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Apartment practice

#21
Warr Tapper said:
Why did you admit it was you? Maybe there is another bass player in the building.
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Haha! Well I suppose that's possible, and I admitted that it could have been me, though I was barely home at all last week and mentioned that fact too. Still, I do care about keeping the peace and I can admit if I'm wrong and will do something to prevent trouble in the future.


I did play unplugged for a good while but I found that I was getting so used to plucking hard enough to hear unplugged that I had a hard time playing nicely through an amp. You guys that play unplugged may be able to keep a fine touch when you're playing loud, but my playing was just getting rougher as I became more used to playing with no amp.

Sounds like probably the headphones are probably the most sensible thing for me and I can just plug them into my Tascam Bass Trainer instead of plugging the trainer into the amp so it's simple and probably the cheapest way to go too.

I have nothing against research, but it seems like every time I try researching any kind of equipment I find so much information that it takes days to sort it all out. Even then the results have been hit-or-miss in my experience. I'm more trusting of info from the other bass players here like myself than I am from the general public too.

Thanks for all the responses guys, looks like I'm heading out to the headphone store tonight! I'll be sure to check out the AKG K-55's if I can find them too.
 
#22
I have experienced a few of the suggestions. The Peavey microbass with a Behringer BDDI was a really nice quiet cheap practice rig. I know have 2 other alternatives. A Korg PX3B with AudioTechnica ATH-M30 headphones. But my favorite practice instrument is a Michael Kelly Club Fretless 4. The acoustic is great for developing hand strength.
 
#24
I see you live in Denton... I lived in Richardson for a few years, and i was in a pretty small apartment complex as well, so i know what your talking about. What i finally ended up doing was buying a small 30 watt amp with a 10. It's a hartke A35, has cd input and a xlr out as well as a headphone jack. For 200$ it was probably one of the best investments i've ever made. I live on my own home now, so i don't have to worry about it so much anymore but, i still use the hartke at home and have even used it for a few sessions with a drummer and keys player. Great little amp.
 
#25
I am lucky enough to have a place to play as aloud as I want, this house where my band rehearsals, has nothing in it, and I can do all the noise I want...

:D

The best part it is that soon I will get my Ampeg SVT-VR with the matching 8x10 cab...

:hyper:

I'm gonna make some damage to that house...

:cool:

For the bedroom... Better concentrate on my school homework. That way I can take, for example, 2 hours to practice everyday (plus rehearsals!), and it's like going to the school, or the job.
 
#26
00Funk said:
I have amps and cabs in every room of my apartment. Of course Im a fanantic though.
IMAG0032.jpg
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Must be nice to live alone!
 
#29
Got some headphones, what a chore.
I didn't see any Audio Technica or AKG's tonight, though I went to Sears, Target, Radio Shack, Wal*Mart, Best Buy, and Hastings (what used to be known as a "record store" remember those? haha)
Ended up getting Sennheiser PMX 200 from Target because it says powerful bass on the package and they are very light. And because nothing else really looked great except maybe the $140.00 Bose set which I think were probably way overpriced. Too bad these aren't very comfortable though, I need to return them.
Tomorrow I'll see what I can find from GC. I see online they have about 20 times the selection as what I saw tonight. I'll be able to check out the AT's, and the AKG's along with a good portion of the rest of the alphabet. Anyone else got a favorite headphone set to recommend? Prefer under $100.00
 
#30
Headphones will save you. What I used to do to keep from waking up my family is take a set of earbuds, and tape them so that their wires lined up with a set of studio headphones. Then you put in the earbuds with the studio phones over. Then you plug the buds into your CD player and the studios the jack on your amp. Worked wonders.
 
#31
I don't like using headphones if I can help it. My practice amp is a 5 watt tube head (Epiphone Valve Jr.) into an EA 10" speaker. I keep the speaker off the floor and away from the walls (it's on top of a bigger cab that I don't play at home).
 
#32
I play through a pair of Nady QH-660's, about $40 from MF. My dog chewed the chord so I had to replace them and bought 2 for $60. I don't know if they're the most hi-fi studio reference yada yada but they have closed backs, good bass response, and comfy for hours. I've heard much worse cans for more $.
 
#33
For home practice I use a Peavey Microbass or a Dean Bass in a Box. The latter isn't the greatest of amps, but it's relatively cheap. I have roommates and I mainly use it so I don't hear them just as much as they don't hear me. It's also good when I'm just in the middle of nowhere and feel like practicing. I tend to not like headphones much since they get uncomfortable after awhile, but I think I just haven't found the right pair.
 
#36
K2000 said:
I don't like using headphones if I can help it. My practice amp is a 5 watt tube head (Epiphone Valve Jr.) into an EA 10" speaker. I keep the speaker off the floor and away from the walls (it's on top of a bigger cab that I don't play at home).
Click to expand...

THIS IS THE best option!!!:cool:
Just get yr cab onto a soft piece of felt or foam-anything that'll totally take the vibrations outta the spkr box. Sitting on a crate is OK but U'll still get some vibes. Felt or foam is best. I did this to great results-as long as I played at an OK level I got NO more complaints- from neighbors OR house members!:p

Headphoned thru a V-amp IS an OK cheapish choice- & can get 'murderous' tones thru it- but as mentioned -KEEP VOL. down on the phones.
 
#38
the best thing for practising late at night is a roland micro cube!!!! dont laugh.

for just conveying a bit of audio for me to hear whats going on with the bass is fine and even people within the same house ..let alone the neighbours wont mind.

it can run on batteries so its a great way just to keep in practice whenever the need takes you.

headphones are too distracting and my bass setup is just too ready to pump out those low subsonic sounds late at night that neighbours seem to feel but you cant.
 
#39
First I recommend moving to a rural area with no sound laws , like where I live . Second thought , don't move here , you won't like it.... :hiding: The worst thing for your ears is head phones turned up too loud , the sound waves slam right into your eardrums with no where else to go . If you wear head phones -keep the volume down.
 
#40
I won't put the exact link since its in Spanish, but here you have some other links that should be helpfull:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/20/electric_earbuds/

This one its very good:

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interesting:

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I think that's enough.

Actually, that thing that most people find to be "tired of using earphones" is the result of giving your ears a bad use... They are not supposed to bve used like that.
 

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