72deluxe

Bought a Polytune from Burno70, speedily sent and well packaged, great! Thanks Rich

It was more the tonal qualities of the BBE process that I use marginally, plus its "compressor" (a slow release limiter, not a compressor at all!). I then use the two channels on the Genz for the overdrive (valve channel) or FET; in truth I use the valve channel more. The Genz is there because it's a reliable and lightweight amp and drives into 8 ohms loud, unlike my previous amp. Plus, it has blue LEDs on it.....

After investing in a MiniDSP UMIK calibrated USB microphone (good for room EQ measurements too), I logged the SPL readings at the last band practice. These are A-weighted readings, with the microphone being on a chair at knee-height and perpendicular to my bass cab and guitar cabs (!), and about 3 metres (?) from the drummer so the level at ear-level was likely higher. This was a "quiet" practice and was quieter than the other weeks but as you can see the black SPL plot is mental - daily dosage for this is meant to be about 7 minutes ([url="http://www.noisehelp.com/noise-dose.html"]http://www.noisehelp...noise-dose.html[/url]) yet this practice went on for 3 hours. The end of the second graph was trimmed off, but the last song was louder than anything previous. The LAeq and LAE level is very interesting (typically used for occupational health readings) but I don't fully understand it. Anyone else who does may chip in - please do! I am well and truly ear-plugged up, but the others are not and they said it was much quieter.... Crazy eh! EDIT: sorry for the duff links! Part 1: [url="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2dUQpSGutXEcUtZVnBTNVBYS0k/view?usp=docslist_api"]https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2dUQpSGutXEcUtZVnBTNVBYS0k/view?usp=docslist_api[/url] Part 2: [url="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2dUQpSGutXEZ2dQX3BmcXpuaVk/view?usp=docslist_api"]https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2dUQpSGutXEZ2dQX3BmcXpuaVk/view?usp=docslist_api[/url] EDIT: BTW, the legend at the bottom shows dB readings next to each coloured line, eg. LAE: 100.1dB. Ignore this! This is just showing the value for the (invisible) cursor when I exported the graph and does not indicate the overall LAE value for the entire graph range. The ascending turquoise line is the actual LAE value. Hopefully this does not confuse matters - the cursor was invisible on the exported graphs.

Thanks for the advice. I did indeed get well into the "overdrive" raspy stage and it sounded like a bag of smashed glass being dragged over a gravely drive so I had to turn the gain down. Looks like I was worrying for nothing! Plenty of dirt/grit available. This of course means that I can now stop thinking about buying an Aguilar Agro pedal as the Genz is producing enough filth by itself. Thanks for the reassurance though.

We've not had bookings yet - it has only been practices for a few months (once a month to make it easy.... or lazy, depending on your point of view). The guitarist has parts to learn; the bass parts are not hard. I play in a few bands and they all rehearse very irregularly; this suits me at the moment as it is entirely a hobby and I don't want noise-induced-hearing-loss. Thankfully the music is instrumental and obscure so I am wondering when/where/if we'll get any bookings - suggestions welcome! I have recorded the rehearsals but with three microphones and DI from guitar and bass so the overall mix at the end is not indicative of the volume/SPL in the room. You can have a listen if you want! The other bands I play in have drummers in varying degrees of volume/deafness. One causes so much hihat wash that the second song causes instant right-ear deafness (I am on the left) hence the purchase of the thickest earplugs I could possibly get, and distancing myself from him as far as possible. He too, is a deaf drummer.

I think drTStingray is right in point 3 that other musicians have a strange perception of music. This one guitarist I know always skips to the solo in a song and will listen to just that, and will listen to just guitar in a song. I have had to educate him on listening to the rest of the song and bass sound. Oddly, if you listen to something "guitary" like Steve Vai's Passion & Warfare, the best parts of that album are NOT the guitar but are instead the intricate backing parts and harmonies behind the guitar. I think he needs time to sit and learn how to "listen" to music. As he is accustomed to listening to exclusively the guitar sound, he does point 2, where he has far too much treble IMHO. He thinks it is because "bass players don't like treble" but I can confirm that doing a pop through a HF horn produces enough treble! It leads me to think his hearing is rather suspect. As he is not used to hearing his sound get lost in a mix, he turns up to compensate. I know that if I put plugs in, everything will be quieter (including me) but you just learn to get used to that lower volume and learn to listen to yourself in a muffled way. I will see if I can find someone they both respect to give opinions on volume next practice, else I'll leave before deafness engulfs us all. The tilt-back guitar stand is a good idea. Aim the sound-cannon at his head.

My guitarist friend went for the limited / lower-cost edition of Pro Tools and keeps mentioning that it is "industry standard" but it runs like a dog on his underpowered machine, is limited to 16 tracks and came with an audio interface that emits a high-pitched whistle at all times. He says you get used to it and don't hear it but how on earth he can do an objective mix is beyond me - wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! all the time For his money he should have bought a Focusrite audio interface and got a load of VSTs / AUs plugins. I went for Logic and find the "drummer" feature to be very useful for jamming a long to for practice. Given that you can take the tracks it creates and put them into a different drum plugin as MIDI data, it means you can get some very interesting sounds for very little effort. I did also try Presonus Studio One but found the interface a bit too small and cluttered. I know Logic is black (everything's like Darth Vader's codpiece colour-wise) but the controls are mostly of reasonable size, although it does prefer a higher-resolution screen.

Ah this isn't Ron - he's got another (anonymous) name. Perhaps he's the same guy under a pseudonym? I think he has an electronic kit somewhere but I have been in bands where I ended up buying all the gear and convincing my fellow band members to buy a simple mixer so they can hear themselves will be a challenge. I don't want to end up being lumbered with buying (and transporting) all the gear, which has happened before. I am not doing that again! We've come up with the idea of "hot rod" sticks (the sticks that aren't quite brushes) and he's used them before in another band (I played in that too) so perhaps that might help. With the electronic kit, I now recall playing a gig years ago with him and he said "do you have a spare PA monitor so I can hear myself?". I suspect I may have more issues than volume to contend with if they won't get the right gear.... Actually, in another band the drummer bought a powered monitor and turned up with just that and demanded "I WANT YOU ALL THROUGH THAT!" without any thought of how on earth we'd feed all our equipment into it, and without bringing any cables at all. I despair. I think as someone said above, playing quieter only lasts for about 10 seconds so I'll see how it goes next practice and consider leaving after that. Tinnitus and hearing loss is not a joke. The thread has been very informative, pity it's a common problem really!

Thanks for the info on the hearing test - I'll do that at home. The guitarist is a guitar teacher so subjects himself to noise all evening long and also keenly practices so subjects himself to noise all the time. If you go in the room where he is practicing the volume is pretty immense and he has treble cranked right up, which I suspect indicates some hearing loss in that area. I will send them all that hearing test link - I have a set of DT770 headphones to try on. I went for a hearing test years ago and that was informative; he recommended avoiding noise as much as possible just to avoid noise-induced hearing loss, and limit how much time I spent listening to music on headphones or earphones. I now try and listen to everything as quiet as possible. I do have a pair of Vic Firth ear defenders which I sometimes wear in addition to my earplugs, just to make a point... The problem is that I end up playing harder because I can't hear so then get callouses on the fingers from playing too hard. Practice should sort that out though. The guitarist does use a Marshall preamp to get "his" sound but then takes the line-outs of that to the line-ins on two 60w combos (yes, two; for stereo apparently, but you can only possibly hear the stereo from one single point in front of them...). I recently downsized to a 2x10 cab as 4x10 was too much really; if only I could convince the others that volume is not music. Hopefully the hearing loss indicators will be enough to show them. From most of the advice here, it'll likely end up with me leaving as it is ridiculous.

They look good! Hopefully he will want to buy them, as I can't see him willingly spending money on them...

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1436787820' post='2820687'] Funnily enough on a thread last month I was told in no uncertain terms that this kind of drummer (and guitarist) no longer exist. [/quote] Well, the ones who told you that are welcome to come along and suffer instant hearing loss at one of our practices if they want! Whoever told you that was completely wrong. In fact, most guitarists I have worked with played FAR too loud. I have never had a guitarist that I thought "oooh they're playing a bit quiet, wish they'd turn up!" The tips in this thread are useful. I will attempt to educate them on their folly and perhaps politely convince them that they may be deaf? Hearing tests all round I think, including me.

Ah I suspect this will be the case. My ears are ringing today and that's after wearing plugs all night; my right ear actually hurts a bit. I don't think losing my hearing is worth it! Great idea about the electric kit - the next thing is to make the guitarist wear headphones and not deafen everyone with his insane volume too. I only meant the drummer has great feel and groove and sounds great when he plays quietly - it's when he "gets into it" where Concorde taking off is quieter. I have a few cats and have attempted to herd them, but to no avail; they completely ignore me. I suspect trying to change their attitudes will be just as effective. It's a pity really. Thanks! EDIT: I could get a SPL meter wired up to power outlets that trip the power off for everyone like they do in village halls??? A measurement microphone to convince them that they're as loud as a pneumatic drill at 1M would be non-arguable, eh?

Hello! I was wondering if any of you had tips for dealing with a drummer who drums at extreme volume? In one band I am in we have a great drummer who has groove and feel, and can play gentle passages but gets carried away and plays at ear-splitting levels. And I mean real insane mental volume. It isn't just the drums but the fact that each cymbal hit sounds like an A-bomb. Thankfully he has not played a rimshot yet but if he does there will likely be a shockwave and we'll all be dead. I play with ear plugs in (always have, tis safer!) and the guitarist tried wearing plugs the other night but said "it sounds muffled, I can't hear myself" and therefore played without ear plugs and turns up to insane mental volume to match the drummer, as he says that he cannot hear himself. I can attest to the fact that he is extremely audible (!) and my hair is blowing in the opposite direction when he plays. He also has a love of presence and treble, and I believe he has hearing damage because whenever he plays (even in his house) it is at mental volumes and causes wincing. I have taken to refusing to turn up and just getting down by my cab to hear myself but as these are practices, any real gig would cause permanent hearing damage to any punters. How do I deal with this? The drummer does have deafness from decades of playing (he says he can't really hear his hihats, and also can't hear if you rub your fingers together next to his ear - he can't hear that) but when we politely indicate that he's far too loud he gets very upset and says that's drumming quietly. Suggestions very welcome! The only one I can think of is refusing to turn up, EVER and convincing the guitarist to play with ear plugs in and NOT turn up "so that he can hear himself". He likely needs to just get used to the fact that ear plugs do make yourself sound muffled, but that's a benefit!!!! Ideas?

Hello all! I have a Genz Benz STLMax 9.2 that I run a BBE BMax-T into (love mild BBE processing and their "compressor" aka a slow attack limiter). There are two channels on the GB, a FET channel and a valve channel. When I dig in I can the overload OL LED to light up on the valve channel (and it also does the FET channel as they are wired in parallel). According to the manual (and common knowledge) I should turn down the input gain at this point and it is alright for this to flash occasionally but I am looking to get some rasp from the valve preamp; I already have the high gain switch enabled but am not getting enough dirt - is running in the OL continually safe or do I need to invest in an overdrive pedal like an Aguilar Agro??? Or has anyone changed the valves for better fuzzzzz? I have the stock valve in it. Thanks Rich