That feeling when you have nice guitar, but crappy amps/effects due to living an apartment

[ducker 1]

I live in an apt and I have 2 Rivera's, 2 Peavey"s ,ADA MP1 classic and 2- 2 2/12 cabs I turn down and then turn up when the neighbors are gone. I also have a pretty great pedal board. I also still have my rack from the 80s LOL

 

[.047uF]

Just want to commend the OP for having consideration for his neighbors.

As someone who’s lived in apartments I can tell you the guy blasting sounds from his apartment, or tight living quarters, is almost always an immature, inconsiderate ass-h0le.

A good set of headphones with a decent modeler should cover you for now. You can play thru the modeler at lower volumes without headphones too.

 

[ducker 1]

some of what I hear on this topic is that you cant get great sound at TV volumes????? HOGWASH.

 

[Fowleri Is God]

Some of us don’t have high end guitars OR amps because we are paying for our housing.

Why don’t you try to soundproof a room?

 

[Balamuthia]

QFT!


Yeah - this. Am I understanding correctly OP, that you have a quad cortex? If that is correct, suck it up, realize that you live in an apartment with neighbors, confine your playing there to headphones, and go buy a really good pair of them.

Otherwise, since you’re not paying for rent, if you want great amp tone, get a nice amp and go rent a practice space. Sheesh.

I don't have a quad cortex lol i have one plugin from neural DSP lol

quadcortex is expensive which is why I said all the paths that lead to good tone at low volume are expensive ones nowadays as it requires good modelers and who wants to play wit headphones all the time?

 

[Balamuthia]

Some of us don’t have high end guitars OR amps because we are paying for our housing.

Why don’t you try to soundproof a room?

no such thing as soundproofing is a misnomer, you can only mitigate so much I actually put another drywall with insulation on top of my current drywall that leads to the neighbor, which mitigated a lot of noise as sometimes I could hear them talk, now I don't even so I'm not gon play loud

I'm an introvert, I don't want to blast music and annoy others, so my goal is to get gear to create good sound at tv volume levels, this will be expensive as it will require a good modeler unit with a powered speaker or cabinet. I also don't want to be tied to the computer all the time as it happens with plugins

 

[chanley]

I run all my pedals into an iridium/headphones at home (apartment). I think the 3-400 USD "amp in a box" range has a ton of great options. I have nice guitars and nice pedals and they sound very good at home through headphones. I think the tone is very good. Have a silverface twin at the practice spot and just bypass the iridium and go into the twin.

 

[vortexxxx]

Get a tube amp that you like and an attenuator. I used to use attenuators all the time.

 

[Angstwulf]

A few random thoughts on this issue:

- my opinion is that modeling amps/solid state amps tend to be much more satisfying at late-night volumes than most tube amps. Low volume with a tube amp isn't a sin but you're not getting the best out of the amp.

- A tube amp at those volumes is hard to use since they often go from just a tad to quiet to wake the neighbors with a small turn of the volume/gain knob. Not all tube amps are that unmanageable but it is a trend. Oddly enough, the best tube amp I ever owned as far as getting satisfactory low volume tones and that had the best low volume control was a JCM900 2x12 combo. Go figure.

- Headphone choice is critical here. They have to be comfortable, of course. I used to absolutely hate practicing on headphones. I get ear fatigued real quickly with most. Comfort is also key. My personal preference is closed back phones or in ear monitors. The next issue is keeping the volume level down enough that I'm not blasting my ears but finding a way for the sound not to be dead. I tend to avoid high gain and I find that getting the right reverb is as, if not more, important than getting a perfect tone through an amp sim.

- I splurged a few years ago for a Boss Waza Air. Total impulse buy. I do not regret it. I find it to be the most satisfying headphone amp experience by a huge margin. Comfy and that surround/stage effect really offsets a lot of the disadvantages of using headphones. They are really expensive but it is one of my most used pieces of gear.

 

[monty]

I'm a apt. dweller, I love my Katana 100W head. At night I usually just use the built in speaker and use pedals to get some mojo. They make some great pedals these days that really help in this application.
I get my high volume fix when I go out and play with the boys.

 

[StreetwalkinCheetah]

I've got more amps than I need but I've also got a Mac Mini in my work office with a couple of NDSP plugs, Helix Native and the iLoud mini monitors and it is an absolutely killer practice setup. (Before that I was rocking a miniplug and that was also fun). Good headphones or monitors and plugs plus being able to jam out to music streaming services or rip in your DAW of choice at all hours is awesome.

But yeah amps are cool too .

 

[The_Cheap_Guitarist]

I lived in an apartment with my Les Paul Standard and my Marshall JCM 900 half stack, and never had any problems. I just keep the volume low.

 

[Toolmaster Of Brainerd]

Don't get a katana. You won't be happy.

I have a katana. I played it in my apartment and I never liked my tone. Then I got a nice tube amp with a great master volume and I played it at really low volume in that apartment. Life was 10x better.

Get either a nice tube amp or nice speakers. Don't waste your time on a katana.

 

[Winterwind]

Well, my guitars and amps are all quality gear but, living in an apartment I've never had my AC30 or Rumble 100 volumes over 3. My wife and I would love a house but in Canada that's less likely each passing day.

 

[juxtapolice]

Im in an apartment too so I use a two notes captor X at home or go direct with plugins, doesnt matter much for me since im either recording or practicing. I also have a rehearsal space with loud amps. Or
I get to hear them live in context. If you are living somewhere that apartment living is the majority these are the concessions. Use the money you are saving on rent for a rehearsal space would be my suggestion

 

[ducker 1]

I love the responses---SPEND MONEY LOL, and Money is easier than Talent and Ability.--LOLZ

 

[davesultra]

Due to my playing & housing circumstances, I really can’t use really nice high end amps. I actually really like the low volume sounds I get from my Katana 50w & 1w Marshall head.

 

[Irishbread69]

Waza Air headphones.

I have nothing but good things to say about them. You can find them discounted every now and again.

Solved my apartment issues immediately.

 

[Cliff Jitters]

I run all my pedals into an iridium/headphones at home (apartment). I think the 3-400 USD "amp in a box" range has a ton of great options. I have nice guitars and nice pedals and they sound very good at home through headphones. I think the tone is very good. Have a silverface twin at the practice spot and just bypass the iridium and go into the twin.

Origin Effects RevivalDRIVE into any good amp sounds great at all volumes, from loud down to TV and even whisper. There are many similar, great sounding amp-in-a-box pedals.

 

[Rollie1983]

I've been trying to solve this for myself for years, and I've seen the evolution of gear for this purpose.

2002-2005- Line 6 POD through computer with decent external speakers added. Great for playing along with music but never captured the feel of a tube amp and only part of the tone.

2006-2012- Line 6 POD with small low watt Fender practice amp. Captured some of the feel and part of the tone.

2013-2020- Small 1 watt class A amp. All of the feel and tone, but limited to the tone of that amp.

2020- present- Headrush into good headphones, most of the feel and tone of a tube amp, but requires tweaking to get it right, and makes it easy to play along with music.

2021- present- Real tube amps into UA Ox with headphones. 99% of the feel and sound of the real amp and allows it to be cranked without upsetting the neighbors.

The best option is the most expensive. The 2nd best is moderately expensive.