Anyone ever tried Sustainer?

[marvelous_seven]

Hey guys,.
I've been looking at sustainer pickup in internet for a while,so I wonder if they really do their job very well for their purpose?
Have you ever had any experience with them?
What are the differences between sustainer made by Fernandes,Jackson and Sustainiac (AFAIK they're the only manufacturer for sustainer pickup,IDK if there are any others)?
How long the battery can support their live in a guitar?
Do they sound natural?

Thanks before to come at my thread,.

[Stratman]

Sustain is fantastic, does generate feedback if you do not use it properly

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

They sound great. The sustain feature is amazing.
Battery life should last reasonably long if you don't use the sustainer constantly

[DrNewcenstein]

I've got a Sustainiac model. They're more of an effect than something you'd want on all the time, unless you have a guitar that just cannot hold a note for 3 seconds on its own.

Basically they have two modes - straight sustain (note rings for as long as you let it) and harmonic (notes degenerate quickly to their harmonic form and remain there indefinitely).

This is not something a shredder would have any use for IMO. Paired with a volume pedal or doing swells with a volume knob, you could do things like the intro to Damage Inc or Orion. Paired with a guitar synth like the Roland models, you could do string sections and such. One could even pull off pedal steel effects with some B-Bender-type things and/or double-stop bends.

However as I said, it's more for effect. Basically you pick a note and hold it. Sliding to a new fret or otherwise picking a new note is the same as not having the unit, with the notable exception that once the unit kicks in, you'll get the effect. If you've used an E-Bow, it's the same thing except it covers all strings at the same time. You have to manually mute the strings you don't want to ring, especially open strings. For that reason, I don't see it working out too well with a slide.

The Sustainiac doubles as a neck pickup (single or humbucker depending on model), but they don't really sound great as a pickup IMO. At least not the single coil version which I have. Kinda weak and "average".

As well, the Sustainiac is set up so that when you turn the unit on, the bridge pickup is automatically on and all other pickups are turned off. I'm sure with some wiring changes you can defeat that, but the driver itself cannot operate as a pickup and do the sustain thing at the same time.

As I understand it, the one that comes on the Jackson PC-1 doesn't have that limitation. Not sure of the Fernandes version.

[marvelous_seven]

1. This is not something a shredder would have any use..etc

2. The Sustainiac doubles as a neck pickup (single or humbucker depending on model), but they don't really sound great as a pickup IMO. At least not the single coil version which I have. Kinda weak and "average"..etc

1. I think I have to disagree for this point. There are so many great guitar player who using sustainer. Steve Vai,Robert Fripp,Neal Schon,Steve Stevens,Kerry King,Synyster Gates and Adrian Belew to name a few..
So why not using them though?

2. Does that mean sustainer pickup an active pickup?
I assume the sustainer driver works well while the neck pickup only worth "average",no?
Still confuse about it..

[DrNewcenstein]

1. I think I have to disagree for this point. There are so many great guitar player who using sustainer. Steve Vai,Robert Fripp,Neal Schon,Steve Stevens,Kerry King,Synyster Gates and Adrian Belew to name a few..
So why not using them though?

Yes, they all use it, but not when they're blazing arpeggios and scalar patterns at 320BPM. That's when it has no use because you're not letting any notes sustain long enough on their own to get any use out of it. Yes you can let the last note of a blazing-fingers passage ring indefinitely, but to turn it on while you're playing Flight Of The Bumblebee would not have any benefit. If anything, it would make you work harder to keep the strings you're not playing muted or else they'd ring out from the driver.

2. Does that mean sustainer pickup an active pickup?
I assume the sustainer driver works well while the neck pickup only worth "average",no?
Still confuse about it..

Yes, the Sustainer driver pickup is battery powered.
It performs the intended effect perfectly, but as a pickup (when it's not being used for the sustain effects) it's just weak. I've heard MIM Strat neck pickups with better tone.

[SirJackdeFuzz]

I've got a Sustainiac model. They're more of an effect than something you'd want on all the time, unless you have a guitar that just cannot hold a note for 3 seconds on its own.

Basically they have two modes - straight sustain (note rings for as long as you let it) and harmonic (notes degenerate quickly to their harmonic form and remain there indefinitely).

This is not something a shredder would have any use for IMO

The

Guy

From

MR. Big

Use a

Fernandes Sustainer

[Sporky McGuffin]

I thought the Jackson one was a Sustainiac?

You can rewire to let you use a pickup other than the bridge one with the Sustainiac, but you'll get a lot of grunge and whine coming through so I wouldn't bother.

[DrNewcenstein]

The PC-1 uses the Floyd Rose, the DK2S (import) uses teh Sustainiac. The Sustainiac uses a very small board that fits easily in a Strat. The Floyd Rose requires a stupidly-huge route.

[Sporky McGuffin]

Ah - I didn't know there were two.

I've put Sustainiacs into two of my guitars - it's worth pointing out that the wiring is somewhat "involved".

[ACH91332]

Idk about the sustainer but I think what he is saying is that #1 priority it is a sustainer but has the ability to be used as a neck pickup. Since its not really its first job to be the best neck PU it is an average sounding neck pickup. It's there to fill its role but nothing to be "wowed" about.

[marvelous_seven]

bump? Anyone else mind to share?

[oilpit]

I've always be interested to know if you could put one in the middle of an HSS or HSH guitar, and have the sustain, and not lose a neck pickup.

Would it work the same as in the neck?

[J Moose]

I've always be interested to know if you could put one in the middle of an HSS or HSH guitar, and have the sustain, and not lose a neck pickup.

Would it work the same as in the neck?

No... the sustainer pickup really has to be in the neck slot in order to work properly. Its magnetically based... the magnet disturbs the field around the strings.

I've got a Fernandes superstrat with the system factory installed... its a great piece to have around. Not something I use everyday but I love having it around, really more of a recording piece then a performance piece for me but that's also the bulk of my work!

The sustainer pickup itself does NOT work on its own. My guitar is an HSS... only the bucker & middle pickup actually pass signal.

The battery is draining as long as there's a cable plugged into the guitar... the passive pickups won't work without a battery installed even though its got a standard volume & tone pot. With the Fernandes system you can use any pickup/split setting with the Sustainer on...

[andrizzle]

Heard a Fernandes Sustainer a few days ago... isn't really my thing, but what most people here have said is true... it's more of an effect than something you'd use constantly..... unless you play some style I'm not familiar with.

Have you considered an E-Bow or something along those lines?

[J Moose]

Have you considered an E-Bow or something along those lines?

The E-Bow is totally different then a Sustainer!

Same concept but very different execution. With the Ebow you can't really pick or play "normal" guitar which can easily be done with the sustainer. The Ebow only works with one string at a time, with the Sustainer you can get chords...

Yeah, its not for everyone. I really only grab my Sustainer guitar every so often but its great to have in the collection!

[DrNewcenstein]

But

Not

While

He's

Blazing

Up

And

Down

The

****

Fretboard

At

320BPM.


Why is this fact being ignored?

[marvelous_seven]

But

Not

While

He's

Blazing

Up

And

Down

The

****

Fretboard

At

320BPM.


Why is this fact being ignored?

Okay okay,pls calm down now..
What I'm trying to focused the topic here isn't about the compatibility between shredder and sustainer,but about the performance of sustainer itself..

To add another question (because I'm REALLY REALLY curious about it),have you guys seen Kerry King's B.C. Rich sig V?
It has EMG 81 in the bridge and EMG SA in the neck ALONG WITH Fernandes Sustainer Driver..
Is it really possible to do that?
How do they wired?
And,is there any pickup ring that could hold 2 single coils together (refer to Kerry's neck pickup setup)?

[serizawa]

It's usually not an EMG SA but is either a Fernandes copy of the SA or part of the sustainer humbucker neck pickup itself.

[marvelous_seven]

It's usually not an EMG SA but is either a Fernandes copy of the SA or part of the sustainer humbucker neck pickup itself.

Really?
Because I'm sure it has EMG logo on it,so why don't you try take a look a Fernandes poster with Kerry's on it?
You can CLEARLY see EMG logo..

If there's a way to do that kind of setup I'd love to try it you know..