Active DIY Guitar Sustainer for about $20!

This is a project I've wanted to do for a long time and finally picked up the parts to pull it off.
The STL file for the spacer in the driver:
drive.google.com/file/d/1QrcL...
Very small amp with on/off/volume control:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...
32 gauge enameled wire:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
AAA battery pack:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...

[@ricka7365]

thanks for telling "I wont use it in a stage" its for FUN at home

[@sadielampduo3762]

Ingenious. Love your engineering technique.Sounds great👍.

[@natelivingston5528]

Thanks man, this is great. Tremendously helpful.

[@adamdavey2084]

Awesome and thank you! I just did the same thing based on your video. I made one small tweak, I soldered another potentiometer in parallel with the sustainer coil and used that to lower the maximum output level to get rid of that feedback issue.

[@guitarlab7772]

That's an awesome idea. Post a video of you demoing it and share it! I'd love to see it in action.

[@Reverend_Taco]

I agree, I’d like to see this as well!

[@andym5195]

yeh dude whats it like??

[@666pinkster]

Nice trick bro...as a variable resistance, or a shunt to ground?

[@andym5195]

thats awesome and thanks!! this young guy i sorta teach or rather jam wiv said about these the other day.. id never heard of them but what i did think a few years ago is to do the active thing then direct it to a piezo tweeter ( like them things you get on giftcards that play a monotone happy birthday or wotever) and connect it to the sustain block on a strat or floyd rose?! im gonna do this though. thanks maan what an awesome concept!!

[@jimiellis6060]

Great job, well explained thank you, i think the cheap treble tone relates to the quality of your amp board, basically the better quality amp, the better the tone, probably why these things are so expensive.

[@carlosclaptrix]

It might be an out-of-phase issue! Then only overtones get sustain.

[@anarchysoftworks4592]

thanks for the video, this is super cool!

[@michaelsnydermusic]

Well done!

[@jessekazemek2033]

Just subscribed! Amazing stuff thank you! Tinkerers unite!

[@stephencraig8578]

Yeeeep! that's it. thank you very much!👍

[@MyStarPeopleExperiences]

Just subbed. I love modding guitars.

[@esp901]

There is a Facebook group DIY guitar sustainer, that is very deep inside this. Especially the member Brian Thornock is very close to the official sustainiac. I own two Schecter with sustainiac and can tell you, it is much fun.

[@hotpeppersrcool]

I'd be very curious as to how different it would sound if you reversed the polarity on your driver coil! That "might" cut down on your unwanted feedback at high gain. That is a common technique used in sound reinforcement if an acoustic gtr is feeding back - flip the phase on the monitor.

[@hotpeppersrcool]

I notice many people are asking about using a 8 ohm resistor to try and use the pickup coil itself as the driver. That will NOT work. However if you could find a transformer you might have a shot. It would need to be 8 ohm to maybe around 5000 ohms. The higher the better. Most of these are used as "step down" from 5000 to 8 but any step down can be used as a step up. There are no longer any "Radio Shacks" so you can maybe find one online or you could scrap an old "transistor radio" (if you know what you are doing). The right transformer to scrap would be the one connected to the speaker - and that would be the 8 ohm side of it. ALSO REMEMBER that this could permanently fry your pickup. They are not made to take any wattage. The pickup windings have a much thinner wire than what the poster used for his driver coil wire. Ever seen the wire in a 1/2 amp fuse??? A 1/2 amp fuse would fry at 2 watts (at an 8 ohm load). 😲

[@sciencemansandera]

Got a little bit of that Brian May queen tone in there

[@applevendivil1306]

hi, i made everything you did except mounting it to the guitar, im testing it first just like an ebow and still having fail result, do i have to mount it so it will work?

[@lolonee]

Great tutorial! Do you perhaps have the STL file for the 3d-printed spacer for the pickup?

[@OskarCzechowicz-OmniMusician]

Hi! Got a few questions about the image at 6:35: 1. Should I solder the positive from battery pack to negative in the amp? 2. Hot about those G and B? Should they both be connected to output jack sleeve/tip, or what? I don't understand it properly. Btw, good job on explaining the thing in barely 10 minutes :)

[@jeffjeff4477]

Watched this again this morning, have a near future build that I want a sustainer in, pretty straight forward. The spacer is my question...... it's the insulation between the stock winding and the new copper wound wire, 3 mm , I was thinking about using either wrapped gorilla tape or a piece of plastic storage container,cut and heated up to bend around the single coil I'm thinking beyond shorting, possibly a noise issue? Otherwise I did easily locate the rest of the items. Also would 100-110 times around give you 8 ohms? Rather than the 120? I don't really do alot of wiring, so I'm definitely a novice as far as this stuff goes, again Thank You in advance. I'm tempted to just buy one but they are so pricey for something that you use here and there.....

[@FBGOODIE]

Very clever

[@RockabillyRagsdale]

So could I do this to any 8ohm pickup with the 5v amp or is there something special you did with winding? I watched you wind it but Im new to all of this and can’t tell if you did anything out of the norm. Great project and idea!!

[@chrisharper8032]

I read that you want the sustainer as far from the bridge as possible, I wonder how the sound would be different in the neck. I was resithis because I mainly use my neck pickup, and didn’t want to lose it. Nice job I thought actually, it does the thing. I would like to hear how it sounds compared to a sustainiac. I also kinda like the out of phase sound

[@kvvnng]

Can you create the sustain coil on an existing pickup? So, I may use that pickup position if it’s not being used as a sustainer.

[@freepressright]

About 20 years ago, a friend of mine had a Fernandes with a sustainer system. It was so much fun to play with, but the pickups had ZERO volume roll dynamics/headroom. The volume pots were basically on/off switches. Even rolled up 1/4 to 1/2 way, it was about as dirty as it was on 10, even on the most responsive tube amp. I roll my volume through all of my performances. It's the source of my dynamics. The Fernandes was useless to me due to the lack of headroom. Does that have anything to do with the sustainer system/pickup or was that maybe that the guitar had shitty potentiometers and/or capacitors? That's the only guitar with a sustainer that I had ever played. I've wanted to hot rod a Charvel So-Cal with one, but if it has anything to do with eating headroom and dynamics, it would not be worth the trade off.

[@andye300]

Hi, I made this all up but can't get it going. The pickup works until I connect and switch on the small amp, then I have no sound when I tap the pickups. Not sure what gone wrong? I got 2 amps and same with both. Can anyone help please? Thank you.

[@midianoctav]

Hello,sir I'm still confused of how it works Does it work like fernandes sustainer? Like sacrifice one of the pickup slot to be a magnetic sustainer device? And where does the cocked wah sound come from? It sounds killer!

[@addiefebrianto5650]

I have made a pickup driver, but the sound of the vibration penetrates the bridge pickup, why?

[@fernandozigaran2480]

Lo hice y no me funciona,podrás enviar un layout o diagramas con respecto a las conexiones???

[@sussy8970]

Would the EMG PA2 Preamp Boost Toggle Switch work for this?

[@jeffjeff4477]

Very cool

[@Cjr547]

Could I use it on a 100 watt amp , and also could you do more videos on some of the other ideas in the comments to really master this diy sustaining pickup and make it 100% functional without any problems

[@archloy]

Did you try to mount it on neck position ? I'm curious to see if it change anything

[@robertbuck7186]

Nice job one question..Being that you used a single coil pickup.. does that sustainer driver pickup and set up you made create any noise. Especially the hum noise that single coil pick ups make which they are known for.

[@JeanGillesTouraine]

I messed up and plugged a 9V battery into the amp. Is it dead, and can it explain why it doesn't work ? Thanks for all the informations btw, the building was really easy following your video

[@denniskrigger]

The sound you when it's on It's like it's out of phase. You tried to invert the output of the amp?

[@rondrussellbautista8495]

can you please make a diagram to the circuit

[@zudlee666]

can i using 9v battery ?

[@jonpencuci]

Great..thank you so much🤩

[@guitarlab7772]

I'm glad you liked it! Post a video of you trying it out, I'd love to hear it.

[@jonpencuci]

ok🤩

[@alexshillo4574]

Having my guitar mechanic try this out on one of my guitars. I would myself but I'm completely incompetent with this kind of stuff. Changed it a little bit though: trying a single coil with a single bar-style magnet, and moving it to the neck position. Maybe this will eliminate some of the weird mid-range overtones? I'll let you know how it goes!

[@guitarlab7772]

Please do!

[@ricka7365]

results ? did you do it ?

[@alexshillo4574]

@@ricka7365 The guitar is still with my tech, proabably won't have it for a couple weeks as he's doing some other work on it and still kind of back logged.

[@michaelsnydermusic]

@@alexshillo4574 update?

[@brianconnolly5134]

@@alexshillo4574 How did your tech get on in the end? Curious to hear how it went 🤔

[@Chaplin835]

GRACIAS

[@rockysgonzales2707]

So Quik question, Doesn’t a regular pick up already come with the copper wire wound up in it already? Or are you adding more to get to the 8ohms

[@joshslaviero5871]

He removes all of the original windings because the resistance is too high. He then winds it with new wire to get the resistance down to 8 ohms

[@julioblues]

Hi Sean, would it be possible to use the pickup's own coil instead of making a new one from the outside?

[@lucasc5622]

No, it has to be 8 ohms or similar. 7-12 ohms is a good range

[@lauried.2708]

How do I tell what wirers are positive & negitive from the copper wire?thx

[@shawno3412]

@@guitarlab7772 Actually, the polarity of a pickup or driver coil is also dependent on the orientation of the magnet. Swapping the wires or flipping the magnet will have the same polarity (phase) reversing effect.

[@o.w.dobbins6927]

Cool hack but I think that pup needs some nasal spray!! Lol I Enjoy your videos!❤

[@matteo4501]

Hello and thanks for this content .Instead of building a driver can I use a regular ceramic single coil pick up with 7.3 k?

[@lucasc5622]

No, you’d have to rewind it to 8 ohms

[@mimamaiksmika3853]

thanks! what is the number of turn for the winding please ! i want to make it manualy ( sorry for my bad english)

[@BassicamenteBlaster]

Dice 120 vueltas

[@lauried.2708]

Do you know if the direction of the coil wrap makes any difference? Clockwise/counter clockwise/even or staggered winds? I'm right handed if that matters. I bought the battery box w/o the switch. Does the volume knob turn the volume all the way off? thx

[@lauried.2708]

@@guitarlab7772 thank you for the quick response. I'm going to give it a go today.

[@lauried.2708]

@@guitarlab7772 It worked but, it didn't sound good. It was a fun project tho. Thx for your advise

[@guitarlab7772]

@@lauried.2708 I wonder why. Was it at least sustaining? Try and invert the + - on the exciter coil and see if that helps.

[@o.w.dobbins6927]

He gets my attention about the same as Malmsteen does…none at all…speed freaks!

[@danvelgtr]

How do you prevent a popping noise when you switch on the sustainer and how heavy is it on batteries ? tia. Nice job .

[@doryempleo9717]

@@guitarlab7772 sir ,very informative videos,,,but, did it need a power supply ,(battery)? Thank you for your reply

[@guitarlab7772]

@@doryempleo9717 Hi, yes the sustainer needs power.

[@andym5195]

great stuff!! am making this as soon as the parts come in the post. knowing that your one works have you tried using both outputs? might they cancel each other out or short the amp or might you get double the output then needing say 16 ohms of windings?

[@guitarlab7772]

Hi Andy!! That is a great question. I don't know. I wasn't sure if that amp could handle being bridged so I didn't try it. I did think about it as I was wiring it up, but since it worked so well I decided not to mess with it. It was powerful enough to easily push it into feedback so I figured I didn't need any more gain. Just remember if it doesn't work to invert the leads going to your driver. That seems to be the part most people get stuck on and there's no danger to the circuit in doing that.

[@andym5195]

@@guitarlab7772 will do and thanks dude ! them sustainiacs are way too expensive for what they are, look forward to doing this!! thanks

[@awg-9213]

@@guitarlab7772 thanx shawn, great explanation. i only have an 8-string these days, and theres no market builder for one yet. Theres plenty of cheap single coils to convert to drivers out there. Whould that change the ohms? or would ohms be more dependent on the output amp?.

[@awg-9213]

@@guitarlab7772 Hay hi ho, Hope your' all well ouut there . well, im All in whith.a homemade 8 string driver . but 2 questions ; Can you switch off and play with a passive non- sustain tone? (2). IF i had the money , Could i take the guts of a sustainiac and drop in my homemade driver ? i don't know, but there might be a ohm problem? Way over my head . "peace all"

[@michaelsnydermusic]

You may have missed it but another commenter was wondering if this thing would excite more than one string at a time so you could play more than one string at a time with the effect. I said yes but you’d know for sure.

[@zudlee666]

positive and negative like hot and ground? then combine 2 wire to 1 and solder to pot and switch?

[@zudlee666]

i mean positive and negative out to the sustainer deiver

[@guitarlab7772]

Wire it just like I show in the diagram. If it doesn't work, invert the polarity on your driver (plus to minus, minus to plus). There's no danger in changing that part of the circuit.

[@jovinmagallon9729]

Where we can buy that sustainer pick up set sir?

[@guitarlab7772]

Hi, you can't. This is a video about making one cheaply. I think you can still buy the Sustainiac but it's around $200?

[@ukulelegothboy]

Did you remove the existing wire from the pickup and rewind, or did you put the spacer in on top of the existing wire and wind new wire over the spacer?

[@guitarlab7772]

Hi Shannon. I removed the old wire and completely redid it.

[@ukulelegothboy]

@@guitarlab7772 cool! Thanks!

[@zudlee666]

can i put a on/off mini toggle switches ?

[@guitarlab7772]

I don't see why not.

[@dalybaz]

If using one of these mini class D amps, do not ground any of the speaker wires unless you want to buy another amplifier.

[@keithcarman5381]

Have you ever tried to do this on a humbucker on just one of the coils? also why did you put it in the middle p/u instead of the neck p/u

[@guitarlab7772]

I have not tried it with a humbucker. I think I put it on the center because if I fell in love with it, I wanted to have the neck pickup as an option to use normally.

[@stuffandjunkanduhh5049]

pretty sure using half a humbucker wouldnt work it would just feedback. the driver he made doesnt produce a sound we can hear but the normal coil part of the humbucker would pick that up

[@frcustomtone.sustainer]

How to add harmonic switch?

[@rochestermetal9160]

I been trying to find this out I believe you need a 1 k ohm verbal place in one of the out put connections in not sure exactly though I can't find and more info

[@anubhavsingh8197]

What if i use a 9v amp board? (Not that ruby shit)

[@guitarlab7772]

I think it would be fine. As long as you're supplying the amp with the voltage it calls for.

[@williamgmusic]

Oi! Você enrolou uma bobina de 5 ohms sobre a bobina de um captador( pickup) comum? Desculpe não escrever em inglês. Obrigado.

[@sou4CRF]

Foi removida toda fiação original do captador e posteriormente enrolado a fim de conseguir 8 ohms. Não enrole sobre a fiação existente

[@williamgmusic]

@@sou4CRF Valeu, brother.

[@munkiemedia3323]

Somethings not right with it if it’s not giving you your normal guitar sound. Might be where you placed the driver, might be the amp module.

[@maxammo6282]

Good idea cool video but the tone that it is producing is not acceptable for what my application would be. TBH I think it would be a lot less of a headache to just buy a guitar for about 8 or 900 bucks with the sustainiac in it already instead of buying a sustainiac pick up and system and having it installed.

[@islesnd]

Hi Just curious instead of rewinding the pickup to get the ohm rating could you just use a regular pickup and add a resistor to get the correct Ohm rating?

[@islesnd]

@@guitarlab7772 most pickups range from 4000 to 8000 ohms if you put a resistor that was 8 ohms in the chain whether in parallel or in series you’d be very close to 8 ohms because a normal pickup has little to no resistance. You’d be looking at approximately 7.9 or 8.1 ohms. So I know you can get the correct rating with a resistor. I’m just wondering if getting your resistance from a resistor rather than the pickup itself makes a difference. Reason I ask is if it can be done with a resistor that would save a lot of time and money.

[@islesnd]

@@guitarlab7772 yeah that’s what I was afraid would be the problem I was thinking of still trying it. I saw a 10w 8 ohm resistor for a $1.50. I figure worse case scenario I’d lose a $1.50.

[@hotpeppersrcool]

@@islesnd That would not work. A stock Strat pickup has a resistance of about 7200 ohms. Putting an 8 ohm resistor in series would make that 7208 ohms - and hence it would do nothing. In parallel, the 8 ohm resistor would swamp out the coil and your resistance would be very close to 8 ohms (current ALWAYS takes the path of least resistance) but all your amp would be doing would be to heat up the resistor. Very very little current would actually get to the coil. Like say you had a waterfall that was 75 FEET across and you were trying to get some kind of decent flow by diverting it with a 1" pipe. Which one is going to have more current??? Electrical current flow is exactly analagous to water current flow. My analogy of the waterfall sizes is exactly proportionate too.

[@islesnd]

@@hotpeppersrcool gotcha

[@dougietamson]

The 8Ω measured is the DC resistance of the copper wire, it's only for a 'basic check' to get a ballpark reading, as the signal is AC the real measurement needed is impedance also in Ω like a speaker. This sustainer device is more complex, it's a coil of wire, an inductor and inside magnetic fields.

[@solunasunrise]

couldn t you just use ANY guitar pickup as a driver ? or would it melt due to too mutch voltage/input power ?

[@guitarlab7772]

Think of it as turning the pickup into a speaker without the cone. The amp is expecting it to be 8 ohms. So you're just trying to get it in that ballpark.

[@solunasunrise]

@@guitarlab7772 gotta be 8 ohms ... i see , thank you !

[@michaelnoe3095]

I don't understand the 3 d printer thing..what are you making with a printer? Is that a requirement?

[@solunasunrise]

@@michaelnoe3095 well .. the 3 mm gap is important .. how you achive it not ... coincedently i started working on the coil 2 days ago and i m going to make my spacer from staking and glueing cardboard

[@justanotherasian9711]

Does it still work as a mid pickup. I really want this and the feedback is really cool for metal music. I have no experience or knowledge in this field . would this project be too hard for me. Feels a little bit daunting... And can you pleade explain to me how Synyster (A7X Guitarist) got feedback mode and normal sustain with just a flip of a switch... Please help me out, I won't ever afford a sustianic pickup of my own...

[@samueljardine3402]

Digitech makes a feedback effect pedal that you can get for under $140 on reverb. Not sure where your budget cutoff is but it's a cool pedal.

[@kester420]

if in one direction the pickup gives feedback , turning around the wire's polarity (sustainer) will give the other mode ( in phase)

[@guitarlab7772]

No, the driver stops being a pickup. It is producing output. I don't know about Synyster.

[@justanotherasian9711]

@@guitarlab7772 Oh thanks for replying... I made using lm386 harmonic mode is not working properly...

[@BassicamenteBlaster]

Will this work on an electric bass?

[@stratman103]

Interesting question. I don't know.

[@jamalmustafa1810]

Very nice project sir i. Need digram how you connect all wiers. you are last my hope to made sustainer to my guitar. thanks

[@stratman103]

Hello! Check the video at 6:18 for the diagram.

[@keithmooore]

Does this works polyphonicaly? I mean on multiple strings at the same time.

[@michaelsnydermusic]

It should since the pickup is the sustainer and covers all strings. The sustainiac guitar by schecter works just like this. That’s kinda the point of using one of these vs an Ebow device. More options. I’d think two string octaves would sound wicked. I use an Ebow and have always wanted to give this a shot.

[@keithmooore]

@@michaelsnydermusic that's what I thought! But I have never seen any examples of this. All videos I've seen only use one string on a high gain. While I'm interested in being able to sustain chords.

[@michaelsnydermusic]

@@keithmooore same here. It’s odd cause I’d be using it to do octaves in a heart beat. I’m sure bands who have them use them for instant feedback too. There’s this amazing ambient bass player Jesus Rico Perez here on KZbin who tapes two ebows together so he can drone one string while playing sustained notes on another. Here’s the link but this is from some other channel that copied his video to their channel. If you like it definitely check this guy out. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jX-8i4BneceYoKc

[@michaelsnydermusic]

I reposted your question and he says yes, it will excite all the strings (that aren’t muted)

[@keithmooore]

@@michaelsnydermusic awesome news! Thanks for letting me know!

[@satchrocks]

Very cool idea! I love hacks like this. When the sustain is engaged it sounds out of phase like the intro to Money For Nothing. If you reverse the leads going to the driver you'll invert the signal and bring it back in phase with the pickups. Some amplifiers are inverting while others are non-inverting. It may also be cool to add a DPDT toggle or push-pull potentiometer to the driver leads so that you can change the phase at will. This is all purely speculation, but I believe the phase issue (if present) may also be the reason some notes sustain better than others.

[@zudlee666]

suitable for humbucker pickup?

[@guitarlab7772]

Sure, the same wiring would apply.

[@zudlee666]

@@guitarlab7772i have 2 knob switch how do i soldering ? or can just follow the same like the video?

[@guitarlab7772]

@@zudlee666 Hi, I'm sorry I'm not sure.

[@alexshillo4574]

Does the pickup still have output or is it only used as the sustainer driver unit?

[@guitarlab7772]

Hi, no it provides no audio signal. It's input from the other pickups only.

[@lauried.2708]

that worked much better.👍

[@guitarlab7772]

Post some sounds! I'd love to hear it.

[@mlnem2k]

Has anyone even seen an actual sustainer pickup in action Lol ? This sounds more like an "out of phase" sound . The Fernandes or Jackson Sustainer or even an ebow for that matter is the sound to shoot for.

[@ricka7365]

i needs a better explained complete diagram, the whole whole circuit

[@100roberthenry]

flip the coil, its out of phase.....

[@doccarson63]

I gotta find a way to make $10.00 string vibrators instead of paying $99.00 for them. Greed destroys everything sooner or later.

[@robertopreatoni7911]

How about cleaning that poor guitar?

[@Moremetal..]

Never seen a locking nut installed like that..??