how loud do you play at home.

johnboy8 · 09-03-2009 09:18PM #1

just wondering how loud people play at home,i am always worried about the neighbours hearing me.i am playing a blackstar ht5 head into a 12" cabinet and even with this i am still using an attenuator.i live in a terrace house and the odd time i hear next door moving around doing normal things.the reason i bought the ht5 was because of the headphones out,at christmas i met the girl next door in the pub and she made some remark about my playing.maybe i might consider a smaller cabinet because its no fun playing into the headphones all the time,i am beginning to think amps are a waste of time at home.anyone any similar problems.

Alanstrainor · 09-03-2009 09:24PM

Aye, i know your pain, i started to get "compliments" from the neighbours 4 houses up from me!, and the houses are detached! So i knew then i\d have to start to turn things down a bit. I bought a korg pandora px4d for headphone use, that i find great, but it's no substitute for a cranked 40 watt fender valve!

ham_n_mustard · 09-03-2009 09:25PM

I feel your pain, but if you think thats bad, you should try playing bass at home with anything bigger than a practice amp.

Dord · 09-03-2009 09:28PM

ham_n_mustard wrote: »

I feel your pain, but if you think thats bad, you should try playing bass at home with anything bigger than a practice amp.

Yeah it's annoying. I generally only get to play bass at audible levels when there's nobody around the house. Other than that I ususally use my tascam bass trainer and a pair of headphones.

Guitar isn't as bad, the microcube is handy for playing at low levels.

ham_n_mustard · 09-03-2009 09:29PM

I feel your pain, but if you think thats bad, you should try playing bass at home with anything bigger than a practice amp. These days i just play through my pedals - mixer - headphones. I still rock!!! :rolleyes: but my but my neighbours and ten month old toddler dont lose any sleep

sorry bout the double post, i'm an idiot

boycey · 09-03-2009 09:33PM

Modern living/housing VS the electric guitarist eh?
The two really dont go hand in hand unfortunately. Personally speaking I play most evenings unplugged for a half hour or so (kids permitting).
On a Saturday/Sunday I'll plug in once the kids and wife are out but I dont go mad on the volume. I might get loud for 10 or 15 minutes or so (its a fair trade off for next doors constant DIY/poltergeist?) just to put a wee smile on my face, but I'd never push it. The older I get the more I enjoy playing with a nice clean sound anyway and that keeps the decibels down.
Getting up home to the parents is another matter- detached house out in full on country side- man I love to blast it when I get up there. Its therapeutic:pac:

johnboy8 · 09-03-2009 09:42PM

i've looked at pods and the like but i just like to plug and play,i only use reverb and a clean sound and dont want the distractions of all those amp models and other effects,i had the vox ad50vt and i used to spend at least 15 minutes every time i picked up the guitar fiddeling with it.

Gaspode · 09-03-2009 09:55PM

Hah, detached houses ftw!

No-one near enough to me to worry about, so I play as loud as the humour takes me.

-=al=- · 09-03-2009 10:04PM

i jam here with a full 4 piece band twice a week, no one to complain at all

eoin5 · 10-03-2009 12:52AM

I practice out in the shed on my electric kit with headphones and people can still hear me in the house. I guess youre still hitting something hard with a stick

Bass is great because I play fairly lightly on the strings most of the time with me headphones on. As Dord said the microcube rocks for low vol practice and jamming.

Everything changes once I get to the homeland though. The new pearl VBX gets pulled out and I play grunge drumming badly to be heard by everyone around lough graney in Clare.

Welease · 10-03-2009 01:05AM

Getting Louder

Now live in the arse end of nowhere in Kildare, so can be as loud as I want... but a Blackheart 5w head is still to loud for me...

Maybe I'm getting old

Red Sleeping Beauty · 10-03-2009 01:57AM

Nah, I don't get past volume 3. Headphones are rubbish. Microcube's alright though. Usually during the Summer I'll have the window open and get a little audience outside if I'm making a racket.

Doctor J · 10-03-2009 08:10AM

I moved out of Dublin a couple of years ago, now my nearest neighbour is about 800m away, so I play as loud as I want

Dord · 10-03-2009 10:21AM

Alan Rouge wrote: »

Nah, I don't get past volume 3. Headphones are rubbish. Microcube's alright though. Usually during the Summer I'll have the window open and get a little audience outside if I'm making a racket.

You need a good set of headphones, otherwise it'll sound like poop. Earbuds just won't cut it.

I use AKG K240S headphones, a tad pricey but well worth it. Great sound, comfortable and have lasted longer than any other cheaper ones I bought before.

10-03-2009 10:23AM

I play to 11. Thats one louder than the rest of you.

Leprachaun · 10-03-2009 10:26AM

As loud as I want.

My dad's an old school rocker (the who,led zeppelin etc..),my mother loves that I'm musical and my neighbours are sound as a pound about it.

Red Sleeping Beauty · 10-03-2009 10:30AM

Dord wrote: »

You need a good set of headphones, otherwise it'll sound like poop. Earbuds just won't cut it.

I use AKG K240S headphones, a tad pricey but well worth it. Great sound, comfortable and have lasted longer than any other cheaper ones I bought before.

I think I've a big of DJ-style Sony headphones but I don't like using em really. I might take to bringing the Cube to a park with some batteries :pac:

jarain · 10-03-2009 10:31AM

The odd time that I'm back home in Kilkenny I'll crank it, no neighbours are close enough to be bothered by it. In Dublin I use a Behringer V-AMP and headphones to keep the complaints to a minimum!!

fish-head · 10-03-2009 10:37AM

My neighbours on both sides are elderly and deaf, so I can play until my family try to lynch me.

Creamy Goodness · 10-03-2009 10:42AM

Deleted User wrote: »

I play to 11. Thats one louder than the rest of you.

my peavey goes to 12 :pac:

Red Sleeping Beauty · 10-03-2009 10:52AM

I just realised everyone's talking about playing guitar and/or bass. What about the poor lads that try to play their drums ?

Doctor J · 10-03-2009 10:54AM

That's me. As above.

Quattroste · 10-03-2009 10:55AM

I play loud enough at reasonable times (early evening and weekend daytime) I've never had the neighbours complain because I don't take the p!ss. In the next year or two I'll be doing the Doc J stint and getting a detached house with garage

bleeding ears and all that :pac:

johnboy8 · 10-03-2009 11:38AM

Dord wrote: »

You need a good set of headphones, otherwise it'll sound like poop. Earbuds just won't cut it.

I use AKG K240S headphones, a tad pricey but well worth it. Great sound, comfortable and have lasted longer than any other cheaper ones I bought before.

i just bought a pair of beyerdynamic dt880 headphones which are great,but it still is no fun playing into them all the time,and looking at my wonderfull cabinet with alnico blues sitting in them. its hard.

Welease · 10-03-2009 11:40AM

Alan Rouge wrote: »

I just realised everyone's talking about playing guitar and/or bass. What about the poor lads that try to play their drums ?

I use a set of practice pads on my drums to keep the noise down.. Cost about 50 quid from Dolphin, and really do cut out about 95% of the volume.

johnboy8 · 10-03-2009 12:51PM

there's me giving out about my guitar.drums must be a nightmare.

Ross Mc · 10-03-2009 01:08PM

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

my peavey goes to 12 :pac:

my amp goes to infinity, beat that bitch

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4 · 10-03-2009 01:27PM

ham_n_mustard wrote: »

I feel your pain, but if you think thats bad, you should try playing bass at home with anything bigger than a practice amp.

try playing acoustic drums

Im in maynooth during the week, recently got a second hand line 6 spider 2, its left in maynooth most of the time. its played pretty low as im in an estate. At the weekends, i have a vox ad 100 at home in roscommon, live pretty much in the middle of nowhere, so it can be cranked! also can bang the sh1t out of the drums in the garage. And people wonder why i go home most weekends

Demeyes · 10-03-2009 02:01PM

I tend to play fairly quietly when I play plugged in. I play through a Peavey Bandit 112 for day to day practice. I never play through my gigging rig for messing about, it's just too loud.
I don't like playing with headphones on, I find it uncomfortable and awkward if I want to play over backing tracks or cds. I much prefer low volume practice from my amp.

OK-Cancel-Apply · 10-03-2009 09:42PM

Microcube barely turned up, but if I know the neighbours are away I might crank up my home made 40w amp. But I do think about moving to the arse of nowhere one day.

Brien · 12-03-2009 06:54PM

this sounds bad but my ex-neighbour moved because of my drumming practice!!! i went out of my way to only be loud between 5-9 and still that was too much. some people are way too uptight.

how loud do you play at home.

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