Increasing Guitar Sustain

E

Elisa

New member
Has any one heard of "Fat Finger". It is supposed to clip on the the guitar head and be able to sustain a note forever. I heard it's magnatized so that the sound sustains over a long period of time when you pluck a string. Is this for real? If so, where can I buy something like this?

Thanks,

Elisa
 
Elisa,
I recall seeing something like you have described in a magazine somewhere. Have you done a search of the guitar stores online. etc?
I would suggest you try one out on your own guitar before buying
one, as I have reservations as to how much extra sustain would be gained by adding "mass" to the headstock. Obviously, the results would be different for each individual guitar.

Peace........ChrisO :cool:
 
Haven't heard about the gadget you're mentioning, but eternal sustain made me think of .... the E- BOW ... great thing - just wanna mention it
bizz
 
It's made of brass or something like that and clamps to the headstock of the guitar. Who knows. I'd try it out before I paid anything for it, or make sure you get a return privilege.

I had a blast last night in a unorganized, overly loud jam at a local bar. I had the only acoustic (versus two hot electrics, a bass guitar and a hundred pounds of gear, and the [ouch] drum kit), plugged into a direct box and into an old PA head. I had a feedback buster in the soundhole and played direct through a Danelectro Chili Dog - a high distortion, relatively low quality octave box that is loads of fun when misused.

I found a neat way to get indefinite sustain. Park yourself about two feet in back and to the side of one of the 3' PA speakers that were sitting on the floor in front of the (ouch) drums. Pretty cool. Feeds back just enough to create pain at the bar for as long as you need to.

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Man, I stayed up way too late and still had to get up at 5...
 
I think it's a worth while idea to play with, but I think I'll try making my own.
Why not just drill holes in your headstock and load 'em up with brass? :D
 
I think what we're avoiding saying is that if it were that effetive and easy, everybody would be doing it.
 
You can upgrade to a stainless steel pic guard on a strat etc. This will definately increase density below the picking area.
 
When made correctly stainless makes a beautiful pick guard. Either mirror finish or bead blast are pretty cool. Add to the density for bertter sound reflection to bounce back and keep the strings vibrating.
 
more sustain....a Les Paul...thick strings...good technique....a loud Marshall cranked.....
 
I think the question must be asked: do you want traditional sustain, or do you want feedback?

I've only encountered real sustain problems on very cheap lightweight guitars. By real sustain problems I mean the notes drop off in a suprisingly drastic fashion. However, not having a sustain problem doesn't mean that more sustain couldn't be cool...i think this product might be somewhat interesting....as long as it's not expensive. I could imagine making something similar out of a capo...dunno.

If you're interested in cranking out long wailing notes in true 80's rock fashion...usually this has less to do with the guitar (I said "less") than with using feedback. If you can find the sweet spot, you can sustain a note damn near indefinately. That soundgarden tune "room a thousand years wide" with the police siren guitar comes to mind. You can use a compressor or sustainer or pedal to accomplish this as well but I've always found the effect too porno....but then i've never owned a good compressor. Using certain delays you can get some cool extended sounds and fake feedback as well.

Just blabbing here....but do you DI? If so then you'll need to use an effect to get feedback. Even with this handy brass weight increasing your sustain by 50 or 100% might not give you the long mega sustain you might be looking for.

Just blabbing some more...you can sustain a note considerably longer with the proper finger pressure and vibrato. As gidge said, bigger strings can help, but not on junk guitars....in fact, fat strings on real lightweight guitars almost seem to make matters worse...maybe that's just me.

Slackmaster 2000
 
Natural sustain comes from long vibration of the string and all it touches. There are things you can do to help this. A capo of will do this, it touches the steel instead of the nut which is of a less density. Locking nut will too. Dense wood helps. But if you have to plug it in this toy, then they make sustain boxes/toys for that. I dont use them {how long do you wanna hold this note} This is an entry into the guiness book of records too and is held by a woodwind instrument.... LOL
 
I'm a big fan of adding metal to my guitars. I think any metal added anywhere will add to sustain. But, by far, the best part to add is a brass nut. And have it cut by someone that knows what they'er doing. This is not a cheap item becouse it will most likely ruin the repairmans tools and he'll need to buy more. But, if you really want sustain, it's worth every penny.
 
Does anyone know how Robert Fripp keeps the sustain ??? I was sure it was a E-bow - but after seeing them live last year I'm sure it's NOT an e-bow. HUH ??
bizz
 
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