Hi all...

I have a couple hollowbodies with bridges that fit on top of the body, and the sustain on these are a little less than what i would like. the bridges have these wierd plastic sliders, and i wonder if a metal bridge or tunomatic would help...

any suggestions on how to increase sustain on a guitar? websites? other forums?

thanks!

That might help a little. Hollowbodies aren't known for their sustain, except 335 styles with a solid block running down the center. Make sure that the bridge feet "seat" flush with the curve of the top. No gaps or space will at least maximise the sustain possible and also produce better tone. Is the guitar stop bar or trapeze tailpiece style?

hey gene

have you tried one of those groove tube fat finger's on it yet? might be worth to check out.

jon

If it's a stop tailpiece like most Gibsons, I've heard that increasing the angle of the strings over the saddles by lowering the stop bar will help to increase sustain. Never tried it myself but I think it was a Duane Allman setup trick

So funky I can smell it!

hey guys, thanks for the responses

klasaine, the guitar, i think is a stop-bar style. it runs on the body then comeup where the bigsby style arm is located.

looks like this:

http://users.argonet.co.uk/users/steverussell/gallery/gallery2/gallery9/ga106.html

jonc, i have looked at those things for a while now...do they really work?

meterman, i lowered the bridge at some point and i think that might have something to do with the lack of sustain. i also think it affected the guitar in staying in tune.

i ordered a Gibson-style archtop tunomatic bridge. i think it'll do a better job giving sustain than the wierd clear acrylic bridge that's on there now,...

Ah, so it has a bigsby style tailpeice. Sustain is NOT going to be a key feature of that guitar I'm afraid. Doesn't mean it isn't going to be good sounding, just not known for it's sustain. Enjoy it for what it is.

i'm just looking into doing some customizing with it. i do think the tunomatic will help with sustain since the acrylic bridge is worn down. i'm not really looking for tele-like sustain or anything, just a little more. my old hagstrom viking had more sustain than this particular hofner.

the other problem in this weather is intonation and staying in tune, so hopefully this new bridge and new Kluson tuners will help in that department. it stays in tune other parts of the year. just not now!!

if it's a failure, i'll just return the items, but i'll report back here!