yowhatsshakin wrote:Yikes, now there is a tough question. What makes a guitar sustain? And how does a difference in neck carve influence sustain? I'll give it a try and I hope to be corrected by other forum members if I go wrong anywhere.
In a technical sense, sustain is entirely determined by the coupling of the string vibrations to the body and vice versa. In that respect, having a properly slotted nut, properly set saddles, and a good coupling between bridge and body are the most important parts. Any rattle, buzz, slop and what not will suck away energy from the vibration and dampen it. You don't mention what kind of model you bought, but as a general rule guitars with fixed bridges sustain longer than those with tremolo systems when measuring the time it takes for notes to ring out without any amplification involved. But all of this is ignoring the human factor. How are you picking? Where is your picking hand resting if at all? How do you fret your notes (this is where fret wire and the anatomy of digits enters the equation)? What is your vibrato like since that adds some energy back to the string excitations?
You'll notice that none of these involve neck thickness explicitly, except that a particular neck carve may influence how your fingers move across the board which has all to do with comfort. Technically, the mass of your neck and how tight it fits in the pocket will have an influence on the aforementioned coupling of string vibrations to body vibrations. But still, if a sustaining guitar has a neck carve that just doesn't feel comfortable, what's the point? (This is where I am reminded of my struggles in 2002 with a brand spanking new Gibson '57 Goldtop Reissue where the baseball bat neck just didn't suit my hands whereas a second-hand 2000 PRS Goldtop SC did. Guess which guitar I purchased.)
From that, and how you describe your manual anatomy, I think that the 'Slim C' will suffice just fine. Unless you really want to get the oscilloscope out, with timers and the lot to do the measurements in an A/B sustain comparisons.
My 2¢.
- Jos
yowhatsshakin! Your 2 cents is appreciated very much!
Unless
"other forum members" come and put 4 cents in, I'm
definitely comfortable with just taking your advice on this matter! - And I don't really wanna break out the oscilloscope haha!
But I agree now - If the neck doesn't feel comfy, what's the point? I started laughin' my tail off when u compared the Giby neck to a baseball bat
But here's all the answers, for the record - I'm getting an ASAT Classic S. The neck radius will be 12". Fretwire = Med. Jumbo 6100. Nut = 1 5/8". On my LP Ultra II (my guitar at the moment) I rest my palm on 1/2 of the pickup and 1/2 of the low E string... and sometimes, I kind of 'latch on to' the high E with my pinky without resting my palm anywhere - odd? But as far as fretting and vibrato, I haven't a clue
