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Newport w/ phat cat's--thinking of going to buckers


miragejake

Question

I've always played buckers, and my main axe now is a Newport w/ phat cats and bigsby...I love the guitar, but I'm thinking of putting humbuckers in it....I have a hard time controlling the feedback w/ it is the main reason.

I've got a board full of effects, and use a zendrive and a menatone blue collar od...the Newport will feedback w/ either --and it's even worse when stacked. I'm playing through a badass modded '73 twin. It's basically a double deluxe type of deal--biased to run 4--6v6 at 40 watts.

Anyway, I'm thinking that if I put some buckers in it won't feedback as bad...thoughts?

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The big sonic difference between humbuckers and single coils is that humbuckers don't hum, they generally don't have as extended treble as single coils, and there are some general differences in tonal balance. If feedback is pickup-related, it's because there are air gaps in the pickup assembly that are resonating with airborne sound. Doesn't matter if it's single coil or humbucker, if the airborne energy finds those gaps, the pickups will squeal. That's why pickups are usually potted in wax before the covers are added, but not always. For example, Seth Lover pickups are not potted. I've never taken my Phat Cats apart so I don't know whether they're potted or not.

But really, the Newport's bigger liability to feedback is that it's a spruce-topped hollowbody with f-holes. Any semihollow or hollowbody with sound holes will feed back easier than a solid body or chambered body without sound holes. Even then, however, it's generally a matter of amp placement and playing technique. There are plenty of hard rockers who play hollow bodies at ear-splitting volumes with no problem. A classic example is Te Nugent playing a spruce-topped deep-bodied archtop, the Gibson Byrdland.

There are also plenty of HFC-ers here who've played Newports and Monacos at high volume without a problem.

It would help if we know what the physical setup is when you encounter a feedback problem. Are you in a small space? How loud are you playing, and most of all, are you facing your amp? There's a reason most players in a live situation have the amps behind them so their bodies stand between the amp speakers and the guitar they're playing.

If you know how to do it, it is very easy to get a hollowbody to feed back even at moderate volumes, and it doesn't matter if the guitar has single coils or humbuckers.

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Thanks for the info JohnnyB. Yes, I'm in a small room. But the amp is behind me...but only probably about 3 feet behind where I stand...I guess I need to get my rig out of that room, and put it into a different setting and see what happens...we're a new band, and on the verge of gigging...and I just don't want to be feeding back (unless I choose to) while playing out.

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I understand some of the old blues guys used to stuff black socks into the f holes of there hollowbodies to control feedback. Just thinkin'.

Or taping over the f holes...

+1 Try this ^ before you go to stuffing it full of socks or foam. This will do wonders and is really easy to try.

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