Amplifier volume and hearing protection

[Benjamin Hwang]

Hello everyone!

I have been playing guitar for 1.5 years but there are still some questions in my head.

1. What volume do most guitar players play at home? I currently own a Blackstar HT5 head (5 watt all tube) matched with a 12 inch Vox cabinet (greenbacks) and I will start to cringe at the volume if I start turning it beyond 9 oclock. And I do know that ur supposed to crank up tube amps to get a nice and warm tone. Is it just me being too sensitive to loud volumes or does everyone also have their volumes at 9 ish and below at home?

2.Has anyone received complaints that ur guitar is too loud? (from family members or neighbours) Does anyone also get acoustic foams to dampen the sound so that they wont complain? My family is disturbed by the sound of electric guitars and I wish to get some foam to make their lives less miserable.

3. Do Singaporean guitar players get hearing protection? I think it is foolish to damage or lose some hearing when you could prevent it. I bought a -30db hearos because the -12db hi fidelity model wasnt in stock but it proved to cut way too much noise that it was too soft even for gigging. What are your views?

Thank you for reading

 

[CyanideJunkie]

1. I've got a 15W tube amp at home and even at a quarter way up, it's pretty loud. What you're getting is normal, tube amps can get pretty loud. Unfortunately, that's usually when they start to sound their best. A good MV circuit or an attenuator can be used to better handle things.

2. Nope. Got an attenuator myself to manage things. Even before I had one, I managed to keep volumes at a reasonable level. When I shop for amps I also take into consideration the environment it'll most often be played in, so the amps I buy usually provide good tones at low volumes. Studio-quality sound proofing will be costly and most DIY solutions don't work as well as most people think.

3. Never used any, sorry. Ears still work fine though. I would worry more about blasting loud music through one's headphones like some idiots do.

 

[zesn]

1. The louder you crank anything, the more information you hear until it reaches the optimum volume level. From then on, anything louder will produce a different hearing experience.

Playing an amp at low volumes tend to yield less bass and more treble. You can try this with your music player and earpiece turning it down to a very low volume, you'll tend to hear the high frequencies more.

At low volumes, these high frequencies seem alright and kinda nice. But as you turn up the volume, they start to get a little bright and jarring hence your cringing. You also get more bass and low end being pumped out of the speakers. That's where your amp EQ comes into place, it's there for you to tweak as you increase your volume too.

To get the 'nice and warm' tone from tube amps, for me it usually comes from the preamp tubes (12AX7 etc.) For the HT5 it's a sort of two-channel amp head. You only have one Clean volume knob without a master volume. Believe me you can achieve a sweet spot without being too loud as well.

My tube amp doesn't have a overdrive channel, only volume and master volume. The volume knob controls how much signal is pushed to preamp tubes, which i can crank. And the master volume controls the overall master and how much i'm pushing the power tubes as well. So I could get a really heavy overdrive at max volume and minimum master volume. Keep in mind it won't sound the best also as the low level i'm hearing at is masking the true capability of what the amp can sound. So I usually put it around 8'oclock for master volume.

2. Yes. The family makes noise the whole time. But behind closed doors and an appropriate volume they seem to be cool with it. If you want to invest in acoustic foam, you have to go all the way, a few foams here and there won't control the sound much. You'll probably just end up wasting money and still getting complaints. Good foam don't come cheap as well.

3. I use hearing protection while jamming. Usually I try not to wear them at live gigs even if it gets too loud because they tend to muffle the high frequencies a little, I still hear everything clearly, but there seems to be a lack of energy for me. I'm using Etymotic Research ear plugs.

 

[Weiht]

Amp is just 50% of the equation. The speakers make a difference. Some are easy to drive, some are harder.

IMHO you have to trust your ears. What I do is to turn up the volume slowly until the point where the speakers open up. It's like it comes alive, and that is the minimum volume I suggest to play with.

Next, you don't have to play with your guitar volume at 10 all the time. Some pro run their amps hot at all times, and use the volume and tone knob to do most of the work. So, do look into some wiring options, tone control, capacitors..etc.

Lastly, you dont have stand in front of speakers when u play. Sound travels differently, and usually the highs somehow do "reach" you first.

Foams are a whole different topic altogether, but in short I would say not necessary.

 

[Benjamin Hwang]

Thank you for the replies!

I forgot to mention that im using a multi FX pedal (Vox Tonelab ST) plugged straight into the return FX loop of my blackstar HT5. More specifically my question is if driving the sound to the sweet spot also applies for power tubes as well. I believe my greenback drivers rated 25 watts should be easy to drive.

I guess my family will have to put up with my playing till i move out since dampening my room isnt practical

 

[zesn]

Achieving power tube saturation is more difficult to achieve as you probably need to go a lot louder.

Your amp may sound bright if it's pointed right at your face. High frequencies are more directional and low frequencies tend to spread out more. It can help by facing the amp at an angle slightly away from you so you can hear the sweet mid-range come through.

For your bedroom situation, if you drive the preamp tubes nicely, you don't really have to worry about the power tubes.

 

[theunknown]

What volume is too vague a question since most of us do not have volume measurement device. I hope this gets a clear idea. I play my Laney Cub, a 15 watt amp at 9 o'clock gain and 2 o'clock volume. If I feel like cranking the gain up, there's a separate 0.75 watt input. Jackpot.

 

[Weiht]

First of all, the HT5 has loads of gain and probably too much lol.

The holy grail of tone is a combination of preamp/powertubes/speaker overdrive. You can max out ur preamp gain but low master and it will not sound ballsy but muddy. You can try to juice up the master volume with minimal preamp gain but it doesnt work this way. It's a combination of how the amp reacts between the preamp stage and power amp stage, and then the selection of speakers and the overdrive that may occur when the cones are pushed.

honestly, the HT5 at best is just a cool bedroom amp. Running it max will still sound like a small amp compared to a big 100w at an equal low volume.

The size of the output transformer, power tubes choice and output matter a great deal as well.

Then its also speaker size, cabinet configurations 2x12 or 4x12, closed or open back...etc.

Know ur limits, and tweak to the best ur equipments can perform. Be realistic and learn the max ur equipment can achieve.

 

[zesn]

^ whatever Weiht said is true.

It's important to find your own holy grail with the combination. What works for me may not work for you.

 

[Weiht]

I once owned a jcm800 and marshall 4x12. It was awful at room volume, no matter how I tried to coax it.

I pushed it up to 6 on both the preamp and master volume, strum an open chord and felt my balls in my throat.

Loved it but sold it fast to another forumer here cheap! It has that legendary tone, is just not usable. You probably be deaf even in a pub, and your fellow band mates will curse at u.

Some amps are more forgiving, and some only have the sweet spot which requires you to be deaf!

One of the best tone I heard was from a jmi AC30 with blue dogs. Some people mic the back of the open back cab, and it sure does sound great and chimey standing behind the ac30 combo.

H&K triamp 2 was one which I really liked and it sounds nice at a manageable room volume (Still may be loud). Bassman 135 was lovely as well for pedals, and a Musicman amp I used to own had the blackestfaced fender clean.

These days? Guitar into a HT5 combo and a delay and out to a headphone. Kids and also my wife complaining that all i make is noise, and I can't help but agree!

 

[Benjamin Hwang]

Thank you for all the replies! Really appreciate them. I am still learning