Semi-hollow and feedback

[igni]

Hi all - I am new to this wonderful forum. I have a thing for semi-hollow guitars. I recently had to sell almost all my gear to get $ for studio time and now I am back at square one.

One of the guitars I loved to death was the Epiphone Dot Studio. I had owned a Deluxe Dot and a Sheraton in the past. The Dot was too heavy and the Sheraton was OK. That said, the Studio was so great. It might be just a personal thing but this guitar and I were perfect for each other. It's light, simple (2 knobs) and you can get decent sounds with it out of the box. I do a lot of open chords and it resonates wonderfully.

The problem was that I could never really use it in a live situation cos it would feedback like crazy, squealing would be a better term. The kind of feedback that damages your brain before you even notice it in your ears. I had to use a Y switchbox to turn on/off the signal to the amp

I want to get another one of these suckers and do a full upgrade this time.

What can I do about the feedback? pickups? covering the f holes?

I have seen the article on the dot and epi upgrades but it doesn't mention feedback. Theres an article on feedback too but it doesn't mention semi-hollows.

Just wondering if anyone could give me some hints.

Thank you!

[brandondrury]

Hmmm.

A hollowbody is going to feedback. That's what makes it a hollowbody. With that said, all electric guitars feedback. Sometimes this is a great thing and sometimes it's an awful thing.

I must admit that I'm not that experienced with Hollowbodies in the live setting. I'd say there are a few things that immediately come to mind when dealing with squeeling guitars.

#1 A lot of this is in the hands. Properly muting strings is a fundamental part of being a great guitar player. Most lead guitar players like to play when a guitar is on the edge of feedback so they can intentionally induce it at any time.

#2 You may be playing too loud.

#3 You may have to much low end in your tone that is vibrating your guitar (causing the feedback).

So if you are wanting to stop guitar feedback, you need to position yourself in a way so that the guitar shakes less from the amp. You can cram stuff in the f-holes (but that defeats the purpose of the hollowbody) just as acoustic guitar guys often do with the soundhole plugs. You can adjust your volume or tone settings so that the guitar is not shaking as much.

That's all I know. I wish I had more experience on this subject. In my world, microphone feedback is 100,000 x bigger problem.

Brandon

[igni]

Thanks! Yes, that's part of the hollowbody world. Palm muting does help a little bit. I never tried the lows thing. Thanks for the tip!

[brandondrury]

I hope this helps. Again, I'm not that experienced with the Hollowbodies. Now that I think about it, I wouldn't mind having one just for feedback purposes.

What kind of tones are you going for? I've seen everything from aggressive rock bands to jazz quartets using hollowbodies.

Brandon

[igni]

Alternative britpop kinda stuff (think Oasis/Radiohead/My Bloody Valentine)
http://www.altspeak.com for samples.

These guitars sound amazing with a marshall like sound for open chords. Too jazzy for my taste on tube Fenders except for blues-overdrive leads. I think that with Duncan 59's or Classic 57's they should sound amazing and lower the feedback to acceptable (and desireable ) levels.

[brandondrury]

Okay, I see.

This type of tone is pretty awesome. However, good luck containing the feedback!!! You are pushing the limit! I'd consider in-ear monitors and quieter level on the amp itself when playing live.

Brandon