Question about Frets?

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TelePaul

TelePaul

J to the R O C
Is it just me or does fretting a note closer to the nut produce a louder/more sustainign sound? I was thinking about this last night when I was running things through a compressor; the notes past, say, the 15th fret seemed to be really weak and choking out.
 
To a degree you may get a bit more sustain because of the mass of the vibrating string. Once you get it moving because of it's mass it will take a little longer to lose that energy. Another factor and more accurate than the term sustain as far as physics is concerned is the nature and shape of the decay of the note. It will be different again for much the same reasons but also certain frequencies will dominate lower down the neck. Once again every instance will be different. That's it in simple terms.
 
muttley600 said:
To a degree you may get a bit more sustain because of the mass of the vibrating string. Once you get it moving because of it's mass it will take a little longer to lose that energy. Another factor and more accurate than the term sustain as far as physics is concerned is the nature and shape of the decay of the note. It will be different again for much the same reasons but also certain frequencies will dominate lower down the neck. Once again every instance will be different. That's it in simple terms.
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Okay I get that.

I don't really know if it's just me or what, but the only way i can describe it is notes played high up the neck sound 'weak'
 
TelePaul said:
Okay I get that.

I don't really know if it's just me or what, but the only way i can describe it is notes played high up the neck sound 'weak'
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That would be due to the longer string having a better ability to maintain the higher partials or harmonics. Put simply again they would decay slower than on a longer string at the tensions found on a guitar. Many other things play apart as well such as the materials and structure of the instrument itself and even the human ears ability to detect the amplitude of those higher partials. Notes that are dominated by the fundamental; tend to sound thin or weak much as s pure sine wave does. The higher harmonics give the note timbre or colour.
 
muttley600 said:
That would be due to the longer string having a better ability to maintain the higher partials or harmonics. Put simply again they would decay slower than on a longer string at the tensions found on a guitar. Many other things play apart as well such as the materials and structure of the instrument itself and even the human ears ability to detect the amplitude of those higher partials. Notes that are dominated by the fundamental; tend to sound thin or weak much as s pure sine wave does. The higher harmonics give the note timbre or colour.
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Uh so you're saying it's normal right?

On a side-note, I'm gonna put some D'addarios on my Martin. You like those, right?
 
TelePaul said:
Uh so you're saying it's normal right?

On a side-note, I'm gonna put some D'addarios on my Martin. You like those, right?
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Yeh, it's normal and unavoidable. It's physics I'm afraid It's one of those details that a decent guitar will exploit and equally a property that a good builder will manage to maximise. Like I'm often fond of saying however that isn't the whole story, there is so much else going on. Once you know whats going on in the string you then have to turn your attention to the body of the instrument. Musical acoustics is hugely complex and the more you think you understand the more that becomes seemingly unfathomable.

D'addario EJ16's are my first choice. YMMV.
 
muttley600 said:
Yeh, it's normal and unavoidable. It's physics I'm afraid It's one of those details that a decent guitar will exploit and equally a property that a good builder will manage to maximise. Like I'm often fond of saying however that isn't the whole story, there is so much else going on. Once you know whats going on in the string you then have to turn your attention to the body of the instrument. Musical acoustics is hugely complex and the more you think you understand the more that becomes seemingly unfathomable.
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My compressor has a 'tone' knob. I messed around with that a bit and I'm liking the new sound.
 
Harmonics

Fingering notes higher on the fret board will naturally have a rounder, flatter sound just like picking closer to to fingerboard farther from the bridge produces a softer sweeter tone. Also the shorter length of string may be more affected by the dampening effect of the finger pressing the string to the fret. I find I compensate for this tonally by lightly muting the string with my right thumb on a harmonic node. This can add emphasis to the higher harmonics and create a number of effects that drive the girls wild.
 
muttley600 said:
Your not going all Dave Gilmour on me now are you.:D
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Funny you should mention DG. That first bend in 'Crazy Diamond', - I think it's a whole tone bend on the 16th fret of the B string - sounds pretty lame when I play it.
 
TelePaul said:
Funny you should mention DG. That first bend in 'Crazy Diamond', - I think it's a whole tone bend on the 16th fret of the B string - sounds pretty lame when I play it.
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Thats the bit I can do. It's the rest of it I suck at.:o Maybe we should work something out.:D
 
muttley600 said:
Thats the bit I can do. It's the rest of it I suck at.:o Maybe we should work something out.:D
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For sure! Sounds like a plan. You can really only bend that G string anyways. Everything else sounds crap!
 
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