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I'm learning in bloom - nirvana atm. So I'm playing with a lot of distortion. The song has a lot of muting from the left hand but when I try to do so it makes a terrible noise. It's loud and dark if I mute in the first fret (which I don't really have a problem with) but when I try to mute on frets lower than the first it starts to squeal. How can I make the squealing go away?
Thanks for the help in advance.
Make sure you mute with as many fingers as you can to smother and deaden completely without creating unwanted harmonics. Harmonics can also be limited by changing where you are hitting the strings with your pick hand. Try move up closer to the neck during those times you want to completely kill that. use your pick hand to help mute also. When you are playing that hot, the default should be to ALWAYS have your pick hand muting everything, killing all harmonics, feedback, and grounding hum as much as possible, and only off to allow enough room to play the notes/string you want, like a human noise gate.
There are a few ways to stop feedback:
1.Stand in a different proximity to the amp.
2.Face a different direction (away from the amp)
3.Use less volume or gain (sounds like a non-option if you like the tone)
4.Use a noise gate/suppressor
I play at extreme volumes and use a Noise Suppressor pedal with knobs, which allows me to target the right level of suppression to apply to the signal, as well as the attack time before the suppression kicks in. It allows all strumming to get through and feedback to be silenced, if set properly. I generally put this pedal first in my effects line, but if you want to also suppress the noise from other pedals (like Distortion or Chorus) you can try putting the pedal nearer to the end of the signal chain.
