What with the fixation on "sustain"?

[Pilgrim]

I don't get why people keep chasing "sustain". I've played for years, and I've never had my hands on any bass that wouldn't sustain notes long enough in normal playing.

After all, how long DO you hold a note?? I seldom hold a note longer than 2 seconds, and any bass that doesn't have foam stuffed under the strings or a separate mute will do that. My 1963 P with 40-year old flats still sustains notes fine, thanks.

Most of the time, the challenge is not to sustain notes, but to get to the next one fast enough.

What am I missing?

[nutdog]

KY

[DwaynieAD]

my band plays some real doomy sludgly stuff sometimes and having tons of sustain really makes it that much thicker and awesome while notes are ringing out.. by no means is it necessary, but i'd definitely miss it if it wasnt there anymore

[Pilgrim]

Originally Posted by DwaynieAD

my band plays some real doomy sludgly stuff sometimes and having tons of sustain really makes it that much thicker and awesome while notes are ringing out.. by no means is it necessary, but i'd definitely miss it if it wasnt there anymore

Ever tried reverb? Works cool on bass and really fills out the sound.

[knumbskull]

i have found sustain can be useful with big crashes, in a metal band - you know, single hits where the notes hold for a while. i've been in the studio and the producer and i looked at each other and said 'new strings' pretty much in unison, as my low string had gone dead...

for most other applications, i enjoy a P with flats and a Fender tin bridge!

[knumbskull]

Originally Posted by DwaynieAD

my band plays some real doomy sludgly stuff sometimes and having tons of sustain really makes it that much thicker and awesome while notes are ringing out.. by no means is it necessary, but i'd definitely miss it if it wasnt there anymore

oh, for doom, it's really important, for sure. i love those long, gain-y hanging notes.

you can do it with compression but it's not the same.

[DwaynieAD]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

Ever tried reverb? Works cool on bass and really fills out the sound.

i run a VT Bass pretty much set to the SVT settings as per the manual

and a Optostomp cranked to like 7

[DwaynieAD]

Originally Posted by knumbskull

oh, for doom, it's really important, for sure. i love those long, gain-y hanging notes.

you can do it with compression but it's not the same.

or when we do breakdowns i keep the bass ringing while the guitar mutes.. fill that in with tons of heavy Low A action..

[knumbskull]

Originally Posted by DwaynieAD

or when we do breakdowns i keep the bass ringing while the guitar mutes.. fill that in with tons of heavy Low A action..

definitely. where the guitar chugs all palm-muted but you've got the the low bass ringout underneath

[Lesfunk]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

What am I missing?

The only thing you're missing is that some people prefer different instrument characteristics than you do.
Why do we have to have this discussion every week here?
The ones who start threads about "sustain" are obviously the ones who are "fixated" on it.

[bassrique]

It's good for melodic solo playing. For 99% of the rest of us, it's not needed. James Jameson did quite well w/out much sustain.

[jonathan_matos5]

YouTube - ‪Spinal Tap - These Go Up To 11‬‏

[Selta]

If I ever run into a situation where I need to hold a note over several bars (4+), I sometimes just end up tremolo picking. Otherwise though, my EBMMs and even my Squire Affinity P sustain perfectly well enough.

[DwaynieAD]

Originally Posted by Lesfunk

The only thing you're missing is that some people prefer different instrument characteristics than you do.
Why do we have to have this discussion every week here?
The ones who start threads about "sustain" are obviously the ones who are "fixated" on it.

i've never seen a sustain thread that i can recall

and also why are you being so snippy about it?

[DwaynieAD]

Originally Posted by knumbskull

definitely. where the guitar chugs all palm-muted but you've got the the low bass ringout underneath

thats what i'm talkin about

[Lesfunk]

Because my knee hurts and I don't have a gig tonight. I'm grumpy

[Kwesi]

I think that a lot of the people that say they really want it are really looking for something else in their tone but they can't figure out what it is.

[WalterBush]

I do a lot of synth bass imitation on my worship team. Occasionally, notes die, or at least the 'push' dies off before I'm done with the note.

I've never obsessed over sustain but if a note doesn't last as long as I want it to, I'll adjust the gain settings on my rig, twiddle knobs on the bass, or just plain not use it for that song anymore. I don't think I've ever consciously looked for it before buying a bass, but I'll work to get it out of whatever bass I'm playing.

[nocontrols]

I can understand guitar players obsessing over it. Their instrument is designed to scream and wail and moan so you'd want to be able to hold and stretch out and play with a note for as long as possible. Bass simply doesn't need to sustain that long... we're a rhythm instrument as well as a harmony instrument so we need to keep chugging along. It's us and the drummer acting as the heartbeat of the music. Let the keyboardist and the lead guitar player worry about that nonsense.

[seanm]

There are times I wish I could hold a note longer. Mainly at the ends of songs. But I just hit the note again softly to keep it going.... so it is not enough of an issue for me to really spend much time on it.