Please Explain "Pinch Harmonics"

[rdnzl]

Another noob question.....

I see quite a few references to pinch harmonics.

Could someone explain what exactly that means, and why I need to know how to do it?

Thanks

[Los7]

i'm not sure if i'm allowed to post this
applogies in advance for linking to another guitar site
Here

[Power_13]

I'm not sure how to describe the sound, but try this. Very lightly place your finger on any string, at the twelfth fret. Pick the string, and you should get a "chime"-esque sound from it. That's an artificial harmonic. A pinched harmonic sounds like this, but with a little more "bite" to it.

To do a pinched harmonic, hold your pick so that the flesh of your thumb is very close to the end. When you pick the string, pick it so that your thumb touches it briefly. It works best in certain places on the string, so it might take a while to get the hang of it.

Hope this helps :)

[cooltone]

Guys like Billy Gibbons and Zakk Wylde do this a lot. When done as Power_13 described above, you get a harmonic overtone on top of the note you are plucking or 'pinching'. It's easier to get these when you have a heavily overdriven sound.

[juniorspecial]

You know that sound pretty girls make when you pinch 'em good?

Pinch harmonics.

[Los7]

i like the sound you get when you pluck the note and get the harmonic at the same time. I dont really practice these, but i can occasionaly pull them out accidently, lol. I sorta mean to do them, but its very.........whats the word......i cant think, we'll just say 50/50

[Kap'n]

As others have said, overdrive helps.

If you hold your pick between extended thumb and index finger, if you pull them in, the meat of your fingers deaden the fundamental, and you get the harmonics, hence the 'pinch.'

[thetallcoolone]

A prime example of pinch harmonics sounds, ZZ Top La Grange, starting at about 2:32 and more evidently at about 3:06 on.

Some guitar tones are more prone to generate that sound as the G and B strings are easier to use for this sound.

Pinch harmonics are generated basicaly the same way as you generate the artificial harmonics by slightly touching the stings at the 12th, 7th and 5th fret while picking'em. Only this time, as Power13 explained, you do it by slightly touching the string, as you pick it, with the side of your thumb holding the pick.
And depending on where you fret a note, the actual place where you "pinch" will vary slightly, just as different "pinching" locations will generate different harmonics (as heard at 3:06 to 3:12 of La Grange)

Experimentation is the key here.
Have fun!

[Offshore Angler]

A Rangemaster clone is perfect for doing them live. It pops them right out in the mix. With classic OD or distortion they tend to get lost in it.

[sabby]

Listen to Robby Robertson's intro Cripple Creek for a less screaming style.

[photoweborama]

I do it all the time. one of my regular tools in by tool box...
I makes it sound like your amp is doing a high frequency feedback, but only much more controlled.

[NeoFauve]

Listen to Robby Robertson's intro Cripple Creek for a less screaming style.

Or Clapner's solo on "Bell Bottom Blues."
Brief. but nice.

[Gravity Jim]

Or Skunk Baxter's jaw-dropping set of thumb harmonics in the first phrase of the second solo on "My Old School" By Steely Dan. Clean and dazzling.