Guitar damper: what is it, what is it for and why use it?

You saw your friend playing with something on the mouth of the guitar and you went to ask what it was and he said it was a damper. Or you may have seen someone playing with it in a video on the internet. Today we’re going to clear up your doubts about what it is, what it’s for, and how to use the damper on your guitar.

What is a guitar damper?

A muffler is a part that goes into the mouth of the guitar. One of the purposes of using it is to prevent feedback when playing. Therefore, the damper is used when the instrument is connected to an amplifier, hub, etc. The damper is called by other names such as anti-feedback, feedback damper, resonance reducer, among others. There are even those who call the part just feedback. The point is that it is a part that prevents that feedback when you play with the instrument connected. This damper is made of a malleable material, which prevents damage to the instrument. But it is important not to buy very malleable ear muffs, as they may not fit as well as they should. To place the damper on the instrument, you must first loosen the strings, as only then will it be possible to insert the part.

But how does it work?

The damper prevents the sound from coming back through the mouth of the guitar. In other words, it will prevent that “echo”, that resonance, which is responsible for the feedback. Many times when you play your guitar in a live performance, the instrument vibrates the strings and the sound goes into the box and then comes back out vibrating the strings and that’s where the problem lies:
In this return, the sound can vibrate strings that aren’t being played and that can leave the sound tangled and cause feedback that isn’t cool.
But it can also happen that the sound from the guitar pickup goes into the box, and then it goes back through the return box and goes to the instrument, which also causes the strings to vibrate when that sound enters the instrument box through its mouth.
And that’s where the guitar damper comes in to save the day. Avoiding this problem that can damage musicality. The damper is an allied accessory for those who want to play live and without resonance/feedback problems. But when it comes to playing, it is important to know the size of your guitar’s mouth and to choose a quality piece as well.