You're welcome for the reply!

Originally Posted by: stephen82

You are right - It seems counterintuitive. I play an Epiphone ES339. If I just pick it up and play, my vibrato is really clear - particularly the vibrato on my bent notes. When I plug it in and play through my amp the vibrato is not as pronounced.[/quote][p]Is the tone knob on your guitar turned down? Sometimes that can cause quick note decay. How about if you just play a note with no vibrato & let it ring? How long does it sustain?

Originally Posted by: stephen82

That had me thinking that maybe that "feedback loop" I am creating with volume and gain for sustain is flattening things out. Having said that, I understand that vibrato is changing the pitch and not volume.

[p]The type of feedback loop I'm describing is turning up the amp so the sound coming out of the speakers is loud enough to be picked up by your guitar pickups. I'm not suggesting you need to go deaf to do this. :) But in order to get your amp to work as an integrated part of your tone you need enough volume.

[quote=stephen82]

Maybe I am just playing my vibrato a bit differently when amplified. Perhaps subconsciously I am reacting to the additional noises it can create with the higher volumes? I will certainly keep practicing to improve my technique.

Maybe. I'm curious how much sustain you are getting without vibrato as a benchmark. If you are getting less when you bend & use vibrato, then you might have a problem with your guitar action. If it's too low, then it can choke the strings when you bend too far.

Let me know how it goes!