It Was In Your Guitar
All Along
If jacking a bunch of distortion boxes
into one another isn’t your thing, there
are a couple of options for aftermarket
pickup systems that can generate infinite
sustain from the guitar itself, clean or
dirty. Perhaps the most well know of these
is the Fernandes Sustainer system. This
system is one of the most useful onboard
guitar effects ever invented. It creates a
magnetic field that vibrates the guitar string
indefinitely, generating singing, harmonically
sonorous, and easily controllable feedback
at any volume level, with or without
distortion. It replaces the neck position
pickup, and engaging it or disengaging it is
as simple as flipping a switch. It even has a
couple of modes for harmonically enhanced
vibrations. Fernandes makes a bunch of cool
instruments that already have the Sustainer
built in, or kits can be purchased separately
and installed in a guitar of your choosing
(provided it has the appropriate electronics,
and room for additional circuitry and a
battery box).
a Sustainiac, but don’t relish the thought of
altering your instrument, Schecter makes
many of its standard models (in both six
and seven string) available with Sustainiac
systems already installed.
Another very highly regarded infinitely
sustaining pickup option is the Sustainiac,
which works very similarly to the Fernandes
unit in most regards. The primary difference
is that because its electronics are smaller,
it is generally a bit easier to install. Some
players also feel that the Sustainiac sounds
better than the Fernandes when being used
as a normal neck pickup with the sustain
function switched off. If you’re interested in
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TONE TALK //
How To Achieve the Dream of Infinite Sustain