Sustainer

[Rattlehead]

Is there such a pedal just a sustainer? because usually it's a compressor and a sustainer.

[spudulike]

[Rattlehead]

is there a pcb or perf/vero layout for this?
sorry, i'm a noob, so i kinda suck at reading schematics

[dschwartz]

18 volts? hmmm will it work at 9?

[Mark Hammer]

Is there such a pedal just a sustainer? because usually it's a compressor and a sustainer.

The short answer is No.  There is NO such thing as a sustainer pedal.  Compressors can create the illusion that strings are sustaining longer, but that is only because they adjust the volume difference between how loud the string is the moment you pick it, and how loud it is a bit later on.  If the volume is gradually turned up as the strong begins to die out then it seems like the string is sustaining at a high volume for a long time.  In reality, though, unless you are standing close enough to a loud amplifier such that high volume is making the strong vibrate longer, the compressor/sustainer pedal will not make the string vibrate any longer than it normally does.  Put a piece of masking tape over the top of the strings near the bridge, and I promise you that 10 "sustainer" pedals in a row won't make the strings vibrate any longer than they do without the pedals.

There ARE, however, sustainer circuits that involve ways of getting the strings to actually vibrate an unnaturally long time.  The Fernandes company has the best known version of that circuit, and you will find a number of threads here from the past few years about DIY versions of that.  This is built into the guitar, rather than in a pedal, because it powers a physical object that makes the strings vibrate.  The E-Bow is another device that works in an analogous fashion, although it is hand-held, rather than built into the instrument.  Finally, there was another short-lived device invented by two members of the band 10cc, called the Gizmo or Gizmotron (http://hammer.ampage.org/files/Device1-2.PDF) which had independantly selectable sustain for each of the 6 strings.  It worked essentially by "bowing" the strings with little rubber wheels, and you could press a button to bow whichever (or whichever combination of) the 6 strings you wanted.

The last "sustainer" type circuit variant is the electronically simulated sustain intended to sound like feedback.  The Boss DF-2 Super Distortion Feedbacker (to be re-issued this summer by Behringer as the FD300 Ultra Feedback/Distortion) and the Line 6 Dr. Distorto (a digital pedal) both analyse the note you are holding and generate a synthesized note one or two octaves above, that is maintained for as long as you hold the pedal down.  You know how those plastic plants in restaurants that are up high can look real simply because a few plants at table height are real?  In an analogous fashion, the synthesized note is nothing like the actual guitar string, but because it follows the initial string pluck a short while later (fading in just as real feedback does) it provides the illusion of a string overtone.  Note that both analog and digital versions of this effect are mono only (i.e., one note at a time not chords).

The Colorsound Supasustain is but a humble compressor.  Don't let the sustain thing fool you.

[dschwartz]

i experimented with a ruby amp driving a 7 ohm iron-pole coil placed over the strings on neck pickup.....i kinda works! try it!!!!

i had to fit the driver under the PU and make a lot of guitar wiring, so i stopped the project till i make up my mind...

[remmelt]

You know how those plastic plants in restaurants that are up high can look real simply because a few plants at table height are real?

Best analogy EVER.

[spudulike]

is there a pcb or perf/vero layout for this?
sorry, i'm a noob, so i kinda suck at reading schematics

http://www.indyguitarist.com/torchy/Boosters/Coloursound%20Supa-Sustain/Sustain.gif

[JimRayden]

i experimented with a ruby amp driving a 7 ohm iron-pole coil placed over the strings on neck pickup.....i kinda works! try it!!!!

i had to fit the driver under the PU and make a lot of guitar wiring, so i stopped the project till i make up my mind...

You might want to take a look at this.

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?s=e820898a1f723a1bf2b1d59aae34d23c&showtopic=7512&st=2700

Reaching its 200th page count, this thread is THE history and main source of DIY sustainer developement.

---------
Jimbo

[puretube]

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=49595.0

[oldschoolanalog]

...and then there's always "Proximity".
Stand close to your amp  .
Free too...

[QSQCaito]

...and then there's always "Proximity".
Stand close to your amp  .
Free too...

A bit OT, but.. isn't in this video.. at the beginning a mic that peter is holding near the strings? It gives a "sustain" effect.. but also adds effect.

EDIT: Wrong video, sry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL40Ak5QV6I
Sustainer is just a way of calling the effect really.. right? It just compresses the high part of the signal giving a sustain-like efect(i think).


PS: BTW, what effect he uses at the beginning, it sounds very vocal.. and he is not standing in his talk box.
any ideas?

[mars_bringer_of_war]

Envelope filter, or touch wah...same thing though, right?

[Mark Hammer]

Envelope filter, or touch wah...same thing though, right?

Yes.

[mars_bringer_of_war]

Envelope filter, or touch wah...same thing though, right?

Yes.

Thank you Mark, but it was more of a "know what I'm sayin'?".

[markm]

There are much better comp/sustainer circuits out there than the colorsound IMO.