Achiveing Ultimate Sustain

J

jlagana2002

Member
Hi all,

I know sustain is a matter of many factors. And not just some magical 1 piece eq.
I see pedals out there that claim to be Sustainers. Like the p ig tronicks stuff and the K eel y pedals etc...

Do these pedals really sustain like us guitarists want? I MEAN REALLY ! If so I can pick one up.

Maybe I can tweak my Axe Ultra to provide me with endless sustain and not change the overall tone? Can this be done? Possibly with compressor settings, but I have never been able to make it work and I squash the tone.

I know there are many "playing" and "equipment" factors that chime in here.

Eq is as follows: Gibson/ Jackson > Axe Fx>Bbe Sonic Maximizer>ENGL 50/50 Power Amp> (2) 4 X 12 Cabinets (Left & Right).

My friend has a basic rig setup, but when he hits a note, it doesn't stop until he takes his fingers off the guitar. Not so for me.

Please help, I have searched for keyword sustain and I get so much on the forum here, it is hard to weed it out.

Thanks
 
Honestly, the only time I've been able to achieve a good and nice sustain with the Ultra at just a tad above conversation level was with my hollowbody. I heard one clip from Scott a few months ago where the sustain/feedback was just beautiful. When I asked him about it, his answer was of course: WHAT? CAN'T HEAR YOU, PLAYING MY MARSHALL PATCH HERE.
 
I personally don't like much sustain - I find it very unfriendly.
To me, it gets in the way of the "bonk" at the beginning of the notes.

In the days gone by when I thought I liked sustain - I suspect purely because that's what everybody else talked about - I just used to play loud & stand near my rig.
Simple, but effective.

Over,
Bob.
 
I hear ya Bob, seriously I do. There are times when I don't want any sustain. If I can get total sustain, then I have a choice. Right now it's just ok at best. Let's make it better. Let's have it ALL !
 
jlagana2002 said:
I hear ya Bob, seriously I do. There are times when I don't want any sustain. If I can get total sustain, then I have a choice. Right now it's just ok at best. Let's make it better. Let's have it ALL !
Click to expand...

:)
 
Well, I have to be realistic. Maybe not "infinite sustain". Ebow looks fun but not for me.
I am ok with sustain for a while then into feedback, like on most rigs.

I am not downing the Ultra, it has great sustain, I am just looking for more, bigger, longer tones and I want to know if the axe is capable of doing this. I would think about a secondary device like a pedal, but I would need one that doesn't change the tone.
 
jlagana2002 said:
Well, I have to be realistic. Maybe not "infinite sustain". Ebow looks fun but not for me.
I am ok with sustain for a while then into feedback, like on most rigs.

I am not downing the Ultra, it has great sustain, I am just looking for more, bigger, longer tones and want to know if the axe is capable, or do I need a secondary device.
Click to expand...

I am not all that familiar with modifiers - well, OK, I'm downright crap, actually - but maybe there is a way to increase gain/mid freq/compressor ratios/thresholds etc as the volume from the guitar drops?

Scott?.....
 
Can you describe the type of sustain you are looking for? A note that goes on as long as you hold it? Or a feed back kinda sustain? Vai still uses the sustainer pickups in flo and another guitar, and that has an electronic fake sustain. But honestly when you pluck a string it vibrates less and less as time goes on and there isn't much you can do about it...

What artist have you heard that has the sustain you want?

I honestly have no sustain (or lack of) issues at all with the axe fx. And sustain starts with the guitar... Not the amp. Is your guitar setup properly and with fresh, clean strings?
 
For me the grail' tone I am trying for at the moment is the solo-sound that Tony Peluso
gets on the Carpenters tracks, that lovely compressed, liquid flowing sound almost pedal-steel
but with a thump at the start to each note sound :? very underrated player .
 
I had problems with sustain for a while. I was looking for "bloom," which I would describe as a harmonic that rings out nearly infinitely after note. I was using a Les Paul Standard, usually not the culprit in sustain problems. Unfortunately, I changed guitars at the same time as 9.00 came out, so I'm not sure which solved my problem. I'm using a Taylor Solidbody now with firmware 9 and my sustain problems are gone.

So my advice - move to 9 if you haven't, make sure your guitar isn't the problem.
 
The compressor can aid in sustain, as does the power amp compressing. You mentioned compressors squashing the tone, which is part of the drawback to achieving the sustain that way. You can get reasonably better sustain without squashing dynamics too much though with some careful comp work.

The best way to achieve sustain like I think you're after is with some serious volume and standing in the right spot in relation to the speaker. There's no substitute for that. No gadget or compressor settings will emulate that kind of sustain. If you can't play loud enough or stand in the correct position to get that kind of sustain, comps are about the best substitute. Santana actually walks around the stage and tape marks the best places on stage to stand for feedback.

Another thing to keep in mind is some amps do this better than others. For instance, Dumble amps are known for the way they will sustain if you work them properly. I've found the Dumble models in the Axe-FX to work much like their real counterparts in that regard.

D
 
Sustaining a natural note is rather tough without some sort of process ie: Volume, sustainer pickups or an ebow, moving the string('s) is the only ture way to get it. Sustain through natrual feedback (guitar/speaker interaction) is an art as well, you can have note sustain through this process but keeping it from going into feedback to the relative note (3rd, 5th, 7th, or an octave) is the trick and both require volume to do it. If I was wanting a (guitar) to have sustain I would go for the Sustainer system as it is the one that has the most controll and sounds more natural with respect to a sustained note.
 
Using firmware 9.00 you shouldn't have a problem getting sustain/feedback with preset 1, "Studio Lead." If you do, you may have another problem - your amp setup, your guitar.
 
Excellent guys ! Thanks. I do get decent sustain on a lot of presets. I think some of the fixes you guys mentioned helped greatly. It's in the compressor and too much squashes and just the right amount increases nicely.

*** Also, with some rooting around, I noticed that MOST presets have a noisegate (Hit layout, 3 or 4 tab over). Turning this down or off really, REALLY helps a great deal preserving a slow decay of the note.

Sure you get added noise from high output systems, but I get what I was looking for.

I also see effects/ sustain pedals that do it, but I question their pass through...

Thanks, for all the great advice ! That's why I have to ask.
 
Make sure your guitar has sustain first, without any amp. A bit of relief, medium action and regular strings can help give the strings some breathing room.
After that, the best sustain comes from your cabinet or band volume interacting with your guitar.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom