Is the Sustainiac hard to install and does it sound good clean?

[wickenspoet]

Is it pretty easy to install, if I just order their most basic Sustainiac Plus options with push/pull pots and a battery compartment?

Can a lot of guitar shops install them pretty easily?

Also, I believe the website compared the sound of the humbucker mode to a '59 when the Sustainiac is turned off... does anyone agree or disagree with this? (I'm used to Duncan Jazz and Full Shreds in the neck for cleans)

From the sustainiac.com website: "HUMBUCKER SOUND: The humbucker sound is very fat, similar to a stock "59" sound, but has higher output if you turn the trimpot control up high. Also, it has noticeably less hum than a typical passive humbucker."

 

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Re: Is the Sustainiac hard to install and does it sound good clean?

They are fairly fat sounding.

Oddly, my experience was actually MORE hum than a normal 'bucker and less feedback resistant.
They definitely have '59 vibe, enough that the comparison that they make is reasonable, although obviously, it's not exactly the same.
This is my experience with a stock sustainiac on a Jackson DK2S.

 

[wickenspoet]

Re: Is the Sustainiac hard to install and does it sound good clean?

Oh yeah... one more question. Will having a Sustainiac System in the neck position make swapping bridge pickups any more difficult?

(I'll be really surprised if I get a lot of responses to this thread... kind of a niche topic probably, haha)

 

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Re: Is the Sustainiac hard to install and does it sound good clean?

Oh yeah, just after playing my friend's Jackson again, I think it's safer to say it sounds more like a single coil sized 'bucker really. It has more attack than a 'bucker for sure, but certainly not as thick and full as a full sized 'bucker.
The output level can actually be pretty **** high. My friend has a JB bridge on his Jackson, and even then, the Sustainiac had greater output and it was easily noticeable.
I would say the output level on maximum is at the mid/ higher end of high output passive humbuckers.

 

[Binnerscot]

Re: Is the Sustainiac hard to install and does it sound good clean?

This is my experience with a stock sustainiac on a Jackson DK2S.

That install is voiced like a single coil. The humbucker size is voiced like a 59. You can get a single coil size voiced like a '59 and vice versa when you order it.

I have never noticed any hum or noise with mine in a DK2S and the one I installed/replaced in a Hamer Chaparral.

The install is not a beginner level task, lots of wires and patience.

 

[wickenspoet]

Re: Is the Sustainiac hard to install and does it sound good clean?

Thanks for the info.

I think I'm going to go for it. I'll probably go the more expensive route and mail my Jackson SLSMG over to Sustainiac, since they put 'em in Jackson DK's all the time and know what they're doing.

Can't do it right now, though. Got other stuff to take care of before I spend cash on a sustainer.

 

[Diocletian]

Re: Is the Sustainiac hard to install and does it sound good clean?

I'm sure you'd be cheaper just buying a DK2S, if you can find one. I was going to put in a Sustainiac too, but you'll pay almost as much as the DK2s, but with that you get a nice guitar too!

 

[brrmich]

Re: Is the Sustainiac hard to install and does it sound good clean?

The sustainiac can be a hand full if you look at all the wires. I installed one in my son's squire. You have to follow the easy instructions step by step and do just as it says. One wire at a time in no particular order. I used push/push pots instead of switches or push/pull and they work great and did from the first time. Allen at Sustainiac is there to help you. I had asked him some pretty dumb questions and all I got back was encouragement. The sounds this little Squire produces are nothing short of a real kick. Brings me back to the '80's.