Normal Ringing?

My best guess would be you're hearing a lot of acoustic music with palm muting going on.

Jack Johnson is one artist who uses this alot but there are many many others who use the technique.

Can you give us a specific example? Or post a recording of your 'problem'?

It seems to me that the players you are referring to are muting the strings right after they play the chord. You can do this by playing the chord and then putting your picking hand palm on the strings where you usually strum. Or, you can lift your fretting fingers slightly off the strings that are being fretted for the chord, enough to stop the notes from playing, but not enough for the string to sound as it would if it were played open.

Taso

Or, you can lift your fretting fingers slightly off the strings that are being fretted for the chord, enough to stop the notes from playing, but not enough for the string to sound as it would if it were played open.
This one is often easier to learn, as timing the parts where you're not playing is often quite tricky. What I did to learn was to not think of the muting as another note like 'note, note, mute, note', but to squeeze the chord as gently as I could manage on the note before the mute, and let the mute come by itself as I relaxed the squeeze. I'd be thinking 'note, squeeze, wait, note', and the wait would be muted because it took that exact amount of time for the squeeze to be released. Now I know that looks more complicated, but the advantage is that you're not changing how you're thinking of the rythm, you're just squeezing the neck along with the notes, which is a lot easier to get done in practice. It's no substitute for being able to palm mute in the long run, but it's a good technique to use anyway so it's worth learning first, rather than instead of. Walk before you run and all that...

Shout if that's not clear, it's not easy to describe :)

An open string will ring for as much as 22 seconds (a Les Paul with a solid mahogany body), so I'm not sure you actually have a problem.

Best,

A :-)

Is it just their guitars are more expensive?

What your hearing in your guitar is called sustain, it's a good thing. More expensive guitars generally have more of it. I agree with the others that muting was probably being used on the songs your hearing.

For example, almost any song from the Live at Luther College CD - particularly #41 (Dave Matthews). I can post the MP3 if it's OK.

I can post the MP3 if it's OK.Posting the whole thing would be a no-no, but you could post a snippet of a few seconds (fair use clause) or maybe if Amazon or some other reseller has samples you could link to them?

I should note that the 'chord' sounds good but it's just that it seems like the 'chord' makes it 'noise' for loudly until the next strum I make whereas most acoustic players when they strum a chord it makes it sound briefly (and I know that it's not palm muting that they're doing).

If I had to compare it to something, it's like in some songs when they play the last chord of a song and they let it ring while the song fades out, it seems like all my chords 'ring' like this.

I'll try and post an example later because now I am confusing myself!

Only listen to the following if you've purchased the Live at Luther College CD:

http://www.uomeds09.com/mp3s/102%20-%20#41.mp3

Note how when he plays a chord it only makes the chord sound and doesn't really 'ring'.

I'm hearing ringing :)

A few things to consider. There are a few guitars here. The one that's being strummed may be capoed at a higher fret (sounds a bit thin) or using barre chords. That would make it ring less.

Also, try playing your chords accompanied by another instrument. When I play with a friend who plays the keyboard, my guitar's sound blends in very well with that and I don't hear it ringing as much.

The chord changes also sound like they happen quite often. When you move from one chord to another quickly, the chords won't have time to ring freely.

These are all my amateur opinions though. Just felt like chiming in.

Cheers.

Oktay

Also it depends on how you're strumming a chord, if you strum down with your fingernails you get a sharpness that causes ringing and if you use your thumb or fingertips you get no ring at all because of the soft impact on the strings. If you're using a pick it depends on pressure used and pick strength. a 2mm Turtle will ring less than a .2 Fender. So try different techniques of actually playing the chord to see if you can reduce any "ring" or residual effects you dont like.

Also it depends on how you're strumming a chord, if you strum down with your fingernails you get a sharpness that causes ringing and if you use your thumb or fingertips you get no ring at all because of the soft impact on the strings. If you're using a pick it depends on pressure used and pick strength. a 2mm Turtle will ring less than a .2 Fender. So try different techniques of actually playing the chord to see if you can reduce any "ring" or residual effects you dont like.

Ya, I switch between a thin and medium pick. I find the ringing less with a thin pick but with the thin pick I hear more of the plastic pick 'slapping' the stings. I guess I need a wack more practice.

This is probably a better example: http://www.uomeds09.com/mp3s/Foo%20Fighters%20-%20Everlong%20%20(Acoustic).mp3
When I play the intro and versus of this song, the bass string rings so loudly you can hear it just as much as the chords he plays.

Maybe my ears just need better tuning?