rockmancentral Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 Hello again, I'm looking to add a Sustainiac ( https://www.sustainiac.com/ ) to my JTV 59P and JTV-59. I saw that there are some issues with active pickups, but I should note that the "driver" goes in the neck pickup. If need be, I have no problem disconnecting the neck pickup from going to the JTV motherboard since I usually don't use it in active pickup mode (though it does sound quite beautiful when playing clean!!) Any issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockmancentral Posted April 3, 2021 Author Share Posted April 3, 2021 Thanks for the reply, Marc. I've installed a couple of Sustainiacs, so no problem for me to do the job myself. I had just read all the warnings about active pickups and such, so I thought I'd check if anyone had any experience with the Sustainiac. But it sounds like it'll work since others have managed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psarkissian Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 Line 6 does not support mods that affect the products function. This is ill advised. These are incompatible with Variax products. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockmancentral Posted April 6, 2021 Author Share Posted April 6, 2021 OK, I get the deal with the active pickups and the magnetic field, which is why I asked. Fine, I won't feed them to the JTV mainboard at all. Beyond that, the Sustainiac is basically just a "driver" in the neck pickup (ie- far away from the piezo's and other electronics) that makes the strings vibrate in a particular way. It's really no different than using an eBow. Would that affect the products function? If so, how? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psarkissian Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 Yes. Having a guitar with both piezos and pick-ups means that set-up, regarding pick-up distance from strings, has to be adjusted just right or warbling of the string in the magnetic field will occur. And since it's a permanent magnet that can't be turned off, the magnetic field can still pull on the string to the point of warbling. And when the piezos are engaged, sounds bad. Add to the warble some Alt Tuning and you might cringe at the sound. Set-up, tuning and intonation are therefore crucial and spot-on down to a gnat's behind. Sustainiac can make it worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockmancentral Posted April 7, 2021 Author Share Posted April 7, 2021 I have 2 guitars with Sustainiacs and piezo pickups (Graph Tech LB63) in them and I have no issues with the piezos because of the Sustainiac. Of course, I really never use the piezo's with the Sustainaic on. So maybe that's what you are talking about? OK, so, I just don't use the Sustainaic with the Variax models. Bummer, but I can live with that as long as I can use the Sustainiac with my magnetic pickups. "And since it's a permanent magnet that can't be turned off"... Huh? I can flip a switch and turn off the Sustainaic, no problem at all. In fact, that's how I usually have it wired up so I'm only using the battery when I'm actually using the Sustainiac as a driver or as an active pickup (which is rare). I only change the battery maybe once or twice a year, if that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psarkissian Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 " I really never use the piezo's with the Sustainaic on. " --- Very good then. Variax is either in Model mode or magnetic mode, so when one is on, the other isn't. That minimizes bad interactions. " I can flip a switch and turn off the Sustainaic, no problem at all. " --- Very good. BTW,.... your jack plate, plates are en-route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockmancentral Posted April 8, 2021 Author Share Posted April 8, 2021 "BTW,.... your jack plate, plates are en-route." Thanks, at least I'll be able to fix that before I have to let them go. Shame, I already ordered a bunch of little things to add a little bling.... Replacement P-90 cover for one that was scuffed up on the 59P DiMarzio DP209 Super Distortion pickup in P90 form for the 59P Historic pickguards and brackets for both guitars Treble/Rhythm "poker chip" switch covers for both guitars New knobs with "Volume/Tone" label inserts for both guitars The pointy volume/tone indicator rings for both guitars I think I can still return the DiMarzio DP209 Super Distortion pickup since I'm still within 30 days. At least I hadn't ordered the Sustainiacs or the Stetsbar tremolos for them yet..... that would have sucked!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psarkissian Posted April 8, 2021 Share Posted April 8, 2021 Very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cglaser68 Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 On 4/6/2021 at 7:11 PM, rockmancentral said: On 4/7/2021 at 11:10 AM, psarkissian said: " I really never use the piezo's with the Sustainaic on. " --- Very good then. Variax is either in Model mode or magnetic mode, so when one is on, the other isn't. That minimizes bad interactions. " I can flip a switch and turn off the Sustainaic, no problem at all. " --- Very good. BTW,.... your jack plate, plates are en-route. You sure about this? I have a JTV 89f with a Helix and I can use both the Piezos and magnet pickups at the same time through the Helix. I have several presets that do just that...to mix an acoustic model from the piezos with the magnetic pickups (which I'll usually overdrive) to get a mix of distortion with acoustic behind it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psarkissian Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 Using both the VDI and 1/4" outputs at the same time puts a strain on the audio circuit. The circuit was not designed for that kind of current draw. Have had too many come across my repair bench with jack plate circuit failures because of it. And if someone uses both VDI and 1/4", with the battery as well to boost the magnetic pick-ups, the damage is worse. Don't dot that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 1 hour ago, psarkissian said: Using both the VDI and 1/4" outputs at the same time puts a strain on the audio circuit. The circuit was not designed for that kind of current draw. Have had too many come across my repair bench with jack plate circuit failures because of it. And if someone uses both VDI and 1/4", with the battery as well to boost the magnetic pick-ups, the damage is worse. Don't dot that! That's not what he was asking about...he didn't say anything about using both outputs... he's talking about creating a custom model that blends the mag pickups together with a model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psarkissian Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 Thought it might be the case, but there's always someone who wants to go down that road, so I wanted to nip that one in the bud. That's something one does in Workbench HD, lower part of the screen next to the Preset Volume. Maybe go to Idea Scale and suggest a Sustainiac as choice of pick-ups in Workbench HD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cglaser68 Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 Yes. I'm using a single ethercon cable. I was aware that using both outputs (1/4 and VDI) at the same time was a bad idea. I was just commenting that at least with a Helix and VDI cable, both pickup types are 'active'. I'm guessing the statement is true that if modeling is on, mags are off, IF you're only using the 1/4 output on the variax, but not true if you're only using the VDI cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockmancentral Posted April 29, 2021 Author Share Posted April 29, 2021 On 4/21/2021 at 3:20 PM, psarkissian said: Maybe go to Idea Scale and suggest a Sustainiac as choice of pick-ups in Workbench HD. Although a Sustainiac driver CAN act as an active pickup when not being used as the Sustainiac driver, I was talking about using the Sustainiac as a "sustain driver", where it electromechanically causes the strings to vibrate to produce indefinite sustain and/or feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psarkissian Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 Physically, in the guitar would be iffy,... matching it to the Variax active circuitry would be a problem. But as part of a Workbench HD update, might be more do'able. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malriley Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 My Schecter Hellraiser FR-S has active EMG bridge humbucker and a neck Sustianiac PU, while my Schecter Avenger FR-S has a passive Seymour Duncan humbucker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psarkissian Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Do Not use active pick-ups in these guitars, it is not compatible with Variax circuitry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yuriamorim Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 On 4/29/2021 at 1:46 PM, psarkissian said: Physically, in the guitar would be iffy,... matching it to the Variax active circuitry would be a problem. But as part of a Workbench HD update, might be more do'able. Now I'm confused. Is it possible to model and include a digital Sustainiac thru Workbench HD? Wouldn't it be necessary to have the hardware counterpart (which creates the magnetic field that makes the strings vibrate permanently)? The idea is that instead of having that to happen phisically, the folks at Line 6 would instead include some kind of infinite sustain to each models output to be triggered by adding the virtual Sustainiac pickup (so you could get a forever sustained Spank, Lester, etc)? If I got it correct and indeed it's possible, that would be actually SO COOL. A dream come true, actually. I bought myself a Gizmotron that I wanted to use to use in conjuction with my JTV-69S HSS and Fishman Triple Play, in order to be able to play some VSTs without having the sounds to stop after some short time (like strings for example). But then I realized that unfortunately there's no space for having both the Triple Play and the Gizmotron at the same time in the JTV69 (since both are supposed to be installed right above the bridge). So my other option would be to have something like a sustainiac installed instead, but then I saw it's not advised to do so by Line 6 staff. So if something like this virtual Sustainiac would be theoretically possible, that would be a huge thing for me. Count me in for the Idea Scale vote, if that's the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psarkissian Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 1) " Is it possible to model and include a digital Sustainiac thru Workbench HD? " --- It's not in Workbench HD. Idea Scale would be the place to go to submit as a feature. 2) Hardware counterpart,... not if it were a Workbench HD patch feature. 3) " The idea is that instead of having that to happen physically, the folks at Line 6 would instead include some kind of infinite sustain to each models output to be triggered by adding the virtual Sustainiac pickup (so you could get a forever sustained Spank, Lester, etc)? " ---- That would be the idea. And Idea Scale would be the place to go for that. " Count me in for the Idea Scale vote, if that's the case. " --- That would be the place to go to be heard by Line 6. It's through Idea Scale that the Helix was created. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yuriamorim Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 Thanks for the reply, mr. Parkissian. I just realized that this wouldn't actually solve my problem, as I need the actual strings on the guitar to vibrate permanently in order to use it like I described (with the MIDI pickup). I certainly can (and do) use an ebow for single notes, but what I really want is to be able to play full chords and have them to sound whatever the time I want them to. So for the time being the solution will have to be another guitar with enough space to install both the Triple Play and the Gizmotron (which achieves this mecanically and not magnetically). Unfortunately I'll loose the extended sound palette of modeled guitar sounds from the Variax, which would make it even greater. But even so... I really like the idea of having a virtual sustainiac as an option in Workbench HD - as an expressive possibility to the Variax models itself. I'll probably submit the idea in IdeaScale (and mention it came from an insight by yourself). Kudos for the one who actually had it envisioned. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yuriamorim Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 I've just submitted the idea. Here it is if anyone more wants to chime in or help with the vote: https://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Virtual-Sustainiac-pickup-in-Workbench-HD-for-Variax-guitars/1020114-23508?submitted=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psarkissian Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 Very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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