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Topic: Advice on EP103 sustain |
Paul Jordan
From:
Nelson, New Zealand
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Posted 22 Jan 2024 2:43 pm |
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My first post on this forum so hopefully someone can help me. I recently bought an EP103 pedal from the states - I’d read about the difference it could make to the sustain and tone of the PSG. I have a Mullen RP which is a brilliant guitar and I play it through a Roland Cube 80XL. I’ve played around with the settings a bit on the new pedal but don’t seem to be getting the amazing sustain I expected. Not sure if I’m missing something but I’d appreciate any advice on optimal settings etc. Many thanks from Paul in sunny New Zealand 😎
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Mullen Royal Precision, Roland Cube 80XL, Goodrich, EP103 |
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Tucker Jackson
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 22 Jan 2024 8:44 pm
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Hi, Paul, welcome aboard. That pedal is a delay -- not really a compressor or sustain pedal, per se.
Yes, it does have a knob labeled 'Sustain' but that just controls number of repeats of the delayed signal. I guess some might consider delay as giving the illusion of sustain with all those echoes coming back at ya...
It's a good delay unit, though, and it will make your guitar sound fuller.
If you want a more intense version of the effect, try setting the sustain knob for 3 repeats (the last one barely audible). Buddy Emmons had been known to run a delay that way when playing live on certain tunes. A more conservative approach would be having just one repeat. If you play spacey ambient stuff, turn those repeats waaaay up.
The "Delay" knob on your unit sets the timing of the repeats. Try setting it for, say, a third of a second or a little shorter before hearing the first repeat. Or... if you're playing with others, you can fiddle with the knob until the repeat matches the beat of the song. Could be the eighth notes, could be quarter notes, could be a dotted-eighth, depending on the tempo of the song and what your ears want to hear.
Then set the volume such that the first repeated note is about half as loud as what you originally picked.
Add a dash of reverb to help glue the repeated notes together and you're off to the races.
Do you use a volume pedal? That's the primary way steel players get more sustain. Turn up the amp so that you're at regular playing volume when the pedal is at only about 70% on. Hold the pedal there when you play. But when you want to sustain a note, step on the pedal. It sounds natural if you learn to increase the volume with the pedal at the same rate that the string is naturally decaying. The volume doesn't decrease much, almost like you're holding your finger on an organ key, or something... |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 22 Jan 2024 9:37 pm Re: Advice on EP103 sustain
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| Paul Jordan wrote: |
| I have a Mullen RP which is a brilliant guitar and I play it through a Roland Cube 80XL. I’ve played around with the settings a bit on the new pedal but don’t seem to be getting the amazing sustain I expected. Not sure if I’m missing something but I’d appreciate any advice on optimal settings etc. |
Paul, you don’t get sustain from a box or a gizmo, you get it from the guitar. The Mullen you have is one of the best steels out there, and if you just turn up your amp, and learn to properly use the volume pedal, you’ll have all the sustain you’ll ever want.  |
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Paul Jordan
From:
Nelson, New Zealand
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Posted 23 Jan 2024 2:11 pm
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Many thanks Tucker and Donnynfor the advice, gotta keep working at it 😀
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Mullen Royal Precision, Roland Cube 80XL, Goodrich, EP103 |
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