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Topic: Fender Fatfinger |
Court Vines
From:
Quebec, Canada
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Posted 18 May 2020 3:47 pm |
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Does anyone have experience with the Fender Fatfinger which is supposed to increase sustain?
Thanks for your feedback. |
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Gene Tani
From:
Pac NW
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Posted 18 May 2020 10:31 pm
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I put a little weight on my headstock with C clamp on an LP and strat style 6 strings, I think i noticed a difference but if you're looking for sustain, there's lots more important things like bridge, tailpiece, nut, frets, pickups, neck joint, string gauges etc all setup properly (for 6 string)
On a bass guitar, it'll probably make your neck dive a lot faster and harder...
https://forums.prsguitars.com/threads/fender-fatfinger-guitar-sustain-enhancer.21000/
_________________
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Last edited by Gene Tani on 19 May 2020 3:00 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 19 May 2020 4:18 am
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I don't know any of the science but I'd think adding mass to the headstock has a bit to do with the fact that on a strat or a normal 6 string, the neck is much, much lighter and the headstock end of the guitar in general has much less mass than the other side, maybe freer to move around more and lose energy that way.
Depending on the lap type guitar, some of them are built like bricks with plenty of mass on both sides, so you might not get much effect adding a small weighted clamp. Heck on some guitars like consoles, you may not have a thin enough section to clamp it on! (I have a hard time finding a place for my clamp on tuner!)
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I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 19 May 2020 9:42 am
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No experience with the Fat Finger, but if you’re looking for sustain and you play the guitar on your lap, you might consider a stand, preferably a good solid stand like the Deluxe 34. It makes a big difference.
It’s also worth noting that some guitars I’ve played, in particular short scale Fender Deluxes, have really lousy sustain especially above the 12th fret.
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 19 May 2020 10:10 am
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you want sustain....you need weight. heavy body...something like maple or whatever wood you want...just get weight.
next is the nut. flimsy nut...no sustain. nice thick nut. thick bone..aluminum..brass etc. you must make full contact with the neck.
next is the bridge. substantial. nothing to adjust. making full contact with the body.
next is the pickups. correct distance to the string so as not to mess with the natural vibration. you can lose sustain there too.
steel players who worry about the weight of their guitars....you must not be concerned with sustain. 
fat finger. these were designed to go on the back of the headstock of fender or les paul guitars...why?..to add WEIGHT!!! there is also a bass version you clamp on the head. old school was just use a C clamp..lol. they will help...some....but one thing i have seen them do is to balance out a guitar that the resonant frequency of the neck/body relationship caused a note to be dead. the fatfingers or a C clamp would help....you hoped that it didnt just move the dead note some place else on the neck. most all instruments have a note that is affected by the resonant freq of the guitar body.
if your lap steel does not have enough sustain...get another one and avoid the voodoo of clamping things to it. you have a problem. your mileage may vary. |
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Terry VunCannon
From:
Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 19 May 2020 6:33 pm
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Never tried one. I will say, about sustain and mass, I think it is more how mass vibrates than the weight of the mass. Owning one of these for almost 2 decades proves that being light does not kill sustain.
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 19 May 2020 8:00 pm
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[quote="Terry VunCannon"]Never tried one. I will say, about sustain and mass, I think it is more how mass vibrates than the weight of the mass. Owning one of these for almost 2 decades proves that being light does not kill sustain.
I’m not talking fancy tinker toy construction...talking old school wooden guitar. Those things are cool though. |
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Terry VunCannon
From:
Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
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