MOTM

h3y jb,
 try leggin' the output of the vca into a mixer/attenuater(<-sp?) 
first and then back out to the input on your vca with a lower signal 
level.  it's easier to control the amount of feedback this way.  
 as far as the PU vibratin' itself to death, i've always been under 
the (¿)delusion(?)that it's the strings vibratin' themselves to 
death, not the  PU.
 have you tried feedback with an ebow?  i use a '63 gretsch 
tennessean into a reissue '65 twin with no outboard overdrive, reverb 
at max o' course.  by adjustin' the vibrato settin' carefully, while 
slowly bendin' the bigsby, one can achieve a most interestin' 
auditory journey.  much more beautiful than fully distorted 
feedback.  kinda synthy-like...(at least that's what the keyboard 
player i was jammin' with said when he found out he wasn't makin' 
that noise...)
peace,
doc

--- In motm@egroups.com, jwbarlow@a... wrote:
> I've always heard that you should never plug a VCA output into 
either of its 
> inputs -- this seems like very good advice and I (even me!) have 
always 
> followed it due to the obvious end in a positive feedback loop. A 
VCA 
> actually probably has some upper limit to prevent it from 
destroying itself 
> (anybody want to clarify that for me). But why chance it when you 
can spend 
> your time plugging everything else into itself.
> 
> Speaking of positive feedback, I was thinking of its destructive 
nature and 
> realized that it probably was similarly destructive to guitars. For 
example, 
> I have long used the technique of holding the guitar about a foot 
away form 
> the speaker (with the volume and treble up to 10 naturally) which 
results in 
> a squealing pitch (often referred to as Tele feedback when it 
happens in less 
> deliberate circumstances). The pitch can be changed by changing the 
distance 
> and orientation of the guitar as well as the tone controls and PU 
selector. 
> However, it occurred to me that what is actually going on, with the 
PU going 
> microphonic like this, is the PU vibrating itself to death. I try 
to do this 
> less often with my older guitars nowadays.
> 
> JB
>