Getting the most out of a stomp box

[Ronsonic]

Don't want to hurt your feelings but a Pro Jr is not exactly a world class amp.

Jeff Beck seems to do okay with a Strat and Pro Jr. Yeah, I know, he's not normal. But still, it ain't the gear.

[Ronsonic]

Just got a new stomp box, an 808 clone. (The Gearmanndude Luther Drive, to be exact.) I love it, but I'm still not nailing the singing sustain I'm after (and that it does well in several You Tube demos).

It arrived yesterday, and last night I was playing it between a single-coil Strat and a Fender Pro Junior - both in perfectly good condition. Great sound, big, bad, and bold, a great addition to my pedal board. But singing sustain? No - not even with the volume and drive knobs dimed.

I'm just an old folky, poorly versed in the ways of electric guitar. What am I doing wrong?

I'm kinda with you blaming technique and maybe your expectations. I don't know just how much sustain you expected or how hard you are able or willing to work the guitar to get it. Listen to the Shadows doing parisienne walkways, no pedals, no distortion, but huge sustain and clean. A lot of it is in the guitar setup and the fingers.

Over gaining things can choke off the tone so don't go too far.

Wind the amp up so it is compressing and just beginning to get a bit gritty. Can you get the guitar to sing at all. Start incrementally working with the controls on your gadget. Do this with no expectations of what "should" sound good. Just monkey with it. Do your monkeying in a controlled repeatable way so you'll learn something, but be completely open to what does and does not work.

Make sure the strings ring clearly on their own. No fret buzz and you are letting them ring freely.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Jeff Beck seems to do okay with a Strat and Pro Jr. Yeah, I know, he's not normal. But still, it ain't the gear.

It's the ear.

Yeah, I have a PJ and two point-to-point vintage amps. The only place the vintage amps really beat the PJ is in the rectifier. The solid state PJ rectifier is pretty icy compared to the other amps' much lusher attacks. But the PJ's voice is great. And the thing is so light, it's the amp I'm most likely to take out of the house. At a bar or a party, it's plenty. Miked and cranked, it thinks its a Marshall.

[Charlie Bernstein]

I'm kinda with you blaming technique and maybe your expectations. I don't know just how much sustain you expected or how hard you are able or willing to work the guitar to get it. Listen to the Shadows doing parisienne walkways, no pedals, no distortion, but huge sustain and clean. A lot of it is in the guitar setup and the fingers.

Over gaining things can choke off the tone so don't go too far.

Wind the amp up so it is compressing and just beginning to get a bit gritty. Can you get the guitar to sing at all. Start incrementally working with the controls on your gadget. Do this with no expectations of what "should" sound good. Just monkey with it. Do your monkeying in a controlled repeatable way so you'll learn something, but be completely open to what does and does not work.

Make sure the strings ring clearly on their own. No fret buzz and you are letting them ring freely.

Yup. That worked. See above.