• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Sustain - Is it Overrated?

#81
David Jayne said:
Maybe. Basses that sustain the longest tend to be carbon-neck-through-active etc etc. And they tend to sound different than an average-y sustaining bass like a Fender. Different folks-different goals.
Click to expand...
I agree. I have a couple of composite necked basses with really incredible sustain. One is a Modulus VJ. Essentially it sounds like a Fender Jazz but the even notes and endless sustain sort makes me play it differently. It is great for ballads but I have found without the attack and decay of a more typical bass it can get lost in a live mix.

I love the typical sustain of most basses and find it to be adequate. It does depend on what you need and what the music requires. Sustain is not over-rated. It is important, but some of these more extreme basses may not work for everyone all the time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: David Jayne and JoeWPgh
#82
Andy Daventry said:
Sustain is not the issue it once was because the standard of mass produced basses has increased astronomically over the past 40 years. Sometimes it's easy to forget how absolutely abysmal basses could be "back in the day".
Click to expand...

Best sustaining basses I ever owned were made in the early 1980's. Kramer aluminum necks - I'd argue they don't make anything like that today. It's not the bridge that makes a bass sustain (the other end of the string loses far more energy, adding mass to the bridge doesn't make much difference) - a better neck is the key to more sustain.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mikewalker
#84
I like a lot of other people's tones that involve a lot of sustain. For me, it's overrated in my current playing context. My less sustainy setup is preferred but everyone I make music with.

If I were to make a global pronouncement, I'd find myself in a situation where my current tones stink and I'd need some roundwounds on a big bass, etc. However I do think that having a ton of singing sustain is pretty irrelevant in about 90% of contexts where people play electric bass.
 
#87
TheCouchBassist said:
So I’ve been playing for around 10 or 11 years now and have been a TalkBass junkie for pretty much the entire time. I’ve had around 20-25 different basses during this timeframe from $300-$400 models all the up to ones in the $2,500 range. With all those basses I’m not sure I’ve ever had one that truly (by definition) didn’t have at least one dead spot. Obviously some were more pronounced than others. That said one of thing I’ve learned with playing is the importance of your technique especially in the sense of muting strings so you don’t get the sympathetic vibration string noise (I.e. playing cleanly). I play primarily with my fingers so it’s usually some variation of the floating thumb technique. My point and question is this, it seems like controlling the dynamics and/or unwanted sustain/ringing of the wrong notes is more important than sustain and yet it seems we fixate on finding the unicorn bass where each note rings out perfectly on every fret on every string. I get the importance of sustain from a guitars perspective, but do we overrate sustain when it comes to bass? For example, so many of or 60’s and 70’s bass heroes used flats and stuck sponges under the strings close to the bridge. That seems to suggest sustain wasn’t at all important to them. Why then has it become so important to us?
Click to expand...
I don’t know if it’s overrated but it sure BTH out of dead spots.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ross McLochness and bobyoung53
#89
TheCouchBassist said:
So I’ve been playing for around 10 or 11 years now and have been a TalkBass junkie for pretty much the entire time. I’ve had around 20-25 different basses during this timeframe from $300-$400 models all the up to ones in the $2,500 range. With all those basses I’m not sure I’ve ever had one that truly (by definition) didn’t have at least one dead spot. Obviously some were more pronounced than others. That said one of thing I’ve learned with playing is the importance of your technique especially in the sense of muting strings so you don’t get the sympathetic vibration string noise (I.e. playing cleanly). I play primarily with my fingers so it’s usually some variation of the floating thumb technique. My point and question is this, it seems like controlling the dynamics and/or unwanted sustain/ringing of the wrong notes is more important than sustain and yet it seems we fixate on finding the unicorn bass where each note rings out perfectly on every fret on every string. I get the importance of sustain from a guitars perspective, but do we overrate sustain when it comes to bass? For example, so many of or 60’s and 70’s bass heroes used flats and stuck sponges under the strings close to the bridge. That seems to suggest sustain wasn’t at all important to them. Why then has it become so important to us?
Click to expand...

There's loads of occasions where you really want your bass to ring as long as possible. Lot's of mainstream music is built that way nowadays and it hasn't been any different in the 90's nor 80's.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AlexanderB
#91
Exactly. Not to mention that burpy, staccato playing is one thing that defines good, tasteful, even pro level playing in many styles. Even then, when you pay legato, letting notes ring out, there's usually another dang note that comes around and destroys the glorious sustain of the previous note! Like... within milliseconds usually!
 
#94
Sustain has alot to do with how you set your EQ, setup, how loud the amp is, and above all how hard you play.
If I want a very even sustain throughout the neck I borrow my friends Rickenbacker which I always thought of as a 'pick oriented, hard playing oriented' instrument... After some time learning this particular instrument I found the Rick to be actually a extremely gentle instrument compared to most Basses, despite the relatively high action and being quite hard to play (it's an 81...). If you actually turn up the amp very loud, set the EQ right and play gently - that creates that magical warm and even sustain that some songs require... When I turn up the amp that loud using a Fender bass it dosen't work because Im in a sense constantly in fear of enjoying myself too much and popping the string ( I never slap but, you know... Fenders...)

So rather than looking for some boutique wood or whatever modern build that "sustains" regardless of your playing intenesity... Another way of looking at it is:
If the guitar is balanced, gentle and naturally compressed enough (throughout the neck) for you to be able to play an entire show on it with the amp set very loud - youre good. That way one can play very 'responsibly and consistently softly, to have the amp serve as the "sustain enhancer". Also some instruments that are less comfortable to play assist you in enjoying this "responsible attitude", because when you litteraly can't wank and play busy - you're approach will shift towards the enjoying the tone and sustain of the instrument REGARDLESS of how long it actually is...

Just me 2 cents :-D
 
#96
micguy said:
Best sustaining basses I ever owned were made in the early 1980's. Kramer aluminum necks - I'd argue they don't make anything like that today. It's not the bridge that makes a bass sustain (the other end of the string loses far more energy, adding mass to the bridge doesn't make much difference) - a better neck is the key to more sustain.
Click to expand...
I concur! I have an '81 and an '84 Kramer, and both of them slightly outperform my Lightwave, in terms of pure sustain time. The Lightwave does have its own amazingly satisfying 'unique sound thing' going on, though... :)
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back