Crazy downstairs neighbor

[billfitzmaurice]

There's stands u can put under your combo amp to isolate the lows from traveling through the floor and then play at lower volumes. Problem solved

They don't work. Problem remains.

People just need to realize that in an apartment you WILL hear your neighbors sometimes.

+1. But if you live in an apartment you have to respect the rights of your neighbors, which include not having to listen to you practice. Want to do whatever you like? Buy a house in the woods.

 

[smogg]

In a nutshell, you can't.

Low frequencies are omni-directional, and are not stopped by walls, floors, etc.

/\ /\ this /\ /\ use headphones... end of problem.

 

[jungleheat]

You can tell who the cranky old people are in this thread.

Hello, Tampa Police Dept. Yes, this is Grandma Moses reporting loud . . . . . . etc, - yes, we will send an officer out.


Let the old lady be.

Yeah, and as soon as the cops came and heard that the guy was just practicing at a reasonable volume, they would probably tell the old lady to just deal with it. After 2 or 3 times of that, they would probably just stop responding in the first place.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Never heard of sarcasm, Jungle?

 

[soulman969]

Good Luck. I'm in a condo and I had mine on a padded stool for a bit but now it's on an amp stand. That cuts some of the sound that would pass from direct contact with the floor but not all.

I don't like to practice wearing headphones so I just keep the volume down 90% of the time. But then again I have another musician living below me not a 96 year crank.

 

[georgestrings]

Call the cops. She's disturbing the peace with all that banging.

Never invite the man into your life - the above plan will not end well for the OP... As already mentioned - bass amps and apartments don't mix, headphone amps are your friend here...


- georgestrings

 

[guy n. cognito]

You can tell who the cranky old people are in this thread.



Yeah, and as soon as the cops came and heard that the guy was just practicing at a reasonable volume, they would probably tell the old lady to just deal with it. After 2 or 3 times of that, they would probably just stop responding in the first place.

Yeah, you can tell who the ****heads are, too.

Be nice to her. Talk to her calmly about the issue. Most of all, show some ****ing respect for your elders.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

You can tell who the cranky old people are in this thread.

As you can members of the 'Me' generation.

I'm in a condo and I had mine on a padded stool for a bit but now it's on an amp stand. That cuts some of the sound that would pass from direct contact with the floor but not all.

Since the percentage of sound that passes through via direct contact with the floor is on the order of 1% of that which does not the stand has no effect.

 

[the yeti]

I vote for a full SVT rig laid flat on the floor.




And a Rat pedal.

this.

 

[Unprofessional]

Ask her to jam with you.

Yes. She's probably into black metal vocals. (Throws a Dio)

 

[chadds]

How much longer do you really expect her to live? Not that I or you should hope she passes away, but at 96, how much longer is she really going to be able to bang on the ceiling. I'd find a combo that you like, and enjoy it. Every time you come home from school could be the time that you find out that she's been shipped off to the nursing home. No more problem. You are young, she is not. Let time do its inevitable thing.

She can bang on the ceiling because she is 96.

 

[Bass Unique]

so I have a 96 year old downstairs neighbor who constantly bangs her broom on the ceiling and complains about my family. Were really not that loud, we walk around bear foot and we have cork under our wood floors so sound shouldn't be an issue. But it is, she bangs even when the family laughs at the dinner table. I will be going off to college next year and I have an opportunity to get a vintage ampeg combo. I really need a combo and I want to be able to use it at home but how can I prevent it from vibrating through the floor and downstairs.

Right - the quick answer is if she is that cranky, whatever you do short of headphones wont be enough.

However, there has been some research in to this, in particular a paper which was presented at the 2012 Low Frequency noise conference in the UK this week by Nielsen - "Active low frequency sound field control in a listening room using CABS (controlled acoustic bass system) will also reduce the sound transmitted to neighbour rooms".

This paper describes using a second subwoofer at the other end of the room with the signal level exactly out of phase with the signal arriving at the back wall (uses their CABS dsp). so, there is no low frequency reflection, only cancellation. This means you get a number of benefits:

1) The room modes are prevented from occurring in a rectangular room. This also means the anti resonances dissappear so you have a much flatter bass response.

2) The room modes were mostly responsible for noise escaping the room at low frequency. this means you could have up to 20 dB noise attenuation for these frequencies and it was found that 3 dB attenuation occurs between these frequencies on average.

So, to some extent it is possible but not good enough for your neighbour - you would need more than 20 dB reduction if you play your combo loud!

 

[zon6c-f]

Use some sort of headphone amp. I use either Korg Pandora or Line6 Butter bean.

I live in a house, which is 100 feet from street and all neighbors; all sides. I seldom play in open air inside my home with an amp.

Headphones don't alert thieves/ burglars to the fact that somewhere in your apartment /home is a bass amplifier as well as a bass. Every time you play into the air, someone; somewhere will hear it, especially in an apartment and you are advertising this fact.

If you practice through headphones there is no way anyone can reasonably be disturbed. She loves bass anyway, but all my wife hears is ocassional clicks or string snaps; certainly not obtrusive and no louder than someone's knitting needles at worst.

Headphone amp: small investment to make. You can keep your amp for when you actually perform or rehearse with a band- certainly not in an apartment; especially with what my be an over sensitive person living adjacent...just wouldn't be worth the fight in my opinion.

As for "laughter at the dinner table" and other similar "disturbances"; that should be dealt with by apartment management and probably found in your favor in my opinion.
Good luck....

 

[Tampabass]

They don't work. Problem remains.

+1. But if you live in an apartment you have to respect the rights of your neighbors, which include not having to listen to you practice. Want to do whatever you like? Buy a house in the woods.

Want utter silence? Buy a house in the woods.

 

[Bass Unique]

What about a Genz Shuttle type amp. Use the headphone output for home, use the whole thing for rehearsals and take a bigger box if you need to for plugging in at gigs? The little GK MB200 is also good for this and I have one built in to my combo.

 

[Red Planet]

I vote for a full SVT rig laid flat on the floor.




And a Rat pedal.

This is clearly the best advice. I had a neighbor that used to complain when we would rehearse. She basically could hear some sounds from next door. After she acted like a total jerk I started opening the back doors so she could really hear it.I did that a couple times and then shut the door. I have not heard from her since. Case closed.

 

[Joe Louvar]

You can tell who the cranky old people are in this thread.



Yeah, and as soon as the cops came and heard that the guy was just practicing at a reasonable volume, they would probably tell the old lady to just deal with it. After 2 or 3 times of that, they would probably just stop responding in the first place.

Maybe, or the police may confiscate the bass amp - or maybe her grandsons are UFCs.

And back to the original question -

how can I prevent it from vibrating through the floor and downstairs.

And the original answer -

In a nutshell, you can't.

+1. ^^^ this.

PS: Voodoo Wizards Handbook - Lesson #21c: Never mess with an old lady with a boom.

 

[BurningSkies]

T

+1. But if you live in an apartment you have to respect the rights of your neighbors, which include not having to listen to you practice. Want to do whatever you like? Buy a house in the woods.

Want utter silence? Buy a house in the woods.

And this is why I'm looking for a house in the woods...or the country. I've been using a headphone amp for the past decade for the sake of my neighbors (both houses on either side plus the flat downstairs). At the same time, most of the people who live in the neighborhood act like they're the ONLY ones around...that's for everything from noise, to parking, etc. The people downstairs slam doors all night long and like to have loud parties all night any day of the week. Another neighbor likes to let their dog crap in our yard and on our walk. Yet another neighbor blocks the driveway, etc.

Most people have to live all over each other these days with the population density that's common here in the eastern US...and very few people know how to think about others.

 

[MSUsousaphone]

One of the good things about the South. I've never had to deal with this....except when we're outside playing in the backyard or something.

Cranky wife.....THAT's what I have to deal with. I guess it works about the same.

 

[Joe Louvar]

One of the good things about the South. I've never had to deal with this....except when we're outside playing in the backyard or something.

Cranky wife.....THAT's what I have to deal with. I guess it works about the same.

Lesson #20: Never tick off a wife who owns a frying pan - you have to sleep sometime.