Conference napalm::guitar

Hmm, 


well, I can't get it pretty much, when ever I want to get it, out
of my Ibanez....  Couldn't really sit here and tell you why though

I think my graphic EQ, and the fact that the MC400 is hot as nuclear
waste has sometin to do with it for me...

I will resist the yawning rathole of commenting on the idea of copying all of
another guitar player's solos, and try to stick to the point.

First of all, you have to get some gear that is capable of feeding-back
at reasonable volumes. This might be a practice amp cranked-up (e.g.
my Sunn St-15 Mustang amp, 54 quid from Carlsboro), or by adding a
suitable foot-pedal to a non-feeding amp. Alternatively, if you posses any
incriminating photographs of any rich public figures, you might consider a
hot-rodded tube amp such as a Boogie.
It also helps if you have a decent humbucking guitar, otherwise the only type
of feedback you get is the ear-splitting "microphonic".

Once you have a set-up that will feedback, the technique of controlling
feedback is down to positioning the guitar relative to the amp. This can only
be done by trial and error. I suggest you start with the guitar close to the
speaker, and move it away gradually in various trial directions. Also try
angling the guitar in various positions. You will find that the intensity of
the feedback will vary widely between different guitar positions, and that 
there are "dead" spots where the feedback stops.
 Also, different positions will yield different harmonics for the same fretted
note (this is a nice feature to play with in solos). Note that your position
relative to the amp to achieve a particular effect (e.g. harmonic 1 octave
above) will vary with the acoustics of the room. Therefore, I wouldn't bother
marking footprints onto a mat when for when you "play out" �^). You need to
experiment in the room where you're playing.

I've found that I use feedback as a "fortuitous" effect, rather than a requesite
for a particular solo, because it's a bit unpredictable. (The last note of the
solo in Free's "Alright Now" can sound pretty limp without that feeding sustain,
for instance). If I'm playing a solo and I manage to generate some interesting
feedback harmonics by chance, then I'll start trying to get some more and the
nature of the solo will often change.

Hth,
*DC

    It's all in the amp and pickups of your guitar...Although, you can
    almost always get "good" feedback from a trick the old timers use...
    Just rest the headstock or body of your guitar on top of the ole
    speaker cab.  That'll kick any guitar into that overdriven sustain.
    
    Also, a trick that Gilmour uses that you might like, is when you bend
    your string up and hold it, just tap that same string 12 frets up
    (or any of those natural harmonic positions)  to get a harmonic.  
    I beleive this is called an artifical harmonic.  It's a neeto effect.
    
    I thought we had a topic for this already ??  
    
    jc

    I'm also a big fan of controlled feedback.  Must have been from
    listening to too much Ted Nugent when I was younger.
    
    Adding additional compression will also help the harmonics and feedback
    jump out at you.  A lot of amp gain also help with this.  As people
    have stated, your guitars position relative to the amp speakers is
    critical for controlling it.  A lot of times it's just a matter of
    turning a little bit to get it or get it to go away.
    
    A trick Carlos Santana, who uses this controlled feedback a lot, does
    is to walk around the stage playing at soundcheck and find the points
    that allow this feedback to happen and marks them with tape on the
    floor.  He says that every place is different and it's important for
    him to find those points to be able to play in his style.
    
    I had a solo that I used (?) to play that had a singing feedback on
    certain notes and when I used my Mp-1 or a GK setup there was no
    problem getting it to do that, I just had to set the tone controls
    right and find the right place to stand.  Using other setups that had
    less compression and gain I've had problems getting that note to sing
    out.
    
    Greg
                                                        

    
    Thanks for the responses so far....I am getting the impression (as I
    thought I would) that it is not something you can do with your
    amps gain/volume on 'neighbour friendly'.
    
    True?
    

    I use my tone control to control feedback!  Often it will change it
    from a screetching feedback into a singing one.

    
    I agree with using tone control.  I've noticed that I can milk 
    feedback with my wah wah sometimes too.  

re: .5

   Unfortunately, for the most part, yes, you're right.  You pretty much have
   to crank it up a bit to get true feedback.  You can get distortion at lower
   volumes through the use of hi gain preamps, distortion boxes, etc, but to
   really get the scream going you need to be pushing some air.  (Unless you
   want to crouch down and hold the guitar so the pickups are in right front 
   of the speaker...)

   -- Sam

I've been using feedback regularly fo rthe first time now on a Cult song
we're doing...my testerossa does a good job of this at a fairly low volume.

I'm also finding that controlling it requires some knowledge of where it 
feeds best with the correct note....al la Santanna style..

dbii

    
    No you don't need lots of volume to get feedback, just lots of *gain*.  I
    can get feedback out of a small amp at low volumes just by cascading a
    couple of gain boosters (fuzz box, compressor, LPB-1, whatever) in
    series.  The volume stops going up once you've clipped the input stage
    of the amp, but the gain can keep increasing. 
    
    Of course, there's no free lunch....having that kind of gain can make
    the guitar difficult to play (but then, weren't there noters inhere
    bitvching about how they couldn't get enough gain out of their amps? 
    This would be right up their alley...).  Also helps to have a noise
    gate, cascading fuzz boxes can make for some real grunge in between
    notes. 
    
    						Brian

      I just did a session in the studio with my KH rack and I was
    real impressed with the end result. I'm mentioning it here because
    one of the things that really came through was the sustain on the
    guitar. I did the solo and it calls for a note to sustain for a whole
    measure before I let loose. I really can't call the sustain I was
    getting feedback though, since my rack was in a isolated booth
    (I mean real isolated, it was cranked and the only way I could hear
    anything was through the cue mix). That elimates using position
    to control the feedback/sustain thing. As a matter of fact that 
    eliminates using actual feedback entirely since it is not really
    a closed audio "loop". 
       Don't get me wong, I use feedback when I play. Just that in this
    situation where the producer decided to isolate my guitar, it was 
    all the gain from the amp allowing my leads to sustain to my liking.
    The raw mix came out really well, I can't wait to hear the
    post-production version. All the gear in the studio was top-notch.
    You could land an airplane on the mixer!
    
    							-B()()M-

    Brian's right.  Using my KH M1, I get PLENTY of feedback with the gain
    on 10 and the master on 1.  
    
    Mike

    Can you racksters get that nice singing feedback that us tube stackers
    get?
    
    Curious_Mike

    I don't think they can

Yeah I can with my kitty rack of doom...but it's prety pickup dependant. I have
my s_burger with a dimarzio paf pro that won't sing, it screeches (replacement
pickups have been ordered). My ESP with the EMG's sings day and night with the 
same setups. To be fair to the dimarzio the rack was last aligned using the ESP
with the active pickups and not with a passive pickup. My Lead 1 with the jeff 
beck humbucker sings ok as well through the same rig. They all sing through my 
rivera but that's more stack like and less midi_rack_puke like....for now! 
PB1 inbound!

I think it's a combination of the guitar the pickups and the amp

dbii

Buck how can you say that when you're in possession of a recording of my rack
singing some feedback?

dbii

ps: where's gitnotestape IV?

    -1
    
    Good point

RE: Mike

More!
jc

    I wouldn't say more, but I will say that I got an excellent singing
    feedback sound from my old rack 'o doom.  Unfortunately, it didn't make
    some of the other sounds I really liked.
    
    I had this intro solo on one of the songs my band-at-the-time did and I
    could stand at a certain place and turn just right and get absolute
    infinate sustain (via feedback) using the Mp-1.  I really loved that
    particular sound.  The Mp-1 did that one sound *very* well.
    
    Of course, I got a similar sound from several other amps too, my old
    GK, my Kitty Hawk M3 (with an EQ to boost the gain).  I think it's a
    combination of gain, compression, EQ, and standing in the right place. 
    Plus having a bunch of speakers screaming away next to me probably
    didn't hurt...   (I used 2 Marshall 4x10's at the time, that's 8 little
    Celestions)
               
    I really miss those cabs...
    
    Greg

    
    
       Both my REXX and my ACCESS have no problem getting controlled
    feedback. It's a matter of the right EQ and gain settings. I use the
    parametric EQ that is footswitchable on the REXX 610s to do just that.
    My M1's and M5's obviously can cut it.
       What about the ACCESS? After last nights go round with a replaced 
    12AX7, no problem at all getting my sounds, a few of which are
    high-gain and lend themselves to controlled feedback. 
    
    							-B()()M-
    
    							

    so I take it there's more to it than gain and speaker cabs in getting
    nice feedback?

I think there are lots of factors involved:

Guitar wood
Neck contruction
Pickups
EQ
Gain
Volume
Strings
Pick attack
Pick position 

The different tones of pinched harmonics always gets me off - like
*where* you pinch it etc...etc...

jc (Who loves pinched harmonics and feedback)

   > so I take it there's more to it than gain and speaker cabs in getting
   > nice feedback?
    
    Depends on yer equipment....it CAN be that simple!  I used to play an
    ES335 thru a Dual Showman top and a cab with two 15" JBL's.....I could
    pick any note any time and grab infinite sustain thru feedback....I
    also got alot when I didn't want it!
    
    My Les Paul thru my M3 KH was pretty easy to control, but I had to be
    in the right "position".  No EQ stuff necessary....
    
    My opinion is that PAF humbuckers thru tube amps can make "nice"
    feedback fairly easily.....FWIW.
    
    Steve

With my KH Quattro, I have almost no problems. Both my Strat (w/EMG actives)
and my LES Paul will get infinite sustain, with the proper amount of gain.
The Les Paul is better for controlled feedback than then Strat. And part of
it all depends upon where I'm standing, and which note I'm playing (some
resonate better than others).

alan

    With my stock RG550 plugged stright into my MK III, I can sing almost
    any note on the fretboard indefinitely.  I like that.

    Re -1
    
    Nigel:  "this baby has got great sustain...listen....you can go for
    a bite and come back and that baby will still be going laaaaaaaaa.."
    
    Interveiwer (Rob Reiner): " I can't hear anything"
    
    Nigel : "you would if it was plugged in....."
    8^) X 1000
    P.K.