"controlling" feedback

[89gtsleeper]

This is very simple. Follow the steps below, and you will have what you want.

1. Face your amp while you are doing this.
2. Your amp will need to be cranked up to the point where if you are facing your amp, and have your guitar's volume all the way up, you get lots of feedback no matter what you do.
3. From here it's all in using your right hand on nothing but the pickup selector, and volume knobs on the guitar itself. I play with a gibson SG, and I have my bridge pickup raised a bit so it is the louder always. I will turn the volume for the neck pickup all the way down and put the pickup selector on that pickup so I have no volume. The bridge pickup will be all the way up to start with. Fret the note you want to start with, and switch to your "on" pickup. Then move your left hand around as you adjust the volume of the "on" pickup until it is somewhat controlled. Then as you want to switch notes just tap your pickup selector to the "off" pickup quickly, then right back to the "on" pickup after your left hand is on the next note. If you do this correctly you will have a totally controlled feedback.

 

[foo]

If you like the sound, check out Peter Green on 'The Supernatural' on John Mayall's 'Hard Road' Album from 1966 (or was it 1967?).

Pretty amazing at the time - if you think that the Beatles were the biggest thing around when he did it.

foo

 

[punkin]

Forget me...I missed the part about controlling it so I'm rewriting my original response...I'm assuming you figured out how to get it.

Controlling it is nothing more than finess...in the hands. Both hands, the fretting fingers and the hand in front of the pups. Move the pick hand infront/around the pups when the feed back starts up and you can keep it from getting out of control. Point the head of the guitar at/away/perpendicular to the speaker cab and things start to happen. Single sustained notes are prone to this kind of "ringing out" and an EQ setting that doesn't kill the upper mids doesn't hurt either.

Proximity to the speaker cab, gain of the amp, pup sensitivity and your "one-ness" with the set up. If you're playing at bedroom levels all the time with the ocassional crankage...you'll never get the feel for it. You're going to need to stand (STAND) in front of an amp for hours and hours. A low wattage tube amp will work just fine so as not to blow out the ear drums and piss off the neighbors. Tubes submitting to regernerative feedback are wonderous for this sort of thing. You'll learn where the sweet spot is and how to draw the sounds out.