[chris101]

After selling a JS2480 a year or so ago, I was itching to try a sustainiac guitar again, toyed with the idea of putting on in an RG550 Genesis but took the lazy option and ended up going for a Schecter Sunvalley FS S, surprisingly good build quality for the money and lovely to play. The sustainiac is certainly entertaining when used in moderation. But when disengaged, and soloing on the neck pickup, the tone leaves a lot to be desired (in my opinion), and I was reminded of why I sold the JS2480. It's hard to describe, but compared to pickups like the PAF Joe it just lacks life and body, those subtle indescribable nuances that make or break a tone, to my ears the frequency range seems narrower.

Initially its very tempting to use the sustainiac all the time, or as often as possible, but this resulted in hindering my creativity and progress, kind of like playing with a toy when I should be making music! So I forced myself to stop using the damn thing so often, but that’s when it starts to show its weakness as a good pickup. It's funny how there are so many variations of neck pickups out there, each with their own unique characteristics and masses of marketing material to convince us that this is what we most definitely need, but with the sustainiac there is nothing at all, no options or variations, no EQ charts that you see alongside Dimarzio pickups for example.

Anyone else on here lost his or her interest in the sustainiac once the honeymoon period was over?

 

[OCDemon]

I own a 2480 and for about a year I was thinking of selling it. I have the same complaint which is that it just doesn't sound as good as the 2410 or 2450. I didn't give up on it and I kind of found a place where I like it but I think I can say that I'm not blown away at all by it. I like to use it sometimes but it's not at the top of my JS preferences. I am totally not surprised by this post or mentality. I think a lot of people have an idea of what the sustainiac will be without having tried it, myself included, and once I got one, it wasn't love at first sight. To me it's a special guitar that does something specific but I don't think that I wish any of my other JS guitars had a sustainiac. I think the 2410/2450 is far superior in tone.

 

[Fowleri]

Lol this sounds like me. I was also considering the schecter just because of the sustainer but hate the fact they come with active pickups, the sound of it is awful as all active pups sound the same to me is the same metal crap

I bought the genesis which is a superior guitar than the schecter, you can always put the sustainer later but considering the cost i dont know

I know I wouldn’t be happy with the schecter as I wanted something similar to a jem without the steve vai tax

If you dont mind paying i would just install a sustainer on a genesis even then you still come ahead and cheaper an overpriced jem

Why does ibanez not offer the jems with a sustainer option is beyond me

Just another example of you wont get what vai gets

That $2500 white jem is nowhere near the level of what vai uses but people fall for the hype

 

[GearBoxTy]

If I end up getting a Sustainiac, I would just by a Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder FR S in White or Rivera Blue. That would be my dedicated Sustainiac guitar and I would only use it for Sustainiac reasons. I don't see the sense in installing one in another guitar. It honestly is too bad that Ibanez has not offered a Sustainiac equipped JEM.

 

[chris101]

I bought the white one, other than a slightly rough cut of the trem route its pretty much perfect. The neck is very nice. Not bad for Indo, and under £700.

 

[GearBoxTy]

I bought the white one, other than a slightly rough cut of the trem route its pretty much perfect. The neck is very nice. Not bad for Indo, and under £700.

The Schecter site says the white and matte black ones are make in South Korea and the colorful ones are made in Indonesia but all the white ones on Sweetwater's site have Crafted in Indonesia on their headstocks. I have a Korean made Schecter PT that is awesome for under $600 US!

The Sun Valley Super Shredder FR S is very tempting...as strictly a Sustainiac guitar...

I don't like any of the Ibanez guitars with Sustainiacs

 

[chris101]

Yeah I was expecting my 2019 white one to be made in South Korea as per the website description, but the back of the headstock says otherwise.

 

[Fowleri]

That schecter new is $800 maybe if you have money to burn, buy one for a spare sustainer reasons? Lol that guitar is just not good enough

Is a $600 guitar with a sustainer, probably comparable to a jem jr if not inferior

Id rather have the sustainer in a guitar that i really like

 

[Formerly Given To Fly]

I own a 2480 and for about a year I was thinking of selling it. I have the same complaint which is that it just doesn't sound as good as the 2410 or 2450. I didn't give up on it and I kind of found a place where I like it but I think I can say that I'm not blown away at all by it. I like to use it sometimes but it's not at the top of my JS preferences. I am totally not surprised by this post or mentality. I think a lot of people have an idea of what the sustainiac will be without having tried it, myself included, and once I got one, it wasn't love at first sight. To me it's a special guitar that does something specific but I don't think that I wish any of my other JS guitars had a sustainiac. I think the 2410/2450 is far superior in tone.

The 2480 does not have a neck pickup, it has 6 Ebows (or 1 large Ebow) built into the guitar. The Sustainiac takes the concept of the Ebow and applies it to all 6 strings while giving you your right hand back. At least, that is how I think of it. :nerd:

 

[OCDemon]

The 2480 does not have a neck pickup, it has 6 Ebows (or 1 large Ebow) built into the guitar. The Sustainiac takes the concept of the Ebow and applies it to all 6 strings while giving you your right hand back. At least, that is how I think of it. :nerd:

I wouldn't say it has no neck pickup. With sustainer off there is a neck pickup. It just doesn't sound the way I'm used to out of the JS series neck pickups. Not nearly as good as PAF Joe or Satch Track. It's' not bad though.

 

[Formerly Given To Fly]

The 2480 does not have a neck pickup, it has 6 Ebows (or 1 large Ebow) built into the guitar.

The Sustainiac takes the concept of the Ebow and applies it to all 6 strings while giving you your right hand back. At least, that is how I think of it.

I wouldn't say it has no neck pickup. With sustainer off there is a neck pickup. It just doesn't sound the way I'm used to out of the JS series neck pickups. Not nearly as good as PAF Joe or Satch Track. It's' not bad though.

Kudos for sticking with it. I'm not sure how Satriani uses his Sustainiac but Vai seems to thrive on a tasteful melodic approach. My brief experience playing a Sustaniac resulted in sounds I'd never heard before, from anyone, especially with harmonics. Most of the sounds do not need to be heard again, but others had specific musical potential that would be hard to achieve without a sustainer. As you stated before, this is what makes it a guitar for a specific purpose rather than an all purpose guitar.

 

[stevevaigai777]

Hate to hijack the thread a little but any of you try a Digitech Freq Out pedal? Its a sustainer feedbacker kind of pedal that you can trigger with your foot on a given held note or you can "lock" it to be on all the time. It only triggers when you hold a note. You can adjust level to dry signal, change frequencies of intervals or completely turn off the dry signal.

I had an Ebow years ago, the newer one with the octave up setting.It sounded neat but was cumbersome and you had to really practice with it to control it and the big downside was your right hand was completely tied up. I HATED it then I discovered the Fernandez Sustainer...

Someone was selling a Jem 7VWH a few years ago used. They copied Vai's original Flo or Evo right down to the dents and scuffs with the add ons with the toggle switches. I went to have a look at it and the guitar was a dingy yellow which turned me off as it was several years old. I never actually tried the guitar with the Sustainer so I resorted to YT vids to get a taste of what it sounded like. One thing I noticed was how much routing and altering you had to do to install the Sustainer. What if you wanted it out after a while as the effect is somewhat gimmicky? Then it leaves your guitar damaged. The unit is impossible to find in Canada and it is hard finding a guy to install it. I didn't want to wreck a guitar for it either. Then the Digitech pedal came out a few years ago and it did the trick. It doesn't behave exactly like the Sustainer but its close enough and cost me $170.

 

[OCDemon]

I own both the JS2480 and the Freqout pedal. They are both cool. I don't think either one replaces the other but I think that the Freqout if you set it right can be very natural and it's really cool. I was surprised at how authentic it sounds. I'd suggest it if someone wants a cool pedal that does the feedback thing well. There are some scenarios where it behaves in a way that you can tell it's not natural feedback but you can choose to avoid those once you learn what they are.

 

[Zepp3lin]

Hate to hijack the thread a little but any of you try a Digitech Freq Out pedal?

I own both Sustainiac and Freq out pedal. For the harmonics, you can just use the pedal but if you want long sustain normal or with harmonics then only a Sustainer can do the job.