How do I get Controlled Feedback?

[abakerdabra]

This happens on occasion when I practice but not exactly sure how or why... I would love to just step on a pedal and blast off, but without getting too much louder.

Any suggestions?

[Birddog]

High gain on your distortion pedal. Humbuckers in your guitar. Turn and face the amp. The more delay the better. The more vibrato the better.

[BigMuffPI]

Gilmour adjusts his volume so that when he takes one step back toward his cabinets he gets feedback. Check out the intro of Sorrow (Pulse). Amazing!

[guildchild]

birddog is right, and different amps / guitars combos yield significantly different results.

however, if you're looking for a pedal that does this (other than diming a couple set up in series) there is that old boss super-feedbacker pedal. somewhat rare...maybe spendy. but i've played with them in the past and it's pretty cool.

there was a thread long ago about where guys tend to stand in relation to their amp (the triangle type of principle) in order to hear it best etc AND get fdbk when they wanted. search around a bit and you might find it.

mess around with your pedals, amp placement, amp volume and you'll find the sweet spot. the amp doesn't HAVE to be excessively loud either. there are different sweet spots (imho) where you'll get "usable" harmonics (3rd, 4ths, and 5ths) and other places to get more "out" harmonics. lastly, if it's starting, but not quite going anywhere, a little tap on the body, excessive vibrato or some other form up movement will at least maintain (if not increase) the fdbk.

[bmetelits]

With the right settings on my Mesa Bottle-Rocket tube overdrive pedal my P-90 equipped hollow T project guitar will sustain the note until I get tired of holding it.

[nibus]

I have found the key to having controlled feedback at usable volumes is to have multiple gain stages. What I mean by this is not necessarily more than one overdrive pedal, but more than just an overdrive, you need a boost pedal of some sort.

My chain goes like this:
Tone Press Compressor > Durham Sex Drive > (Overdrive Pedal) > Psionic Audio Triad (Preamp)

Sometimes I will add a BJFE SBEQ or something similar. But the key here is to have a nice boost (or two) before the overdrive pedal. This will push it harder and result in more harmonics and sustain. A compressor helps a lot too.

Also, you can stack two overdrives and get the same amount of distortion as a single distortion box, but also get more feedback and harmonics because of the two gain stages interacting with each other. Sometimes it results in more noise though.

[Alter]

what guitar are you using? try a semi hollow guitar if you can, they seem to do feedback good

[guildchild]

Originally Posted by Alter

try a semi hollow guitar if you can, they seem to do feedback good

right...my 137 into a mi audio cb can result in CONSTANT fdbk if it's a small stage and i'm too close.

[kludge]

Your guitar is the biggest controller. Some guitars just feed back better than others. Note that "better" isn't the same as "easier". A lot of semi-hollows and hollowbodies that feedback easily are really hard to control.

The best feedback guitar I ever owned was a Gibson Blueshawk. Since switching from the Blueshawk to a Telecaster, the thing I miss most is the easy and highly controllable feedback.

A wah is REALLY your friend for feedback. It gives you a nice, focused tone to set the guitar off, and you can control the feedback by moving the wah just a bit. Wah and a good gain pedal and a good guitar. Oh, and it doesn't take a lot of volume, either. Just the right angle to the amp and the right gain structure.

One last thing... for strong feedback at even moderate volume, try the Buck Dharma trick. Touch the headstock of your guitar to your amp. If the amp is loud enough to vibrate on its own, it'll transmit the vibration to the neck of your guitar. This can be kind of hard to control, but it'll sure feed back!

[12guitdown]

Another element, not mentioned yet, is the actual NOTE you're playing. ex. An "A" note just blossoms into glorious feedback while a G#, F etc. won't. This might have something to do with the way the cab is tuned, though not sure. Once you get a note going, the vol knob is your friend.

[Dexter.Sinister]

Feedback is important to my sound. I get it with either strong fundamental (tone down) or much harmonics (tone up) all over the neck and can grab nearly any note I want.

I use fuzz or OD or distortion + amp volume. Some combination of these always works. At low volume, more gain from pedals, at high volume, less.

You see?

Thank you.

DS

[coreybox]

Step on a big muff

[Lolaviola]

Always turn up as loud as you can get away with +1!

I guess in a nutshell, Power in Reserve: I like to have MORE than enough volume and tone from the amp, and turn down the VOL and TONE knobs on the guitar untill you NEED it. Experiment with body position and gain after that.

[BBSuggs]

The right amount of gain plus volume should equal controlled feedback. Can't control your feedback? Less of one or the other. I don't use it that often, but it's a cool effect. When I do use it, I mute all strings except the one needed. Or, occasionally, I'll let a chord ring and find its own feedback. It varies. If it gets out of control, and the feedback isn't "working" with the tune, I shut it off and move on. I've never been one to set the guitar on fire and let it roar.

Also, I would not even consider a "feedback" pedal. One should be able to nail it with a drive pedal and volume. I can get it with a Rat, my BB Preamp, or the Jetter Red. I'm trying out a TRex Mudhoney, and expect it'll do the same thing.

[J.T. Guitar]

A Barber Tonepress will put you over the edge when paired with a good Dist. pedal.