Home-only players: Do you regularly amplify?

[Acousticado]

99% of the time, I sing/play at home for my own pleasure with my wife as the only listener. I keep guitars around the house right where I spend time so one is always within arm's reach to encourage play. On occasion, my guitar playing sons or a friend will drop over and we may play, or I may take my guitar to a party.

So, I don't plug in, but admit that I'm curious to experience what I might sound like if I assembled a small but good quality PA and accessories (vocal mic with effects/harmonizer, a little effect on the guitar). I'm thinking of an entry level Bose or JBL kind of system. In doing so, because such a system would mostly be set up in one location in the house, I will have to change my random location playing behavior to always go to the setup to justify buying a system in the first place. I'm a little uncertain what to do.

All this rambling to ask.....who has been in my situation, did you buy a system (what did you get), and do you tend to plug in most of the time, or not? Thanks!

[Photojeep]

I play amplified at my church every week and practice daily but mostly without amplification. I practice when I get home from work and I'm fairly tired and I let my natural laziness kick in... Oh and my wife is usually downstairs watching TV so playing amplified in our open design house would interfere.

When I do amplify I use my Loudbox mini and I enjoy it because it just fills out the sound so much.

If I had to guess how often I amplify at home I'd say about 10% of the time.

Best,
PJ

[cotten]

At home, I play all over the house, too, Tom. I even take a guitar on a long walk occasionally. Three miles with a guitar strapped around my shoulder is a lot more enjoyable than with 12 lb. dumbbells in in my hands! That means that a lot of my guitar playing at home is unamplified. But I also enjoy plugging in occasionally. For that, I often have three options: Bose L1, Ultrasound AG50 DS4, or even a little Gemini ES08P 8" powered speaker I picked up for a song a while back. It has no effects, but is perfect for when I need to be just a little louder.

I used that little powered speaker last at a nursing home. Went to visit a guitar buddy, and took my guitar into his room. We were playing and singing when the staff heard us. They asked if we could come to a meeting area where other patients like to gather. That little Gemini was in the car, and just what I needed to keep from having to beat my 914. It's got a big voice, but that little Gemini came in handy! Next time I went, I took my Ultrasound - bigger and sweeter sounding for sure, with some usable effects, though I don't do a lot with them.

My L1 is not normally kept set up at home - it's needed more often at work.

cotten

[necrome]

I hardly amplify when I play at home - because of the trouble of setting everything up and tearing down. My place is also tiny which means feedback issues aplenty before the volumes even go up.

[Acousticado]

Thanks guys!

John, I'm a little shy when it comes to my playing/performing, but your input does cause me to hope that I can eventually venture beyond my home (e.g retirement/nursing homes), so initially buying a small system for home (that would have enough power for any anticipated outing) where likely adding some effects could make me feel/sound more professional, could provide the inspiration and confidence to actually do it.

Cheers!

[JayBee1404]

If I'm 'just playing', practicing, learning songs etc., I play unplugged in the house. Much of the time, gigs and other events I play at are 'unplugged', so my ears are accustomed to hearing my guitar au naturel.

But if I have a 'plugged' gig coming up, I use my Roland AC-60 to accustom my ears to the 'plugged' sound. It's quite an auditory shock to hear my guitar's sound coming from 'elsewhere', and 'plugged' rehearsal helps me get over this.

If I only ever played in the house, I can't see any reason to play/sing through an amp, let alone a PA!

Usual disclaimers apply......IMHO, YMMV etc.

[golfreggie]

I may be the odd one here. I play at home 90% of the time. I play on Sunday afternoons at an assisted living facility with a friend who plays keyboards. When I really got going many moons ago I learned to play by playing along with records, now cd's or digital. I like the music somewhat loud, so I eventually got a small amp and plugged in and play along. I try to keep the amplified volume reasonable so it blends with the music playing. When I play I imagine I am part of "the band", so to speak. That being said, I always test guitars without amplification to assess how I like or dislike the sound of the raw guitar. But when I play I play along, or play with my friend so amplification is my norm. As always, to each his own, and the whole bottom line for me is "Do I enjoy it?" I do, for sure!

[bil]

Loudbox mini, Shure SM58, and a few pedals. I play at home mostly, usually for the dog. I like the way it fills the room.

[Marty C]

For me at home, I use a TC Helicon Play Acoustic. I play plugged in all the time. I use the headphone out of the unit with good quality headphones. I play in an oversized closet in my bonus room early in the morning. Sometimes as early as 4 or 5 am. This allows me to get accustomed to singing through a mic, working out on mic technicque, hearing different effects through the vocals and also through the guitar. The harmonies are fun to play with as well.

[AcouStickistNS]

Considering the instruments you have, at some point you may find yourself NOT being a home musician. I once went to a performance put on by a coworker for another acoustic artist and an opening act, but the opener failed to show. Guess who got asked to open? Wasn't expecting to hear my name called. a bit scary using a strange guitar and a PA system I never played through.

I play other intruments and to a certain point somewhat failed in trying reduce having amps for every type of instrument. I use a pair of K-12's through a Line 6 Helix. The Helix allowed me to skip using a mixer. It's awesome being able to play in stereo and the volume can be brought down lower than a typical tube amp for my electric guitar. The interesting thing about playing at home is you don't worry about headroom of and amp, but rather going in the opposite direction. What sounds best at the lowest volumes?

I still ended up buying a small guitar amp, but so far selling off bass amps and using a PA has worked well for me. I can run everything I own through them.
Bad thing about PAs is the size of them and three pieces of gear doesn't work for a grab and go scenario.

Another thing to consider is upgrading computer monitors. Last year I replace my aging M-audios with some nicer Yamahas. More bass, better quality of sound. The Helix can interface with Logic with virtually no latency, or I plug into a Zoom thunderbolt interface for convenience.

I've had more opportunities to play live in the last couple of years so it's good experience to deal with amplification at home. With the acoustic guitar I've had to learn a bit more regarding dealing with feedback. To often little attention is given to how others I play with are arranged. Easy with electrics but acoustics has been an adventure for me over the last year. Overall most of my playing is done at home and a weekly group at a music store, where we recently have been playing live at a theater a couple times over the last year.

[zhunter]

Gt a small battery powered amp. Goes where you go, easy carry, no electrical outlet needed. You can find one that will sound fine for home. I practice plugged in because I gig plugged in. I also play unplugged. If I wasn't gigging acoustic, I'd probably never plug in.

hunter

[aknow]

When my kids aren't over, I play in every room, and we have a studio in the garage.
With new songs, learning, non-amplified acoustic seems better, otherwise, play amplified about 75% of the time.
I've learned that different guitars, pickups, and amplifiers yield very different sounds and results.
When it gets too loud, my dog jumps up and does a lap, scowls at me. That's better feedback than wive's slamming doors, and I turn down, (hearing loss?).

[Irish Pennant]

I have a room setup with my PA, my wife's piano and a variety of small percussion instruments. I live in a rural setting and my wife likes listening to my music and so cranking up the volume isn't a problem. I seem to get in creative spurts and I like having the ability to record and store new pieces. I do keep unplugged guitars accessible in other area of my home.

[cotten]

Originally Posted by Acousticado

Thanks guys!

John, I'm a little shy when it comes to my playing/performing, but your input does cause me to hope that I can eventually venture beyond my home (e.g retirement/nursing homes), so initially buying a small system for home (that would have enough power for any anticipated outing) where likely adding some effects could make me feel/sound more professional, could provide the inspiration and confidence to actually do it.

Cheers!

Tom, for several months I've been helping a young lady who has always wanted to sing and entertain. She was acutely shy, as in afraid to let anybody hear her sing. Even her family. But for some reason she will wanted my help, at least online. So I tried to encourage her. Gave her basic singing tips, a few confidence boosters, etc. It took a while, but I finally got her to check out a forum for karaoke singers. She created a fake name, an eventually posted a song she'd recorded on her iPad. She got great reviews, and lots of encouragement from the others on that forum. So she chose another song and submitted it, too, with the same results. Only then did she send a link to me, with much fear and trembling, I know. It was nice!

Long story short, she already sang quite well. Oh, she doesn't always know when a song is outside her best range or how to breathe to sustain long phrases, but her tone, pitch, and expressiveness were wonderful! I asked her to contact a local assisted living home about singing for the residents there. They invited her, and she accepted, with as much excitement as misgivings.

Before her first performance there, she was so nervous she was almost sick. She called me from the place, asking how to back out. I told her something about the residents there not being critics, but just wanting to have a good time. (She had a mainly Patsy Cline set list that I knew they would enjoy.) Shaking like a leaf, she went ahead with it, and the folks loved it! The Social Director and Manager both wanted her to come back, every week! She still thinks she needs a new set list each time, and so has agreed to every other week, but WHAT a breakthrough!

Now she's bought something of an outfit, has worked on what to say when not singing, and even told me, "Hey, this is a lot like being an actor on stage - it's not so hard!" I agreed, saying that her songs and connecting words were her script. She now has three or four such performances under her belt, and has gained enough confidence to invite me to come hear her. (Didn't want me there at first!) She loves what she's doing, and her audience loves her!

I share all this to say you can do it too, Tom! Really! Sure, decent skills and equipment help, but in settings like this and many others, people just want to laugh and enjoy, and maybe get to sing along some. They will love you as much as they do Kelli - go for it!

cotten

[CoolerKing]

I play so quietly in the corner no one notices.