Guitar Nerds Anonymous

With my Tube15 I can't remember the last time I've not had it in 1w mode. One day I'll pull my finger out and rent a room so I can crank it with some mates.

The irony of this is that if I ever did have an opportunity to really crank an amplifier I'd instantly want to put in earplugs to prevent my hearing getting any worse.

The irony of this is that if I ever did have an opportunity to really crank an amplifier I'd instantly want to put in earplugs to prevent my hearing getting any worse.

I did a thing with some pals a while back for a charity gig at the Black Heart in Camden. We had to rehearse for a few weeks beforehand so it was back to the rehearsal rooms for the first time in the best part of a decade.

ENTIRELY too loud. ENTIRELY. They give you these hundred watt stacks so of course the guitarist turns up loud, so then the bassist has to, so the drummer has to compete, and before you know it the singer is screaming into the PA at max volume and feedback.

I felt like putting a complaint into environmental health.

loudest show I ever went to was at black heart, I forgot earplugs and had to leave during the first song as my ear drums actually hurt.

Managed to get some from behind the bar and go back in but watching the majority of the audience just stand there watching the whole thing was a second hand pain for their poor ears

I went to one gig where they were handing out free earplugs on the door. Bizarrely it was Kraftwerk at the Montreaux Jazz Festival. Those crazy Swiss.

They usually have a bunch of the ones that look like fruit salad sweets at the sound desk/merch stand – though I haven't been in since pre-COVID – but I've never seen many people take advantage. I've put on a couple of shows there and out of some sense of responsibility we were trying to encourage them around

They handed out earplugs for MBV at ATP back whenever that was. They played successive nights, we went in for both, second night we tried without the earplugs to see how loud it really was… lasted about a minute max before gratefully popping them back in.

I killed the top end of my hearing really early on in life I think, from gigs and clubs. Somehow escaped my early twenties without developing tinnitus, only to now have it constantly as a long covid side effect. Lol

Yes, a small rehearsal room was what I think actually triggered my tinnitus and has slightly blunted my hearing (for speech in acoustically poor settings at least). The problem is that once it's loud everything just gets perceptually compressed so you can't hear any particular instrument over anything else, which leads to everyone playing louder just to hear themselves (I've heard of the same problem in brass band practices too). The answer is just to keep it down or hand out earplugs all round. Now I have some of these, which I've even worn to the cinema and they're really good.

Some years ago I bought a set of protective earplugs from these people: https://hearology.uk/musicians

They don't seem to have them in their shop any more, but they are excellent and designed to protect your hearing without muffling or changing the sound too much - ie specifically for musicians.

As a follow up to this, the job has given us all Amazon vouchers to say thanks for the hard work this year, which would halve the cost of a positive spark grid - is it really that much better than say a Roland micro cube or even a small orange/vox/Marshall?

I've tentatively decided to sell my lovely Jazzmaster if anyone is keen... can do an LFGSS barg...

Feel like I'm going to regret it but I'm trying to do a bit of minimalism in my life and have apartment renovation stuff to spend the money on (also kind of keen to get a Jaguar as a replacement as I've been enjoying playing the Epiphone Twelve Paul Jr. and Duo-Sonic so much I think I just fit better with shorter scales...)

speaking of unloading excess kit , I have a Dean acoustic fretless bass that I never use ( currently at a mates who is the bass player in a Tool tribute band ) .
No idea what is worth but is in really nice nick and good fun to play .
I can get pics if any interest

Insane deal for an insane amp! If youre still looking...

https://www.andertons.co.uk/supro-delta-king-8-1-watt-1x8-combo-1818bc?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surfaces&gclid=Cj0KCQiAk4aOBhCTARIsAFWFP9HZUoAXLAfNeODf8QleV728r4MLlEJGfOlmtt-AWtFpDYeehqDRMloaAgauEALw_wcB

I’m selling my Roland Cube Street with carry case if anyone is on the south coast (Chichester) and interested.

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I actually ended up buying a b-stock Marshall origin 5c from Thomann for €183, and it sounds great but much louder than I had expected.

After much deliberation, I put an order in for a positive grid spark from Amazon, and subsequently cancelled it due to buyers remorse, but after a day of exploring alternative options it became obvious that it was a bit of a bargain for what it is, so re-ordered again and should have it tomorrow or Thursday.

TBD if I hang onto the Marshall for when the wife is out or if I move it on, I’ll see when the spark arrives.

Fender Starcaster (mex) local to me for £370...Looks sweet in natural. Did you sell yours in the end @tilover? I'm tempted

I’ve picked up guitar again this week after a long lay off because of bike collision which wrecked my left hand. Sore finger tips on metal strings for a while, if I’m going to do 1hr a day (15min sessions) with a set of scales and chords to practice.

Don’t regret this purchase, wife also much happier with volume

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Right up my street. Love it. Reality I’d probably do better with a 1w custom Vibrolux (love 2 x 10s.)

Another vote for the THR, though I’ve sort of given up using mine because of the annoying power supply.

Gotta say I’m intrigued by the Spark. Tempted to give one a go.

The (small) Wall of Silverface got temporarily sidelined due to Christmas furniture reshuffle to make room for the tree. Looking handsome hanging out under Admiral Tony and Pie Oh My tho.

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My short term experience is that I’m now playing a lot more because I’m getting less noise complaints from the wife, it sounds awesome as a Bluetooth speaker which is a bonus, but there are so many pedal/amp combos on the app that you could burn a lot of time just messing about with that. It sounds decent for what it is, but the Marshall origin is much easier to just plug in and get a nicer noise from.

I've successfully completed my mid-life crisis, sold my Jazzmaster and bought a Les Paul...

Might change the tuners for some tulip button Rotomatics but otherwise excited for it as is!

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Nice!

Oof that is stunning

Apart from the knobs obviously, and yep, tuners. Love the P90s tho.