String Sustain Time

[sixstringoverdrive]

Hey Everyone,

I have seen a few videos where Paul Reed Smith discusses at clinics testing how long strings ring for on guitars. Specifically, he mentions old Strats and LP's as well as his own guitars.He said the old vintage ones and his private stock tend to ring out for 45-50 seconds. Does anyone know how this is actually tested?

I have a 2020 Silver Sky and sitting down, hitting the low E string and letting it ring - it makes it like 15 seconds at the most. I'm wondering where 45 seconds comes from - loud amp? overdrive? Just the guitar acoustically? Are they just that much better?? How long does your guitar ring for if played acoustically?

It's got me thinking how long a string should ring for acoustically.

Thanks!

 

[steved]

 

[dogrocketp]

I hit the harmonics at the 12th fret, with the body hanging in my hand. I can get to about 35 on most of my PRSi.

 

[RallyFanatic]

I feel like there are a million variables here, like how the guitar is set up, what strings, what gauge of strings, how old are the strings, how good is your hearing, the room it’s in, amp settings, guitar cable, pick, pickup height...I’m sure Paul has a method to measure such things but I wouldn’t suspect I could duplicate it.

 

[presence]

I've wondered this myself. Maybe he's talking about sustain through a gained-up amp?