Taping over F holes: Works!

[Donelson]

I got my first jazz box, or thick-bodied archtop, around 1979. That was a Gibson ES175. Since then, I've had many of these creatures, as I am into jazz guitar.

The problem with them is the "howling" feedback notes when amplified to a loud sound; usually just one or more pitches; but that howl is a real "buzz kill". The non-howling pitches that feed back aren't a problem; in fact that gives you "the sound", with long decay time on each note, if you are lucky. AKA "sustain".

I've been playing my Heritage at loud volumes lately, and trying to tame the howling.

That old-timey trick of taping over the F holes WORKS! I can't believe I never tried that before. I used to stuff the bodies with foam etc., a fad years ago, and also a pain.

I temporarily used some painter tape, gently applied, to cover both F holes. At the same volume to where the howly notes were howling, no howl!

I then jacked up the volume; maybe twice as loud. Still no howl.

The tape is very ugly; better solution needed. But now I have hope! No parametric eq's etc. needed to quell that howling.

P.S. I didn't notice any huge impairment of the acoustic sound after putting that tape on the Heritage; maybe I was just too giddy over being able to crank it up to a loud volume!

[brookdalebill]

Another reason I love my Gretsch 1959-6122!
Painted on F holes!

[ASC67]

You'd think someone would make feedback buster F hole shaped inserts like the round acoustic ones .

Edited to add:
Someone does
http://www.dougsplugs.com/

[superlightweigh]

Originally Posted by ASC67

You'd think someone would make feedback buster F hole shaped inserts like the round acoustic ones .

Edited to add:
Someone does
http://www.dougsplugs.com/

that's out-freakin-standing! I love my big Gretchy sounding Artcore AF-95 and would bring it to more gigs with something like this!

BTW that Heritage is a beauty! I keep a Heritage as the screen saver on my laptop (someday.....)

[robt57]

They make duct tape in all kinds of cool patterns, you could make them f-hole shaped but bigger and be styling with some Cheetah/Zebra pattern DIY tape ons.

[J. Hayes]

clear packing tape, then you wouldn't notice it as much when you're on stage...... I knew a guy once who played a jazz box mostly and had a couple of homemade "feedback busters". What he did was cut some foam that was about 3/4" thick to the exact size as the F-holes. He'd traced the shape of them before hand on paper, cut 'em out, and used a sharpie to draw the shape onto the foam. Then he'd cut out two slightly larger shapes on some plastic, glued the foam to it so just a bit of the shape of the plastic was out over the foam. The plastic was already black so he took some ivory colored paint and painted around the edge of the plastic so it'd look like binding in the F-holes. If you'd made them like this, rhen you'd be able to take them in and out at will and they'd do the job. You could also do this with a couple of pieces of clear plexiglass if you wanted to.........JH in Va.

[RevMike]

I played doghouse bass for many years at Rock/Punk volumes. You can only imagine the wicked howl. I used a combination of a preamp, and F hole shaped foam cutouts that I got off the internet somewhere. Worked like a charm. I imagine that you could find the foam cutouts if not....should be easy enough to make. They were black, and didn't look too bad.

[Lowbassnotes]

When I think of duct tape sound holes I think of Mark Farner of Grand Funk. It seemed to work well for him.

[charlie chitlin]

Originally Posted by ASC67

You'd think someone would make feedback buster F hole shaped inserts like the round acoustic ones .

Edited to add:
Someone does
http://www.dougsplugs.com/

I have a set of these that came with an archtop I bought.
Never tried them, but they live in the case...just in case.
Just in CASE...get it?
Har!

[DuncanAngus]

I have an early 80's es-335Studio. Pretty much a 335 but w/o F-holes, think Lucielle without the bling. Sweet guitar and I've never had it feedback at all. Acoustically/open, it's almost dead nuts to any 335 I've played and sometimes wonder if F-holes are just a cosmetic thing.

That said, the 335 is semi hollow as a 175 is the real deal hollow. I do wonder about inserts because I use them on my acoustics and they do work well...

[Jack FFR1846]

OMG, don't use duct tape or packing tape unless you are looking to pull the finish off and relic your guitar.

I have masking tape colored painters tape. I bought it in a Sherwin Williams store, I think. The color is somewhat closer to your guitar. Get some wide stuff and cut it to a pattern slightly larger but in the shape of the F hole.

[jazztele]

Get creative.

Take a few strips of painters tape and afix them to a piece of wax paper.

Next, take a piece of tracing paper and trace your F holes.

Cut out the f holes from the tracing paper and trace them onto the painters tape strips.

Color them black with a marker.

Now, cut them just a little too large and place them over your guitar's F holes.



Other thoughts on this:

Hofner Jazzicas used to come with ebony F hole plugs with a foam backing...classy.

If you're rocking out with a hollowbody, this might be a necessary evil...but I'm under the impression many jazz guitarists play waaay too loud. Keeping volume reasonable and finding the right way to stand in proximity to your amp can usually eliminate all of these problems.

[Donelson]

Thanks for lots of good ideas. I'll probably stop in one of those arts & crafts stores & see if I see anything I could make into plugs for the f-holes.

Of course I knew about taping the holes way back, but for some reason never did it that I can remember. I was at Berklee starting in 1979 and practically every teacher had a jazz guitar with taped f-holes. Sort of like this:

[superlightweigh]

Originally Posted by Donelson

Thanks for lots of good ideas. I'll probably stop in one of those arts & crafts stores & see if I see anything I could make into plugs for the f-holes.:

that or maybe Home Depot? I'm thinking some kind of weatherstripping would work

[BHelmuth]

Do the same thing with a clear self adhesive laminating sheet.

I am not responsible for any damage caused by mean adhesive on your guitar.

[BHelmuth]

[QUOTE=jazztele;3966996]Get creative.

Take a few strips of painters tape and afix them to a piece of wax paper.

Next, take a piece of tracing paper and trace your F holes.

Cut out the f holes from the tracing paper and trace them onto the painters tape strips.

Color them black with a marker.

Now, cut them just a little too large and place them over your guitar's F
holes.


Forgot to Quote

Or do the same thing with clear packaging tape, or a clear laminating sheet.

[Donelson]

Still trying to figure out a solution here. With the f holes covered the Heritage is far more usable & versatile. Zero interest in "rocking out" with this axe, as it has bronze strings & a bonetop bridge! Just looking for good performance volume with less howling.

I tried some clear tape; poor results. Too thin & kept tearing, & the glue seemed too strong. Next I'm going to try some EVA or "craft foam" that can be cut to fit & popped in there, & could be pulled out any time. PITA but probably doable eventually. Sold at arts & crafts places.

The Doug's Plugs just seem way too fancy for me. I.e., I'm a broke tightwad.

But, THIS is so easy! Saw it on the web. Recommended by Heritage. Just blow up black balloons inside the f holes! Not permanent, as balloons lose their air in a few weeks; but it does work; equally good results howl-wise to the blue tape. And looks WAY better.

[jipp]

heh neat tip on the baloon. do you think if the F holes where smaller the issue would be less? what if you had two small f holes.. just thinking out loud.
chris.

[BHelmuth]

Great tip. Now I'm thinking, balloons would probably work on an acoustic electric. I'm not a big fan of the clunky rubber soundhole plugs.

[Hoopermazing]

I've always found that foam stuffed inside the f-holes works to attenuate feedback.