Apartment/Flat + Guitar + Amp = Pissed?

[Jonny]

Well I'm going to be moving into a ground floor apartment/flat hopefully and I'll be DEFINATELY by any means possible be putting my VHT in there, with the MJW that's coming soon.

It was on my mind, should I buy a Hotplate? Or should I be OK without it?

I will be cranking it loud (not ear-deafeningly loud, cause I will mostly have it beside me or in the same [small] room) so most likely the dude/dudette above me will hear, solutions?

Any stories of this happening to anyone?

[dave_mc]

i didn't know you'd bought an MJW? which one? :D

i don't have any experience with attenuators, only real way to know for sure for your own personal situation and for the music you play is to see how the amp sounds turned down to house levels, and then see how it sounds turned up but attenuated.

[MDV]

Dunno about the plate

As to neighbours it depends 100% on the neighbours. I've lived next to everyone from the if-they-can-hear-it-at-all-they'll-act-like-you-$%&#ed-a-puppy to folks that stopped me in the street only to tell me to stop stopping just as they were getting into it.

[Jonny]

i didn't know you'd bought an MJW? which one? :D

Only a 2x12" cabinet, Dave :)

And thanks for the replies, I guess I'll just have to test the waters.

i.e. keep turning it up each day till I get it to where I want it, or until I get a knock on the door/floor.

[dave_mc]

ah, cool. now you mention it, i think i do remember your saying you'd ordered an MJW cab. :)

[Elliot]

A Dr Z Airbreak attenuator has a good 'bedroom' setting that works nicely - I just wish I could afford one  :o

[ailean]

I live in a flat, and have a hotplate for my 50w rockerverb. It's worth the money I think because we can push the volume and gain up and still not be too loud. Without it there are definately tones we couldn't get because it would just be too loud.

Even on the clean channel the tone really picks up past the 9 o'clock level, but that's pretty loud with a humbucker, although we can get away with single coils at that level without the hotplate.

Attenuators aren't cheap so test the waters, but even though they aren't perfect, they have a place at home.

[hunter]

I am able to play very low volume with my Shiva without a hot plate, and it sounds great, really less even than a normal TV. But that is a master volume that is well designed. I don't think if your amp doesn't have this kind of MV you could get to neighbour acceptable levels in a thin-walled flat and have a good sound.

Instead of the hotplate, you could invest the same cash in an HT-5. They seem to be sounding great at low volumes and have a direct out if you wanna go through your monitors.

[_tom_]

HT5s still need to be quite loud to sound their best though as 5w valve is still annoyingly loud.

[LazyNinja]

HT5s still need to be quite loud to sound their best though as 5w valve is still annoyingly loud.

I use my HT5C in a flat and I think my combo sounds ok at loud TV volume. Haven't had my complaints yet but if I turn the master past 9 oclock I get booming hardcore dance music from downstairs in retalliation! :lol:

If you want a hotplate Jonny, I've got a 16ohm one for sale in my seconds out thread.

[Roobubba]

In addition to an attenuator, you could get a 2x12 cab for home use with lower efficiency speakers in. Unfortunately, as I like no speaker breakup at all, and these speakers seem to be aimed more at rock and blues, I have no experience with such low efficiency speakers! If you can make the cab less efficient, you can attenuate less and hopefully achieve a better tone at low volumes.

I would advise against cranking at home. Neighbours can be very useful people, and it's far better to live somewhere where you can genuinely smile and say hello to people around you than to have a more adversarial feeling in the neighbourhood.

[Muttley]

I'd just have a chat with the people upstairs when you move in.  Explain that you are a musician and will be practicing regularly but will keep the volume down as much as possible.  Probably a good idea to ask if there any specific bad times for you to play (in case they work shifts).

If you break the ice and warn them in advance that there may be a little noise, they'll probably be far more accommodating than if "that new guy downstairs" just starts making a racket as soon as he moves in. ;)

[Will]

Beware to feel very self conscious at that level. Especially when you $%&# up when you are practicing something :P
It even happens in my situation with neighbours over 150yds away.

Good shot on the MJW, good construction, and love the finished look. He's very tidy with the cabs

[Jonny]

I'd just have a chat with the people upstairs when you move in.  Explain that you are a musician and will be practicing regularly but will keep the volume down as much as possible.  Probably a good idea to ask if there any specific bad times for you to play (in case they work shifts).

If you break the ice and warn them in advance that there may be a little noise, they'll probably be far more accommodating than if "that new guy downstairs" just starts making a racket as soon as he moves in. ;)

All these previous ideas have been in my head. So..

1. Roo: I'm getting a 2x12", I'd never get a 4x12" unless I giged or something.

2. I was thinking about asking them, when to crank and not allowed to, etc. and it's the ground floor too, so it's only two people rather than three. I think..

3. I don't understand why get a HT5 instead of a hotplate, then that'd mean I'm ruling out my VHT? I might be looking to get a teeny tiny amp for the sake of low volumes but until then I'm sticking to my VHT and nothing else.

[mikeluke]

I would agree with Muttley - an opening discussion with the neighbours will help both sides understand what is the situation and when would be good to play or not. On the power side - you will definitely need something to control the volume....