How do they do this trick?

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evhwanabe

evhwanabe

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I was listening to some Def lep the other day and noticed that sometimes when phil was soloing he does this thing where the note he plays kinda fades into a harmonic. Im not talking like a ZAKK pinch harmonic but one that gently fades into a harmonic. EVH does this too on that instrumental for twister (respect the wind or something). And at the end of me wise magic. It might not even be a harmonic, could be just feedback thats somehow controlled.
thanks!
 
That's exactly what it is, controlled feedback. I've read that Santana will will wonder around the stage at sound check, find the best spot to do this and mark it with a big X.

When you find that sweet spot, you can sustain a note for days. I once saw Buddy Guy catch a note like that and hold it while someone came out from back stage and gave him a drink. He took a few sips, handed it back to her and he was still holding that note while she walked back. It was really cool!
 
what they may be doing is sustaining a note and then touching the harmonic with the right hand.
 
They could be doing it by sustaining a note that they are playing say on the seventh fret and hitting the harmonic on the corresponding note above the 12th fret. Say you are playing the note on the seventh fret then you would touch the string on the 19th fret lightly right on the fret wire. Produces the harmonic.
 
Firebird is right: it's feedback. You can get different overtones depending on where you stand and even which way your guitar is pointed relative to the amp. It's requires a fair amount of volume from the amp, but it sure is fun and sounds cool.

I think Boss made (or makes) a pedal called the "Feedback Sustainer" or something like that, that will automatically add harmonics and indefinitely sustain a note. It's good for getting feedback like that at a lower volume. I've never played with one, but a Ebow may give you something similar as well.


Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com
 
I used to have a cool Boss pedal back in the mid-80's called a Super Distortion and Feedbacker which would do it. They dont make it anymore.
 
Thanks for the posts guys, the feedback way makes more sense. I know how to tap and get the harmonic to sound (I have learned every evh lick there is LOL, like the intro to women in love where he does tha sorta) So with out micing my amp at 11 it will be pretty hard to replicate this on my pod xt and record! I suppose I can always cross fade the note being fingered normally with its harmonic! think this would work?
 
Adding a compressor to your chain will greatly inhance your feedback experience and ability. With my Marshall, all I have to do is point my pickups towards the speakers to get some screaming feedback.
 
Yeah I have a Line 6 vetta combo, and it has a compressor built into it, that I havent really messed with. How would this make you have more feedback? I understand how a compressor works, and it seems to me that this would hinder the feedback experience instead of improve it. What settings are you using (like ratio, gain, attack time, release time shit like that).
 
King Elvis- Did you like the pedal? It got horrible reviews. It's considered nothing but noise.
 
sjaguar13 said:
King Elvis- Did you like the pedal? It got horrible reviews. It's considered nothing but noise.
Click to expand...

It was ok, the feedbacker thing was really kinda worthless. I eventually got a ProCo Rat that I liked the distortion tone of much better. I was a teenager and I didnt know any better.
 
Can it sustain notes and can it do what EVH did in Repect the Wind?
 
No.
You step on it once, it's a distortion pedal. When you want feedback you step on it and hold it down as long as you want the note to sustain. Once you do this it siezes on the notes that are going through it at that moment and goes into feedback, and maintains that note as long as you hold the pedal down. Thus, you are unable to manipulate the feedback as it sustains or change the note.

In other words, you can't achieve feed back and then start bending the note around or do a tremolo dive.

For what you are after, there is simply no substitute for volume.

Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com
 
I haven't played with one in a LOOONG time, but if memory serves, the Sustaniac will sustain your strings, but not generate feedback per se. It will sustain a note adn allow you to manipulate it, but without the harmonic overtones that were the original question of this thread.

Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com
 
Aaron you must have had one of those too.
That was the reason that the feedbacker was kind of worthless. You couldnt manipulate it at all. No bending, no dive bombing just the feedback. Once you released the pedal the feedback just cut off!!! Very unnatural sounding.
 
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