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Is sustain such a many splendored thing?
- Thread starter jellymax
- Start date
I wasn't concerned about sustain until I heard this
(Beginner here, asking) . . . the intro (when the bass finally starts to play) is roots and fifths, right?
My MIM Fender Jazz can do that and sustain longer. Unless my bass is an outlier, I don't think Entwistle's sustain is not more than what most basses can do?
Well thanks Akiyama, but it really doesn’t. If some folks require 3 days worth of sustain and want to talk about it, cool by me.
I've been using an AO Fender '60s Precision Bass with flats and foam lately with our soul band. The bass sounds perfect on just about everything, but there are places in a song or two where the notes die too quickly. I'm debating whether to remove the foam from under the bridge ashtray because of this, but it sounds so good on most tunes. (I don't want to switch basses, if possible.)
This is the best thing I've read on TB all year!Five years ago I plucked an open E on my solid aluminum bass & it’s still ringing out to this very day please send help it’s hard to sleep I don’t know what to do
I came here to say “I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it,” and I see a lot of people have already posted something similar.
Let’s all remember that a note is made up of a fundamental frequency and many harmonic frequencies, the combination of which make up that instrument’s timbre. Depending on materials, strings, signal chain, compression and gain stages, speakers/cabs, mixer, cable lengths, note attack, room size, wall/floor/ceiling construction, placement of speakers relative to corners/floors/walls, humidity, audience, etc. (in no particular order), all of those frequencies will sustain or decay differently, so the question in response is really sustain of what?
With all those variables available willingly or not, I’d rather have the full envelope at the start of all of that and have the option to shape it along the way as needs require. Give me a bass that sings. I can always make it thump.
Let’s all remember that a note is made up of a fundamental frequency and many harmonic frequencies, the combination of which make up that instrument’s timbre. Depending on materials, strings, signal chain, compression and gain stages, speakers/cabs, mixer, cable lengths, note attack, room size, wall/floor/ceiling construction, placement of speakers relative to corners/floors/walls, humidity, audience, etc. (in no particular order), all of those frequencies will sustain or decay differently, so the question in response is really sustain of what?
With all those variables available willingly or not, I’d rather have the full envelope at the start of all of that and have the option to shape it along the way as needs require. Give me a bass that sings. I can always make it thump.
Just like everything in music, it depends. Sometimes you need it, sometimes you don't. I remember a few decades or so back there was a dude who was super into Zon basses and would troll people about the virtues of graphite necks and would time how much sustain he had. Like, how often in a real word music situation does that matter at all?
Sustain can be increased or decreased with your plucking technique. Hit a note and it sustains... lightly press your finger down on the string by the bridge and the sustain dies off. Or, hit a note and then as it sustains roll the volume knob down and the sustain dies off. No need to have special bridges or mutes or whatnot.
Don't get me wrong; I use palm muting - a lot.
But when I want sustain, I want it!!
The standout in my collection is my Warwick Streamer Stage I. (I'm assuming it's the dense body maple & extra chunky neck-thru construction.) I really notice - and enjoy - the way notes don't decay as quickly as on other instruments. It makes a big difference in the lower register when I'm going for an almost synth-like presence.
I don't require that degree of sustain on every bass I own. But it's definitely good to have at least one that will do it.
But when I want sustain, I want it!!
The standout in my collection is my Warwick Streamer Stage I. (I'm assuming it's the dense body maple & extra chunky neck-thru construction.) I really notice - and enjoy - the way notes don't decay as quickly as on other instruments. It makes a big difference in the lower register when I'm going for an almost synth-like presence.
I don't require that degree of sustain on every bass I own. But it's definitely good to have at least one that will do it.
I have never played a bass that was okay to play, but lacked sustain.
I've never heard of a bass that is okay, but lacks sustain.
Those basses that did not sustain at all had serious other problems.
I've never heard of a bass that is okay, but lacks sustain.
Those basses that did not sustain at all had serious other problems.
per the OP: i don't want to sound like i'm making excuses for fretless, but the POV of "i'd rather have it and not need it..." seems to me to be the most prudent, especially in practice. and FWIW: i don't choose bridges based on 'sustain hype'. if the bridge works correctly = any will do!
Some time ago I posted audio examples of the sustain on my Steinberger bass. Open strings rang for more than 30 seconds. There are times when I have to damp the strings, I never have to do that on my other basses. I think my Danelectro sustains for about a second
As long as nothing is humming, buzzing, or farting I'm good to go
But if someone is humming the Whiffenpoof Song while being buzzed on reefer and is sharp with his flatulence, you are in some deep poop.
