Compressor / sustainer

Sustain is overrated. At least in my world so my answer is no.

Hm intuitively you would be hard pressed not to get extra sustain at aggressive settings?

Can you give an example of the kind of sustain sound?

What kind of guitar are you using that needs more sustain?

Depends on what the problem is you are having.

HIGH GAIN WITH GATE

I like to run a GEQ as the first stomp, followed by a noise gate. To kill as much noise as possible before the gate. Then you can run a softer gate and lower threshold sometimes.

Next you can run a compressor to try and counteract the expansion effect of the gate. For sustain you may get better results using the compressor in the AMP section since it will not color the tone.

You can also try to run some things with DUCKING enabled. I wish all distortions/stomps had ducking because that is what you really need. Stomps before the AMP can have large ducking values and after the amp lower ducking values. Ducking is reverse compression so it turns down the effect until your guitar gets quiet. So you can have a booster gradually come as your note is starting to die. You will want to adjust the MIX to a low value so it does not change your tone, just fades in some more signal later.

Ducking may actually be more useful before the gate (but after EQ) depending on your noise levels.

For long singing notes some verb with ducking can be your last resort.

Obviously, you could get another guitar with humbuckers in it. Then you could do away with the noise gate pedal and probably the Compressor pedal.. You can try adding the soft Compressor post-amp in one of the effects slots for your single coil but be careful on how much you use especially if you have a Compressor or OD/Dist in the stomps section too.

Quote from Gezza

before I could hit a note and go in sustain easily with my amp, but I am still struggling to get that with the Kemper.

Are you playing as loud with the KPA as you did with your amp?

@everyone

You need to use the SQUISH setting on the stomp comp to get sustain correct?

Gezza

A treble boost before the amp with tone at 2.5, mix around 70% and ducking at around +1 to +2. Should add some extra push when a note is starting to fade. At least that worked good for me when I tested today.

Another thing is the AMP clarity setting. High settings seem to expand the sound a little so you get less hair on the distortion and may also reduce some sustain. Just trying to hit all the possibilities for you.

I would free up a stomp slot by removing the gate and using the Input Section Gate instead.

One of the first things that blew me away by the Kemper was how well it sustained and went into nice feedback when coaxed. I've always been amazed how it responds very dynamically yet has tons of sustain even on clean profiles. I love sustain too and couldn't be happier with the Kemper in that regard. I rarely need a compressor, the way the profiles are presented, never made me feel like they needed one. If I want a clean boost for a clean lead, I'll go for the pure booster that drives the front and gives it gobs of sustain while keeping the sound the same. Since It's before the amp, it pushes the amp into compression the perfect amount automatically. The one knob squeezer/booster!

Most of the time I am having trouble keeping a note going it's usually either my finger's fault or the guitar is fretting out there a teeny bit. If you usually play with your guitar volume on, sometimes you'll overlook some fretting out that will kill sustain. If I notice sustain is not happening, I'll go quiet and play, usually I'll hear the problem right away. I prefer low action when allowed and things can go from low to fretting out real fast with weather changes. Even the smallest amount can roast your sustain.

I only use a compressor on a clean rig. This is exactly how I use a compressor in all of my guitar solutions. An overdriven tone is already compressed. I would never want to try to compress it more. That to me is a recipe for unwanted feedback and noise. This to me would have the same affect as using way too much gain.

Quote from Dynochrome

prefer low action when allowed and things can go from low to fretting out real fast with weather changes. Even the smallest amount can roast your sustain.

^ This

I mostly play my PRS SC this time of year because the low humidity kills the action on all my guitars. And the SE is the easiest to adjust

A trick to add sustain for FR and Trem bridge guitars is to add more springs in back, but the real trick is to add more without making the whammy harder to move -- so, use old springs and loosen up some on the previously installed ones.

Ditch the pre compressor, Check your profile quality, try a bit of clean boost pre amplifier when you solo & make sure you're frets aren't buzzing at all when you bend. Personally, I never add the pre boost on distortion profiles unless I am really wanting it touch sensitive like doing tap harmonics or harmonic dive bombs. Pretty much the same as when I would use an OD in front of a Marshall to really get it cookin.

Isnt it possible to route the outboard pedal after the gate in the Kemper? Using outs/ins?