take the bridge saddles off & see if the block is tightened down to the main plate. Ive noticed alot of MIM strats always are a bit loose. Dont know if they just get that way over time, or if they leave the factory that way. Try brass saddles if you can find some. Those made a world of difference in the partscaster I just finished (with a MIM bridge). It had a loose block as well.

 

 

OK. brass saddles - how about brass trem block? My other strat is a MIM deluxe Strat, its has golden hardware but I am not sure what kind of saddle on that one. It has better sustain.