hum-reducing electronics?

[drew_half_empty]

can you reccomend me some pots/switches/whatever that you find reduce feedback? I'm getting a hollowbody soon, and feedback is a concern

on a note lemme say this is for a gretsch electromatic hollowbody which I'm putting tv jones tv'tron's in, so i'm thinking 250k pots, correct? I know they're humbuckers, but they're very low output, and have more than enough top end, if not a LITTLE too much

 

[rspst14]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

Outside of proper wiring, I'm not sure there's much you can do to control feedback as far as your electronics go. You could wax pot the pickups if they aren't already, but other than that, you may just have to learn to deal with it.

Ryan

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

well, i noticed high end gretsches feed back WAY less than say, ibanez artcores

so i figured there was a wiring difference causing this

 

[big_black]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

I'm not quite sure if it reduces feedback, but in my MM-90 Axis there is a battery powered "silent circuit". It greatly reduces the 60 cycle hum and allows me to run it through a fully cranked DS-1 with about the same amount of buzz you'd get with humbuckers. Surprisingly it does nothing I can tell to deaden the tone. I don't know what type of pot or circuit it is, if it would reduce feedback, or much of anything else about it, but I thought it might help.

 

[FretFire]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

I used to have an Ibanez Artcore, and never had a problem with it feeding back, even under pretty high gain settings. A lot of that may have been because of the fact that if it was turned up to a significant volume under high gain, it was probably at a band rehearsal, so I was probably a decent distance away from my amp and facing away. I could get desired and controllable feedback, but it was never a nuisance.

That being said, I really dug the "airyness" you could get with different effects and gain settings from the semi-hollow build. The guitar just really didn't suit my personal style, so forum brother timccart is now the (hopefully) proud owner .

 

[Twitch]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

George L cables are supposed to be great at reducing feedback.

www.georgels.com

I can't wait to get one.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

well, i'm afraid to drop anything battery powered in a hollowbody

that thing would be A PAIN to get out when the battery died

I'll consider the cables tho, and when i have a luthier route things out for filter trons, i'll have him check to see that everything is properly shielded & theres no 'budget pots' in there

 

[rspst14]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

The reason that high end hollowbodies don't feed back as much has to do with the design, rather than the wiring. I can't remember offhand what it is, but the PRS Hollowbody models have a special design that significantly cuts down on unwanted feedback. I'm not sure you can really do much in the way of shielding, unless the guitar has a control cavity like a solidbody. I've never played a hollowbody, but I hear they're a pain to wire up because of that.

Ryan

 

[FretFire]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

Yeah, usually pickup swaps require the liberal use of fishing line .

 

[Kent S.]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

The silent circuit is probably nothing more than a narrow bandwidth active notch filter centered around 60Hz. Either that, or it's a dummy coil with an active buffer to combine it after the pups have been buffered ... like the strat elites. If he's that concerned about actual acoustic feedback, try to find a sweepable notch filter like many acoustic preamp/effects processors have to keep the acoustics from feeding back. I'm sure someone makes a stand alone unit. Heck if money is a catch, Arion effects are still around I think, they had a single band parametric Eq that you could use as a feedback notch filter. Pretty sure it would sweep low enough. Go try one and see, just don't step on it to hard ... the bodies are made of plastic.

 

[strat_master]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

what does a noise gate do then? Isnt that supossed to reduce unwanted feedback?

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

yeah but it thins out your tone bigtime

in my expirience

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

George L cables are supposed to be great at reducing feedback.

www.georgels.com

I can't wait to get one.

I don't want to sound rude or offensive....but that's the dumbest thing I've heard in a long while.

A cable is simply a relay for the signal. If one cable is going to be better than another one then it would relay "more" signal or allow the signal to flow freely.

So if were to assume that your statement is true then the George L cables have a built-in filter for high-end frequencies in the feedback range (i.e. a feedback destroyer built into the cable) and would thusly defy the definition if what makes a cable "better".

This is, of course, ignoring the basic fact that premium cables are usually more expensive not because of a higher quality of materials used but the warranty.

If you hear anything in high-end cables it's a parasympathitic reaction to the pain in your wallet from paying way too much for something equivilant you could of cobbled together at Radio Shack for five bucks.

I can understand believing everything you read....but to make it up as well?

Come on....

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

yeah but it thins out your tone bigtime

in my expirience

Then your problem is with the function of the electronics rather than what it does.

All a noise gate does is cut the volume when it gets below a certain volume.

If a noise gate is affecting your sound then it's a function of the electronics used to acheive the gating effect altering it.

Man....I'm not making any friends in here today.

 

[Paul S.]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

Hollow body electrics feed-back for the same reasons that acoustic guitars with under-the-bridge transducers feed-back. The top will resonate out of control if it's aimed at a monitor or at your amp (i'm assuming that this Gretsch has f-holes)
The best thing that you can do to eliminate this is to pack the f-holes with closed-cell neoprene foam. This eliminates the top from flexing dramatically, and should pretty much solve your problem. I've been doing it for years, and though it does deaden the guitars unplugged tone a bit, I never noticed any difference when plugged in.

Hope that helps a bit,
Paul

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

if i can pull that off without losing the neoprene inside...I'll give it a try

 

[B2D]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

Most people I'v seen play with hollowbodies carefully position themselves and their monitors on stage so that they will be able to hear themselves but not feed back... it's a sound placement issue mostly. Anything like a feedback destroyer that you stick into the signal chain is gonna alter the tone somewhat so i like to avoid that.

I'm told the neoprene trick works... sometimes. Your results may vary.

 

[Quencho092]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

it wont be that bad dude, ive owned a few hollowbodies and they dont feed back like crazy unless you're just using "insane" amounts of distortion where any guitar would feed back like crazy. And the TV jones are buckers, so no problem there. Just be sure to have it well wired and grounded. My strat is quieter than my buddy's les paul-good wiring goes a long way.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

Skarekrough you are forgetting that more expensive cables usually DO use more copper wire, or have more shielding which in all fairness does cost more. But as far as 40 bucks worth of better don't get me lying. As far as hearing a difference goes...don't ask me I'm poor.

Luke

 

[Kent S.]

Re: hum-reducing electronics?

what does a noise gate do then? Isnt that supossed to reduce unwanted feedback?

No! A noise gate simply acts as an automatic volume control and kills the signal after it falls below a certain level, it's like putting a volume knob after pedal or amp noise (if thru the loop of an amp) and fading it out at low volumes. Good ones don't thin your tone either. but he's talking about acoustic feedback, that happens while you play, active sweepable notch filter, that and positioning as was mentioned earlier. Noise gate do their job when you are NOT playing. Go pick up and electic acoustic and plug into an acoustic electric amp, play with out the notch/feedback filter and then with, you'll see what i mean (use moderate volume or you'll be sorry). My personal vote, get one of those automatic feedback eliminators, I think Sabine makes one ... when it senses a frequency getting carried away, it pulls it down.
For PA work they are so-so, for instruments they work much better, put it in the loop of your amp.
BTW, the name of this thread was *hum* and your talking feedback ...????
The two don't have anything to do with one another.