Lyric Feedback question

[MostlySunny]

Hi, I searched through the forum and only found a few scenarios that were kind of similar, so I thought I would post this, as it's more specific to the issue I'm having. I just installed the Lyric in my Tacoma Dm9 dread. I have been using a Lawrence P/U for a while and just couldn't take the tinny sound anymore. I've been so pleased with the results of the lyric so far. After installing the Lyric, I set up and adjusted the system through my board at home and my monitors. Loved the sound right away! Then I ran it through my PA at home just to hear the difference, still sounded excellent. Couldn't wait to play with my band and got a chance to do that a few nights later. It was at an open mic and it sounded great there too! Then last night happened...

We had a gig at a local bar. A fairly quaint place with a nice sound system. I got my guitar plugged into a DI that went straight to the board. When the soundguy brought up my levels, crazy amounts of feedback occurred. We tried all kinds of things. I tried different volume levels from my guitar, he was eq'ing and trying stuff on the board, I moved to several areas around the stage, we checked all the connections down the signal path, to no luck. It just kept feeding back terribly. He told me that it was odd that my guitar was putting out a noticeably low output level and that he was having to crank his preamp on the board to get a signal that was barely audible in the mains. I did not even have any monitor at that point, just mains and it kept feeding back. I even went over to the board to have a look and see if he was missing something. But right there next to my line on the board was my partner's signal from her cheap ass Yamaha, cutting through without a worry or any feed back and plenty of signal while the line to my guitar was almost maxed out. I went back and threw in the lawrence pick up because we had to get the show on the road. I came home after the gig and set up my rig, just to check that it was working correctly and it was fine.

So with that, I have 2 questions. Am I missing something? I thought the lyric would be able to handle that kind of environment with relatively no feedback problems. And what can I do to avoid feedback issues at relatively small venues that have so-so soundguys, so that I can play my acoustic with the Lyric the way it was designed to by played? Thanks.

[Caleb_Elling]

Hey MostlySunny,
The Lyric is extremely feedback resistant for a live microphone, but it can definitely encounter issues when played through a bass-heavy PA in a bad room- or if the soundguy doesn't know how to deal with feedback properly.

Do you have any kind of preamp or DI that you plug your guitar into when playing live? You shouldn't encounter that same problem very often with the Lyric, but when you do, it is extremely helpful to have something like the Venue DI to help you out. Something like the Venue DI will help to shape the Lyric's tone in less ideal situations, or cut out specific feedback frequencies in really bad situations. Even a basic Phase Inversion switch would be really helpful in a situation like that. Most active DI's and preamps have that, at least.

I've talked with a few Lyric players who have used soundhole covers too. In louder playing situations in smaller rooms, they seem to work pretty well.

I really don't think that there is anything wrong with your Lyric. I think that it may have just had issues with that specific room and PA. If you are able to try it in some other situations with the same results, let me know, and we can go from there.

I'm also happy to help with any other questions that you have about dealing with feedback in general.

[MostlySunny]

Thanks for the quick reply. I was not playing through or employing any sort of feedback suppression techniques besides EQ from the board. I was hoping the Lyric would be able to handle that sort of venue on it's own. After looking around a bit more and seeing the suggestions you've just posted, I now know that there were quite a few possible reasons for the feedback situation I was having the other night. I don't think it was phase, as I was moving all around the stage to see if that was the problem. There were rather large subwoofers on the under/side of the stage, and I heard that could have really caused a problem with the Lyric. Looks like I'll have to invest in some gear to help prevent feedback considering the differences in the types of venues I'll be playing in. I'll let you know what solution works for me. Thanks again.

[Caleb_Elling]

Thanks for the quick reply. I was not playing through or employing any sort of feedback suppression techniques besides EQ from the board. I was hoping the Lyric would be able to handle that sort of venue on it's own. After looking around a bit more and seeing the suggestions you've just posted, I now know that there were quite a few possible reasons for the feedback situation I was having the other night. I don't think it was phase, as I was moving all around the stage to see if that was the problem. There were rather large subwoofers on the under/side of the stage, and I heard that could have really caused a problem with the Lyric. Looks like I'll have to invest in some gear to help prevent feedback considering the differences in the types of venues I'll be playing in. I'll let you know what solution works for me. Thanks again.

Sounds good.

Under-stage subs can be a nightmare for acoustic guitars, with any pickup. A good soundman should be able to take the guitar out of the subs to drastically reduce that issue, without effecting the sound too much. It all depends on how the system is wired up.

Let me know what you find.