Want to make your cheap uke sustain longer?

http://www.fender.com/accessories/fatfinger/fatfinger-guitar-nickel/

Works on electric and acoustic guitar, so no reason why it shouldn't work on uke. This isn't snake-oil btw, I've seen them demonstrated, and they do make a difference. How much of a difference is dependent on the individual instrument. Plenty of people on UU who are more than capable of knocking a few of these up to try them.

Just clamp the Fatfinger™ sustain enhancer on to the headstock of any guitar or other stringed instrument. It adds mass to the weak end of the instrument, so strings ring out longer, louder, and with more balance. Dead spots can be tuned out simply by changing the point of contact to the headstock.

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But how does it work, exactly? Adding "mass" seems like you're just adding weight to the headstock.

I have no idea how it works actually, but I've seen video of it in action, and screen grabs of a waveform from an instrument with and without it. It in readers the time until the note starts to decay.

What it does (on a bass, anyway) is by adding mass to the headstock, it minimizes or removes the dead spots on an instrument. By doing that, it allows the instrument to sustain better, since those spots aren't there to kill it.

But yeah, it adds mass to the headstock, so it's something to consider if you're putting it on a uke.

I'd probably only consider one on a tenor or baritone though, so less of an issue.

So, I still don't get it...

What's to get? It works. End of.

The Big Kahuna said:

I'd probably only consider one on a tenor or baritone though, so less of an issue.

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I'd be curious what balancing effect it would have by putting 3.5oz on the headstock on a tenor or baritone. On a guitar, it's a non-issue. But ukes are much smaller and lighter.

It helps to drive more of the string energy into the bridge and less into vibrating the peghead and neck. Yes, it works...at the cost of making the peghead heavier.

In building, we can trade off stiffness for mass to get the same effect.

I get it, kind of. It will basically change the vibrational properties of the neck. As you say it works so no need to understand it at the molecular level. I really don't fully understand how gravity is produced, but I know if I let go of my uke it WILL hit tne floor

This could spark a debate on whether a uke with a sold headstock sustains better than the very same model with a slotted head stock

The weighted headstock is not a new idea. It's easy to try for yourself with a small spring clamp. I know a guy who routs a cavity behind the head stock veneer and inserts lead to add weight. I've always thought my slotted head stock ukes have a slight advantage over the traditional head stocks because of the heavier tuners.

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:

I've always thought my slotted head stock ukes have a slight advantage over the traditional head stocks because of the heavier tuners.

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So Pegheds make a uke sound crap because they're so light.

Can I quote you on that, Chuck?

:nana:

So maybe I won't change out my geared tuners for friction.

Without tools to measure, I'm guessing about this but...

At the headstock, string energy is lost by being absorbed through wood which is too light to return it back to the string (all of which gets translated via the nut).

The extra mass (as well as the acoustic properties of the metal itself - the energy echoes in the metal) gives the energy enough oomph to be sent back.

Sustain comes from the body - the top - so the energy has to get back there in order to have any effect.

It needs a chunk of solid metal applied directly to the wood: a workshop C clamp won't work unless it's all metal (and a solid, dense metal at that, but I doubt lead would work as well as steel or brass).

However: you have to have a good nut material that transfers the energy to and from the strings, otherwise it just gets dampened. Bone (good, dense bone), Tusq or even metal would be good for this, while wood and some of the plastics would not.

Just adding more mass won't help as much as a combination of mass, a good nut and a hardwood or dense headstock.

Another alternative would be a nut made with a higher energy transfer coefficient. Brass, for example. And adding a brass or metal plate just above the nut, right on the headstock.

If you've ever seen brass guitar pins, these do something similar, except at the bridge.

Personally, I don't think the graph in the review shows a significant improvement in sustain, and how much more sustain you'd get from a small bodied instrument with nylon strings is debatable.

Finally, keep in mind this effect is further reduced by chording. It works best with open strings, but when you chord, you are dampening the energy at your finger. The graph shows an E chord - which means three open strings. I bet it would be a lot lower with a barre F.

Is more sustain really so desireable? There is such a thing as enough.

Wife said the device sold by Fender looks like an old catheter clamp. I wonder what kind of sustain patients are getting?

dickadcock said:

Wife said the device sold by Fender looks like an old catheter clamp. I wonder what kind of sustain patients are getting?

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*snort*

I wonder if it would be worth it to throw the balance of the instrument in your hands out in order to get a little more sustain. I'm intrigued with the idea of a brass nut.

Ukejenny said:

I'm intrigued with the idea of a brass nut.

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There's a lot of monkeys in colder climates who aren't

I developed a new one called a "Bender". They work great