anyone heard of this gizmo?

[headsup]

If the theory is true, then I can clamp any size of big ol' honkin' C clamp to the headstock of any guitar and experience the same sonic enlightenment...? 

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/fender-fatfinger-guitar-sustain-enhancer

[unclrob]

Many moons ago it was a big brass plate the same size as the head stock.

[Queequeg]

One less-than-satisfied customer had this to say:

Sustain Enhancer
Submitted 2 years ago
By tj

Did Nothing.
Bottom Line No, I would not recommend to a friend.

[ducktrapper]

I can't see how it would do anything to an acoustic guitar other than weigh down the headstock. An electric guitar? Maybe more weight would slightly increase sustain? I'm from Missouri on this one. But, yeah, why not try any old C clamp instead. 

[headsup]

One less-than-satisfied customer had this to say:

Sustain Enhancer
Submitted 2 years ago
By tj

Did Nothing.
Bottom Line No, I would not recommend to a friend.

Hmmmm That's what some folks say about Peavy amps .....

[unclrob]

Love the Peavey classic 30 and my Max 112 bass amp.

[flatlander]

I read something in the old Frets magazine decades ago talking about the effect of neck and headstock on sound of acoustic guitar and how it should be part of the sound equation. They said the mass of the neck directly affected the amount of vibration being transmitted back to the body. To demonstrate they encouraged you to do just that. Put a C-clamp on headstock. It didn't matter if mass was distributed throughout a larger neck or if it was just a C-clamp on headstock.

[Queequeg]

I read something in the old Frets magazine decades ago talking about the effect of neck and headstock on sound of acoustic guitar and how it should be part of the sound equation. They said the mass of the neck directly affected the amount of vibration being transmitted back to the body. To demonstrate they encouraged you to do just that. Put a C-clamp on headstock. It didn't matter if mass was distributed throughout a larger neck or if it was just a C-clamp on headstock.

Thank goodness I have my Snark tuner up there!

[B0WIE]

Ha ha! Yes, the old "Fat Finger". I was hoping mine would become 'vintage' and valuable but apparently Fender bought the rights to them. The sustain angle is a weak angle for them to push this but I can see why they are doing it ($$$). What it REALLY does, or is good for, is to change the resonant frequency of the instrument's neck. This is helpful for tuning out, or shifting 'dead' notes. These are notes where the fundamental sort of ghosts out because it's ringing at the same frequency that the instrument is naturally tuned to. All guitars have these but many peopel don't hear them because the overtones mask the missing fundamental. Some of the Larrivees I've owned have has pretty bad dead notes around F or so. I never remembered to try the Fat Finger though to see if it would help them.

These are most commonly used on electric basses, where dead notes are a real issue, and seem to be most effective on them.

[ducktrapper]

Well, thank goodness there's a device to eliminate the dead notes that no one can hear!    

[B0WIE]

Well, thank goodness there's a device to eliminate the dead notes that no one can hear!    

If you can't tell they're dead, be happy!

I returned a beautiful $5k Froggy Bottom last year because G# had this issue. I've had other guitars much worse but they were 1/5th the cost. When I talked to the Luthier who builds Froggys, he wouldn't touch the subject without "seeing the instrument first". Interestingly, another of the exact same dimensions was mostly free of dead notes.

[ducktrapper]

If you can't tell they're dead, be happy!

The Dead Spots. Good name for a punk band! And that would make a dandy slogan.   

[broKen]

One of my guitars has this issue in the higher registers. It's a little disappointing, but it sounds fine strummed, so that's what I use it for.

[flatlander]

The Dead Spots. Good name for a punk band! And that would make a dandy slogan.   

Or a Grateful Dead cover band.

[rockstar_not]

There are possible situations where adding mass in certain places could move a particular resonance to a lower frequency.  This result could be musical assisting or making it detrimental. Those that praise the device are likely hearing a matchup between some forced vibration and the lower resonance due to adding the mass, and those that didn't like it heard something where strumming or picking is not looking longer matching up with a specific resonance because the resonance frequency was lowered. It's pretty simple physics.

The math governing resonance frequency is proportional to the square root of the quantity of stiffness divided by mass.  The fat finger adds mass. More mass equals lower frequency for a resonance, everything else held constant.

[GA-ME]

Many moons ago it was a big brass plate the same size as the head stock.

They were called Fatheads.