Plex Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 In the intro of that video, when Matt plays some long notes, they fade into a harmonic. How the hell does he do that? Is it a feature of the sustainer? Sorry for the ignorance if this is an obvious question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acshe Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 I'm no guitarist but as far as I know the Sustainer includes various modes. The Standard one, which will hold a note, the harmonic mode, which sounds like feedback at a farily high volume and therefore adds the 5th harmonic of the played note. Also there's a mix mode that's supposed to blend Harmonic/Standard sustain. So basically yes, it's a Sustainer (mix or harmonic mode, don't know) +lots of reverb. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xut Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 In the intro of that video, when Matt plays some long notes, they fade into a harmonic. How the hell does he do that? Is it a feature of the sustainer? Sorry for the ignorance if this is an obvious question. The sustainer does have the harmonic feature, but in this video it is not the case, he has the sustainer on but the harmonics come from the sustained vibrato he uses. You can kinda get the same thing if you set your amp to medium/high gain, with like bass on 12 oc, and mid and trble a bit higher, and then on the g or b string, around the 12th fret and higher. Just hit a note there pretty hard and let it ring with vibrato, you'll get harmonic overtones there most of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil. Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 Sustainer + Gain + Being close to the amp = the notes feedback. Not the harmonic mode else they would have gone straight into harmonics A La Stockholm Syndrome outro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEye Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 Here you can hear the harmonic mode of the sustainer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F22MidnAaTY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil. Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 you can get a similar effect with an ebow, but that does pretty much the same thing as the sustainer pickup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*TC* Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 I'm still unclear on sustainers, do you use a fernandes sustainer pickup, or can you fit the sustainer technology into a pickup of your choice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell_A Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 use a fernandes sustainer pickup This Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil. Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 I'm still unclear on sustainers, do you use a fernandes sustainer pickup, or can you fit the sustainer technology into a pickup of your choice? By people calling a sustainer pickup, they're being confusing and silly. They should really call it a sustainer driver. There's two kinds by fernandes, an FSK-101 and an FSK-401. The 401's a bit more expensive but they effectively do the same thing. The 101 is the size of a humbucker, and the 401 is single coil sized (but comes with a humbucker PICKUP). The actual sustainer drivers themselves look just like a pickup, but they're not. They have electromagnets in them that when they're turned on and you play a note, it'll just keep the string vibrating. You have to replace your neck pickup with the sustainer driver. So, when you're using your sustainer, the driver (it's where your neck pickup WAS) will keep the strings vibrating (or on the 401 set to HARMONIC mode, will make them vibrate at a higher harmonic) while your bridge pickup will pickup the notes per say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil. Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 Im sure i saw on youtube some guy that managed to make a circuit that turned a single coil pup in his strat into a sustainer... and surely technically they are pickups, because you can still use them as a real pickup when the sustainer circuit is switched off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*TC* Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 so essentially, if you install the 101, you don't have a neck pickup anymore, the sustainer is there instead driving your bridge pickup? and then the 401 means you can have a neck pickup aswell as the sustainer installed in the guitar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil. Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 no they're not pickups. They're just a big magnet. I'd have my doubts about putting a pickup in next to the sustainer, in the same cavity like. They churn out a lot of magnetic activity, so i bet it'd absolutely fuck with the sound. You could try it though. With the 101, it's the size of a humbucker, so you could just pop that in and only use the bridge pickup. You could get a really nice one that you'd be happy to use all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phill Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 I pretty sure you can use then as a standard pickup too. Definitely with the humbucker sized one, but not 100% on the single coil sized one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneWhoGoes Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 The 101 comes in humbucker format. That means, one coil of the two is the sustainer driver and the other is a single coil neck pickup. So you still have a neck pickup. I have this sustainer so this is 100% right. About the 401, you would lose the neck pickup as the sustainer driver comes in single coil format, so there's no extra coil to be used as a pickup. But it comes with a hambucker you can use as your new bridge pickup if you're not satisfied with your current one or it isn't high output enough (that is necessary for the sustainger to get the feedback). As far as I know, the only difference between those two is that in the 401 you have an extra "mixed" mode which is a mix between natural sustain and harmonic sustain. But anyway you can adjust in the potenciometers the 101 has, the amount of mix that you want, so if you want an intermediate mode, you can still have it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil. Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 Isnt the humbucker sized one just a single coil with an empty space where the other coil is? Edit: Never mind.. But either way, You can definitely use the bucker as a pickup when the sustainer circuit is disengaged, and when you do engage it, it automatically switches to the bridge pup. Its always explained in all of the MB1 demos and the M1D1 demo. As for putting another Pup next to a sustainer, Lots of MOCs people have had made that I've seen have had a P90 sat next to the sustainer, as does the Blackie Manson, Not sure about putting another single coil directly next to the sustainer though, but given that it works as a pickup anyway, there wouldnt be any point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lily93 Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Mindfuck all this.... just get an ebow and save braincells Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sustainerhead Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 Ok, this thread is a few months ol I know, but i've just found it - I make sustainers (which, incidentally chuck out harmonics in spades!) - any questions I'll try & help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 what, no link to your online sustainer store? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james90 Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 what, no link to your online sustainer store? yeah, where am i going to get parts for my chevrolet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haze015 Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 The Fernandes sustainer sounds fucking awful, I'll stick to my ebow, which sounds better using the neck pickup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 maybe the sustainerhead sustainer pwns the fernandes sustainer. But yeh, neither is a new Fender for my chevrolet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sustainerhead Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 I said I make them (i have a lot of guitars) - I didn't say I sold them - so there is no online store! I have a lot of experience so thought I'd chime in towards helping some of the confusion that often exists wrt sustainers. this will give you the gist (these were just tests, so look a bit rough round the edges!)... (oh yeah, turn your PC speakers down -the clips are loud!) Or here's one with twinkly leds! lol (Those were made a while ago - I've moved up a gear since then. The sustainer I'm making at the minute is 'sweet as' - it's got what I call 'enriched harmonic' mode...which in the main is like a harmonic mix mode (2nd order harmonics mixed with the fundametal), but while in this mode, if you just glance/touch a string while it's sustaining (roughly above where a middle pickup goes) - the string immediately screams up in harmonic to about 5 times the original note's frequency ..........'kin wild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 oooo that's ace, i've only ever seen them built into pups before. How do you do that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sustainerhead Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 well this all started out becuase I wanted a sustainer - then I saw the price! (& I have a lot of guitars!) Actually, the main driver (no pun intended), was I didn't like the idea that I had to remove my neck pickup to fit a sustainer - hey, they're my pickups & I don't want any facist sustainer company telling me what I have to fit! Ebows are all very well, but a bit cumbersome (ie you have to hold them)- so I figured I'd make my own sustainer to my own spec.. It's been quite a journey (about a year of evenings - much to my wife's dismay!), but I'm now at the point where (at the risk of sounding up my own backside) they're *very* good. I have features on mine that just aren't available on the Fernandes/Sustainiacs. I'm presently in the final throes of finishing a dedicated sustainer for my Variax guitar - a totally self contained unit that slides & fits under the strings - no routing of the guitar body all tactile switches (again all on the unit - no drilling).... it sources it's power from the onboard Variax supply. Anyway, I'm sounding like a salesman - but don't worry, I've nothing to sell...just wanted to help with advice if anyone needs it! How did I do it? I researched, experimented, wnet down avenues I've never been down - bought materials, then bought the right materials(!)...etc, etc. It's not something I could just summarize in this format. I did actually ponder about giving Manson guitars a knock - being a brit they're only a short drive away - Oi, Matt - keep it British! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haze015 Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 (no pun intended) You're in K&T now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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