sustain

[Pointbreakd]

I want amazing sustain. I have PRS Mccarty and I am currently using a compressor (Boss CS-3) and a tube screamer (TS9) to get sustain...but its not enough. I'm playing out of a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. How can I get unmatched sustain. I want to literally hit a note and have it ring out for a solid minute. Any ideas?

[StevieRaveOn]

I want amazing sustain. I have PRS Mccarty and I am currently using a compressor (Boss CS-3) and a tube screamer (TS9) to get sustain...but its not enough. I'm playing out of a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. How can I get unmatched sustain. I want to literally hit a note and have it ring out for a solid minute. Any ideas?

Take said HRDx, crank to at least 7-8 of 12 on the volume.... At Tube Screamer for more, then CS3 for even more.

Seriously though, volume will help you out more than anything, as will getting whatever amp you're using up and cooking. The HRD I have isn't known to cook too much will out killing a small animal or two, so if you're up to it you might look at another amp setup too.

Gotta jet from the office, peace out and good luck brother.

[Goober]

Take said HRDx, crank to at least 7-8 of 12 on the volume.... At Tube Screamer for more, then CS3 for even more.

Seriously though, volume will help you out more than anything, as will getting whatever amp you're using up and cooking. The HRD I have isn't known to cook too much will out killing a small animal or two, so if you're up to it you might look at another amp setup too.

Gotta jet from the office, peace out and good luck brother.I agree with Stevie!!

That Fender may have a great clean sound, but will not hang with the
"high gain" type amps. Try an amp with alot more soak! (Marshall, Mesa,
etc.) I LOVE a guitar that rings forever, and my McRosie cranked through
the lead channel of my Carvin MTS3212 is the answer for me!:D Good luck
man, let us know how it works out!!

[Pointbreakd]

how bout a 65 fender reissue?

[Goober]

how bout a 65 fender reissue?
I don't believe any of the non-transistor Fender amps have a whole lot
of gain....and of course, the transistor models lack that warm/creamy
sound that make overdriven tube amps so popular!!

[Pointbreakd]

Interesting. But take Trey anastasio for instance...amazing sustain. And its not from his hollowbody. Ive heard it comes from his compressor pedal? And btw he plays through a 65 reissue

[aleclee]

IME, to get that kind of crazy sustain you need a six step process:

V

O

L

U

M

E

Not necessarily enough SPLs to kill small animals but more volume that anyone sharing walls with you would appreciate.

[Pointbreakd]

come on there has got to be more than that! anyone else? just volume??

[Bill McDowell]

volume and gain - I use a PRS PS (cu24 based) through a mesa mark 4 - get great sustain / controlled feedback (meaning the output of the amp is loud enough to keep the string vibrating and producing more output in an endless loop) - but not on every note on the fretboard (due to the nature of the frequency, woods, what have you). If you want even more, you might think about a Fernandez Sustainer (Neal Schon of Journey uses one).

Here is a link explaining some of the basics and includes a link to the fernandez web page.

http://www.amptone.com/fernandessustainer.htm

[Bill McDowell]

sorry - here is the correct web site link

http://www.fernandesguitars.com/menu.htm

[BBLong]

Anyone who tells you that you can't get that sustain from the HRD hasn't played around with one long enough. I will bet my entire guitar collection and amp collection, over 20 pieces, that I can make any of my guitars except my Danelectro sustain a note through my Fender Blues Deville, the 2 channel precursor to the Hot Rod Deville.

I have found the good ol' $59 Big Muff Pi will add sustain to any of my overdriven/distorted sounds. I set the Big Muff with the volume at 12 o'clock so it does not increase the volume, the sustain is pegged all the way as high as it will go, and then put the tone knob on about 1 or 2 o'clock. Whenever jamming and I need to add a little singing sustain, step on the Big Muff and it will sing. If you want to know the settings on the Deville, let me know. Of course, every amp is a little different, but it can point you in the right direction.

Learning how to work with what you got is important. Any kid at Guitar Center gets ear-bleeding sustain from the Boogies and Marshalls with everything on 10, but if you take the time to learn how to work your equipment, you can make it work for you.

I will agree the Deville series is not very high gain, so I use a Boss Metal Zone to give me some extra gain when I need it, and the Big Muff is ONLY used for that singing sustain. I don't like the fuzzy distortion it gives, but it adds sustain to the distortion of my amp or other pedals. I occasionally make people stare in disbelief when running it through my 1968 Bassman head with no other distortion pedals. That little pedal gets me that long sustain on any note whenever I need it.

Hope that helps.

Bob

[Pointbreakd]

the fernades thing looks cool...but i dont think I could install that into my PRS without freaking out. Cool idea though. I'm thinking about double TS9s through a keeley compressor...anyone tried the keeley? I here its pretty amazing.

[FrankiePRS]

volume and gain - I use a PRS PS (cu24 based) through a mesa mark 4 - get great sustain / controlled feedback (meaning the output of the amp is loud enough to keep the string vibrating and producing more output in an endless loop) - but not on every note on the fretboard (due to the nature of the frequency, woods, what have you). If you want even more, you might think about a Fernandez Sustainer (Neal Schon of Journey uses one).

Here is a link explaining some of the basics and includes a link to the fernandez web page.

http://www.amptone.com/fernandessustainer.htm
I'm with Bill on this one --- I use the same road-rig (CU24 through a Mesa MK IV) and it absolutely sings live -- oh, and um... if it's too loud, you're too old - gotta have some serious volume to create the vibrations he mentions! Loud is good.

[Stratmeister]

Lift the amp to guitar level, crank it, turn around and feedback the amp to hell... there's your ultimate sustain! :D

[Pointbreakd]

Actually what I do now is I hooked up a TS-9 keeley mod to a keeley compressor and its like endless sustain.

[tonyvenn]

I haven't tried this yet....but I found the following idea on another website some time ago....it was about Neal Schon.....

QUOTE-----
Hello fellas,
Hearing a Neal Schon challenge made me remember something I saw on the official Journey website.
I believe this is the secret to Neal's incredible sound;
This is a quote from a discussion group on the Journey site.
Hey Folks,
I figure I'd share my recent DS-1 experience with everyone.
A few weeks ago, I needed to get my hands on some sort of distortion pedal to goose the crappy marshalls that I've been playing in the rehearsal studios I frequent. Anyway, I decided to get a Boss DS-1 on the thought that Neal Schon, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani all use them....it probably isn't that bad. What I really wanted to do is just simply goose the amp, just a little...so I have some smooth, sultry sustain. Anyway, I got this thing 2-3 weeks ago and I hated it. I couldn't imagine why on earth Neal, Steve and Joe use
this thing. The distortion, when fed into a slightly crunchy amplifier, sounded aweful. I was just about to ebay this thing when I decided to try it a different way. Instead, I got myself a great rhythm sound out of my amp...with as much gain as I wanted. Then, I set the DS-1 to tone=0, distortion=0 level=full and
put the DS-1 in between my guitar and my amp.....the result was absolutely startling. I literally, within a minute of tweaking some amp settings, had as close a Neal Schon tone that I ever have had (and keep in mind folks, that i played in a journey tribute band and I had gotten pretty damn close a few years ago with my Boss GT-5)....
Guys, if you ever have a chance to try the DS-1, give it a try. simply drop all of the knobs to 0 except the level
knob...and crank that one. And you've got sultry, smooth, liquid sustain for days.
END QUOTE-----

Try it....DS-1's are cheap enough to buy and experiment with....

Tony

[Pointbreakd]

Ha that's interesting. Has anyone tried it?

[Andrew]

I just hooked up a Maxon OD-9 in front of my Rivera Knucklehead II and the result has been amazing. Even at lower volumes I am getting a very nice, tubular overdrive tone that still responds to pick attack.

[Adam]

A note plucked on a guitar can only physically ring for so long. Eventually the string will stop vibrating, and no amount of gain or volume is gonna change that. Of course you can use feedback to keep it going, but it's not the same as the actual note you made ringing out forever. I've never heard a guitar that was able to naturally ring out for over a minute.

There are, IMO, only two ways around this.

1.) Keep the string vibrating by artificial means, a la E-Bow or Fernandes Sustainer. Both have their pluses and minuses, as was stated earlier.

2.) Reproduction. A looping or delay device that "samples" your note and keeps triggering it over and over with very little or no decay. The Boss DD-6 can do this. Other products may do it better, such as the Boss Loop Station or Boomerang.

Good luck!

[green]

go to www.sustainiac.com (http://www.sustainiac.com)

[DBornack]

I think alot of you are putting the carriage before the horse.. alot of volume wont neccesarily linearly add sustain.. to a point it will, but the more volume you bring in, you are also going to go to feedback faster.. and you wont have the original, natural note.. it will be a feedback harmonic..

now I agree that GAIN will have alot to do with it.. but, you are forgetting things..

How aobut an anodized aluminum stoptail with tone pros locking studs? How about low msas tuners?? Do what you can physically with the guitar first, and make it sustain more acoustically, before you start messing with amps, adn effects..

[mick I]

First off I have Fender HRD and I love it! It has the nicest warm clean tone(sorry big Mike Blues) I also have a period blackk face non-master volume and the clean tone......Now with my about 9lb paul & or my HB and the trey gray compressor I sustain for days (without bending) If you amp is made in the 90's U.S.A. made hold onto it. These things in Vintage Guitar Mag now sell for about 700.00 to 800.00. I'd say ditch the Boss (too glassy sounding) I refuse to use any digi made pedal with my valve amp. Head over to Keeley,analogman, etc..... You'll find it good luck.

[Pointbreakd]

Mick,


Ya I actually have a Keeley Compressor now. I run a Ts9 and a Tim through it. The sustain is good...but its def not endless.

[realmpel]

I think this is my first post here, so hello everybody!

Some of Trey's sustain must come from his full hollowbody. It resonates like crazy when played unplugged, as I have seen on a couple Trey appearances on TV.

I think a lot of it comes from his two Analogman modded Tube Screamers. In an article I read detailing his rig I believe it said that he has one cranked to full Drive and one about midway. This creates the endless sustain he has~I have a heard a recording of several minutes of sustain out of Trey!

There was a great rig diagram for him in Guitar Player. The only issue that I have ever misplaced, and it has my favorite guitarist on the cover! Typical.

~Kev

[Pointbreakd]

Yah I've been into trey forever. I had previously been putting 2 Ts9s into a Keeley Comp (my ts9s are keeley modded, similar to AM) Anyway, it def gets that trey sound, but he uses a lot of controlled feedback (which he gets from his guitar) to sustain even further. Currently I'm using the Ts9s, which I'm replacing with a Tim and Rc Boost behind the comp (no longer in front, it sounds less squashed this way). I def get a lot of sustain, nothing like trey's Divided sky type sustain but that is because he uses feedback created from his front pickup (I believe). Not sure. Either way I'm pretty happy with the sounds I've been getting. I think I was trying to hard to sound like Trey sustained and not like Dan sustained.

[mick I]

As a side note on Austin City Limits or some show like that, I've seen Trey working that Boomerang pedal. Could be used to catch the "peak" sustain and fill it in as needed..something to think about.

[realmpel]

Yeah, I agree about the feedback loop from his pickups. I've always marveled at how is able to control that beast. It must have took a ton of practice at ear-splitting volumes!