2 sustainors in series or the quad mod?

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Little B
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2014 2:53 am

2 sustainors in series or the quad mod?

Post by Little B »

Just wondering everyone's thoughts on this.We know the quad mod works great,....but is there a bit more knob/tweaking flexibility with running one into the other,obviously one will be in bypass?...then you have 2 separate units to customize to ur delight..or is this just not realistic?
Sunburst
Posts: 270
Joined: Sun Mar 30, 2014 12:46 am

Re: 2 sustainors in series or the quad mod?

Post by Sunburst »

Little B,

It's not only realistic... it's desirable!

I have two beautiful PSRR Mighty Mouses (quad-modded factory Double ICs) that I use exclusively in my studio and live Sustainor setups. That said, I do it for their awesomeness and "real estate" issues; i.e., not wanting to waste a rack space on a second Sustainor. Having two Sustainors in series is of course better because you can tweak one for cleans on the other for distortion (to include the Smart Gate sections).

Hope that answers your question!

Very respectfully,

Sunburst
Little B
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2014 2:53 am

Re: 2 sustainors in series or the quad mod?

Post by Little B »

I kinda thought that, but honestly never tried it...I guess even a dist.gen. into a sustainor with one (obviously)in bypass would work too..Thanks for the reply!
Sunburst
Posts: 270
Joined: Sun Mar 30, 2014 12:46 am

Re: 2 sustainors in series or the quad mod?

Post by Sunburst »

Yes, you could also use a Distortion Generator. Two Sustainors or a Sustainor and a Distortion Generator are common setups. You could also bypass Sustainors all together and use a Compressor module as the clean channel and the Distortion Generator for the distortion channel. Or get completely radical and use an ACOUSTIC GUITAR PEDAL for cleans and an ULTIMATUM pedal for distortion! Take a look at my various setups on the rig section for some ideas and feel free to ask questions. Good luck!
RockmanCentralBob
Posts: 421
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2015 2:10 am

Re: 2 sustainors in series or the quad mod?

Post by RockmanCentralBob »

Quadmod Sustainor all the way.

No need at all to use 2 Sustainors. The Sustainor has distortion only and all return pre-distortion loops, so you can use the all return for cleans and the other for distortion only. Makes for a much cleaner setup IMHO.
Little B
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2014 2:53 am

Re: 2 sustainors in series or the quad mod?

Post by Little B »

Nice gear there Sunburst! I believe ive seen your stuff elsewhere too...Its very cool to know theres so much flexibility with the modules..Man,makes you wonder what would've been next...a hyperspace pedal for the public please!!!! I was reading all of the gigging/recording/collecting posts and such..I absolutely love the rockman craze and haze so to speak..Everything I have I gig with in a 80s tribute band..and use 4 rockman cabs live..Im always going back and forth between gigging the rockman gear and the tube amp gear I own: Diezels,Bogners,Soldanos,Mesa MKIIC+ & Coli,Marshalls,etc,ect.I have 2 20 space bradshaw racks full and I love that as well..I just love it all..its fun,its uplifting,Its stress relief,always a new sound to tweak or find.I gig a lot,and have toured a bit.Im am not in it for any money,I just play with the rockman and other gear simply cause I love it.period.When Im giving lessons,the students are learning about all this rockman stuff and its cool to see them learning and interested about it all...and you guys are just fueling this all the more for me!!!! lol
Sunburst
Posts: 270
Joined: Sun Mar 30, 2014 12:46 am

Re: 2 sustainors in series or the quad mod?

Post by Sunburst »

Bob,

I agree that a Quad Mod makes things easier - that's why I use them! But not everyone can get one plus the expense. As you mentioned, the two effects loops allow you to separate clean and distortion. But they don't allow you to use separate settings on the Sustainor for gain, sustain, Smart Gate, treb trim, freq, treb boost, volume, etc.). So I wold argue that two Sustainors provides more flexibility than a Quad Mod!

Very respectfully,

Sunburst
RockmanCentralBob
Posts: 421
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2015 2:10 am

Re: 2 sustainors in series or the quad mod?

Post by RockmanCentralBob »

Obviously, seperating the cleans on one Sustainor and Edge/distortion on another is going to technically be more flexible. But in practice, I've never found that I needed that much flexibility.....

If you have a dedicated EQ in the loop for the cleans, you have all the flexibility you need to get your cleans the way you want them (including the ability to counter anything you need to from any post EQ'ing you need for the distortion channels). So for me, I haven't found that having 2 units is worth the added expense.

But to each their own. I suppose I'm a bit partial to the quad mod since I invented it in order to simplify my setup. When I figured out that by adding a few parts I could use all 4 modes of a single Sustainor, that seemed like a no brainer. Though, it should be noted that my design is NOT the same as the design Jark/Dave came up with after me. Again, maybe I'm partial, but I do like my design better for many reasons. Again, to each their own...
Sunburst
Posts: 270
Joined: Sun Mar 30, 2014 12:46 am

Re: 2 sustainors in series or the quad mod?

Post by Sunburst »

LONG LIVE THE QUAD MOD!!!

:D
bbheli
Posts: 26
Joined: Sun Sep 24, 2017 2:09 pm

Re: 2 sustainors in series or the quad mod?

Post by bbheli »

Hello Everyone,

I'm new to the board and new to Rockman. I'm setting up a rig and i have a quad mod but I did not completely understand what it is, presently, I have a an octi allowing me to switch between both channels, do I need two of them to get all 4 channels? what does the quad mod jack do and how do I wire it.

Thank You

Brett