Feedback Problems! :(

[IrritatedViking]

Hey guys, I'm having some pretty bad squealing from my rig. It happens only when I'm not playing while I have my compressor and distortion pedals on (simultaneously) - and I'm talking about instantly. During a solo/etc, the very moment I stop my note, bang - feedback!

I showed my Classic S to my friend (a guy who builds his own tele's) and he said that the cause may be that I'm missing some kind of "copper lining" in the switch plate cavity???

Also, ironically, I was scrolling down the G&L Discussions Page and found this http://guitarsbyleo.com/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1650 <-- I dunno if one of those problems may be my problem...

But seriously - I haven't a clue as to where the feedback problem is... my guitar, amp, or pedals?!?!... Any help would greatly be appreciated!!!

[Philby]

Time for some experimentation!

Does it happen when your compressor is off?

If you dial in only gentle compression and threshold values does is still happen?

Is your compressor placed before or after the distortion? Try changing the order of the chain.

Can you tell I think your compressor is causing the problem?

One of the side effects of compressors is that they can increase the overall noise floor if set aggressively (i.e. they can turn apparent silence into a wall of noise). That is why a lot of compressors also have a built in noise gate - to stop the 'silence' turning into noise that can cause feedback.

Most distortion effects compress the signal pretty heavily on their own. Running a distortion pedal AND a compressor means you're probably getting a double dose of compression. I'd be surprised if the distortion sounded better with additional compression.

[IrritatedViking]

Nah, only when my compressor and distortion pedals are simultaneously on.

My compressor only has two features: "Compress" and "Volume"

The comp. is placed before my distortion stuff. In fact my "distortion" consists of a Crunch channel and a High Gain channel.

The crappy part is that I have my compress set to about 9:00 and am forced to set my volume at 3:00 - 4:00 just to match myself being completely clean. (So I guess I am using it "aggressively?)

I'd use just my crunch and high gain, but I can't get enough sustain (for solos) with just those two alone

I appreciate it Philby!