The Steel Guitar Forum

I have a solid body electric lap steel that has oodles of sustain. Normally its a great thing and I wouldn't trade it for the world. On a couple of new songs though I'd like to have a tone with considerably less sustain, more of a resonator or acoustic guitar type sustain. Has anyone experimented with different bars to achieve this,or placed anything under the bridge saddles to achieve this effect?

I know what you mean, sometimes you want a quicker, more acoustic-type decay on an electric steel. Try using a glass bottleneck-style slide, a light wooden tonebar, or a BIC lighter ( ). A big, hollow glass one works well for me for this purpose.

I guess a basic general guide is the lighter the bar, the less sustain there will generally be. But it does impact the tone, for better or worse!

You could try wedging a small piece of acoustic foam under the strings, right up against the bridge.

A stomp box graphic EQ with one slider all the way up, the next all the way down gives me sort of a hollow, resornator effect. The energy is pulled out of the pickup reducing sustain as well. Anybody use that trick?

I got a bullet bar made from some plastic stuff (acrylic?) on Ebay a while ago, and with that thing I can get a very "acoustic" tone with less sustain.

BOBRO

These are all great ideas - I'll try them all and see what works best for me. Thanks

In addition to all above, turn off any reverb and delay.

Thanx,
Jim

Danny Gatton used to use an old 6L6 tube.
It gives a very nasal, poorly sustaining tone.
Perfect for certain types of music.
-andy z-

Everything above, for sure. Lower density bar material (lighter weight). Less polished surface. Technique can help, too---lighter grip on the bar and lighter pressure on the strings. This all can result in lower fidelity---as in 'lo-fi'.

A glass bar does the trick for me. I use it a lot, actually.

Try a piece of 3/4" PVC pipe.

An old recording trick for a muted slide is place a strip of cloth first aid tape to a stevens bar. It'll sound like an old fender Jaguar mute. Especially if the pickup is really hot. The other thing you can try is a thin piece of suede.

try peanut butter on the strings...

Get one of Gary Boyett's Glass bars that will do it for you.They give a nice lite tone with less sustain a more accoustic type tone.Cheers Kelvin