How do i palm mute on a les paul

metalhead1993

metalhead1993

New member
TO ALL GUITAR GURUS/GODS/HEROES OUT THERE....


PLEASE ENLIGHTEN ME ON HOW TO PALM MUTE ON A LES PAUL BRIDGE. As you guys know, a strat bridge and a les paul bridge is pretty different. A strat bridge is just flat and straight through while a lp bridge looks like this http://www.elderly.com/images/vintage/30U/30U-14093_bridge-tailpiece.jpg


I have absolutely no problems palm muting on my strat, whether its palm muting some blues lick or doing some kick-ass hard rock heavy metal galloping riffs. I JUST CANT SEEM TO DO THE SAME ON MY LP, ESPECIALLY WHEN I TRY TO PALM MUTE AND PLAY HEAVY METAL SONGS! Pleaseee guys, give me some advice and tips. Comments would be greatly appreciated :D

CHEERS AND ROCK ON.
 
this is a very difficult question to answer. palm muting on a les paul is an art that takes years and years to master. one may think that he or she has down it down pat, or that palm muting is easy, but give him a while and palm muting will kick him in the ass when he forgets to palm mute during the breakdown of the metal song he's covering on stage.

i'll now try to explain the fine art of palm muting on a les paul.. but be careful and do not try this at home unless you're well equipped (read: have hands and a les paul).

okay, firstly, grab the les paul and make sure you're comfortable with it.

secondly, put your palm on the strings of the les paul.

thirdly, okay, now here's the tricky part, use your picking hand to strum the strings WHILE your palm is still in contact with the strings.

now, you have to listen and see which sounds you like the best as you move your palm closer or further away from the bridge. personally, for me, i find the sweet spot just very close to the bridge. that is, for most sounds i need.



phew. that was tough, wasn't it? now let's just say palm muting is so hard to master, sigh, up till now i still forget to strum the strings WHILE my palm is in contact with the strings. tricky tricky. all i can say now is practise practise practise!!
 
How do U 'wear' ur guitar? If U notice, strat players generally wear their guitar up high, like geeks wear their pants & paul players slung theirs low. Its really the location of the bridge, rather than type that matters. Strats have their bridge far back & Lps' is almost center of the body, so try lengthening your strap when you switch to Ur Lp. If U r sitting down, try pivoting the LP on your left thigh instead of your right(assuming that U r right handed):)
 
Schon said:
How do U 'wear' ur guitar? If U notice, strat players generally wear their guitar up high, like geeks wear their pants & paul players slung theirs low. Its really the location of the bridge, rather than type that matters. Strats have their bridge far back & Lps' is almost center of the body, so try lengthening your strap when you switch to Ur Lp. If U r sitting down, try pivoting the LP on your left thigh instead of your right(assuming that U r right handed):)
Click to expand...

Haha yep totally agree bro. Tom Morello looks like a doofus when he's rocking out on his fender strat while Slash just looks like a god when he plays his LP. Main reason i got an LP is cos of slash haha. Love both of em to death anyways. Before i digress further, thx for the tips Schon! Will practise and try yr ways out :D
 
i used to dun even know what a palm mute is :D
least i checked wiki, yeah i been doing that all the while without knowing what its called
:p

comes instinctively i guess, its practise and practise and more practise :D
enjoy ur les paul. its not that difficult, positioning is the key i guess
 
okay metalhead, ive read your question and went down to the guitar shops in bras brasah to try to figure out a way to palm mute on a lp. i tried a few guitars, an lp custom, and not only just lps, also an explorer and even a dean guitar with the same bridge type (im now eyeing the michael schenker model)

now, palm muting is actually easy and can be done on an lp. but since you are into metalhead stuff (like me), its galloping which is a lil' tricky and requires...yes, more practice to get used to.

but heres a tip. it worked for me. hold your pick deep within your thumb. like how you hold it when you are trying to do harmonics but not so deep until you cant gallop and have your picking hand falling out whenever you try.

eh i hoped that helped. you can try searching for vids on youtube for more info of what i mean.


cheers ;)
 
haha ok thx for yr 2 cents worth fenderrules, im practising away now and the results are slowing showing. AND METALLICA ROCKS WOOW!
 
'how do I palm mute on a Les Paul?'

-Gently

hahahaha


Seriously though - rest the fatty part of your RH that runs down from your pinky (the digiti muscle) gently very close to the bridge - if not partly on the bridge itself.

Hope that helps.


PS it isn't an art - it is only difficult if it has been learned wrong. The art then becomes unlearning years of a bad habit.
 
You should spend more time with your LP:). Over time you will not only know how to palm mute but also play comfortably on it. Rock on \m/
 
Hi dude, see you've finally found the gutiar of your choice. Great guitar to rock on.
For your palm muting problem, it actually ain't much difference from playing on a strat. Perhapes your resting your palm abit too far away from the bridge?
Cheers
 
u can try starting with a hard pick maybe bout 2.0mm. ur right palm should be like resting super near the bridge.
ayah actually dunno how to explain i think you should play more man its a minor difference only. just need to play more to get used to it. :p
 
I've played both strat-style guitars and Les Pauls, and with regards to palm muting, there's quite a fine line of difference. I think its more into your hand positioning because I had to adjust my hand position and then it became easy. So yeah, experiment with placing your hands at different positions and see which works best.

And strat, acoustic or les paul, my guitar is always high-slung. :mrgreen::mrgreen: Cheers!
 
Just be careful when you are switching from open strumming to palm mute during a gig. I got this wrong once and slammed my hand onto the saddles.
result - a 3mm gash where my pinky joins the hand and blood all over my guitar.
I have a slight scar to this day!

Haha...

But i bet looked freakin hardcore!!!!

haha
 
Nickybutt said:
Hi dude, see you've finally found the gutiar of your choice. Great guitar to rock on.
For your palm muting problem, it actually ain't much difference from playing on a strat. Perhapes your resting your palm abit too far away from the bridge?
Cheers
Click to expand...

haha yep, i'm slowly improving as i spend more bonding time with my eclipse. Anw, hope yr deal went out smoothly for yr kh-602. :D


And to all, thx for yr advice and wise words! :D Greatly appreciated.
 
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