Question on sustain...

[Eric]

Hi all,

 

I have two Heritages...one is an 140, the other a 150P (poplar body). The 140 has what I'm guessing are stock pickups (I'm not actually sure what they are) and the 150 has HRWs (I pulled them out and turned them over just to make sure).

 

I absolutely love the sound of the HRWs. However, to my ear (which, by the way is less than golden...I use hearing aids) the 140 sustains SO much more than the 150. They are not even close. It's like the 140 "sings".

 

My question is this...could I somewhat improve the sustain of the 150 by adjusting the distance between the pickups and strings? Or is the sustain more a function of the wood / guitar itself? Or something else entirely?

 

Thanks in advance for any opinions / advice offered.

[FredZepp]

There certainly are a lot of possible reasons for the difference in sustain... including;

Woods, electronics, hardware, set up.. etc.

 

Any chance that you have pics of them, so as to allow a comparison of some of the features visually?

 

 

( and yes, I usually find that I like the sound better with some distance between the pickups and strings, to reduce magnetic pull )

[mars_hall]

As far as pickups go, you can lower the pickup if it is too close and damping the vibration of the string. Once you have lowered the pup, adjust the individual pole pieces up slightly to recover some of the high-end lost by lowering the main pickup. The screws should, in most cases, follow an arc in the shape of the lower fingerboard's arc at the body end. I do this in half-turn increments while plugged in and judge with my ear.

 

Put "sustain" in the search field and set the range away from "This Topic" to "Forum" at the top of the page to see other answers that may help you.

[Eric]

Thanks for the suggetions.

 

Here is a side by side comparison of the two...

[yoslate]

Thanks for the suggetions.

 

Here is a side by side comparison of the two...

 

 

That's Brent's silverburst, innit!?

[mars_hall]

Thanks for the suggetions.

 

Here is a side by side comparison of the two...

My quick take on the guitar is to replace the roller bridge with a fixed one. Some have decent luck with the rollers but I would say most probably don't. The roller, being a bearing, will eventually wear on its axle over time and allow the string to move in an undesired direction (i.e pivot) and the roller gap around the axle will increase. Bottom line, the fewer moving parts holding the string, the less chance for energy loss away from the string.

[FredZepp]

Thanks for the suggetions.

 

Here is a side by side comparison of the two...

Excellent .. I love the 140 .. great look to that one. And you have one of the rare Brentrocks Silverburst models.

It appears that maybe the 140 maybe has upgraded pickups , with only one adjustment screw per side. Maybe some Duncan 59's or something.

And the 140 has nashville style hardware while the 150 still has the roller bridge and Schaller tailpiece.

Many would tell you that changing out the Schaller hardware would increase sustain, although I have both and don't have any problems with Schaller .

 

The pickups may make a difference.. you can test some of this by comparing sustain on the two unplugged (acoustically) to see how they compare.

 

You may compare the setup on each , to see if one is set up higher and is allowing the string to resonate more, as that could be a factor.

 

And the wood in the 140 may just have more sustain anyhow.

[mark555]

Patrick says it could be the length of the tenon.... oops, wrong thread!

 

Hi Eric, and welcome, Two very nice guitars you have there, I love the 140 it just oozes class, and the 150 is very distinctive, very nice.

[mars_hall]

That's Brent's silverburst, innit!?

 

You would think so, but according to this his poplar one had a bound head, which jives with what I recall.

 

Brent's description

 

Don't know if he had more than one poplar Silverburst. Silverburst I was a H157

[Spectrum13]

Better contact = more sustain.

 

I would suggest replacing the studds on the tail piece and bridge with stainless locking and deeper screws & bolts as well as putting an Abr-1 or Nashville bridge. Try that before a pickup swap.

[FredZepp]

nice..