Quote:
Originally Posted by mtdmind
I once had a neighbor who hated my classical guitar practice. The guy went totally ballistic and would throw things downstairs towards me. Someone told me if I had played better he would have enjoyed it!  |
Geez... that guy's probably already stroked-out and long gone if he was that nutty.
I don't live in an apartment, but if I did... my neighbors would HATE me. When not playing my acoustic instruments, I plug my Les Paul into a 100 watt tube amplifier half-stack and play at gigging volume in the man cave. I've been wearing ear plugs for practice for about 8 years, because there was some tinnitus coming-in from decades of playing rock and country gigs. I play loud because I love to feel the music, and tube amps are at their best when they're purring along. You can't get the full effect of ACDC, Def Leppard, or any number of other rock acts unless you're moving some air! I don't play at "10" or anything... usually just with the master volume set at about 8:00 or 9:00 (which would be "2" or "3" on the amp). But with a 100 watt amp, it's still loud enough that my ears couldn't take the damage. My wife is a saint for tolerating the noise all these years.
I can second the opinions about the Yamaha Silent guitar. I had one and they make great practice tools! They are even great for gigging if you're playing the right kind of music (jazz and light classical) on them. I was playing nuevo flamenco type stuff and really like the bright snap of a flamenco guitar. The Silent guitars don't do that as well (which is why I sold mine). But they are still an awesome tool.