Loudness when playing at home

[JimmyBlind]

Had to sell my VH4 & Cab when I bought my apartment. Have two daughters also.
Can't even push the master on my 30W combo past 8 'o' clock during the day without the neighbors hearing.
Was thinking about buying one of the Katana lunchbox amps to play after the girls have gone to bed.

 

[Speeddemon]

I had a completely different thought on the subject

I rarely pick up a guitar and don't play some Loudness song, usually Crazy Doctor and Clockwork Toy.

For me it's 1000 Eyes and Crazy Nights.
Love the Soldier of Fortune record as well with Mike Viscera on vocals.

on a related note; *the* riff I love to play when the volume gets really loud on a medium-gain set Marshall-y sounding amp with enough speakers below it...like when you hear the electricity cracklin', tubes cookin', feedback loomin' around....


AC/DC - Shoot to Thrill (the intro) ... that lingering A-chord... Pure bliss when it's LOUD.

 

[errrrrl]

I had a completely different thought on the subject

I use amps into a Suhr Reactive Load, I to Moore Radar and studio monitors. Sounds great at any volume.

LoL was totally expecting a Loudness video of them at home in Japan playing acoustics n shit maybe in southern Japan country side or some shit lol.

 

[peterc52]

I just bought a Axe-FX III for low volume/headphones playing.

 

[splatter]

Just loud enough to hear what I'm doing over the recordings I play along with.So basically a low bedroom volume.
I play through a 50w and a 4x12

 

[nightlight]

I bought myself a drum iso-booth to record guitars. Works like a charm. Basically reduces the perceived volume by about half, but that's enough for me to run the 100 watt amps past 10 o'clock during the day.



Works quite well for recording, better than a smaller iso box would.

Used to have a Kemper as seen in the pic for late playing, but sold it. Now in the process of getting another, those things are quite handy.

 

[riffermadness]

When the others go to bed by 945-10pm I take my EVH 5150 50 watt head and home made 1-12" cab to the large living room at the opposite end of house of the 4 bedrooms and close the door..still can get to maybe 1 on the volume and they come running ! I did purchase the PRS MT 15 today,so hoping next week it will be the MT-15 and the 1-12" and see how that works out.

 

[HellraiserJohnny]

What is the sense of playing a rig like this if not at stage\gig volume? Bueller?!?!?!? . . . . . . Anyone?????

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[thrashinbatman]

Most of my playing is done with my Kemper through monitors, so not that loud. Occasionally when I'm alone in the house I'll plug into my Kemper or Engl Savage and crank it at stage volume, but that's once a week tops.

 

[Bxlxaxkxe]

Generally loud enough to feel it in my chest. Not quite gig volume but pretty damn close. I really like standing next to my cab when I crank it. Easy on the ears and sounds so damn full

 

[blackba]

I try to keep the volume below 90dBA at the most. My target is low 80's. Its a constant struggle, regardless of what amp I am using.

 

[soc_monki]

at the moment not loud at all. have a young kid (year and 9 months), and the wife is a stay-at-home and cant go anywhere (have to fix her car!) so the recto goes unused most of the time. havent really played consistently since the kiddo was born but ive got all my stuff set up now so i can jam through the computer using VSTs. ill get my chops back sooner or later! haha!

when i am alone in the house, i play the recto at a pretty good volume. i can hardly stand to play it at really low volumes, it just doesnt sound good at all. getting the output up over 9:00 and the channel master around 9 or more as well it starts to open up. i really like to get it at painful volumes, which is where it really starts to shine. so, as lous as i can stand it. the tone smooths out and the amp sounds amazing at those levels.

 

[Beandust]

Interesting q/a thread. Always wondered what may go thru other players minds on this subject. Playing loud is good for some? I remember Vivian Cambell saying he grew up practicing in a barn and was able to play at really loud volumes and he felt this helped him and he understood he was maybe meant to play loud" was how he stated it. It's a bewitching thing at times. Crank it and enjoy then get in a mix and where does all the shit you liked so much go.. so you turn up even more or you wait for your ears to adjust. I have a raised fourier and stairs up to a bigger open room so its loud anyways.. dont help but it can be ok I guess. I dont like headphones and have tried and hate it , am I missing something? it sounds uninspiring to even attempt to play thru headphones. Family home except maybe a half hour in the am and some on weekends I get to crank outside of acoustic volumes or a very small practice amp with door closed.. damn if I know what's best

 

[Candiria]

High 80db minimum. If no one is home a little over 100db. I'm moving from a small single family to a larger townhouse soon though. First thing I'm doing is blowing out a wall between two closets in the basement to make an extra room, and sound proofing it as much as I can.

 

[Candiria]

when i am alone in the house, i play the recto at a pretty good volume. i can hardly stand to play it at really low volumes, it just doesnt sound good at all. getting the output up over 9:00 and the channel master around 9 or more as well it starts to open up. i really like to get it at painful volumes, which is where it really starts to shine. so, as lous as i can stand it. the tone smooths out and the amp sounds amazing at those levels.

I had to sell my Tremoverb, and my Herbert is for sale now because of this reason. I can't play those amps without them shaking the walls, and I won't be able to do that in a townhouse unfortunately.

 

[Gsxrbusa]

Band volume, because I can.

 

[maddnotez]

Damn some of your guys rigs are ridiculous.

I personally like to get the speakers going a little but never at full band practice volume. Most of the time it is unplugged.

 

[soc_monki]

I had to sell my Tremoverb, and my Herbert is for sale now because of this reason. I can't play those amps without them shaking the walls, and I won't be able to do that in a townhouse unfortunately.

i often think i should sell the single and get a mini recto, or other lunchbox amp. then i realize that even at 25, or 10 watts, those amps are still deafening. 50 watts is plenty if i ever decide to play with another band again, and its fun to feel the amp when i can crank it. otherwise, my trusty old Pod XT Live can kick out some jams, and ive been playing with the LePou plugins LeCto and it really comes close, except for not having the whole body vibrations thing going on. but it works while mini-me is sleeping so i cant complain! Lol

 

[crankyrayhanky]

2 young kids at home means mostly quiet or headphones using Kemper or TNL

Why in 2018 are people knocking down closet walls and building iso booths? I guarantee TNL, OX, Suhr, Fractal, Kemper etc sound way better than a high gain amp mic'ed up in a small enclosure




note: my guarantee does not payout anything if I am proven wrong

 

[jeff5]

I'm pretty lucky that I have a tolerant wife and kids that sleep like rocks =D. Even as infants (well once they were sleeping through the night, so say 5 months), I could always play pretty loud. I play in my basement, kids are on the second floor and behind oak doors so that helps. It also helps that our houses in my neighborhood are pretty far apart. For reference I usually have my JJ 100 at about 9 o'clock, if I am feeling adventurous I can push it to 10 or 11 o'clock =D. That's usually when I'm home alone and then I use ear plugs.