Feedback is Good

I have found that feedback can be my friend.

Feedback City?
Photo by John McKean

I face a potentially nasty feedback situation in my regular Thursday night gig. It's a gig at a small jazz club with a quartet crammed onto such a small stage that I sit with my amp (Trace Acoustic -- 100 watts) playing directly into the back of my L5. In this setup, there is a strong tendency for certain notes on the guitar to feedback.

My only method of controlling this feedback is a volume pedal. I learned quite by accident one night that the feedback can be tamed by using the volume pedal, and by taming it, it becomes a wonderful expressive device. (Note that I'm not discussing the sort of electronic scream that is associated with microphone feedback. I'm referring to the feedback that is caused by a string vibrating from the sound coming out of the amp.)

Because I know which notes on my guitar cause feedback, I can use the feedback to play long extended notes that can be controlled and shaped with the volume pedal and with vibrato. It's a satisfying sensation to play notes like this. I love being able to sustain and shape a note much like a violinist or sax player can. It's a gorgeous sound to have a string vibrate continuously as a pedal through a full chorus of a tune while the rest of the band plays.

I've had many people come up to me after gigs asking how I do it. They all assume it's a piece of electronic gear, but it's really just a former enemy who has becomes an ally.