Fender Fatfinger Guitar Sustain Enhancer

I'd seen this advertised for years and finally decided to purchase one to check it out. Tried it on 2 Taylor acoustics and a G&L ASAT Tele. I could determine absolutely no change in sustain on any of the 3 instruments. Luckily, it was a relatively inexpensive experiment.

AFTER I ATTACHED IT TO MY FENDER STRATOCASTER GUITAR I COULD TELL A BIG DIFFERENCE IN THE TONE I WANTED TO ACHIEVE, YES, I WOULD RECOMMEND IT TO MY FRIENDS WHO PLAY THE GUITAR! I DO HAVE ONE RECOMMENDATION, HOW ABOUT USING A WING NUT INSTEAD OF THE SCREW?

This definitely does something to tone. That will be subjective to your ear, guitar type and if acoustic your wood type. I use this mostly on my acoustics. You can really feel a vibration change in the neck and body while using as opposed to not using it. I must like them, I have 4 of them so I can just leave it on the guitars I like. I think it improves bright guitars the best by mellowing out the harsh of the highs like Maple body guitars and adirondack topped guitars. Sounds really good on my 000-18E Retro which is Mahogany and Sitka Spruce with 80/20 bronze strings.

Your tone will be slightly brightened, or cleaned up, but not drastically. I bought this just out of curiosity. I have it on one of my acoustics that is kind of spongy in places and it does have a slight improvement.

It takes time and experimentation to find most effective placement on headstock. Of my several basses, two need it, two don't. Of the two that do, (one a P-bass, the other a P/J bass, sustain problems occur on the G-string - 5th fret, the other on the D-string 8th/9th fret. The fat finger is installed at the end of the headstock on one, and adjacent to the nut on the other. Sustain is greatly improved on both,...not totally cured. A practicing Nashville luthier has examined each bass and, as I did, proclaimed the fatfinger the best "fix". Much of my music performed on each instrument involves quiet lead-note passages requiring decent sustain and tonal quality. I've seen many blogs that find reason to trash the purpose and effectiveness of this accessory, even to the point of castigating the player. That said, this comes from lack of experience and/or playing style that counts volume as priority, thereby never being able to realize a need that others do. The ONLY bass guitar I know of that exhibits "perfect and unending sustain" is my Kramer with a machined aluminum neck and wood inlay. Every fret, every string sings till the proverbial cows come home. It's only "con" is the weight. After a 1 1/2 hour show, your neck and shoulders feel as though you parked your car there.

It enhances sustain, but not that much. But I will continue to experiment with it because I do think I can get more out of it by moving it to different positions on my headstock. I am glad that it was not expensive. I also like the Fender logo, as I am a big fan of Fender products.