High pitch feedback

Spitz

New member
Hi!

Let me just start out by saying, that i'm more than happy with my newly acquired Torpedo Live. It captures the tone of my old Selmer amp and emulates my greenback cabinet in a way i thought wasn't possible. It is SO good. But i have a single problem.

I'm getting a really high pitched feelback, it's most present when i'm using my '79 Tokai Tele (with newer pickups that i've installed). It's much less present when i'm playing my Chapman Ml1 Bea (completely stock). Generally when i fire op the gain, the feedback starts.

My Signal is Guitar > TS808 reis > Mooer hustle drive > TC Alter Ego > Mooer Shitverb (that's what i call it, getting something else soon) > 2nd channel on my modified Selmer Treble'n'bass 100 >speaker out to torpedo 8 ohm input > audio interface. The Torpedo is grounded. My amp only has a 2 leg power connector, but i'm wondering if the missing ground on this could be causing the problem. The amp is running 2 EL34's and set to 4 ohm to accommodate the change from 4 tubes. I'm using quality cables all the way, and there's a regular guitar cable between the amp and torpedo

Generally i can have a LOT of gain on the Chapman without any problems. The tele starts feeding when i turn on the Ts808 on low gain settings. The amp is cranked a bit more than halfway up, where it really starts breaking up nicely.

The feed is somewhere around 2-3khz if i were to estimate , and it's actually present in the Torpedo unit itself, guess it's the coil in the reactive load, as stated in the user manual. I've set the input levels according the manual, and the torpedo is connected to my RME babyface via line out > Jack to XLR > into channel 1.

Can i do anything to stop the feed, i can barely play my tele as it is, and i'm clueless - only thing i can think of is missing ground somewhere.

Please ask if i need to clarify anything.
 
I want to add that i just tested this with my Weber Mass Attenuator between amp and Torp Live (read something like this in a different thread) and it doesn't eliminate the feedback even through i turn it down really low.

I tele just keeps squealing when i'm using my Hustle drive or ts808.
 
Here's a recording.

https://soundcloud.com/smoeren

Tokai tele until 1.08 messing around with pickups and TS808/Hustle Drive.

Second part is my chapman, stacking both gain pedals give no feedback. Both using humbucker and coil split.

Is this just a problem with my guitar? I don't get that kind of feedback when using the amp regularly.
 
Hello Spitz,

First of all :
Spitz":1v1ihj5e said:
there's a regular guitar cable between the amp and torpedo
You should use a speaker cable there, not a guitar cable.

Then, the fact that the amp is not grounded might well be the problem. It was probably designed this way, to be used on a speaker cabinet (which is not grounded either), but now it's being used with the Torpedo Live, which is grounded. It's probably worth a try to ground it and see how it behaves.
 
I'd also try playing the guitar a bit further away from the amp and loadbox, there may be some magnetic coupling. Telecasters are great but one must assure the bridge plate is not resonating. There are lots of web resources on reducing high pitched feedback issues with guitars.
 
Hi again. Thanks for the replies.

I tried using a speaker cable, i did that when i had the attenuator between amp and torpedo. Made no difference. And and torpedo are physically places a couple of meters apart.

I just think it's weird, that it only happens with my telecaster - so that guitar must differ from the chapman in some way. My strat isn't half as bad, and that's single coils as well.
 
Spitz":1nvek7wo said:
I tried using a speaker cable, i did that when i had the attenuator between amp and torpedo. Made no difference.

I probably should have been more clear :) My remark has nothing to do with your current issue, it's a matter of safety, and possible fire hazard. A speaker cable is designed to handle the power coming out of the amp, but a guitar cable is not. So a guitar cable used there could, worst case scenario, melt or catch fire. To be honest, it's not a huge risk, but it sure isn't worth taking it ;)
 
sysexguy":rudswgky said:
I'd also try playing the guitar a bit further away from the amp and loadbox, there may be some magnetic coupling. Telecasters are great but one must assure the bridge plate is not resonating. There are lots of web resources on reducing high pitched feedback issues with guitars.

I had no idea. It's an old piece.. How do i work around resonating parts, or even test them?
 
Basstyra":12n8z274 said:
Spitz":12n8z274 said:
I tried using a speaker cable, i did that when i had the attenuator between amp and torpedo. Made no difference.

I probably should have been more clear :) My remark has nothing to do with your current issue, it's a matter of safety, and possible fire hazard. A speaker cable is designed to handle the power coming out of the amp, but a guitar cable is not. So a guitar cable used there could, worst case scenario, melt or catch fire. To be honest, it's not a huge risk, but it sure isn't worth taking it ;)

Duly noted :) Thank you.
 
Okay update:

The squeal is there regardless of which pick up i use. Regardless of amount of drive/gain from pedals. The pickup selector changes the squeal slightly. If i touch the strings it dissapears. If i put ONE finger on neck pickup, a string or a tuner it's gone. If i touch the bridge, it doesn't go away. So i guess it's a grounding issue with the telecaster. The bridge may not be grounding properly i guess?

Atleast i'm happy it doesn't seem to be a problem with the torpedo or my amp, but rather a probably easily fixable connection on my tele.

Any ideas on how to fix this best?

edit: Oh yeah it seems to worsen when i wear my headphones. Which i find weird. :)
 
I actually had this same issue happen to me once. The cause for the squealing in my case was that I had accidentally grabbed a power cord for my amp that I had modified to not have the ground wire attached to the ground pin (was using for troubleshooting purposes in the past...). Once I opened up the plug and reconnected the ground, the squealing miraculously disappeared.
 
Hmm, if you touch the strings the noise goes away, but if you touch the bridge it doesn't?

This doesn't make sense as the strings get their ground through the bridge?

What else are you touching when you touch the strings only and the noise goes away?

In any case, ground the bridge as it should be grounded (typically they wrap a ground wire around one of the bridge mounting screws and solder it to the back of one of the pots, though solder at both ends is preferred if there's a place to do it on your Tele?).
 
Thank you guys for the replies.

@CPIQUETTE: I guess i'll have to ground my amp then. That'll be a start.

@DJD100: I know it sounds weird. I think the bridge on my tokai is somewhat non-conductive. it's not a typical steel bridge, it's made of some sort of brass, as far as i can tell. It's properly grounded as far as i can tell.
 
You definitely want to be grounded, because if something happens, you will become the path of least resistance to ground.
 
Hey guys.

I know i'm about a year late, but i totally forgot to share my solution the the problem.

I simply had to ground my Selmer amp. Previous owner, had apparently removed the ground wire from the power cable, so i had to reinstall that. All problems solved, simple as that. I've been very happy with the Live ever since!
 
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