Using headphones to sustain notes on guitar

[InAbsentia_]

A video had been posted here a while back in which Joey uses a pair of headphones to sustain notes on a guitar by holding them over the neck. Can anyone explain why this works and how to do it?

Someone said it works like a Fernandes Sustainer pickup, but didn't elaborate.

Cheers.

 

[ahjteam]

A video had been posted here a while back in which Joey uses a pair of headphones to sustain notes on a guitar by holding them over the neck. Can anyone explain why this works and how to do it?

Someone said it works like a Fernandes Sustainer pickup, but didn't elaborate.

Cheers.

watch the video again and try.

 

[InAbsentia_]

watch the video again and try.

I've watched it a couple of times but I don't get it. He strikes a note, quickly holds headphones over the neck and the note rings out, he then takes them off and it fades away. I don't know whether he's playing something through the headphones really loud or what, but I'd like to know why or how this works and how to do it

 

[locus_coeruleus]

where's that video?

 

[InAbsentia_]

where's that video?

Around the 1 minute mark.

 

[decoys]

without trying it, I would say he monitors the guitar track itself through the headphones real loud and with putting it over the played strings, it kind of microphones itself with the strings. dont know if thats right

 

[xTomx]

Is he just not playing the guitar signal back to itself through the headphones to get feedback?

 

[krokit]

Is he just not playing the guitar signal back to itself through the headphones to get feedback?

Yeah, I do it too. It saves you from having to turn the monitors up loud in the control room when you want feedback/sustain.









www.ascapestudios.com

 

[locus_coeruleus]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fsEneI8DCA

Around the 1 minute mark.

Thanks, man, it's realyl interesting actually. I also think that he is just using the headphone output of that guitar to create that feedback effect. I wonder if one can do this even with cheap headphones (like hd202)

 

[JeffTD]

Wouldn't it be more effective to hold the headphones over the pickup?

 

[bryan_kilco]

I like the little buzz/hum thing he does with the guitar cable right at like 1:00.....shits like dead nuts on time.

 

[grywolf627]

Wouldn't it be more effective to hold the headphones over the pickup?

No. That'll just create microphonic feedback. You need to get the vibrations going through the guitar body. I've been doing this since the late 80's after hearing about the original Sustainiac system.

 

[grywolf627]

I wonder if one can do this even with cheap headphones (like hd202)

Yes. I've been using cheap Radio Shack headphones for years to do this.

 

[Djabthrash]

No. That'll just create microphonic feedback. You need to get the vibrations going through the guitar body. I've been doing this since the late 80's after hearing about the original Sustainiac system.

No wonder why it didn't work that great when i was putting them close to my guitar pup's...

How loud do one needs those headphones though ? Like "blow your eardrums if you put the phones on" loud ?

 

[buhzie2]

No wonder why it didn't work that great when i was putting them close to my guitar pup's...

How loud do one needs those headphones though ? Like "blow your eardrums if you put the phones on" loud ?

Triple Recto loud,

I wish there was a quiet way to get nice feedback, but it's really all about getting the guitar to interact with the amp. It needs big volume to vibrate the guitar body.

 

[RedDog]

Track the DI, with the amp in the room. Crank that bitch, even if its a shit combo. Boom, sustain. That feedback in headphones is essentially the same principle. But this way you get unlimited feedback without going microphonic.

 

[buhzie2]

Track the DI, with the amp in the room. Crank that bitch, even if its a shit combo. Boom, sustain. That feedback in headphones is essentially the same principle. But this way you get unlimited feedback without going microphonic.

Elaborate?

 

[Djabthrash]

Triple Recto loud,

I wish there was a quiet way to get nice feedback, but it's really all about getting the guitar to interact with the amp. It needs big volume to vibrate the guitar body.

Sure that's the real deal, but i guess Joey's trick is aimed at some of us who have bedroom studios with neighbours (or roommates ) and record stuff at 3AM during the week...

 

[amarshism]

I just hold my guitar up to the monitors. Will try the headphone trick though.

 

[grywolf627]

No wonder why it didn't work that great when i was putting them close to my guitar pup's...

How loud do one needs those headphones though ? Like "blow your eardrums if you put the phones on" loud ?

Yeah, like "blow your eardrums" loud. It's still going to make noise in the room...just not as much noise as an amp cranked. The more sound and vibrations you can get going through the guitar body, the better. Experiment with the placement too. The original Sustainiac was a transducer mounted on the headstock. So, I use that position a lot. But, sometimes you can get better/different results placing it somewhere on the body.