With tube amplifiers, the situation changes. The speaker (generically, a “load”) should not be disconnected from a tube amplifier without the substitution of a nearly equivalent — but silent! — resistive load. All the power that would have gone into the speaker ends up being absorbed in the power (output) amp transformer (part of tube amp design) and fries either the transformer or something else. It is entirely possible that someone HAS managed to do this with a tube amp and not damage it, as disconnecting a serial EFX loop as shown also removes signal from the power amp stage. That would save the tube amp. But even so, destruction is still possible if: EFX loop is a parallel loop (v. unusual) or the person forgets to reattach the speaker before playing through the amp normally.

Most solid state amps do not have this issue due to fundamental differences in principles of design and operational. In other words, never operate a tube amplifier or any large wattage tube or solid-state amplifier without a proper output load: e.g., properly rated speaker, resistive load or power soak device. Only use this method on a smaller wattage, solid state amplifier.

And always consult the amplifier’s user manual to confirm that no load (no speaker, no resistor, no power soak) operation will not damage the amplifier.

Back in 1975 when I first took up the electric guitar, my family lived in a two-family duplex. Our apartment was situated over a retired couple. She was very ill most of the time and needed her sleep. He was a classical music aficionado. There was neither insulation nor soundproofing between the floors. So imagine their joy when the gangly teen upstairs comes home with a new guitar and amp in one hand, and KISS’ “Alive!” in the other.

Really, they were pretty good sports about the whole thing. I only had to keep my amp and stereo down to levels so low, I swear my hearing actually became more acute. It may be the only instance where someone’s hearing improved from rock music.

Years later when I began playing electric guitar seriously again, I found myself disturbing people once again! I was distracting my sons from the mayhem splattered on Playstation, and my wife had problems focusing on Kiefer Sutherland. Fortunately, and thanks to my friend Kenny, technology has advanced enough to allow me to irreversibly damage my hearing without disturbing anyone in the next room.

Below is a very simplified diagram of how I am able to quietly practice along with sound or video files using a minimum of out of pocket expense. Your only prerequisite is an effects loop channel on your amplifier.

The first step is to disconnect one of the connections on the amplifier’s speaker. Mine uses a simple spade connector which slides on and off without any metal fatigue.

Next is to run a patch from the SEND jack on the effects loop and run that to the LINE IN connection on my Windows PC. This did require a trip to Radio Shack for the patch cord with a ¼” plug. Plus I needed an adapter to reduce the plug to a 1/8″ to connect to the PC’s soundcard.

The external speaker connects to the LINE OUT jack on the soundcard. PC speakers with their own power supply are the preferred method as I will outline in a second.

Now, plug your headset into the respective jack on your external PC speakers. You may have to tweak your audio properties from the system tray to allow the signal from the LINE IN to be heard. Speakers with their own power supply usually come with their own headset jack as well as volume and tone controls. The headset jack on the front of most PCs has no external volume or tone controls, and adjusting them via audio properties is clumsy while holding your instrument. USB powered speakers may have volume control, but not a headphone jack. Myself I have a set of Hewlett Packards that I picked up at Walmart for less than $20.

Now you can play along with CDs, sound files, or even YouTube instructional videos without driving someone else up the wall.

Although you can run this as loud as you want, since you’re using headphones, it doesn’t take much to seriously damage your hearing. So be sensible and keep the volume at a point where you can clearly hear what’s going on. If you can hear someone in the same room you’re in talk to you (without yelling), you’re fine. If your headset is at the distortion point, or your neighbors can hear what you’re doing, turn it down. Also, driving your amp’s signal into the PC at too high a level may also run a damaging amount of voltage into the system bus. Again, use sensible levels. If you want to practice at a Ted Nugent-sized volume, maybe you should look into renting a place.

There are amps on the market now which not only have a place for plugging in your headset, but also an input jack for additional audio sources. However, if you don’t have one of those, this makes for a very adequate alternative.

Respecting Others While You Practice was written by Mark Mills for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise

My stowage solution involved a small battered case, into which I tossed picks, straps, cords, stomp boxes, and maybe an extra pack of smokes. If I needed “extra space,” there was also the small compartment inside my guitar case into which I tossed picks, straps, cords, stomp boxes, and maybe an extra pack of smokes. Ditto the glove compartment in my rusty Olds. I had no organizational system and I spent more time looking for something I just knew that I had, but couldn’t find. If I did find it, it was usually battered or tangled, or both.

I took a ten or twelve year sabbatical from playing, during which I got rid of every instrument, every piece of equipment, every pick. I didn’t have much to start with, so unloading didn’t take very long.

Then one Christmas, my wife bought me a beautiful Yamaha twelve-string acoustic. That started the current trend and before long I had a cheap Strat knock-off and a very small amp. More time went by and I became more and more involved in my rediscovered passion. And as I acquired more and bigger gear, I found myself falling into some of my bad old habits again. Fortunately, the internet was a way of life by then and it was simple to find resources to help with all the many facets of being a musician.

One very helpful and informative article I found here: Tips to Live and Learn By: On and Off the Gig. It lists many of the “can’t-do-withouts” that today’s musician should tote around with them.

But I still needed my own system; a way to help with the guesswork that confuses me at almost every gig. It’s one thing to have the gear, but if you can’t find it or it’s broken from abusive traveling habits, it doesn’t help. I’ll start with everyday space for my instruments:

L-R: Yamaha 12-string, Fender A-style mandolin, Schecter Elite, Danelectro '59.

Obviously, this isn’t a gig. But the stand I use at gigs won’t work in the limited space I have in my man-cave. There are a lot of expensive solutions out there, but simply anchoring a 2×4 into the wall and then screwing rubber-coated U-hooks into the 2×4 works perfectly for my needs. This keeps the instruments off the basement floor and the 2×4 creates enough of an offset to keep the instruments from banging on the wall. And since my music room also doubles as a tool room, no one has to trip over my babies when getting a hammer!

The Danny I use for open tunings. I had the local guitar wizard set it up especially for that. Problem solved for the old second guitar issues!

Now, on to the traveling purposes! Below I have my current method:

At the top right, there is a tote box purchased from the local home improvement center. It has a bright yellow snap-lock lid which makes it easy to find in a dark nightclub. The yellow-black contrast works very well; so much so that transportation officials adopted that scheme for many road signs. I decided to adopt that as well, so I use yellow friction tape to ID my cords. It makes them easy to see, and no one can walk off with the wrong cord.

Into the tote goes a fishing tackle box for small parts (I’ll elaborate on that later), foot switches and stomp boxes, 8-ft plastic tube for the Talkbox, microphones, several 20-ft cords, a power strip, a 3-ring binder, a very thirsty towel, a small stand for the mandolin, and the small red lunchbox contains my wireless components. I tried to use mainly red velcro to bind up the wires (yellow was not available). Again, red is easy to see in the dark and Velcro can be used over and over. Zip ties needed replacing after every gig. Plus, the Velcro can be used to organize cabling before a gig.

Now this helps a lot for most of the stuff to carry around. But there are a lot of small parts as well. I wondered about this before stumbling on the solution while looking for scout supplies for my son. A fishing tackle box works great for the small stuff:

It’s amazing how much I have been able to put in here. Tuner, extra strings, picks, capos, slides, patch cords, a small flashlight, mike adapters, pre-amp, a small tool kit, wire cutters, Blitz Cloths, plus some off-the-wall stuff I learned from watching other musicians. I have a few wooden clothespins for securing lyrics to the stand on a windy day, a few Sharpies, business cards, a box cutter, an old toothbrush for cleaning, emery board, and even a Swiss Army Knife! Close it up and it fits snugly into my tote.

The 3-ring binder has become a nice little addition:

It’s a plain white affair with pockets inside the covers. I got several of those transparent inserts since they last longer than punching a hole in the paper. The first page is my main cheat sheet. The numbered list at the top documents the effects positions on my amp. The printing on the amp’s control panel is small and my middle-aged eyesight sucks! Right below that, I have my preferred dial position of all the controls. The knobs all get moved around during transit, and who can remember where they were when they left the house? The numbers are the “o’clock” position of the control knobs since there are no calibration numbers on my amp. Below that, I have the PA channels my mikes go into. And finally, the slider settings on my acoustic pre-amp.

The rest of the inserts are used for song cheat sheets. Darkness again can be your enemy at gigs. So I found a nice solution at the lighting department of the same home improvement store:

This one has a mounting base which screws right into my music stand. I use rechargeable AAA batteries for the six LEDs. The light cost around thirteen dollars. I use rechargeables for the light and for my wireless unit. I keep them in the charger between gigs.

Finally, having the stands that work for you is a biggie:

I spent the extra cash and got the orchestra music stand. It won’t tip over as easy as the collapsible ones and pivots to just about any angle you’d want. Same with the boom-style mike stand with the tripod base. The three-bay guitar stand is a little small for what I need, but it does the job. Plus it’s stable and has a small footprint. I saved my small gig stand for the mandolin. The amp stand is my latest acquisition. I never though about having one until someone let me use theirs recently. It’s great because it raises your small but powerful amp off the floor for better projection. It also tilts it back slightly which makes it a lot easier to hear what you are playing!

Watching over all this is Sydney, my road manager. For some reason, whenever I practice he comes in and gives me his opinion of my musicianship. Right after I took this picture, his brother (and my A&R man) Simon jumped over and bit him in the neck. Hilarity ensued.

Time to pack up and get going:

This will all fit snugly in the bed of my Ranger pickup. I have a retracting cover which locks shut in case the weather is bad. During the winter months, I keep my instruments in the passenger compartment with me. My thinking is if I keep them as warm as I am, then I won’t lose so much time warming them up before a gig.

In the end, I guess being a working musician is like working in a M.A.S.H. unit. You have to be mobile and still be functional. And since most of us have to move our own stuff around, we may as well keep things easy and organized so we can concentrate on playing

The Gear (and How to Keep it) was written by Mark Mills for Guitar Noise. A good guitar player you will be if you visit the above site. © 2012 Guitar Noise