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I wanna talk 'bout practice

Practice at home...

  • Total voters
    252
#61
It depends on the style of music you're practicing. When I'm playing guitar covers that require a lot of dynamics, playing my electric unplugged, would be damn near useless.

Practicing my bass parts for my prog/thrash band on bass? It's all good.
 
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#62
...Don't need no stinking amp!

image-1.jpg

:)
 
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#63
I have a small amp (PJ Double Four) connected to a DAW. Generally, I'll run through the DAW using something like Guitar Rig. If it's late at night I'll plug in headphones.

My gigging rig stays in a closet out of the way. The only time I practice unplugged is when I'm playing my acoustic.
 
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#64
Ha, what timing. I had been practicing mainly unplugged, with recent time constraints I'd be out on the couch in the evening trying to get a little practice time in. Had pulled out the rig (currently larger combo amp) a few times but that was just too much time, effort, space, meh. So I just bought a used little practice amp off CL this weekend. Now I can plug in, amp or headphones out, and shove it under the dinning table when I want to hide it away, easy to carry out if company is coming over. So far, seems like a great way to go.
 
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#65
Thanks to everyone who's replied so far. I keep my bass on a guitar stand in my bedroom so it's easy to grab and practice scales, chords, and short melodies or lines I've been working on.

I have been starting to wonder if my technique is suffering as a result... I've always been an aggressive player, and I fear the ampless situation may be feeding the beast.

I may need to start investing the (admittedly small) amount of time to set up my beat buddy and headphones for practice while the family is asleep, and do a bit more of the firing up the rig once in awhile to keep myself honest on "quiet errors."
 
#68
"You doubt the bass, the phones, but it's just the perception."

Been there so many times man... I have a 2yo baby so in times my practice was with headphones only.
Your ears fatigue much quicker then ^^^^ this starts happening.
He is a bit older now so I moved on to the little Ampeg lunchbox for late night practice.

Although I still keep the headphones for brief use when I need to figure out difficult basslines and fills when learning songs.
 
#70
MadMcAnnaMan said:
"You doubt the bass, the phones, but it's just the perception."

Been there so many times man... I have a 2yo baby so in times my practice was with headphones only.
Your ears fatigue much quicker then ^^^^ this starts happening.
He is a bit older now so I moved on to the little Ampeg lunchbox for late night practice.

Although I still keep the headphones for brief use when I need to figure out difficult basslines and fills when learning songs.
Click to expand...

It's a very uncanny effect. I've been playing for around 33 years and I can't count the number of times that I've stopped playing while practising through phones to check the tuning, or to play a few chords above the 12th to check the intonation to find that it's all spot on. I find that it is more predominant in the lower register where the ear isn't so good. I agree about the hearing fatigue, the close presence that phones provide, all those extra noises that get soaked up by room acoustics are all there, banging away. It's a lot to process for the ear.
 
#71
Playing bass unplugged for any length of tine is pointless, I hate headphones(a stealth contributor to hearing loss, by the way), I play through amps in stage, so I feel(and get ‘the feel’)that I should go through an amp. You don’t need a huge set up, of course(I have one of those mini Acoustic 360’s, which is not a folded horn), and I don’t crank it. As someone pointed out, there is an interplay between strings and electronic and audio, and if you use effects at all, that sometimes factors into the interplay.
 
#72
I'm of the opinion that the closer I can get to replicating my rehearsal/stage environment as I can when I practice is best. I'll use a full size amp when I can, headphones when the hour will be inconsiderate to my neighbors to bounce the walls. Always through my complete signal chain. It's less important once I have the song down and am just doing maintenance practice, but when dialing in a new song or working out a new part, I try to have everything as it would be with my band.
 

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