Re: Sustainer Question

[Jeff Duke <jeffloops@gmail.com>]

I have 3 sustainer equipped Fernandes. The gauge of the strings should
not make much difference. I recently switched from 09's to D'Addario
EXL110's also with no problems. The main thing with the sustainers is
the closeness to the strings if the unit is set up right. Also the
neck sustainer and the bridge HB pickup work together on these systems
so it also needs to be setup the way you want it in relation to your
prefs. Heavier strings would seem to need more energy to vibrate but I
generally have the pickups lower on the bottom to get the
volume/sustainer response even. In reality the thin strings need to be
closer to the pickup in my experience.

With the sustainer off does the high E ring as long as it should? It
seems strange that just that string gives you problems. The sustainer
is not a separate pickup for each string like the Moog (I think) or a
midi pickup would be.

Also it works with chords but in a limited way, it's not really a
polyphonic device, well it is but not, in that one frequency will
always dominate after a bit.

So check the offending string for natural sustain and make sure it's
not binding or fretting out and remember the neck and bridge pickups
work together. You might try a lighter string but I have not noticed
any problems going heavier.

Oh, and check the battery! These things eat some 9 v's!!

good luck,

Jeff

On Wed, Dec 29, 2010 at 4:56 PM, Ingo Ito <ingoito@itofarm.com> wrote:
>
> Hi everybody,
>
> maybe this is a bit off topic for looping, but I could imagine that some 
>of you might have this equipment and could give me some information or 
>recommendation.
>
> Short while ago I bought a Fernandes "Ravelle" guitar (Les Paul type of 
>guitar) equipped with a Sustainer pickup for doing ambient live-looping. 
>I changed the strings to my regular brand and gauge I´m using on all my 
>electric guitars: D'Addario EXL110 (.010, .013, .017, .026, .036, .046), 
>but I´m not happy with the result for the Sustainer. The high e-string is 
>not responding well (very slow attack) and when doing chords (only the 
>fingering - to let the sound come "out of nowhere") not all strings are 
>responding evenly, destroying the character of the chord.
>
> I already tried adjustments of the pickup, the bridge and the pots on 
>the Sustainer board inside the guitar (as recommended on the Fernandes 
>website), but there´s no real improvement.
>
> So I thought, maybe it´s the strings?! Any recommendations by Sustainer 
>users? Different material or maybe different gauges?
> I´ve read, that Adrian Belew is using a "thin&thick" set of strings on 
>his Parker guitar, and as he´s using a Sustainiac system. I might give 
>this set a try as well.
>
> So any help or information is very much appreciated as always :-)
>
> And besides, Happy New Looping Year!
>
> Ingo Ito
>
>
> www.itofarm.com
> www.zenhanami.bandcamp.com
>