Problem with feedback

[Chris Paget]

I have an Eastman upright, and just put a full circle pickup on it. Only yesterday did I have this problem. At band practice, with a practice amp, I was getting a lot of resonance/feedback on certain notes. Later that night, at a gig, it became full blown feedback. It really prevented me from getting the bass loud/eq'd enough.

So, not sure what question to ask here, but could it have something to do with the age of the strings (as they sound a little muffled and I'm not sure how long they've been on) or something else? What steps to take with a new pickup/bass/cabinet combo (and nothing else like pedals)?

Thanks!!!

[reedo35]

What kind of music? What other gear are you using? Fill out your profile please..

[Chris Paget]

I have a Hartke 4 x 10 cabinet and an ampeg 450 watt head. I understand there would be live situations where feedback "just happens" also, but I'm mainly concerned b/c it was happening at practice before that with a different amp.

Is there anything essential I am missing (a pedal, mic'ed cabinet through the PA, etc) that would help the bass cut through and be heard without feedback in a situation like that? Many thanks..

[wingnut]

If you do a search, there are many threads on fighting the dreaded feedback. If you don't have time to wade through the threads, pm me and I'll help you out. We use the same bass by the way.

[bassbuddie]

First, the double bass is an acoustic instrument, so if your band plays as loud as if you have an electric bass, you are in trouble. In an ideal situation, you should use the amp to amplify a bit the acoustic sound of your bass, the other member should adjust their volume to yours. Or no amp at all.

If your band plays with a reasonable volume, and their is still feedback, I would go to a luthier to take a look a your bridge and soundpost. You can also try to put a foam under your tailpiece.

[Bass]

Everything you ever needed to know about fighting feedback on DB:

Originally Posted by UncleToejam

...I have played ridiculously loud in small and large venues with huge rock bands using my plywood New Standard Cleveland bass with a Full Circle pickup into an AI Focus 2RIII and Euphonic Audio VL208. It manages to still sound like a string bass too.


Several Considerations;

1. The onstage bass volume should be low, feel the low end and presence of the bass through the PA.
2. Use the onstage system with mids and highs only as a personal monitor to stay in tune.
3. Dial in the front of house sound without any on stage sound whatsoever and then turn up your rig just enough to play in tune when everything else kicks in.
4. Try to get whatever personal monitors you use up off the floor near your ear and away from the body of the bass.
5. Stay well behind the main speakers and well away from the subs.
6. Keep the bass out of the floor wedges and stay as far away from any on stage speakers as you can.
7. Use the rubber stopper on the endpin and don't stick the pin directly into the floor.
8. Experiment with phase reversal on the preamp.
9. Experiment with high pass filters on the preamp. (try the fdeck preamp!)
10. Stay away from compressors in your rig or on your channel in the mains.
11. Place a foam wedge or towel between the body of the bass and the tailpiece if you still have feedback.
12. Weave a strip of velcro through the afterlength of the strings between the bridge and tail piece.
13. If there is no PA and you are trying to get your rig as loud as you can put it in front of you pointing out at the crowd. You'll hear it just fine and it won't feed back near as much as if it's behind you or beside you.

[NEFFCO]

I STUFF ROLLED UP BAR TOWLES IN THE F HOLES and that helped out alot,keep your amp off to the side of you and run a di to the pa and also a mic on your amp then you just use your amp as monitor.i run my 66 bassman daisy chained with the trebble @ 2 on both chanels and bass @ 1 & 2.i have a hartke 4 10 and 450w head as well but the fender has better tone.