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765 Views 8 Replies Latest reply: Mar 23, 2012 10:05 AM by naruto177 RSS
naruto177 Just Startin' 103 posts since
May 29, 2011
Currently Being Moderated

Mar 14, 2012 5:15 AM

Need help to sustain note

I have been playing in a few gigs lately but enjoy playing byself all the time. I have the POD HD 500, fender princeton reverb amp 1964 i think, and laguna LE 422 guitar. There is a lot of songs that require a long sustain note but the POD cuts my note like after 2 sec and I need it to carry out like this one song.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPrK3FP9Yrs   at 4:07 the last note he carries.  Im using Lincoln Brewsters Patch that was uploaded a while back and apparently he can hold notes for a while but mine seems like POD is cutting it off and i tried to adjust the noise gate or something like that but just made more unnecessarily noise and only made it last like another sec longer instead of another 4 sec.

 

 

What can I do with this patch? http://line6.com/customtone/tone/214447/

  • Akeron Just Startin' 224 posts since
    Jul 23, 2011
    Currently Being Moderated
    Mar 14, 2012 7:09 AM (in response to naruto177)
    Re: Need help to sustain note

    The Noise Gate could reduce sustain. See also

     

    http://line6.com/support/thread/72796

     

    The Hard Gate should be better but extreme settings produce the same results. If you want more sustain you could add one or two of the compressors.

  • jimsreynolds Power User 2,227 posts since
    Jun 27, 43450
    Currently Being Moderated
    Mar 14, 2012 10:51 AM (in response to naruto177)
    Re: Need help to sustain note

    The tremolo on your guitar may be killing the sustain a little also.  See if you can borrow a decent-quality fixed-bridge guitar from someone and see if you get the same thing.   Sustain is partly about your rig but if the instrument has limited sustain in the first place then there are limits to what you can do.  With that said:   4 seconds seems a bit low.

     

    Akerson's point re the gate is worth trying,.  Do you really need one?  If you do:  back off the threshold as far as you can before the noise creeps in.  This will maximise your sustain.

     

    Some other ideas:

     

    • Check that your cables are good.  Try others if you have them.
    • Try playing with the Input Impedance settings:   sometimes changing the values can make a difference to the decay profile.
    • As a long shot:  you could try resetting your global settings using the instructions at the link here.  http://line6.com/support/docs/DOC-2222 .  That can occasionally clear up some tonal weirdness.

     

    Cheers

     

     

    JIM

    • mazuwa Iknowathingortwo 371 posts since
      Jul 7, 2006
      Currently Being Moderated
      Mar 14, 2012 10:17 PM (in response to jimsreynolds)
      Re: Need help to sustain note

      Too much height of the pickups reduce sustain. If they are mounted too close to the strings the magnets will pull at the strings and shortens the tone. Just another mighty reason.

      This will reduce output volume, so the noise gates will close sooner (readjust). If you want to keep drive give a little more volume or drive inside the effects or amps then.

  • Line6david Line 6 Support 5,196 posts since
    Jan 27, 2010
    Currently Being Moderated
    Mar 16, 2012 2:50 PM (in response to naruto177)
    Re: Need help to sustain note

    +1,

     

    Great suggestions, could be any of the above...As far as determining if the guitar could lack some sustain you could try plugging directly into the fender princeton (Preferably with with the gain cranked) and see if you get similar results. Most likely noise gate. Laguna actually has a nice guide on maintaining your guitar if you are having issues there:

     

    http://www.playlaguna.com/pdf/LagunaCareManual.pdf

     

    Thanks,

    David

    • Akeron Just Startin' 224 posts since
      Jul 23, 2011
      Currently Being Moderated
      Mar 22, 2012 5:50 AM (in response to naruto177)
      Re: Need help to sustain note

      Maybe you could have a look at this

       

      http://line6.com/support/message/336481

      • birro Iknowathingortwo 172 posts since
        Jun 27, 2007
        Currently Being Moderated
        Mar 22, 2012 10:29 AM (in response to Akeron)
        Re: Need help to sustain note

        Hey Naruto,
        I've noted this issue since I've purchased my HD500 and have been working on how to improve my sustain. And also there's a discussion started by me about this case.
        As far as I'm travelling due to work needs, I don't have the HD500 nor the software to take a look at your patch.

        But note that the sustain in the song of the link is not natural. Hear that is linear and repetitive... sounds like a highly compressed feedback harmonic on which the fade out is taken from the compressor pedal reducing the volume of the pedal (with your finger at the button). Because if you crank your volume up along with this fade out, you'll note that the note is fully there, just at a lower volume. Another thing that may be is a very fast delay with infinite repetitions and also with the fade out being provided by the volume button at the pedal.

        But you know... it's just studio tricks to sound nice. But yes... there may be a way to get closer to that... and IMHO... better than the studio version (yeah... I don't like studio tricks)

         

        Remember: I haven't seen your patch!! I'm travelling, over 1000miles away from my HD500 and my home computer with the HD500 edit.
        First of all: Compressor
        -> Try the “Tube Comp” model. Turn down the “Thresh” to get more sustain (and gain) from it.  There’s about 16dB of additional gain on the “Level” control.  I’m currently set to Thresh of 28% and Level of 27% and able to get some huge amounts of sustain out of the default setting of the Treadplate (full) model I generally use


        Second: Tube Screamer
        -> As I said, I can't look at your the patch. But are you using a Screamer before the amp? If not, I'd try. When using it, note that as much gain as you set at the Screamer, you get more brilliant harmonics (I love them) and also more and more sustain. So I'd reduce the amp's gain and provide the distortion from the Screamer (IMHO)

         

        Third: Amp settings
        --> Master: try setting it at 70%
        --> Sag: 0-30% (try this range and check how it sounds. In a harsh set, I'd set 0% but I don't like the way it sounds. Give a try from 0 to 30% and check the sustain)
        --> Hum: 50%
        --> Bias: 75%
        --> Bias Excursion: 25%

         

        ... hmm... hope I'm sure about the amp settings and I hope something got improved.

         

        Good luck and post your results!

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