Do You Like Loud.??

[3notes]

When playing at home, do you like the amp 'turned up or turned down.??'

I prefer it turned down. Its simply more pleasing to the ear. YMMV

What say you.??

[Steel and wood]

Turned down also!

As I've gotten older, it's been more about tone. (Not that I ever played that loud anyway).

[paulp1960]

There is a certain magic happens when an electric guitar gets loud enough and suddenly you have loads of sustain and the guitar seems to come to life.
I'm thinking of the volume you need to keep up with a real drummer.

Sadly I very rarely experience this anymore and for now I'm playing through headphones most of the time. Also I've got some tinnitus and don't want to make it worse.

[jseth]

I live in a very small little place, so I rarely get the opportunity to turn up very much; however, there's a sweet spot that I go for... it's where my electric guitar is blended well with my singing voice...

It's far more valuable for me to actually play AND sing songs while I play my electrics, as opposed to just "wanking" on whatever strikes my fancy... so I try to have the guitar fat and juicy and present, yet still hear the tone of my voice while I play.

There IS a magic spot where a tube amp and a guitar work synergistically; doesn't have to be LOUD, but it does have to have some weight to the volume. I love that combination, but would need my PA set up to do it correctly.

Any pedals I use have to adjusted to match whatever volume level at which I'm playing, as well... lots of fiddling about with electric gear...

[roylor4]

I often play at small bar room levels at home. So yes, I like it loud. I enjoy feeling and hearing the music. Most of my amps are either tube or tube hybrid and tube amps just sound better with the amp section pushed a bit IMO.

[tbeltrans]

Oops! I just realized this is the electric guitar sub-forum. No, I don't like loud and never have.

Tony

[Bob Womack]

I've never liked extremely loud music, both because I knew what exposure did to your ears and because it simply wasn't comfortable to me. I could hear my ears distort and hated it. If it can't be done with 50watts it probably needn't be done. Eventually I became a recording engineer and HAD to protect my ears. Part of the reason I got into modeling is because I had played on big amps pushed to the limit and knew what it sounded like and felt like under your fingers. I wanted that sound and feel but not the volume. That's one of the things you can do well with a modeler.

Bob

[roylor4]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

I've never liked extremely loud music, both because I knew what exposure did to your ears and because it simply wasn't comfortable to me. I could hear my ears distort and hated it. If it can't be done with 50watts it probably needn't be done. Eventually I became a recording engineer and HAD to protect my ears. Part of the reason I got into modeling is because I had played on big amps pushed to the limit and knew what it sounded like and felt like under your fingers. I wanted that sound and feel but not the volume. That's one of the things you can do well with a modeler.

Bob

Well Bob, there's loud and there's LOUD. For me, I cannot envision playing a venue that would require more than a 15-25 watt amp. I usually only have my 15 watt Micro Terror up about 1/3rd of the way.

I DO know LOUD though. In my band days, our guitar player used a 130 watt MusicMan and it would move your hair is closed spaces.

I don't know how loud he had it set, but our drummer resembled Animal from the Muppett Show, both in looks and playing style. 15 watts would definitely not keep up with him.

[YamahaGuy]

After running my Yamaha DG Stomp through my two MSR400 powered 12" FOH, with an 18" powered sub, then going right to a 22 watt tube amp, I've come to realize that I love it LOUD. A wall of sound. Melt my face off decibel levels. Make my ears bleed.

I used to think my 22 watt amp was loud. The PA is much louder.

[DukeX]

I like it loud enough to sound good, but no, not too loud.

[1neeto]

I’ve been playing with headphones a lot because I’m either practicing or recording something on my electric. I don’t want my neighbors hearing me practice. I’m currently waiting for some sound proofing panels to arrive from amazon, so I do plan to crank up that amp.

[ch willie]

It depends on my mood and what I want to play. Yesterday, I was trying out my TS808 and played pretty loudly to get an idea of what it'll sound like in the clubs. But even then, I don't get ear-bursting loud. I've never liked that and have hated being in bands where the others insisted on getting too loud--club owners hate it, and people in the clubs, unless they're there for a certain type of music, don't like it.

I live where I can be loud, but most times, I play at a volume that allows me to sing too without hooking up a mic.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by paulp1960

There is a certain magic happens when an electric guitar gets loud enough and suddenly you have loads of sustain and the guitar seems to come to life.
I'm thinking of the volume you need to keep up with a real drummer.

Sadly I very rarely experience this anymore and for now I'm playing through headphones most of the time. Also I've got some tinnitus and don't want to make it worse.

It's magic when you have a loud tube amp coming from a 4x12. It's more than just volume but the rumble you feel. But, I only play at bedroom volumes at home just because it's too hard on the ears to go loud.

In fact, I started wearing ear plugs at band practice back in high school. I only did 1 gig without earplugs and my ears were ringing afterwards ... it never happened again.

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

Oops! I just realized this is the electric guitar sub-forum. No, I don't like loud and never have.

Tony

Welcome to the dark side, Tony!

[ghostnote]

At home I keep it relatively quiet, with occasional blasts of noise. But I have to have my loud, also: I've spent the last 35 years - maybe longer - playing right next to a loud drummer in an electric band. Some of the tunes we do have unusual arrangements, so I like to keep his snare visible out of the corner of my eye - sometimes I get I get my cues from that if it's a song we haven't played a lot.

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by roylor4

Well Bob, there's loud and there's LOUD. For me, I cannot envision playing a venue that would require more than a 15-25 watt amp. I usually only have my 15 watt Micro Terror up about 1/3rd of the way.

Here's my rig back in 1978 when I was with a 50s revival group and in my twenties...


House left of me is my rig, from the bottom up, a 2x12" cabinet my father and I cut down from a Hammond Tone Cabinet and I still have, a Gibson GA-55RVT Ranger 50watt 4x10" nicknamed the "Kalamazoo Super" (but it was far smoother), and a Princeton NonReverb amp for backup. Stage right of me is bassist Gary's bodacious rig, top to bottom: Ampeg SVT for top-end, Fender 400PS for the bottom end, four cabs - three 1x18" cab for bass and one 4x10" for high-end. My Ranger sounded best wound out and pushed with a clean boost, a little bit like a Marshall 1987. A different angle:



The same amp in another band with my friend Bob Haymes and his same-year Les Paul and Fender Super.

It got loud. These days I have a couple of 50 watt amps and nowhere to play 'em. I use one as a power amp for the Helix and keep myself below 85db. It's hard to keep even a 5watt amp that quiet and get a good driven sound.

Bob