Lets talk amp feedback.

In the corner of my basement I have all of my "ukulele stuff" set up to play with. I have a Kustom PA-50 on a stand. I have an old Marshall ten watt guitar amp that I bought at t garage sale. I have a Vox Mini 3. This is what it looks like.


Right at this moment, the only thing hooked up is the Kustom amp. The uke is plugged in to it and the microphone. I get a lot of feedback. I think it is from the microphone, as it goes away when I turn the volume down on it. And it works just fine. I balance the two, then adjust the volume with the master. But the thing is, I just get a lot of feedback on all three. I can usually turn down the gain on the Vox or the Marshall and everything is fine, but I wonder what causes feedback? In layman terms that is. Any tips out there to help avoid it? I might add that there is a Kindle attached to the microphone stand as well. I don't know if that would have anything to do with it. Also I have accumulated lots of cables and they end up on the floor. I don't know if stray cables cause any of it either.

On another note, I keep trying to hook the Marshall up to the Kustom and point it back toward me so that I can hear what is going the other direction. That is not working as I had hoped that it would. All I get is feedback. Again, I can't get my head too deep into it, I'm not good at scurrying down rabbit holes.

One of the sources of feedback is the sound from your amp being picked up by your mic or by the pickup in your instrument and being recycled back into the amp. Start by figuring out if your mic and or uke are too close to the amp. Based on your photo, that's a good possibility.

Absolutely correct, the mic is too close to the amp and they can't face each other. The best position for the mic is behind the amp, where they are both facing forward. The best place for a monitor is on the floor facing up in front of the mic.

Yes, exactly what others have said...

If the speaker/amp is next to you, and too close feedback will occur.

If the speaker/amp is BEHIND you, feedback will occur.

Move the Kustom at least 6-8 ft away from you on the side, and such that the Kustom is farther forward from your body than the mic itself on the stand or the uke when holding it to play and sing.

Also, move the Vox or the Marshall at least 3ft away from you, in front of you, and have it tilted/angled back such that the sound is projected toward you when at the mic - this will allow you to hear it better, as well as allow for a lower volume needed since the sound is being projected at your head instead of at your ankles on the floor.

Feedback frequencies are usually in the midrange, and some audio equipment has what is called a NOTCH FILTER that lets you reduce a specific frequency, in this case, the frequency that is causing the feedback, which you would dial down until the oscillation (feedback screeching) stops.

Also, using a cardioid mic which is most sensitive at only up to about 6 inches from the front of it will help. Cardioid mics reject sound that is not right in front of it. Further if you are too far away from the mic, say 12 inches, you will have to turn the volume way up in order to be heard, and this is the opposite of how vocal cardioid mics are designed to work. Maybe just as a test, get right up on the mic, almost like you are kissing the mic grill and start with a low volume, and incrementally turn it up and you will see that you do not have to turn up the Kustom nor the Vox/Marshall for the mic to pick up your voice better...

If, and once you do all the above, the pickup in the uke should not be feeding back as much or at all.

Please report back with an update and in case further troubleshooting is necessary.

Booli said:

Please report back with an update and in case further troubleshooting is necessary.

Click to expand...

I moved the Kustom amp out away from me a couple of feet more. It may have helped. I might have to fight it down there in the basement, because there is only so much room to move them. But they are as far as they can go right now. As time goes on I will see what happens. Thanks for the feedback. That's a joke, thanks for the feedback. Get it? But it also seems like moving the mic affects it too. I don't think that it is just the pickup in relation to the amp, it is the mic too. Which if true, gives me two aspects of it to deal with.