I live in an apartment building and don't want to crank my amp too high in case it bothers the neighbors. Now that doesn't bother me much, I don't need (or even want) to play terribly loud, but the drive channel in my amp only seems to work well at higher volumes than I'd like. So my question is this; would a pair of headphones be a good investment? And if so, any recommendations? Or should I just live with it till I can afford a better amp? Or will all amps behave this way?
Thanks.
All I want is food and creative love.
Headphones work very well. And sometimes it's easier to hear some subtle things on the headphones than it is over the speakers. Just make sure your amp has an output dedicated to headphones.
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon
I am a Behringer fan...I don't own any headphones but I have been thinking on getting a set since I too live in an apartment...
The manager at my local Daddy's Junky Music does not like Behringer amps but he highly recommends their mixers and headphones...plus their prices are hard to beat. Also you can check ebay and get an even sweeter deal (that's what I am doing)...
Before blasting your hearing into a thing of the past you might want to get a power attenuator.
Quote...
A power attenuator is a device placed between the speaker output and the speaker cabinet. It acts like a huge master volume control and permits the amp to be turned up most or all the way while absorbing most of the power generated by the amplifier and turning this power into heat. It passes a small part of the power to the speaker.
http://www.treblebooster.com/hotplate.htm
You don't want to run your amp at 11 into your headphones. We need more rockstars, not more deaf rockstars.
Michael
Playing an instrument is good for your soul
Thanks a lot for the input. I'm just starting out, so I don't really know much about gear.
All I want is food and creative love.
Before blasting your hearing into a thing of the past you might want to get a power attenuator.
Quote...
A power attenuator is a device placed between the speaker output and the speaker cabinet. It acts like a huge master volume control and permits the amp to be turned up most or all the way while absorbing most of the power generated by the amplifier and turning this power into heat. It passes a small part of the power to the speaker.
http://www.treblebooster.com/hotplate.htm
You don't want to run your amp at 11 into your headphones. We need more rockstars, not more deaf rockstars.
Michael
That's great advice but what if you don't have a speaker cabinet? Headphones are your only option then. Unless of course you wabnt to spend a couple hundred dollars on a cabinet.
Attenuators can be used with combo amps, between the amp and the speaker. They're usually used with tube amps though. Is that what we're talking about? I'm not sure it would help with a solid state.
"Things may get a whole lot worse/ Before suddenly falling apart"
Steely Dan
"Look at me coyote, don't let a little road dust put you off" Knopfler
Sounds like a good solution, but a bit pricy.
It's not the volume of the amp that's a problem, it plays plenty low, I just don't get the distortion I'd like at low volumes. So maybe a destortion effect box thingy between the guitar and amp would do it? They seem to be availible fairly cheaply.
Edited to add: My amp is a Yamaha GA-10 practice amp.
All I want is food and creative love.
A pedal would probably be your best solution. Behringer and Danelectro make $20 cheapies. You may want to ask a local shop if you can spend some time trying a variety of pedals with your amp. It's hard to predict the interaction and it can take some fooling around with the controls. At least that's been my experience :)
I see the amp does have a headphone jack, but see if you can't get the volume a bit lower first.
PS There are cheaper attenuators, but I don't think it's what you need. They're really most useful with a good (but high watt) tube amp.
"Things may get a whole lot worse/ Before suddenly falling apart"
Steely Dan
"Look at me coyote, don't let a little road dust put you off" Knopfler
A pedal would probably be your best solution. Behringer and Danelectro make $20 cheapies. You may want to ask a local shop if you can spend some time trying a variety of pedals with your amp. It's hard to predict the interaction and it can take some fooling around with the controls. At least that's been my experience :)
I see the amp does have a headphone jack, but see if you can't get the volume a bit lower first.
PS There are cheaper attenuators, but I don't think it's what you need. They're really most useful with a good (but high watt) tube amp.
I'll have a look at some pedals...I don't particularly want to use headphones, I just want to get some distortion without having to crank the amp, so that sounds like it could be what I'm looking for.
Thanks (to you and everyone that's posted advice :)).
All I want is food and creative love.
My solution to this was to get a set of headphones with their own inline volume control built into the cord. I can wind the amp up to 11 or 12 to get all the overdrive I want, and just use the headphone volume control to keep the whole kit from blowing my eardrums out. Works like a champ. :)
My solution to this was to get a set of headphones with their own inline volume control built into the cord. I can wind the amp up to 11 or 12 to get all the overdrive I want, and just use the headphone volume control to keep the whole kit from blowing my eardrums out. Works like a champ. :)
Oh...that sounds like a good solution too. Thanks.
All I want is food and creative love.
Why is it when I use headphones with my amp, only one side works. I can't hear anything out of the left side, the headphones work fine anywhere else.
Why is it when I use headphones with my amp, only one side works. I can't hear anything out of the left side, the headphones work fine anywhere else.
Your amp must have a mono jack for the headphones rather than a stereo one. You should be able to find a mono to stereo adaptor that will get the right side of your headphones working as well.
A co-worker gave me a printout of an online article last week about hearing. It said it's pretty easy to turn up headphones louder than you'd turn up an amp. Why? Not sure, but you can easily damage you hearing because you can't "feel" the sound of a regular amp. I play through headphones every night and I try to be careful to keep the volume reasonable.
"Nothing...can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts."
