Playing during the wee hours

[DocRocz]

I use an Engl E530. 4 band eq and tone options for days. With a built in 1.5 watt amp, it's amazing!!!!

 

[Vinsanitizer]

With electric guitar, anything above 60dB will wake up my wife, and you need to be at least around 70dB to drown out the sound of your pick hitting the strings. I have one of those NUX Mighty Air stereo mini amps, but you still have to wear headphones, which I can't stand because the cord catches and pulls on everything it touches.

Bedroom volume to me = I can still hear the pick hitting the strings = I'd rather not even bother.
The only solution is headphones = I'd still rather not bother.

 

[Dale Faulkner]

Fractal all the way for great tone at low volumes.

 

[TheChris]

In that situation - it's just silly to use an amp. Do like everybody else and get a headphone amp like a POD or whatever. You don't need to sound like Van Halen when you're practicing scales late at night

 

[John Stedman]

Old school Apollo UAD 2 Quad (silver) with either the Marshall Plexi Super Lead 1959 or JMP 2203 plugin and a bit of reverb from the Galaxy Tape Echo plugin on Aux 1 to powered monitors and/or headphones, depending on how quiet I need to be. With this setup and my pedalboard I can play along to any source or launch Reaper for instant recording.

 

[Mrmadd]

Lots of options here. But it sucks when you turn the volume so low that you start to hear the acoustic plinka plinka sound of your guitar strings slapping the neck.

Low volume raw tones DSLs
Wild effects and tone coloring CODE

Fender clean play, just too loud

 

[Mrmadd]

Thought about building a foam cage around the studio organ Leslie speaker for recording purposes.

I guess that you could do the same with an amp.

 

[Mrmadd]

But isn't half the fun of using your amp become the look of it also.

Kind of hard to be inspired playing your guitar to a big pink box.

 

[gs175]

For the last few months I've been using a Tonex pedal through studio monitors. There's a mixer in between that I route my backup tracks through, so everything goes through the monitors. This is the best solution I've found to date, though I'm still determined to build a JohnH attenuator in the not too distant future.

 

[bill0287]

Various amp sims through Pro Tools with an EZDrummer track to keep the beat. I hardly ever fire up a tube amp if I am just noodling around.

 

[cccc]

In that situation - it's just silly to use an amp. Do like everybody else and get a headphone amp like a POD or whatever. You don't need to sound like Van Halen when you're practicing scales late at night

Actually I do because it I don't the inspiration goes away . I want classic Marshall tone at bedroom volume levels , not DSL tones I'm talking JMP and JCM 800 tones and I'm very familiar with the DSL's and they just don't cut it .

Marshall should bring back the anniversary 1 watters because they are the real deal and the best part is you don't need to buy anything else like a fractal unit to get awesome tone at bedroom volume levels . Those amps get mind boggling tone even when set well below full 1 watt power.

 

[m@rco]

my preferred solution is the yamaha Thr10. Very low volumes.

Marshall dsl1c with johnh attenuator. Low volumes, but below a certain volume there is not enough power on the amp to pump the speaker. I’d be curious to try a lower sensitivity speaker to reduce the silence thresold.

My third solution is Headrush MX5 into headphones.

Adding the caveat that single note playing unplugged (or into headphones) is the only that is actual whisper volume. Even strumming unplugged is louder than actual whisper, as my ex-wife reminded me multiple times.

 

[Spcv]

I can get nice tones (for me, at least, but I only have to please myself) with the Origin 20C or the DSL1 with volume low enough to hear the strings. With the Origin, I compensate the loss of gain with a Boss SD-1 ( gain up, level low). Another trick is to use an EQ pedal to tame the volume and compensate whatever tone loss happens...

Another (great) option that I'be used is Tech 21 PSA-1. Lots of (good) Marshall tones, as well as Mesa, Fender, etc... It has a fantastic setting for Van Halen tones. The other Marshall sims are great, but don't expect them to sound exactly like what they're named after. I run it througfh a Power Engine and it works preety well. Pure analog, very convincing tones, I wish that version had a headphone option. Still, the PSA-1 is that piece of gear that I don't use as much as I used to, but I just can't see myself getting rid of it...

Another option is the Vox Adio, (50 bulshit Watts) which has some nice tones, effects, bluetooth, works well with very low volumes because of its speakers, works with headphones, and can work with batteries if the wife kicks you out because you bought another pedal...

AND another option is the Moer Hornet (the one with heavy models). That one really only sounds acceptable with low volume, living room jam to show off some chops - don't ever dream of taking it outside the house, fresh air or a stronger wind might kill it. Soundwise ok if you take the time to dial in what you want, don't expect to be overwhelmed (though I actually like the Bogner simulation a lot!) Also works with headphone, batteries, has bluetooth and effects, blah blah blah... Quality is crappish... like made in China, but in the worst part of China, it appears. Works well for living room late night quiet practice and let's leave it at that.

 

[FutureProf88]

Spark Mini with headphones.

 

[LCW]

Studio Silver Jubilee on 5W.

 

[dsn716]

Agreeing with Vin and some others, if you need such low volume that you can hear your guitar acoustically over the sound from the amp, then it’s pointless to use an amp.
I am unfortunately in this situation. Most of the time I get a chance to play anymore is after everyone else in the house is asleep.
I have an old Boss ME-25 that I use with headphones. I tried a Boss ME-80 when that first came out. Couldn’t get a decent sound from it, and was crippled by option paralysis. I also tried a Boss GT-1 when it first came out, and sent that back within a few days as well. But, I can get decent clean, rhythm, and lead tones from my ME-25. It’s simple to use, and you can find them used for around $100.

 

[6StringMoFo]

Playing during the wee hours​

Been using plugins for that, it's hard to beat.

 

[solarburn]

My picking is so aggressive, even unplugged is too loud.

 

[Derek S]

My picking is so aggressive, even unplugged is too loud.

Light picks should fix that!

 

[solarburn]

Light picks should fix that!

Or Air guitar!