SLSMG sustain problems

[emperor_black]

My SLSMG does not seem to have enough sustain when compared to my other guitars. It seems to die "suddenly" as though something is obstructing it. Does the setup near the bridge look right? the strings, after passing over the saddles are sitting on the bridge and have actually cut grooves in the bridge where they meet. Is that ok? Could this be affecting the sustain?

[emperor_black]

anyone?

[Leo Chang]

Just read 2 Dan Erlewine books a few days ago, and in them he says that the part of the string that's AFTER the bridge contributes to the harmonics of the guitar.

So... don't know about sustain issues, but having the string like that will definitely adversely affect your harmonics / tone.

Looks like your high E and B strings have this problem, do they feel like they have extra tension?

Try lowering the bridge, looks like it's pretty high. Lowering it will help the strings have a clear line of travel over the bridge, and improve the coupling of the bridge to the guitar, improving sustain and tone. Also lower the pickups, because they may be exerting too much magnetic pull on the strings, reducing your sustain.

The strings on a hardtail / TOM guitar are definitely not supposed to be like that.

[emperor_black]

yes, they do feel like there's a lot of tension. The bridge was actually higher than this. I lowered the action but came across a lot of fret buzz at the lower frets. I read about truss rod adjustments on this forum and loosened the truss rod about 1/4 of a turn and now, my action is exactly where I want it. But the sustain is just not there.

The pickups are active EMG's and there should not be any magnetic pull from them even if the strings are that close; or so I am told.

Should I loosen the truss rod even more to get the neck to bow upwards and lower the bridge and pickups?

[surfreak]

The grooves in those saddles are too deep, you should replace the saddles, and that will get the strings clear off the bridge's edge as well.

[emperor_black]

The grooves in those saddles are too deep, you should replace the saddles, and that will get the strings clear off the bridge's edge as well.

Really? this is a brand new guitar!

[memphiskat]

yes, they do feel like there's a lot of tension. The bridge was actually higher than this. I lowered the action but came across a lot of fret buzz at the lower frets. I read about truss rod adjustments on this forum and loosened the truss rod about 1/4 of a turn and now, my action is exactly where I want it. But the sustain is just not there.

The pickups are active EMG's and there should not be any magnetic pull from them even if the strings are that close; or so I am told.

Should I loosen the truss rod even more to get the neck to bow upwards and lower the bridge and pickups?

I just checked my pre2006 KVX10. Its not an SLSMG, but I think it has the same bridge. My bridge is lowered almost as low as it can go and mine does the same thing. So I don't think it will help to lower the bridge.
Karl

[bibz]

Raise your action a bit. My moneys on the action being set to low and the vibration hitting the frets (albeit not very noticable) is causing the lack of sustain. Higher (standard) action sustains and rings clearer, thats science not opinion. But on my slsmg I've had the action practically sitting on the frets (not tho') and through an amp and a heap of gain it sounded pretty good!

You'll need to tune into the perfect setup yourself. My schecter required quite a bit higher action then I'm used to to sound proper. It really wasnt that difficult to adjust to, and the sound of a big fat mahogany seven more then made up for it

[emperor_black]

Well, my action on the higher frets (above 12) was very high! If I tried to get it down, the first 5 frets would rattle like a mofo. So, I read up on the forum and realised that my neck was too straight and loosened it a bit. now, the action is just perfect.

BTW, on your slsmg, do the strings after the saddles touch the bridge?

EDIT: when I got the guitar, the action was pretty high, the strings were touching the bridge then. I've lowered it and they are still touching. My bet is on lowering it even further. But then to prevent buzz, I might have to mess with the truss rod again.

[Sunbane]

Even though you feel that the action is perfect, the first thing I would do is definitely raise it a little and see if the sustain improves. You may be surprised at the result. And if it does nothing, then at least you've eliminated that factor.

The bridge does look like it's sitting very high though. If you want to lower it more, I suppose you would have to shim the neck to a lesser angle first.

[emperor_black]

Sunbane,
yes, I have messed with the action quite a lot over the past weeks. Its not that. The strings are new new. So, that is not the case. What is that
"shim the neck" ?

[Budman68]

As said before, those saddles are way too deep and I bet that is the culprit right there. The strings should not be down into a saddle that deep as it "mutes" the string vibrations. Just for the hell of it, try moving the strings to the sides (uncut area) of the cut slots and see if it still has the same problem. Obviously you can't play it like that as the strings will just pop back into the slots but it might be the problem and then you'll know. Also, badly cut/deep nuts (ouch!) will mute string vibration as well.

[emperor_black]

^ that sounds like a wonderful exercise. I will check out the nut. Clean it or something. I have actually moved the saddles all the way to the back so the string is not sitting on the bridge like it is now and the sustain was better. but that hurts my intonation. Get new saddles huh? Looks like that's the only recourse.

[Budman68]

Get new saddles huh? Looks like that's the only recourse.

Very possible but obviously try it out to make sure. Good luck to you

[gravol]

I have the same thing on my 6 string COW but it doesn't affect the sustain as you had problems with. Sounds and plays really good but I don't like that the strings (all of them) are pushing against the back of the bridge, never seen that on any other guitar with fixed bridge of this type. Seems as the neck is way too much angled and would need to be shimmed to get it at a better straighter angle. Adjusting the trussrod will not make such a big different that the bridge could be lowered enough to avoid the problem, neither would new saddles at least not in my case.