increase sustain as much as possible

[BITCRUSHER668]

so how ? i want to increase sustain of bass, for as much as possible, (without preamp or anything, thats separate buisness) i think about arraying lots of cheap pickups, look of bass and tone are non issue i am making industrial music not rock n roll or blues
also what are pros and cons of parallel and series pickup connections, what about mixing them ? what about making diy pickup with really lots of winding ?
thanks in advance

 

[Jeff Scott]

so how ? i want to increase sustain of bass, for as much as possible, (without preamp or anything, thats separate buisness) i think about arraying lots of cheap pickups...

If anything, that will just kill whatever sustain you may already have due to all that extra magnetic pull on the strings. Use electronics to increase your sustain.

 

[Crater]

Your best bet for increasing sustain would be a compressor pedal.

 

[BITCRUSHER668]

guys i understand, that you can increase sustain with pedals or built in preamps, but i want to achieve maximal sustain passively
will custom pickups work ? if i wind extreme amount of thin wire on one string pickup, or mount pickups horizontally ?

 

[Clark Dark]

What you're seeking is like the holy grail. If it could be done it would've been done. Fernandes sells a sustainer circuit but it's proprietary and requires the use of Fernandes pickup. Then there's the E-Bow but that's not very good with bass at all. Good luck

 

[vin97]

tungsten bridge

 

[two fingers]

guys i understand, that you can increase sustain with pedals or built in preamps, but i want to achieve maximal sustain passively
will custom pickups work ? if i wind extreme amount of thin wire on one string pickup, or mount pickups horizontally ?

An extremely hot pickup will have the OPPOSITE affect. It will DAMPEN the vibrations of your strings by pulling on them harder and SHORTEN the length of time your notes ring out.

 

[two fingers]

What kind of bass do you have?
What kind of bridge?
What kind of neck?

Many believe that a larger mass bridge will increase sustain. Babicz and Leo Quan seem to have a good following.

Many believe a stiffer neck increases sustain. But many also believe it will have an affect on the overall sound of the bass.

Extremely hot pickup configurations will not.....repeat.....will NOT increase sustain. Quite the opposite.

 

[40Hz]

guys i understand, that you can increase sustain with pedals or built in preamps, but i want to achieve maximal sustain passively
will custom pickups work ? if i wind extreme amount of thin wire on one string pickup, or mount pickups horizontally ?

Not gonna happen. The strings lose energy due to friction with the air and contact with the nut and the bridge which both absorbs and transfers some of the energy, which then allows the body to further dampen the vibration.

For maximum sustain you'd need to minimize any and all friction between the string and the bridge and not allow any of the vibrating string's mechanical energy to transfer from the string. You'd still have friction with the air and some heat generated by the vibration in the string so some loss is still unavoidable.

A perfectly vibrationless frictionless nut and bridge that had zero energy transfer to whatever they were mounted to placed in a cold vacuum would provide the longest amount of time before the laws of physics eventually made the string stop vibrating. But here will always be some energy loss no matter what you do. And there will be more of it in any environment a human being would be comfortable plucking a string in.

 

[40Hz]

If you want to cut to the chase, Moog worked out some time ago a method using a magnetic coil to excite the strings into a self-sustaining state.

If you want to do your own version, here's somebody who built their own.

 

[joebar]

i think it starts with a really good/stable/stiff dense neck.

 

[JGbassman]

I know you said no electronics, but a DBX 160a compressor set at 4:1 with soft knee enabled, and keeping it on the yellow light will give you a great musical sound, and load of sustain if you dial it in.

No mods to a bass that might or might not work, something you can use when you want or not.

 

[JGbassman]

Another thought would be the "Ebow" if they still even make them

 

[bushbass]

The DOD Milkbox is a cheap compressor and can give gobs of sustain

 

[BassLover668]

this increase gain no sustain.
Cant change phisics, use a PC

guys i understand, that you can increase sustain with pedals or built in preamps, but i want to achieve maximal sustain passively
will custom pickups work ? if i wind extreme amount of thin wire on one string pickup, or mount pickups horizontally ?

ndi

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

AH, the old Sustain question. That was SO important back in the '70s that we endured back-breakingly heavy bodies, huge metal bridges and every other heavy tweak and peak to get the mythic "sustain".

Then, one day, I asked myself "Why"? I rarely play even a whole note, let along so many held whole notes that my bass would fade...

But if you're music calls for you to hold a note for 30+ seconds, the only real fix is a good compressor.

 

[RobbieK]

I've built and owned many basses over the years. The one with the most sustain is a fretless with a carbon fibre reinforced neck, ebony fretboard, and a fairly heavy bubinga body. It is set up with a medium-low action, and a couple of J type pickups. I'd also recommend practising. A lot. Good technique will really help you get the sustained tone you want.

Failing this, sample your bass, then learn to programme and play a synth.

 

[mogpipe]

Pick up a Fat Finger and clamp it on your bass head. The increased mass is supposed to increase sustain. About 15.00.

 

[mpdd]

my 3 piece ash body bacchus jazz sustained forever, weighed a ton, and had non fancy gotoh hardware, go figure

 

[Jazz Ad]

First, you want to avoid magnetic pickups. Go with piezos or Lightwave if you can, to avoid interaction between strings and sensors.
Heavy strings and long scale will help. More mass = more inertia.
You want a neck as stiff as possible. Graphite will help as well as heavy duty locking bridge to avoid static vibrations.
I can't think of any other useful criteria.