How loud do you practice?

[sinophysiker]

50w 9o'clock. or unplugged.

i m too shy to practice loud.

 

[patrickj]

Headphones

 

[Kronos]

How do you hear what you're playing when you're unplugged? I can only hear stuff when I start playing higher notes.

I practice guitar with my headphones, but they just can't get the low notes on my bass and it starts buzzing. =/

1: If I'm unplugged, sometimes I tend to put my jaw on the upper horn while I play. The vibration translates to the ears.

2: You should start looking into better headphones. I got a decent pair of Sony's that the frequency response is 10Hz to 20,000Hz. I get great sound out of them, and I only paid about $20 for them at Target.

 

[Matt Till]

At home: Fairly quiet
At practice: Too loud


Eh, it's metal, I guess.

 

[Poop-Loops]

1: If I'm unplugged, sometimes I tend to put my jaw on the upper horn while I play. The vibration translates to the ears.

2: You should start looking into better headphones. I got a decent pair of Sony's that the frequency response is 10Hz to 20,000Hz. I get great sound out of them, and I only paid about $20 for them at Target.

I have these.

5hz-30khz.

Wait... I think I know the problem. I made a thread about my low strings buzzing in the setup/repair forum. Maybe that was it. I'll try these headphones with my other bass and see what happens.

EDIT: Because they play all the low end on songs perfectly, so I think they should be fine with a bass amp...

EDIT2: Oh, and if you play with headphones, how do you use a metronome/drum machine? When I use headphones it's at night when my dad in the other room is asleep so even the metronome is too loud (he says it's not, but I still don't want to disturb him). So I only practice things like getting a song under my fingers or chord changes or whatever. Nothing precise.

 

[morf]

Pretty loud. My amp is 500W, I turn it up to around 11 o'clock. I like to hear the thump and this makes me play clean if I want to sound decent. When I have better technique I'll probably practice unplugged though, I prefer the raw sound of the bass.

 

[beaglesandbass]

at home, 10 watts at about 12 o clock.

with the band, 700 watts between 8 and 10 o clock

 

[Synplicity]

at home - not very loud, 50w at 9-10 o'clock.
with the band - 180w at 12 o'clock

 

[seanm]

EDIT2: Oh, and if you play with headphones, how do you use a metronome/drum machine? When I use headphones it's at night when my dad in the other room is asleep so even the metronome is too loud (he says it's not, but I still don't want to disturb him). So I only practice things like getting a song under my fingers or chord changes or whatever. Nothing precise.

I use a cheap mixer. I have the computer hooked up as both an input and an output. If you are going to practice headphone only, you don't even need a power amp and speakers.

It dosen't have to be a computer. I also have a Tascam BT-1 hooked up and a ghetto blaster. So I can play CDs/tapes/radio.

The mixer is probably the best $100 I have spent.

 

[MAJOR METAL]

Usually unplugged.

As do I .

 

[JanusZarate]

I usually play at a moderate volume (8 o'clock because my amp is POWERFUL!), which serves to be loud enough for good tone, as well as loud enough to be heard at the other end of the apartment.

As long as it can hardly be heard by the upstairs neighbors, it's good with me

Now, at my parents' house... I go all out, because their house is big enough (and their neighbors far apart enough) that a wild and uncoordinated garage band can exist without disturbing the neighbors.

 

[patrickj]

I use these headphones for practice - they absolutely rock - best bass-specific headphones I've ever owned.


Philips SBC HP550

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-HP550-Size-Foldable-Headphones/dp/B000056SJU

I bought em for about $10 at some computer show - best purchase ever!

 

[agreatheight]

I "practice" at whatever volume seems to strike me as appropriate at the time, usually fairly low volume. But I "rehearse" alone at full volume, in front of a mic, playing and singing to PC drum tracks, to simulate playing live.

 

[spudmaster34]

1: If I'm unplugged, sometimes I tend to put my jaw on the upper horn while I play. The vibration translates to the ears.

I thought I was the only one that did that!

 

[canopener]

It depends where I'm at. On the weekends when I'm at "home," I crank it out pretty loud (not very loud, but pretty loud). My landlord lives right next door and has never complained.

At my "work" apartment during the week, being quiet is a requirement. The first week I was there, I was practicing at a low-to moderate level when I got a knock on the door from one of the other tenants. Mind you, it was about 4 pm and the guy looked like he had just woke up. He asked me if I could possibly turn it down because "I can hear the bass." I turned down a few notches and generally avoid practicing during the week too much. It kind of sucks, but I've gotten used to it.

 

[bryan bailey]

I only have a P.V. Microbass to practice with, so I play loud enough to hear myself.

 

[Figjam]

500 watts at 9 o clock. Loud enough that my amp gets a nice punch to it.

 

[hawaiianbass]

As loud as I want. I have concrete walls in my dorm.

Also, if it's too much I have headphones.

-Mark

I wish I had concrete walls in my dorm room. I have a 15w practice amp but If I turn it up at all it'll piss off the whole floor. I'm tempted to put my amp in my window and play for all the campus to hear. But I practice with headphones or unplugged.

CK

 

[iplaybassguitar]

I actually practice most of the time unplugged. I remember reading that suggestion in a Billy Sheehan interview a long time ago, and it's a great idea. It really helps you get a good tone where it starts--out of your fingers alone.

big problem with that is that often you cant hear yourself well enough to notice the mistakes your making, so they never get corrected...plus, if you spend time developing your unplugged tone...who cares? no one will ever hear you play unplugged, so wont those hours all be wasted?

 

[steve21]

I think it's 175 watts.

Loud enough to get good tone. If I play w/ a band I turn up the "Boost" knob.