Clean little E pulloffs without rolling off

Maybe. I'm certainly no expert -- I hardly have any technique -- but I always go to a guitar with taller frets for hammer-on, pull-off action, feeling that snap comes a bit easier.

 

Those pulloffs are one of those things where it takes less force with the fretting hand fingers than we might think. Maybe try to experiment with less and less of a pull and less pressure?

 

I don't have any advice to give, but I've always thought the E strings are too close to the edge of the fretboard on vintage specs T-style guitars. Also fretboard radius might affect this too.

 

I have a guitar that really needs a new nut, because the [email protected]#$%& who set it up at the factory put the High E too close to the fretboard edge, and the frets are also excessively rolled. So when I attempted a pull off, even on the 3rd fret, I'd get that weird noise instead of a clean pull-off; something like saying "filigree" after inhaling a helium baloon.
I had 3 options:
1- Learn how to pull-off by flicking my finger inwardly, away from the edge of the fretboard.
2- Take a drift punch and push the nut a few mms away from the High E edge.
3- Make a new nut that is spaced properly inward from the fretboard edges.

#1 was awkward and didn't work very well and made me feel incompetent, so I did #2 for now, until I eventually get around to #3.

 

Raising the string height may help. Perhaps checking your neck relief as well.

 

Go. Slow.

I mean, this is like any technique that you practice. Practice it slow enough that you can concentrate on doing it right. Speed it up as your fingers get used to it. Give yourself a week or two of regular practice and measure the results.

A metronome's great for that last bit. You practice with a metronome, right?

Charlie Hunter again: "They won't remember you as the guy who couldn't play fast, they'll just remember you as that guy who couldn't play."

 

I have a couple of songs I'm working on with that same move - I think I avoid it by pushing inward just a bit in conjunction with the pulloff. I also have 11s and the E string is in the just-right zone, not too close to the edge. Low E pull offs are the same thing but of course with just a little pulling towards the A string as I release.

 

Practice. Less effort with correct technique will work better than more effort with incorrect technique.

 

Sometimes fret ends that have been rounded off too much create this issue. Also, some E strings ride close to the fret edge just by their placement. Sometimes loosening the neck / body bolts and slightly pulling the neck to one side or the other while tightening the bolts can fix this issue. Check that from the first to the last fret the E string stays approx. the same distance from the edge.

 

Technical variables aside, if you want to rule out finger strength, this is a great exercise I do several times a week (assuming you aren't already doing something similar)