Hello folks,
I finally started working on David's "Old Man" lesson. It sounds SO good when he plays in the MP3s. My problems start in the intro ( second example) where you hammer on the G string at the 5th fret. When I do it, I get something that sounds like a flat, nasty harmonic as well as the desired note. I determined that what I am hearing is the note that you get when you pluck the string above the 5th fret with it is fretted at the 5th. (I hope that makes sense)
Here's the question, is this normal or am I doing something wrong?
Also, to add a kink to the problem, I just bought a new Seagull S6 Spruce. Had it about 1 month and it is Sweet... Sweet, I said! Well anyway, could it be a setup problem. The store did nothing to it except get it out of the box and put it in the case. That was my fault, because I could wait no longer to get it home. They will set it up for me if I need it later.
All other problems will be solved by time and persistence.
Please give me your thoughts on my "Ball Peen" hammer-ons.
- Jeff
Nothing to see here...
If you put some other fingers on the string behind the one you're hammering one with you'll mute that sound. It sounds to me like you aren't fretting your note close enough to the fret though.
Are you playing without amplification? I notice that a lot when I'm playing my electric not amped, but as soon as I amp it the pickups are picking up only the bridge side of the fretted string, and that drowns out the headstock side of the string.
It's natural that both sides ring out when you hammer (in fact it's a sign that your action is too high if you didn't get the unwanted tone as it means the string is not pressed against the lower fret), but as soon as you're listening to the strings as the pickup hears them, you're sorted.
Thanks for the reply guys. I am not amplified with my S6. I've never really noticed that little ping with my hammer ons in the past and assumed that it was because I was hammering the 5th fret and maybe was getting some kind of weird harmonic. The tone that I get is pretty noticeable to me and in fact my wife even noticed it so I'm not hearing things.
As far as muting it with another finger, I'm using my index finger to hammer so I'm not sure what I can do about that. I'll keep playing around with it and see if I can solve my problem.
Thanks again,
Jeff
Nothing to see here...
