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> and I have an adult's fear of irritating others with repetitive practice and being judged for playing poorly. This is a big factor for me too. I play electri

by tomxor 4y ago

> and I have an adult's fear of irritating others with repetitive practice and being judged for playing poorly. This is a big factor for me too. I play electric guitar not piano - I always had the problem of guitar amplifiers not really sounding any good until you turn them up real loud. And their volume knobs tend not to allow you to easily set it to quiet anyway. I've recently started plugging my guitar into my "normal" but high watt power amp into some very nice big speakers, with an old 90s reverb unit in between... since normal amps don't have the usual preamp stage i have a lot of control over volume and it's so much easier to play at low volume but without sacrificing the sound. I don't feel bad about playing the same thing over and over now when i'm practising, it's just for my living room. My next idea is to try out a modeling amplifier effect unit where you can even use headphones but still get good sounding distortion (probably better than I could afford).

i_am_proteus 4y ago
You lose some of the sound of the speaker cone breaking up at high volumes. Something else to try: enclose the speaker cabinet in an insulated wooden box with a mic (SM57 will do), and add insulated connections connections for the mic out and the amp head in. Keeping the head outside of the box is a good idea because of heat. It's the only real way to crank a guitar amp without disturbing neighbors and cohabitants.
- tomxor 4y ago
  > You lose some of the sound of the speaker cone breaking up at high volumes. Oh yeah, it doesn't sound normal for a guitar, it's too clean, but it sounds a lot better than an uncranked guitar amp. Making a sound isolation box is an interesting idea, but I think I lack the time and skill to pull it off, also i'm in a flat and doubt the bass will stay within such a box - although I'm curious as to how well this works since you could end up with some pretty bad standing waves if the box is the wrong dimension. I'm going to try a modelling amp next since they can simulate both the amps and speakers, they are pretty good these days apparently, pricey, but no more than a half decent amp. Seems like the right solution for someone living in a shoebox.

by tomxor 4y ago

i_am_proteus 4y ago

You lose some of the sound of the speaker cone breaking up at high volumes. Something else to try: enclose the speaker cabinet in an insulated wooden box with a mic (SM57 will do), and add insulated connections connections for the mic out and the amp head in. Keeping the head outside of the box is a good idea because of heat. It's the only real way to crank a guitar amp without disturbing neighbors and cohabitants.

tomxor 4y ago
> You lose some of the sound of the speaker cone breaking up at high volumes. Oh yeah, it doesn't sound normal for a guitar, it's too clean, but it sounds a lot better than an uncranked guitar amp. Making a sound isolation box is an interesting idea, but I think I lack the time and skill to pull it off, also i'm in a flat and doubt the bass will stay within such a box - although I'm curious as to how well this works since you could end up with some pretty bad standing waves if the box is the wrong dimension. I'm going to try a modelling amp next since they can simulate both the amps and speakers, they are pretty good these days apparently, pricey, but no more than a half decent amp. Seems like the right solution for someone living in a shoebox.