John Lee Walker Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 I recently played an open mic set at a place in Santa Fe, NM, called the El Paseo Bar & Grill, and I had some major problems with feedback in the room. Do the soundhole feedback reducers work well? I have found some on the net that are made of rosewood, mahogany, etc, that are very handsome, carved and detailed. I've never used one nor had a reason to until recently, after installing and using a custom LR Baggs crossover system. They had a nice Bose system running thru 8-channel Peavey board, and no one could tweak my noise and get it right. It was so annoying I cut my set short and left. The sound guy said Gibson made their own with a logo, and I haven't been able to locate one. Any suggestions there? Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooboo Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 I play small places, church, and with local friends. I do remember one night when a guy brought a Martin with electronics in it. It squealed the first time he let go of the strings. When he used the soundhole feedback reducer it seemed to clear up his problem. Now if they work that well in all situations, I'm not sure. Also, I don't think getting one made out of wood would be better than other methods, but the certainty of this is not 100%. All the ones I see are made from rubber and seem to do their job. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryp58 Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 I recently played an open mic set at a place in Santa Fe' date=' NM, called the El Paseo Bar & Grill, and I had some major problems with feedback in the room. Do the soundhole feedback reducers work well? I have found some on the net that are made of rosewood, mahogany, etc, that are very handsome, carved and detailed. I've never used one nor had a reason to until recently, after installing and using a custom LR Baggs crossover system. They had a nice Bose system running thru 8-channel Peavey board, and no one could tweak my noise and get it right. It was so annoying I cut my set short and left. The sound guy said Gibson made their own with a logo, and I haven't been able to locate one. Any suggestions there? Thanks again! [/quote'] What's up, John Lee! I've never had to use those feed-back reducers either. I've never saw one by Gibson either. I think maybe the sound guy might be refering to the Gibson humidifiers that came with the guitar in the late '90's. It was a black sound hole cover with the Gibson logo on it. It has a small hole in it for a rubber tube to slide through. The tube has a wick in it which could be immersed in water to provide some moisture in dry climates. It would make a great feed-back reducer though! By the way, how's that beautiful "custom" SJ-200 you have sounding these days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwolf Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 Hi John Lee, the soundhole feedback reducers do help. I use them on a couple of my Rainsongs when I do the rare acoustic duo/trio thing. Just get the cheap Planet Waves version. They are made of a rubber material--you can slide them in and fit them in and out in a few seconds, and keep it in your pickbox in your case when not in use. The wooden ones look nice, but I think the rubber ones are fine. You don't want to leave anything in contact with the finish long term, but if you just use it for stage time, you'll be fine. If I'm recalling correctly, you have the J-200, so feedback is probably an issue now and then. Personally, I am using an old Gibson Chet Atkins SST I got on ebay, and I run it through a Fishman Aura Acoustic processor straight into the board--that's been a really nice, foolproof rig and completely, I mean completely free of feedback at any volume. If you spend some time tweaking it, you can get a very credible acoustic sound. The SST is pretty neutral sounding instrument, so it "plays well" with the Aura. If you do much acoustic work with a band at volume, something like that might be cool to add to your already impressive stable. But, to your original question, the soundhole covers will certainly help. Dwight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertjohn Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 I have a rubber version and do use it occasionally. It's a very useful tool to have in the box and great for removing acoustic feedback i.e. the resonant type which keeps a string vibrating when you don't want it to. Mine was particularly useful on my old Adam Black 12er which had no notch filter. The Tak has one and the soundhole is larger than standard so I don't use it one that one. The SWD also has a notch filter so now I don't use the feedback buster live too much. The other point I would make is that if you have a soundhole volume control, it may not fit. I recall you have modified your J200 with controls on the top so for that guitar at least you should be fine. Also, might not work if you have a microphone pickup in the body. I don't so can't say for sure - just trying to look round a corner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Walker Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 Thanks for all of those tips and suggestions, I am looking into the possibilities and options. Hey, Larry, the SJ200 is sounding good, playing great, and lookin' fine:) I just bought her a little buddy to hang out with, a Cajun-made Royal Resonator - they look great hanging around on the ol' front porch these days. Take a look-see... LarryP, correcto mundo, it was the dehumidifier he was talking about. The soundhole thumb wheel volume control is the master designated for the crossover, the master volume knob on top is for both units, and the other top control pot is for tone blend. I didn't even consider the thumb wheel in that configuration. Hmm, have to make a call on that one Thanks again for the replies, guys - yer the best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Player Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Hey John Lee.... I haven't used one myself as rarely would I want to turn up my guitar to a point where anything other than a dog could hear me, but I have a friend that has used one in situations that required it. He has a real fancy wood one, but I am not sure where he got it. I know it was referred to as a Lute Hole cover, so I googled and his seems a lot like these..... http://www.lutehole.com/ He told me once that playing unplugged with the cover on sucked, but playing in a loud setting where feedback had been a problem, it worked fine. Love the photos as usual! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryp58 Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Hey John Lee! That resonator looks good beside the ol' SJ-200! Let's see, we need a name for it. How 'bout "Da Waterboy"!!! (being Cajun and all!) Peace,Bro! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Walker Posted October 10, 2009 Author Share Posted October 10, 2009 Thanks for the input, guys, mucho appreciated... LarryP - WaterBoy! I love it haha. I have a pair of purebred Bloodhounds named Bocephus and Waylon :( The next dog I get I plan to name him Boure' (pronounced Boo-Ray) after a Cajun card game lol. Here is a pic of Bo, he's a hardcore Skynyrd fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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