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Shady Sustainer
Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2024 5:30 pm
by aen
One of my few gear regrets is selling a fuckin sick Schecter with a sustainer system and a floyd rose. Well, as luck would have it, my wife got me a Highway One HH strat with a floyd rose, and some shady indonesian knock off artists are selling sustainer systems for $60 on reverb, so I'm going for it.
Here's pretty much where I'm at.
I've got the battery box (and fancy new knobs!) on the way. Hoping my step dad has a router and will teach me how to use it.
Re: Shady Sustainer
Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2024 10:18 pm
by Bacchus
Oooh, I'm interested in this.
A wee while ago, I got the stuff I needed to make my own sustainer. It was pickup wire of a thicker gauge (dunno about electronics, this was preferred because of something to do with inductance vs resistance maybe...., can't remember, didn't really understand at the time), a couple of old single coils to act as donors for the bobbins, and the components to make a small battery powered amp to drive it. I think I also got a Chinese amp that might also work.
Something happened and I didn't get round to actually making it. Maybe I'll resurrect this....
Re: Shady Sustainer
Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2024 7:44 am
by NickD
Bacchus wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 10:18 pm
Oooh, I'm interested in this.
A wee while ago, I got the stuff I needed to make my own sustainer. It was pickup wire of a thicker gauge (dunno about electronics, this was preferred because of something to do with inductance vs resistance maybe...., can't remember, didn't really understand at the time), a couple of old single coils to act as donors for the bobbins, and the components to make a small battery powered amp to drive it. I think I also got a Chinese amp that might also work.
Something happened and I didn't get round to actually making it. Maybe I'll resurrect this....
A sustainer in your fretless guitar would sound interesting.
Re: Shady Sustainer
Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2024 11:09 am
by Bacchus
It would. But it would also mean sacrificing the neck P-90.
Re: Shady Sustainer
Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2024 1:51 am
by aen
Uff da that’s a tall order.
Looks like we’re routing tomorrow morning!
Re: Shady Sustainer
Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2024 4:11 pm
by aen
KABLAM! Did my first routing job, and eventually got everything working, at least on a pass/fail basis. I'm hoping the re-setup will get this guitar back in tune and on time, in addition to sustaining extra long.
Bummer: no neck pickup sound. The directions told me not to hook it up to the output. When I did it anyway I found out why. Big noise, and output like ten times the bridge pickup. Wasted a lot of effort and a little money on the switch.
Re: Shady Sustainer
Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2024 8:23 pm
by aen
I worked on it for a few hours. Everything kind of works. Not exactly what I hoped for, but I guess that's what I get for going cheapo
Re: Shady Sustainer
Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2024 11:01 pm
by Bacchus
I watched demos earlier and some seemed pretty good, but they were all cheesey metal tones.
What's the problem?
Re: Shady Sustainer
Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2024 11:28 pm
by aen
Only the three lower strings will sustain, modes are “pretty much harmonic” and “distorted harmonic.”
Re: Shady Sustainer
Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2024 8:39 am
by Bacchus
Is there any way of tweaking it? Does string height do anything? Is there a trim pot on the amplifier part or anything?
Re: Shady Sustainer
Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2024 5:57 pm
by aen
The instructions seem to indicate that you want the strings very close, and that's supported by my tweaking so far. The driver is at full blast, as set by the BACKWARDS ASS trimpot on the circuit board. I guess getting the $300 system for $60 isn't the best idea in the world.