So I have this one thing I've written for guitar with the aid of Guitar Pro, where one guitar plays a tapping melody for 8 beats, and another guitar holds a note on the high strings for the entire 8 beat duration with heavy vibrato. The tapping melody repeats a shit ton of times, and at the beginning of each iteration, a new note is played on the other guitar, also on the high strings, also of 8 beat durations, also with heavy vibrato. Eventually a third guitar comes in and harmonizes with the second guitar. I'm not sure exactly at what tempo I want this to be at. Most likely somewhere between 100 - 120 bpm.

Without any sort of help from pedals, this 8 beat single note is absolutely beyond impossible. I've been toying with compressors to try and get me where I need to be, since they tend to have sustain controls. The only one that I've tried so far that MIGHT be able to give me what i need is a Keeley Compressor. I've tried the Boss CS3, The MXR Dyna Comp, another MXR compression pedal can't remember the exact type, Route 66 American Overdrive, Xotic SP, and Pigtronix Philosopher's Rock, and none of these allow me to hold the note as long as I need.

I've also tried the Electro Harmonix Freeze Sound Retainer, and while that does hold the note infinitely, it is incapable of capturing the vibrato I put on the note.

I've also tried a Big Muff, and I don't even remember how good the sustain was or wasn't, all I remember was I couldn't figure out how to get it to not drastically affect my tone in a way I didn't want it to.



So I was talking about this to the guy at Guitar Center today, and he said a vintage sustain pedal that DIDN'T also function as a compressor might work better for me. Searching through Guitar Center's website for new and used gear, ebay, amazon, and reverb, it seems these types of pedals are very hard to find, very expensive, and have largely fallen out of favor. What is the reason for this? Is a compressor / sustainer that much better than a sustainer that doesn't also function as a compressor? Is the guy at Guitar Center right that a sustainer that doesn't also function as a compressor would suit my need better?

Got any recommendations that I don't know about? I would definitely be interested in two types of recs:

1. Top of the line, damn the cost
2. Reasonably priced, but very effective


The gear I currently use is as follows:

1998 Gibson Les Paul Studio (pickups switched out for 2012 Gibson Les Paul Studio pickups)
160 watt Crate amp head (the model name had 1600 in it, I can't remember the full name. I keep this at my drummer's house, so I can't look at it at the moment).
300 watt Peavey cab (don't know the model, also keep this at my drummer's house)
ISP Decimator G String Noise Reducer (I am fairly certain the use of this pedal is not the source of my sustain problem).

The only distortion I use is by cranking the gain knob on my head to 10. No distortion or overdrive pedals.

Any help would be appreciated!

Sorry but the truth is you cannot really get more sustain with pedals.

What you need is a Sustainiac or Fernandes Sustainer.



It's a "neck pickup" that magnetically vibrates the strings. It works great, but it's obviously something you cannot do with external effects.

You could of course use an e-bow tho.

I'm not really sure of what you mean with that first statement. The pedals I tried did give me more sustain than when I was not using any of those pedals, just not as much as I need. But if you mean pedals just won't give me the sustain that I am looking for, that's just disappointing.

The thing in the video you posted was pretty cool, but I'm not really in the market to replace my pick-ups again any time soon, and I'm not in the market for a new guitar. I'll have to look into an ebow. I also found out about something from TC Electronic called Aeon, which is a hand-held sustainer that you hold close to the strings. Apparently it's fairly new. I'm waiting for my local guitar center to get one in stock in-store so I can try it out. I'm just skeptical that it'll be easy to use. How am I supposed to pluck the strings with it in my hand?

Thanks for your reply!