Thirty "Solutions" to Archtop Feedback

                              by

                                            Jack Grassel                                                                                                                                                      Sam Belton, John Price and  Jack at
                                                                                                                 Panache Jazz Club, Milwaukee, WI. March 2005

IIt's amazing how creative people can be in trying to stop feedback. Here are some of the solutions I've heard about and experimented with.   Most of these "solutions" alter the guitar's sound and response in a negative way.  I suggest if you have to play loud, use a solid body.   Use an arch top in situations where you don't have to alter the instrument and can enjoy it as it is, without feedback.  You should have more than one guitar anyway. Chose the guitar (and amp) that sounds and works best with the venue, band, and type of music to be played.   Before you buy an archtop,  take it to a gig and see what happens.  

There is a great variance in the amount of feedback guitars produce. I used to have a Gibson Johnny Smith that would feed back at home in my practice room. I couldn't even take it on a gig. I currently have a Stromberg archtop that doesn't feed back, even if I play with a rock band, and it's a very loud accoustic guitar.  The only mute I use is tape on the lowest 4 strings. (See #11 below)
1. Stuff the guitar with foam rubber or inflated balloons. Use an unbent coat hanger to push it in or take it out.
2. Tape up the f-holes. (The tape may ruin the finish).
3. Put foam rubber in the f-holes, closing them. Doug Turner will custom design foam plugs for your guitar. Go to his web site to see what they look like:  www.dougsplugs.com They look so cool that you can't even tell they are there. I highly recommend these.
4. Glue thin balsa wood painted flat black to the underside of the f-holes. Because of it's permanence, this isn't recommended. 
5. Use a metal bridge instead of wood. 
6. Use flat wound heavy strings. 
7. Place the amp to the left so that your body shields the guitar. 
8. Set the amp at a lower volume. 
9. Wind more of the string onto the tuning gear stem, adding weight to the head stock and more tension on the nut. 
10. Place a thin strip of foam under the strings in the first fret to dampen open strings. 
11. Wrap a thin strip (quarter of an inch) of duct tape, adhesive tape, or packing tape around the strings at the first fret, "sandwiching" them between the tape. 
12. Take off the pickup covers. (It makes the sound thinner) 
13. Use a solid body guitar if you must play in a situation which causes feedback. 
14. Probably the most effective, is to use as little tone enhancement as possible on the amplifier. Start with the tone controls on zero and try to get a sound you like with the lowest settings possible. 
15. Turn in the pickup screws on strings 5 and 6 to reduce the volume a little. 
16. Since each guitar will vibrate differently and create feedback differently, experiment with all 6 screws,turning them in and out to find the best combination. Joe Leonard told me that Steve Howe turns all six screws in as far as they go. 
17. When playing with a band, a special stage set up will help; facing the audience, have the bassist (and amp) at the left, (the side with the drummer's hi hat), then the drummer, your amp next to the drums, and then you on the right. Your guitar body will not be as effected by the sound emanating from all those sources. 
18. Get the bassist to use as little tone enhancement as possible and play softer. Bass guitars tend to cause you more feedback than upright basses. The smaller (an fewer) the bass amp speakers are, the less trouble you will have. Chose a bassist with a focused sound that isn't "boomy". 
19. Drums with clear heads cause more guitar feedback than coated heads. Beware of drummers with shiny new cymbals. 
20. If you can be happy with a 10 inch speaker it will cause less feedback than a 12 or 15. Actually the fewer speakers you have, the less feedback you will have.  Four 10 inch speakers will cause you more feedback than one 10 inch speaker. 
21. Use a closed back speaker cabinet.  Then the sound only comes out of the front of the cabinet. 
22. Put your amp on the floor, not on a chair. Aim it straight ahead.  Don't tilt it up toward the guitar. 
23. Have a luthier put a "sound post" in your guitar connecting the front and the back. 
24. Solid spruce tops feed back more than plywood tops because the accoustic response is minimized. 
25. Holes cut into the guitar top to install pickups result in less feed back than floating pickups. 
26. Play softer, beneath the feedback threshold. 
27.

If the drummer is using clear heads, they may be tuned to a pitch that makes your guitar go crazy. You could invesitgate this and perhaps bribe the drummer into changing his or her tuning. 
28. This suggestion is courtesy of David Phillips of Texas: Use an accoustic amp with a notch filter. 
29. If you don't like flat wound strings, use round wound on strings 3 and 4. Use flat wound on 5 and 6 which where most of the feedback comes from. 
30. Try a Boss multi-band equalizer pedal and reduce the sound areas that cause feedback. 

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