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Thread: Sustain

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    Default Sustain

    Anyone got suggestions

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    Default Re: Sustain

    I personally prefer a mandolin that has nearly no sustain. It tends to muddy the tone. I like the notes to snap off the string and be fat and round sounding and then disappear quickly. That seems to allow great clarity and note separation. Hope this helps.
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    Ursus Mandolinus Fretbear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sustain

    To me this is one of the things that really separates the oval-hole from the F-hole sound. Like Goose, I also like a big, fat note that drops right off, and if you want a note to be there longer for any reason (on an F-hole) that can be (seem to be) done by leaving the space in the timing or by tremolo. Oval-holes seem to ring on forever, particularly on the trebles, and that is great if that is what you want. Norman Blake talked about how you have to constantly "woo" a good F-hole mandolin to give up it's tone, whereas the sound "just falls out" of a good oval-hole. He has a wide collection of vintage Gibson oval-holes that he almost invariably plays and his wife's Loar (that used to be his!) to choose from, so I think he is OK though. Nancy described an F-hole to be indespensible for someone who was a "rhythm hound" like their friend Sam Bush.
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    In The Van Ben Milne's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sustain

    Since this is the electrics forum, I'm going to say round hole v f-hole isnt going to make a lot of difference, especially considering the main issue in having hollow body electrics is gain before feedback, regardless of aperture shape.

    I don't have a dedicated sustain pedal, but my EH memoryman (stereo w/ hazarai) keeps me happy.
    Very versatile pedal, certainly not a one trick pony.
    I can dial in a sustain using delay with plenty of decay, and the filter to roll of the high freqs , leaving the low end to boom on without the attack being audibly repeated.
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  5. #5

    Default Re: Sustain

    I don't mess with pedals, but from a builders perspective, I find my maple instruments to have more sustain than the koa/mahogany instruments. Both are what I consider to be semihollow bodies. I also don't extend the center support block through to the neck, thus not bridging the gap between the bridge and the neck, which I think lessens the sustain compared to a solid body or through neck design. I find that my blues and jazz customers want a bit of sustain but not the "wolf tone" effect. I'm sure Pete Mallison can weigh in on this because he's a rocker and I'd bet that's what he's looking for.

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    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sustain

    I have a suggestion - be specific. Take a little time and tell people what you want to know. This is much too vague, and invites responses that are all over the place. Or snarky. We are here to help, but need to know what to help you with.
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    Mandolin Botherer Shelagh Moore's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sustain

    I personally like a mandolin with sustain but, there again, I'm not a bluegrass player. A good round/oval hole flattop/induced arch should not have a muddy tone or lack clarity and definition.

  8. #8
    Registered Mandolin User mandopete's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sustain

    Switch to violin or dobro?
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    '`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`' Jacob's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sustain

    Assuming that this is about electric mandolins, Dyna Comp Compressor (nfi)

  10. #10
    Luthier&Pickup maker ret. Soundfarmer Pete's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sustain

    Quote Originally Posted by thistle3585 View Post
    I'm sure Pete Mallison can weigh in on this because he's a rocker and I'd bet that's what he's looking for.
    Massive subject!!!!
    I suppose, if you equate it to the early days of electric guitars, heavyweights like Les Pauls and Telecasters were pretty dense hunks of wood so there was less damping but then again, amplifiers were a bit pathetic......then there`s the consideration of what is a "fashionable" tone and then there`s the evolution of playing styles..........Massive subject!!!!!!
    My guess would be that for a longer sustaining note in a quiet environment, then a dense slab of maple will rule.......but tonally, in a rocky situation, I`d go with a light instrument - something that`s going to be excited by the sound from the backline or more probably the foldback into singing.......almost like an acoustic on the verge of feedback.......more tonal character.
    With this in mind, I`m just putting the finishing touches to a 5 string with an Idigbo body (an African wood around 3/5 the density of mahogany). I bought a plank of this just to try as a fun experiment and it`s so resonant....rang like a bell when I tapped it ....obviously, I`ll report the results
    CheeryBye!

  11. #11
    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sustain

    Play into a Looper , the electronics will do the sustaining then..

    Instruments with longer strings would have longer sustain.. But mandolins have shorter strings.
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    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sustain

    Quote Originally Posted by Richard Moore View Post
    I personally like a mandolin with sustain but, there again, I'm not a bluegrass player. A good round/oval hole flattop/induced arch should not have a muddy tone or lack clarity and definition.
    Agreed.

    I love good sustain. I can use lots of hammer ons and open note drones. I play almost entirely oval holes, and nobody has ever said they didn't hear it.

    Why is this in the electric forum?
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  13. #13

    Default Re: Sustain

    im playing a five string electric j bovier emc and am just starting to get into the pedal market, i'm generally playing in pretty jam bandy situations (covering alot of phish, dead, and jamgrass stuff) and when it comes to electric jamming sustain is essential, so im thinking of just getting a ts9 tube screamer with a compressor but those are all pretty guitary effects and im not sure how they'll work with my 5 string so im just looking for something that'll work better with a mando.

  14. #14
    Registered User Rodney Riley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sustain

    Quote Originally Posted by JeffD View Post
    Why is this in the electric forum?
    OK he posted, made my comment useless and removed it.

    There is a post on favorite pedals. Use the search function above. Would look it up and give you a link but I have to sign off and leave.

  15. #15
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sustain

    Oh, got it.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

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  16. #16
    Registered User Elliot Luber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sustain

    Sometimes I want all the sustain I can get, typically when I'm playing my mandolin more like a little electric guitar than a mandolin. When I'm playing more mandolin style msic, with tremolo, etc., I tend to want to sound to drop off. Sustain is one tool, but an electric mando is a Swiss Army Knife.

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