i have a squire tele and a crate vintage club 50. on the dirty channel, i can not get past 3.5 without simply going into flat feedback, and on the clean, i get feedback at around 8. is it the damned tele? do i need noiseless pickups? would throwing in some high quality tubes help? it has the same sovteks it was made with in there... and the amp is at least 19 years old.

It could just be the way the amp is situated in the room. It could be the guitar chord. Maybe you aren't grounded. I would try setting up in a different part of the room with a different chord.

Generally, that kind of feedback is caused by massively erotic levels of manliness. I tend to combat this by drinking mixed drinks and watching episodes of Sex and the City until I am feminine enough for it to stop.

From my experience, tube amps just tend to be more sensitive to issues in the chord or in wiring than other amp types. I could be totally off-base there, but that's how it always seems.

I now demand atleast 2 of your children.

Anywho, Grounding is a large part. If the amp is not grounded, all hell can break loose. The ground tip on my 5150's chord broke and I couldn't crank without there being a screech that would make a banshee wince.

60's cycle is probably the largest thing though. Teles are sincle coils generally, through some noise canceling single coils or the sincle spaced humbucker from Dimarzio or Seymour Duncan. That ought to really help.

well, my house is almost 160 years old, and the electric system is far outdated. no three prong outlets. i have the amp plugged into a power strip that has 2 prongs plugged into a ancient yellow extension cord that has 2 prong in and out. when i set my feet on the floor, the hum changes, and my guitar shocks me. my callouses don't mind, but if other parts touch, the metal on my guitar gives me a jolt. my squire tele definitely has no noise canceling pickups, and my amp is probably built in the late 80s. and, i'm so manly i can sit in trees on African savannas, and jack off, and kill lions from a hundred yards with my ejaculation. splat - skull completely crushed.

so, i guess i sort of have a perfect storm here for feedback and hum. what are my solutions? can't change house, for one. are there any devices that would condition my power so i can avoid this? do noise cancelling pickups sacrifice tone? i would sort of like to keep them single coil, none of those minibuckers there are, since i want to get another guitar with humbuckers.

Pick ups are the first option. Less hum + better tone = awesome.

Then, perhaps better shielding in the electronics of the guitar...

Other than that, replace the outlets of your house, or add on a music rom with proper wiring...

Could it be a foreign object in the pickup cavity? For a long time, I had a feedback problem, and upon closer inspection I found a mandolin pick (no idea how it got there) in between the pickup ring and the pickup on my SG. After I took it out, no problems.

Feedback is cool, I say roll with it. Technical failure equalizes musician and listener. Your guitar shocks you, that would be pretty sweet to see live -- collapse at the end of every show, nearly killed by your own performance, very Ian Curtis.

Also you may want to consider the possibility that you're living w/ a poltergeist. Break out the Ouija board and see what's up.

you don't understand... it's not just feedback, it's a damned blanket. can't hear ANYTHING else when it starts. and, the guitar shocking me isn't that bad, i can't feel it unless i accidentally touch my wrist to the bridge and get a nasty zap.

so, you're saying my performances should be a hour of feedback, followed by me collapsing, and then waking up screaming at the spirits in my gear?

You need proper grounding probably.