According to the Decibel X app, I'm usually in the 70-80 dB range when practicing (measured from about 3 feet away from my DSL1HR and Peavey 112-6). In all honesty, about 85 dB is the most I feel comfortable with at home before I start worrying about bothering the neighbors.
I hope that one day people wont have to concern themselves with nonsense like "being in the closet" Its a ridiculous way of living in what we think of as the free world
Interesting thread as I've wondered about this myself. I recently bought a decent SPL meter off Amazon a while ago. I tested a couple of my amps with the amp / effect settings that I had written down for various songs and measured the MAX volumes. I was usually in the range of 100 - 105 dB, at about 6 feet in front of my cab. I was surprised by this because I usually keep the masters fairly low and sometimes attenuate, and it really doesn't seem all that loud to me. I used to play noticeably louder than this in the past (until I got complaints). But no one is complaining at this level. I did look at a noise exposure table: So now I am working on gradually lowering my volume to get out of this danger zone and I have some settings now that still sound not too bad at around 90 dB peak. It does take some effort to find decent tones at lower volume, as tube amps usually sound like poo at quiet levels. Sound exposure is also based on exposure time: So if I'm playing louder I try to keep it short. I have permanent tinnitus from doing a lot of target shooting in my younger days but I don't want to make it worse. Oh yeah, and no discomfort at any of my current or previous levels, but I used to have increased ringing in my ears back when I played louder.
Just loud enough so I can't hear my pick hitting the strings at all. I use smaller amps. Even a 50 watter on 2, maybe even 1, is asking for trouble if you sit in a small room with that almost everyday. You won't know it right away, but over time you'll notice your hearing getting tired. There's only so much thise little cilia hairs will take before they tell you what time it is. .
No... But I have actually utilized the suggestion I recommended to the OP. Those amps (Cameron Atomica and the Boogie MKIII Coliseum) have a really good master volume. (I switched to the Boogie at the very end of the video, when I used the Sustainiac pro) I use an attenuator, set to LOAD-- if I want to eliminate the middle cabinet, and just use a stereo architecture, instead of w/d/w I used a Solid State Kustom amp that I got for $20, in this:
Just got home and busted out the meter. My in front of the computer rig where I typically play along and learn songs is at 76 to 77 decibels by itself. Last time I metered my band we had it down to about 100 decibels for a 3 piece which is pretty quiet for a whole band.
My main practice amp is my DSL40CR. I have tinnitus in my right ear so I have to be careful. I keep the volume at 85 dB and the tone is just absolutely beautiful. The amp sits behind me about 5 feet. Pro tip: When watching movies or tv shows, turn on close captioning so you can follow what's going on while playing at volume.
You play very well! You even made that $20 SS amp sound good. I don't think the master on my Mesa Express 5:50 or Marshall Studio is as good as your Boogie/Cameron, but I do get decent results when I stick a JHS Black Box in the loop to slightly reduce the preamp signal. I only use my Power Station occasionally.
Too kind... Thank you. MOST appreciated. I'm still working on it, for a Journey tribute project. Getting there You're doing pretty much what I suggested for a friend of mine w/ his Friedman 50 combo. I told him to put his Intellifex in the loop and crank the amp's volume to get the power section pushing well, and then adjust the listening level w/ the output of the intellifex and it worked like a Charm.
