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Posted by: Praetorian Sep 13 2009, 04:50 AM

I was playing my Ibanez today with EMG 81/85's and I have to say the sustain is not good at all. I have tried all kinds of different amp settings on my Toneport GX. I have the floyd locked out with a Tremel-no, so that should actually help the sustain, but I have long notes drifting off long before they do in the lessons I am playing. Are there any tips you guys may have either equipment settings, or playing advice?

Posted by: UncleSkillet Sep 13 2009, 05:19 AM

Well there are several things that can effect that.
The Noise Gate and Compression settings come to mind at first. Working with modeling software took me a while to get use to. It is really tricky!

Make sure your pickups aren't to close to the strings and you have a fresh battery also.

If you want a tone patch to get you started just let me know.

Posted by: Emir Hot Sep 13 2009, 05:35 AM

Good pickup, enough drive and strong vibrato. That's the key for sustain

Posted by: ZakkWylde Sep 13 2009, 10:42 AM

The floyd kilss sustain, even when it's blocked.

You can check your guitar's setup, a bad setup works against your sustain and also check if the battery for the EMGs is still fresh.

Posted by: MickeM Sep 13 2009, 01:49 PM

Like Zakk says the FR is a tone killer. You'd want the sustain to come from the wood, between the wood and your pick there are numerous items that could cause the strings to die.
Good wood and direct contact with the strings would be my recepie.

My LP sustains well, but oddly enough my Charvel with a FR sustains even better. I can't help wondering how well it'd sustain if it was string through.

Try playing your electric unplugged that'll tell about how good the tone is. If you strum a chord and feel the wood or even better (but looks silly) Put your ear tight to the body to listen, you'll hear how long it sustains.
Knocking on it will also tell something, if you for some reason don't have strings or if it's just a plank.

So what can be done? Not so much I'd say unless you put a sustainiac on. Exchanging some of the hardware could help.

Posted by: Bondy Sep 13 2009, 02:16 PM

Plus one on what the other guys said also if you have the noise gate on check that its not to high because that will kill sustain aswell, i used to suffer from this problem but after playing around with my pod for months i have a few patches now with great sustain if you would like to try them let me know.

Posted by: tonymiro Sep 13 2009, 02:24 PM

As Bondy and Uncleskillet have already said the noise gate can kill sustain.
The compressor can however often be set to give virtually infinite sustain.

Posted by: Sensible Jones Sep 13 2009, 03:18 PM

You could always try:-

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 13 2009, 03:55 PM

Is this the first time you encountered the problem? Was there any issues before with the sustain?

Posted by: JVM Sep 13 2009, 04:07 PM

I know you probably aren't in the market for a compressor/sustainer, but the coolest one I've ever seen is the pigtronix philosopher's tone. Expensive, but for pedal enthusiasts, worth it! Check it out http://www.proguitarshop.com/product.php?ProductID=1619&CategoryID=309!

Posted by: Fran Sep 13 2009, 04:31 PM

As already stated, I'd say high gain & a compressor help sustain a lot

Posted by: Marc_Maiden Sep 13 2009, 05:44 PM

i added a tube screamer infront of my amp...my sustain lasts forever now...


but i sadly know technically why the sustain isnt as good...its all thanks to ibanez's faulty guitar design. the problem with non prestige ibanez guitars, is that the edge 3 trem radius does not match the wizard 2's radius...which in turn causes fret buzz, not as low action, and kills sustain. all non prestige ibanez's suffer from it...its a shame


to fi it, either get an edge pro bridge in your ibanez or get a prestige

Posted by: Praetorian Sep 13 2009, 07:38 PM

Thanks for the help guys! For those that mentioned...I would LOVE to try out your patches for the Toneport! This does seem to be a fairly new problem, so maybe it is with my setup. I did very recently have it setup by a pro, and love how it plays. There isn't any buzzing at all, but the sustain just isn't there. I am playing the lesson "Mixing the Mixolydian" and in the beginning, the last note on the first video section, the note is completely dead by the time I start the first note on the second video. I tested my battery, and it showed that it was good.

I have thought about selling this one and getting a hardtail, maybe even a thru body design instead of constantly battling the Floyd which I NEVER use anyway.

Posted by: Bondy Sep 13 2009, 07:49 PM

Here you go
 Neoclassical.l6t ( 2.06K ) : 103

 Eruption.l6t ( 2.06K ) : 108

Posted by: UncleSkillet Sep 13 2009, 07:58 PM

Here is a patch I worked on a few weeks ago. I used it for the Feelings Inc Collaboration. I needed a lot of sustain because the backing track was very open. Maybe it will help you or at least get you started.

 80s_Lead__Plexi_100_.l6t ( 2.08K ) : 112

Posted by: Praetorian Sep 13 2009, 08:45 PM

Thanks guys...I'll try them out tonight!