Feedback buster for small soundhole guitars

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Metalman

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You all know what a "Feedback Buster" is; it is a rubber disc that you insert into the soundhole of an acoustic guitar to cut down on its acoustic sound, and you get an extra few DB's on stage when you either mic it or use your pickup in a live situation.

I am trying to find a "Feedback Buster" for a smaller sized soundhole, such as my Guild F-30R.
I have such a device for my D-50, which has the standard 4" diameter hole, but the F-30R has a hole size of 3 5/8" diameter. Does anyone know if such an item exists?

And, yes, I have seen the oval feedback buster on Ebay. Someday when I purchase a Guild F-65CE maybe I will look into one of those. But this is round hole, not oval.

Anything out there?
 
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Punkybub

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I looked for a smaller diameter feedback buster too for a while. You can use a Kyser (not sure of the brand name) sound hole mounted humidifier (without wetting the sponge inside of course) but in my F30 it flops around a bit as it seems too small for the smaller soundhole size.

What I'm using now is a regular-sized rubber feedback buster that I cut a small pie-sized slice out of. You kind of squeeze the perimeter of it as you're putting it in the sound hole, and the center dishes into the guitar a little bit but it's secure and it works fine. I suppose you could do major surgery with a little figgerin' on one and cut it down to size exactly somehow but the pie slice trick works fine for me. I cut the slice from the "top" of it - the section of the rim of the feedback buster that doesn't have the big lip. Hope this helps.
 
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Yes, I considered doing that: cutting down a full size feedback buster to fit into the smaller hole of the F-30. I'l do that as a last resort. Someone must make this critter. There is a lot of small hole guitars out there, and a lot of them are being amplified through house systems, and they need some sort of acoustic damping.
As it is, any FB I get I have to cut down one side of it because I use the Rare Earth Blend pickup, which covers part of the sound hole. So I have to modify the unit irregardless.
 
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plaidseason

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I can't live without a feedback buster in my F44, but I've never needed one for my F30r-ls.

Are you really having that much trouble with feedback? And if so, What kind of pre-amp/DI are you using? Does it have cut and phase adjustments?

-Chris
 
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plaidseason said:
I can't live without a feedback buster in my F44, but I've never needed one for my F30r-ls.

Are you really having that much trouble with feedback? And if so, What kind of pre-amp/DI are you using? Does it have cut and phase adjustments?

-Chris
Click to expand...

Chris,

With my Rare Earth Blend PU I use the Fishman Pro-EQ Platinum. It is a great device, with all kinds of tone-shaping and feedback "busting" controls. Phase switch, contour controls, sweeping midrange dial, etc.
This unit has everything you could want, except for some reverb effects.

Both of my Guilds (D-50 and F-30R) are fitted with the Rare Earth Blend, and the feedback comes from dialing in the boom mic with the magnetic pickup. If I leave the dial on the mag only, then there is no feedback. However, I like the sound of the two sources blended (hence the name "Blend") and that's when I get feedback.
In experimentation in my home studio, I slipped a small piece of cardboard about the size of a CD case, under the strings and over the soundhole, turned up the guitar, dialed in the pickup with the mic, and the sound was good; no feedback from the studio speakers.

Pulled the cardboard away, and got feedback instantly. While I had the "shield" in place, I liked the sound I got - full accoustic with the mag and the mic - and that is what spurred my interest in getting a "feedback buster" for this set up.

If I can't find what I'm looking for, I will either make something, or just fiddle with the controls on the Pro-EQ.
Or just write to Kaman, who makes the feedback buster; see if they make a similar model for smaller sound holes.

Dennis
 
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balzakjeff

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Hi Darryl-

Gaff tape is black cloth tape used by "gaffers" in the film industry. I'm involved in community theatre (FOH engineer) and I use it for taping cables, etc down. Its has the advantage over duct tape in that, while sticking to almost anything, it also releases well so it doesn't leave a gooey, sticky mess.

Anyway I was making a joke about taping over the sound hole...actually a joke I saw in a similar thread on another forum I frequent. Although I have seen PJ Olson (currently with Alan Parsons, but he has a local connectionl) tape paper, that his young son first decorated with a crayon, over the soundhole of a guitar he was using at a local folk festival.

"Balzak" was a nickname my step daughter gave me. For some reason they started calling "cool" things "balzak" so I guess that was a good thing for me...it is also an inside joke in that I misspelled the author's name (which is originally how my daughter got it, they were studying Balzac in school) but I stuck with it on other forums, ebay, etc.

Jeff
 
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plaidseason

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Metalman said:
plaidseason said:
I can't live without a feedback buster in my F44, but I've never needed one for my F30r-ls.

Are you really having that much trouble with feedback? And if so, What kind of pre-amp/DI are you using? Does it have cut and phase adjustments?

-Chris
Click to expand...

Chris,

With my Rare Earth Blend PU I use the Fishman Pro-EQ Platinum. It is a great device, with all kinds of tone-shaping and feedback "busting" controls. Phase switch, contour controls, sweeping midrange dial, etc.
This unit has everything you could want, except for some reverb effects.

Both of my Guilds (D-50 and F-30R) are fitted with the Rare Earth Blend, and the feedback comes from dialing in the boom mic with the magnetic pickup. If I leave the dial on the mag only, then there is no feedback. However, I like the sound of the two sources blended (hence the name "Blend") and that's when I get feedback.
In experimentation in my home studio, I slipped a small piece of cardboard about the size of a CD case, under the strings and over the soundhole, turned up the guitar, dialed in the pickup with the mic, and the sound was good; no feedback from the studio speakers.

Pulled the cardboard away, and got feedback instantly. While I had the "shield" in place, I liked the sound I got - full accoustic with the mag and the mic - and that is what spurred my interest in getting a "feedback buster" for this set up.

If I can't find what I'm looking for, I will either make something, or just fiddle with the controls on the Pro-EQ.
Or just write to Kaman, who makes the feedback buster; see if they make a similar model for smaller sound holes.

Dennis
Click to expand...


Got it. It's the damn mic. I'm using a Platinum as well, but with only an undersaddle pickup.

Writing to Kaman seems like a good idea. Otherwise, you could probably buy som kind of rubber matting and make your own - which might be kind of fun.

-Chris
 
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Well, I did it; made my own, out of two matching pieces of spruce.
If any of you have ever been to the Martin Factory tour, then you know they give you, as your ticket, a round disc that is a cutout from one of their guitars. It is 4" in diameter, and I had a few from years past and cut one down to 3 5/8" dia., then glued the two together. Used some wood shavings from some leftover oak pieces, mixed it with some Elmer's Glue to make a filler of sorts to fill in the 1/2" hole in the middle, and there you have it. A custom made Feedback Buster for a small bodied F-30R.
'Course, that was before I looked at the web site you guys had listed. Those luthiers make some nice stuff.
 
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