Volume?

I practice and record a lot through headphones and Corbind raises an important issue. So here are my tips for playing through headphones:

•Always start with the volume all the way down, put the headphones on, then turn the volume up slowly.

•It's easy to get used to the loud volume, so every 15 minutes or so, try turning the volume DOWN. See if it has gradually become too loud, it usually has.

•Always start with the headphones on your face, not over your ears, until you hear that the sound is going to be okay. I wired up a drum machine and an amp through a mixer and accidentally made a feedback loop, I had headphones on and that insult seems to have given me tinitus in one ear. It only takes a second to do permanant damage, so never skip the precautions.

•My mediocre solid state practice amp sounds even worse through headphones because the headphones are not a guitar speaker, which is an important part of the guitar amp sound. If you go the amp>headphones route, get an amp with cabinet modelling on the headphone out. Behringer has these, I'm sure others do.

•The Pandoras are good (Gnease has made some nice recordings though his), the Zoom PS-04 is a similar 4-track recorder/amp simulator/drum machine for $200 that makes a decent practice box (it's almost like owning a whole pile of amps that you can carry in your pocket... well, maybe not almost.), the POD's ($200-300) and V-amp 2 ($140) sounds great for practice (it is especially good if you want to do some recording on a computer), as does the X V-amp ($70) (which is a multi-effects pedal/amp simulator that supports headphones and can easily be used as a floor box into an amp).

•You need to get an amp, but if your circumstances won't allow you to use one often, maybe it shouldn't be your first prioity. Getting one of the amp-modellers will give you an education in amps and sound that will make your first amp purchase a more informed decision than my first amp was ($150 that would have been much better spent if I had had any idea what I was doing, instead of buying an ugly sounding paperweight.)

I already have an accoustic. But now I want an electric. Accoustics are really nice and I love mine to bits but you see I find theres nothing like the roar of a good electric guitar with heavy distortion.

The way I handle pushy old ladies is to push THEM down the stairs!

hey, now theres a good message for the kids.

or in a bathroom...great acoustics in the bathroom. a nice woody tone. ah i love it

yeah how true it sounds amazing in the bathroom. i'll probably start setting up my mics in there nextime i try and record something.

Minus Human