The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    Balloons should work like tape, maybe better, if they're directly under the f holes. But I've never needed to try it, so I can't say from personal experience. I've never used tape, either, just speculating.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #27

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    Quote Originally Posted by wintermoon
    Been covered many times here.
    I ordered a pair of Doug Plugs about 12 yrs ago for my old L-5 and they're about the best $50 I ever spent.

    Almost can't tell they're there and they work great.
    I play in a lot of Hammond organ bands w a Twin Reverb right behind me and they do the job.
    When I got the guitar it had old packing tape on the f holes and it left marks in the nitro. I was able to remove the marks but I'd never use that stuff.
    Might be safe on a poly guitar but I never tried it.
    Doug is a friend of mine and I was in on his early experiments with the plugs. I think it's still the most elegant solution, looks great, works, no harm to the guitar. Balloons or stuffing seems to me would affect the response of the guitar somehow.

    I've also used the bottom of sandals and cut out a shape with a fine saw. Not as elegant as Doug's plugs though.

  4. #28

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    Just fill the git with this... :-)

    The Packing Tape Solution (Covering F-Holes)-grat_stuff-jpg

  5. #29

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    The interior of my ‘68 GJS was completely stuffed full of furniture style foam rubber when I got it. Pulling it all out through the f holes was not a quick or easy process.

  6. #30

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    i've never worried about weakening the adhesive. My son had packing tape on the F-Holes of his '91 Gibson ES-165 for over 6 months. When we took the tape off, it left residue on the finish which wiped clean after wiping off with a cloth with naptha on it. No finish damage.

    Don't be afraid of tape, lol.

    Again, i will say that I've used plugs and they don't work as well as tape for some reason. Bollenback mentioned the same thing to me. He always used packing tape on his nitro-finished guitars. Benson has also always used packing tape and rodney jones uses it as well.

  7. #31

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    Quote Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
    Has anybody tried blowing up ordinary balloons inside the guitar? I've read about this and always wondered if it worked.
    Don’t leave them in too long or they will affect the finish.

    The Packing Tape Solution (Covering F-Holes)-cd97a2f7-6315-4e0e-bc93-7941f06602e8-jpg

  8. #32

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jonathan0996
    I had good luck working a thick piece of foam padding into the F hole and wedging it between the top and the back. It takes patience and you need to be careful about the wiring, but it worked beautifully for me. Obviously it's not something you'd want to do and undo all the time.
    me too Johnathan
    I suggest for anyone considering this
    just stuffing the upper bout first and try it out on a gig .....
    (one bout was enough for me)
    and you won't be anywhere near the wiring
    Apart from reducing the propensity to feedback to almost nothing
    It also made the guitar less bright and with a shorter decay
    (which I happen to like ....)

    good luck

  9. #33

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  10. #34

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    Not on my L5! Maybe on a Poly finish.
    I have stuffed guitars, had to! A '68 Guild ST 302 that howled like nothing else, and we were playing rock, in large clubs. That did it.

  11. #35

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  12. #36

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    Quote Originally Posted by Moonray
    In my group, modern jazz guitar (see signature below) Bruce Forman wrote that Henry Johnson turned him on to cling-wrap tape for the f-holes. Henry switched from packing tape to cling-wrap tape.

  13. #37

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    Taping the holes keeps air from freely moving in and out of the guitar body. The top can still vibrate.

    At some frequencies where the net air volume does not change much (part of the top moves up while another part moves down) the tape does almost nothing.

    At the moaning frequencies that we associate with acoustic feedback, the air volume changes significantly.

    The tape causes the air in the guitar to be compressed and expanded - rather than simply moving in and out through the f-holes. The air somewhat resists this expansion and compression, thus the feedback damping.

    The extent to which plugs will not seal as well as tape will reduce the effectiveness of the plugs in this regard.

    *************

    On the other hand, plugs add more mass than tape, but this can be less effective than sealing the air chamber in terms of damping feedback.

    In my opinion.

  14. #38

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    randy johnston uses rubber plugs. He says they work the best. I may try making my own

  15. #39

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    I use heavy vinyl clear tapr on my archtops with heavy Poly finishes . These are working guitars. Guild x-150d Ibanez ag95 Conti, Peerlace monarch .To keep busy sometimes I have to play quite loud in fairly cramped spaces Recently retaped one after changeing a volume pot No damage to finish was visible Mickmac

  16. #40

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    I know John McGlaughlin performed for quite some time with a Johnny Smith. I saw him playing this instrument with Joey DeFrancesco several years ago and this was a high volume performance. I never noticed him struggling w/ feedback. Does anyone know what he used to control feedback?

    Albert
    Last edited by AKA; 08-23-2019 at 09:00 PM. Reason: Add missing text

  17. #41

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    Quote Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
    Has anybody tried blowing up ordinary balloons inside the guitar? I've read about this and always wondered if it worked.
    I used that method with a Johnny Smith several years ago, wedging a piece of mat black cardboard between a ballon underneath the bass side f-hole. It worked and I only had to change out the balloon
    like once a year. The acoustic dampening effect was minimal and since I used that guitar in an electric band it didn't matter. It's non-invasive and cheap, just give it a try.

  18. #42

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    Quote Originally Posted by AKA
    I know he performed for quite some time with a Johnny Smith. I saw him playing this instrument with Joey DeFrancesco several years ago and this was high volume performance. I never noticed him struggling w/ feedback. Does anyone know what he used to control feedback?

    Albert
    who is "he"

  19. #43

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    Quote Originally Posted by jzucker
    randy johnston uses rubber plugs. He says they work the best. I may try making my own
    The sole material from inexpensive "flip-flops" works pretty well.

  20. #44

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    Quote Originally Posted by jzucker
    who is "he"
    Oops! I was referring to John McGlaughlin playing his Johnny Smith at loud levels touring with Joey Defrancesco and others.

    Albert

  21. #45

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    Quote Originally Posted by Easy2grasp
    I am the current conservator for this guitar. This is what duct tape does after about fifty years. Is that cool or what?
    The one and only Tommy Tedesco!
    Tommy used to stubb out cigarettes on his main studio Telecaster. Good for it's shock value. He cared little for the appearance of his guitars. He would do ANYTHING to get thru the gig...Play classical guitar with a pick...tune any instrument like a guitar...nothing was sacred.