legatos

[riskordie]

y is it that my legatos don ring... they fade away after like 3-4 notes
is there a trick to it or is it my RG?
ive heard u lose sustain with floating trems

[Gex]

Maybe hammering harder?

[sindlei]

it's not the guitar, it's your technique, just have to practice.

[lyconxero]

I dunno if it's HIS guitar, but I know that my guitar isn't very good at anything legato. But I played one of those new telecasters with dual humbuckers and a sweet thin body in a store and it had THE BEST LEGATO FEEL EVER!!! Also, certain pickups are more sensitive to things like that but yeah for the MOST PART it's all technique.....even though there are ways to help it out a bit.

[riskordie]

can anyone tell me how to improve my technique and the tricks to it?
i dunwanna open a new thread for this

[Bluestreak]

Start with the guitar and go from there. Are you well versed in setting up a guitar? If you aren't, take it to an experience luthier and have it properly adjusted. At that point, you can make the determination if it's your guitar, or your technique. I can't speak to guitars of a lesser quality than the 5xx/7xx RG's, but even a poorly set up 5xx/7xx has decent sustain. Pending a good adjustment on your guitar, I'm betting it's your technique. Some folks just don't adjust well to floating trems; I have friends who won't touch my guitars because they're not fixed bridge. You might also visit a store nearby and try your technique on a fixed bridge model and see what comes of that little endeavour. You've got some homework to do... then get back to us on this issue.

-R

[riskordie]

thx.... ill try to go to the local guitar store and play on fixed bridge guitars....
the thing that u said bout setting it up.... how does a good set up affect the sustain?
i dont get it

[MicJustMic]

Action too high will require more pressure/harder hammer to get the note to ring properly, not that high action is a BAD thing, it depends on your technique . . . too low and the string will ping off of the higher frets and kill sustain.

Pickups too close (especially single coil) will also kill sustain due to the magnetic pull they have on the strings.

Un-even action will also hurt sustain, since you'll be applying more pressure on one string and less (relative) on another . . . can be worked around with how you play, but this will hurt you more than help.

A bridge that's angled too far up or down will also hurt sustain, I won't go into it, but it has to do with the angle that the string "breaks" on the saddle.

Anything loose and vibrating on the guitar will hurt sustain. It's all transfer of energy and anything on the guitar that vibrates excessively will aid in removing energy from a vibrating string . . . that's why Les Paul wanted his guitars made out of dense wood, it doesn't vibrate as much and as he was quoted when he made "The Log" solid body guitar himself (I think the body was a slab of oak, but I'm not sure), "You can hit a string, go get a cup of coffee and when you come back the note will still be ringing." That's not an exact quote, but that's basically what he said.

I could go on and on, but that's the most important part of the list.

Mic

[ShredHead42]

I'm suprised no one has mentioned two huge things that help: tube amps and compressors. When i practice on my solid state rig, my legato sounds really weak and doesn't sustain long at all, however, when i have my tube head nice and cranked ... it sounds crystal clear and holds out nicely. Add a compressor and it's even better.

what kinda amp are you playing?

[riskordie]

well i juz got my RG few months ago.... and it hasnt been setup properly yet (by professionals).... so i think that might be the problem
my hammerons dont sound as loud as when i pick it.... and pulloffs are absolutely horrible

and play through a SS amp.... roland cube 15

[pawel]

Lock yourself in a room for a couple of weeks with an acoustic, no picks and a couple of Allan Holdsworth albums ;-)

Seriously though, technique is the most important aspect here - sure, the more gain and the lower the action, the easier it will be to play legato, but you don't want to end up at a point where you can't play half of what you usually do when you're stuck with a telecaster and a cleanish fender amp...

Try playing unplugged, slowly, hammering on as strong and direct as possible, while trying to keep your notes clean and articulate.

[ShredHead42]

Ok, you're playing through a 15 watt practice amp. To me, that's the main thing. Yes, practicing is going to be a big part, but for smooth legato, a solid state practice amp won't cut it.

I still don't know why i am the only voice saying this.

[toshiro]

Originally Posted by ShredHead42

Ok, you're playing through a 15 watt practice amp. To me, that's the main thing. Yes, practicing is going to be a big part, but for smooth legato, a solid state practice amp won't cut it.

I still don't know why i am the only voice saying this.

Compression helps, but you can play legato on an acoustic and have it sound good.

[MicJustMic]

Originally Posted by ShredHead42

Ok, you're playing through a 15 watt practice amp. To me, that's the main thing. Yes, practicing is going to be a big part, but for smooth legato, a solid state practice amp won't cut it.

I still don't know why i am the only voice saying this.

You're the only one saying it because, while your gear is important, the point is you shouldn't rely on your gear.

I can play any decent guitar, acoustic, electric, clean, dirty, compressed, not-compressed, and still have the notes ring when I play a legato phrase.

How? Why?

Because I practice at least an hour a day, usually more, with my guitar not plugged into anything, and I've been doing that for 19 years. (Well, I did put the guitar down for a while, but I won't go into it, there's a thread here somewhere with that story already.)

The better your technique playing acoustic (either on an acoustic guitar or an un-plugged electric) the better you're going to sound when you plug in.

I had a few students for a while, and while some of them were very good and dedicated, I dreaded the ones that only wanted to crank the amp to 11 and rely on it for much of their technique.

I'd have them turn off and try to play the same thing they just played through the amp and it sounded like crap, but other students would do the same and it would sound clear. The former were using the compression of the amp to hide the weakness of their technique.

Sad thing is, I see quite a few signed guitar players that are famous today (I won't say who because I don't feel like getting flamed by fans) that do the same thing. Give them a cranked Marshall and they seem to be good, give them a Martin and they couldn't play "Mary had a Little Lamb" and make it sound musical.

While personally, I'm of the mind that musicality is more important than pure technique, technique is a VERY close second in that if you don't have the ability to transfer what you're hearing in your head to the instrument, there's no point . . . and if you can't just pick up any guitar that's not pure crap and do that, "Oh, I can't play right because I don't have my $4000 Les Paul with the action right on the frets and my Marshall with everything on 10, AND a compressor and deley and exciter and chorus and this effect and that effect . . ."

Mic

Please note;
I'm a very opinionated person, but my opinions are only my own. I don't profess them to be fact or absolutely correct, only my opinions.
Remember, opinions are like a colon, everyone has one and they are sometimes full of !@#$.

[riskordie]

mic ure comments are much appreciated
any tips on how to improve legato playing?
i figured that i juz have to hammer on harder to get it to ring
but wat bout pulloffs? the sustain fade almost instantly