Do You Like Loud.??

[Steve DeRosa]

I'm mostly a "big-clean" tone, guitar-cable-amp player anyway, so I tend to use higher-powered combos (modified Bugera V22, '65 Super RI, Fender Frontman 212R, Randall RB-120) at supper-club "dinner music" levels for home practice, and SPL's that won't spark audience complaints of either too loud or too soft in live settings; BTW Les Paul gigged with a non-master volume silverface Twin in small venues - I've seen him do it - and I'd tend to think he knew a little bit about electric guitar tone, so I'm in good company...

[KevWind]

Bedroom rig soon to be wet/dry

[stephenT]

As a longtime working guitarist, I've done plenty of gigs where I'd have to play very softly, usually restaurant situations.

Do enough of those kind of gigs and you realize the tone one gets isn't from the volume of the amp. Fatness and sustain come from your fingers and the attack you use and the quality of your gear, whether it's with a pick or flash and nail.

Now, I'm not saying it isn't fun to play at bar room volume, it sure is. There's something wonderful that happens when you drive a tube amp and speaker at sufficient volume to get natural distortion. No stomp box will get you there.

But I've heard so many guitar players say "But I can't get my sound with the amp turned down" and I have to chuckle because at whatever volume we're talking, that IS their sound.

[blue]

I don't play loud because of my right ear. Don't need any more damage. However, every once in a while I do turn my Mesa TA-15 up to the point where "I can feel it". It definitely sounds at its best when I'm working the Classic 30 speaker in my closed back cab.

That's one of the reasons I really enjoy my blues cube (the JTM45 model not the Bassman). It doesn't really get significantly better as you turn up. If you like the sound you are getting with a low master volume setting, you don't feel like you're missing out on any "volume assisted magic".

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by stephenT

As a longtime working guitarist, I've done plenty of gigs where I'd have to play very softly, usually restaurant situations.

Do enough of those kind of gigs and you realize the tone one gets isn't from the volume of the amp. Fatness and sustain come from your fingers and the attack you use and the quality of your gear, whether it's with a pick or flesh and nail...

That's how we learned to do it back in the day, and make the most of the (sometimes situationally inadequate) gear we had - precisely why I'm still a guitar-cable-amp guy after six decades, which leads me to:

Originally Posted by stephenT

...Now, I'm not saying it isn't fun to play at bar room volume, it sure is. There's something wonderful that happens when you drive a tube amp and speaker at sufficient volume to get natural distortion. No stomp box will get you there....

...hence the appeal of those low-wattage tube combos to many players (myself included) for recording/small-room situations, where you can ride the fine line between sweetened clean and overdriven crunch and sustain between (and, under certain conditions, within) notes using touch alone, as suggested above; just turned 67 so I'm constantly on the lookout for lighter-weight gear, but after a quarter-century of scouting the market I've yet to find a digital-modeling rig which can satisfactorily duplicate that...

[BoneDigger]

I like it turned down.

[Steel and wood]

You have to set your volume according the size of the venue and the occasion you are playing. (Small venues and loud amps equals no thanks, at least not any more).

I'm playing from home these days and I'm content with hearing my electrics at lower volumes and usually with headphones because I'm the only audience.

[stephenT]

I can only add an amen.

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

That's how we learned to do it back in the day, and make the most of the (sometimes situationally inadequate) gear we had - precisely why I'm still a guitar-cable-amp guy after six decades, which leads me to:


...hence the appeal of those low-wattage tube combos to many players (myself included) for recording/small-room situations, where you can ride the fine line between sweetened clean and overdriven crunch and sustain between (and, under certain conditions, within) notes using touch alone, as suggested above; just turned 67 so I'm constantly on the lookout for lighter-weight gear, but after a quarter-century of scouting the market I've yet to find a digital-modeling rig which can satisfactorily duplicate that...

[3notes]

OP here reporting back. Fantastic replies. Smiling all the way through the thread. But, Bob's photos just plain win the cake. Oh man ….. Take me back there.

[C-ville Brent]

Love the pictures Bob. I was a teenager in the 70's, bell bottoms - cool! I don't play church quiet, but I don't play real loud. Testing found some hearing loss in my mid 20's, factory work, music,... I've tried to be aware of sound levels ever since. There is something visceral about good volume, sustain and all that goes with it. A few years ago my doctor told me after my second near fatal accident (one on a motorcycle and the other automobile - neither my fault) that your body remembers all these experiences. Have fun, but be smart.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

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


<<snippet>>
Bob

Hey Bob, great photo! Is that the same 70s Les Paul you own now?

[rockabilly69]

I like it loud on big stages, because I REALLY like the way amplifiers sound when they get cooking. In both, my studio, and my house, I have smaller amps, but they get turned up to the point of sustaining when it's time to record a rock style song, or if I'm rehearsing for some of the bigger shows I do.

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Hey Bob, great photo! Is that the same 70s Les Paul you own now?

Thanks for your kind words! By the way: notice the lipstick on the cheek! Yes it is the same guitar:





Bob

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Back in the mod-70's a former bandmate bought one of those brand-new - dead ringer for yours, traded a killer BRW Guild F-312 and $150 additional cash for it...

Glad you've enjoyed yours for the last 45 years, but I'm still trying to fathom his rationale...

[j3ffr0]

Loudest I've ever needed to play is loud enough to be heard over a drummer. I feel like the threshold of hearing damage happens somewhere below that volume, so I always wear some type of ear protection when playing at those levels. Without a drummer, I never play a those levels and don't need ear plugs. For practice, I keep it way down.