Feedback Sustain?

[Dymond-]

Sup guys

I saw Soundgarden about a week ago, and at the end of the show Ben Sheperd and Kim Thayil did that thing where you hold your guitars up to your amp, and its really f*cking loud. The whole arena was shaking with bass. Pretty awesome. So I tried it at home, and it definitely works :P

My question though, is this bad for your amp? Like, its really loud and sounds like the amp is going to blow up. I'm pretty sure its just the sound coming from the amp is vibrating the stings at the same frequency, so its like unlimited sustain. I just want confirmation that this isn't bad for my guitar or amp. Thanks :P

[bassbrad]

Feedback will not hurt your bass or the electronics of your amp, it can be hard on your ears and speakers. There are several tricks but having a resonant bass with pickups that don't squeal is a must. A good distortion you can crank without getting microphonic, having your amp at that sweet spot volume wise, if it's right sometimes just touching the headstock to your amp is a good way to get feedback started. It takes some experimentation and practice to master but it is a good stage move.

[Eric!]

I have a TON of fun with feedback all the time. The Rusty Box was perfect for such activity.

[mpdd]

try hitting a harmonic and feeding back at the same time

[Dymond-]

Originally Posted by bassbrad

Feedback will not hurt your bass or the electronics of your amp, it can be hard on your ears and speakers. There are several tricks but having a resonant bass with pickups that don't squeal is a must. A good distortion you can crank without getting microphonic, having your amp at that sweet spot volume wise, if it's right sometimes just touching the headstock to your amp is a good way to get feedback started. It takes some experimentation and practice to master but it is a good stage move.

Its hard on the speakers... is that just because of how loud it can get?