How Can I Get Good sound/tone at low volume?

[Mark Helm]

Hey, guys!

I live in an apartment, so I can practice at anything near full volume. I have a little amp (an Peavy Classic 30) and I'd like to be able to get a good sound/tone at relatively low volume.

Anyone have any experience with attenuators or any other products?

Any other ideas?

Thanks!

Aloha,

Mark

[Robert W Wilson]

My nv112 sounds good at bedroom levels when I crank the gain up high and the master very low (opposite of live/loud). Point the speaker at your face, try various elevations. If your amp has a mid sweep play with it and fine tune the tone (all free).

The loudness contour for a hi fi boosts lows and highs at low volume which can be accomplished with any little cheap mixer. The mixer lets you add soundtracks which can be played back through any stereo or even a cheap mp3 speakers.

[Ian Rae]

I use the cheap mixer approach that Robert suggests. I take the DI output from my amp and mix it with tracks from my MP3 player. I listen either on headphones or through my hifi which gives good results at low level, especially with the loudness contour.

The downside to listening quietly on loudspeakers is that I'm aware of the direct twang from the guitar, so if I don't want to disturb anyone I prefer the headphones.

[James Mayer]

I'd get a modeler if I were you.

Get the Fender Mustang I or a used Vox DA5. They sound great and can be had for $50 used.

If you plan on using headphones, as well, the Mustang has much better sound in that department. The Vox headphone sound is useless.

[Tommy Boswell]

I use preamp out to a cheap mixer. A dummy plug in the power amp input cuts the signal to the speaker (Peavey 400 or Special 130). I get good tone through the headphones, and mix in tracks or radio for practice.

[Greg Lambert]

I use the Vox MV50 with attenuation set to max value. This allows me to play normally at lower levels while the amp thinks its outputting a full 50 watts but really only outputs a few watts. Sounds incredible.

[Gene Tani]

Never occurred to me to use the mixer like that (BTW good cheap mixers are Yamaha, Mackie and Peavey)

I'm pretty happy with instrument > TC electronic boost pedal > volume pedal > modelling amp.

I have two TC Spark boost pedals and the modelling amps are from Boss (Katana), Blackstar (Core:ID) and Vox mini3, which isn't that great but it was $50.

[Larry Dering]

I use the Fender Mustang 111 v2. Mine is 100 watts but no real loss at low volume, still sounds good. As a modeler it does real well.

[Donny Hinson]

I've never heard of a Peavey Special 30, do you mean the Peavey Classic 30? At any rate, I'd set the mids at 1 or 2, the bass at 8-10, and then use the treble as your overall tone control. With amps that don't have a lot of bass, to get a "full sound", you usually have to lower the mids.

[Mark Helm]

I use the Vox MV50 with attenuation set to max value. This allows me to play normally at lower levels while the amp thinks its outputting a full 50 watts but really only outputs a few watts. Sounds incredible.

What Kind of Speaker Are You Using?

[Tony Glassman]

I run my Telonics 500 direct-out into a $99.00 Mackie mixer and out through my Shure 535 in-ear monitors....... same as my onstage rig except I turn my mains volume off.

[richard burton]

I go into a computer, via a Pod X3 effects unit, then a Focusrite interface

I listen either through headphones, or the computer speakers.

It took me a long time to understand the Pod, indeed I am only scratching the surface even now, but it can deliver a very good steel tone, even at a very low volume.

[Greg Lambert]

I use the Vox MV50 with attenuation set to max value. This allows me to play normally at lower levels while the amp thinks its outputting a full 50 watts but really only outputs a few watts. Sounds incredible.

What Kind of Speaker Are You Using?

I use a Bugera 12" Turbosound. $150 for the cabinet and speaker.

[Stephen Cowell]

Get a small amp and crank it! I love my Roland Mobile Cube for practice and ‘acoustic’ gigs... bonus is stereo reverb built in. Runs great on batteries.

[Brett Lanier]

Sometimes i go through my Sarno V8 into a Sony bluetooth speaker (via aux cable). It sounds pretty incredible, actually. Those types of speakers are really good at delivering a full range sound at low volumes.
I actually used that same rig for a tune in the studio the other day... I was using a bunch of fuzz and pitchshifting and wanted a screaming out of control sound without it being too big sounding for the mix. Worked great.

[Jim Saunders]

Headphones are what I use with my NV112. My wife sleeps later than me, so I use the time to practice with my headphones.

[Mark Helm]

Sometimes i go through my Sarno V8 into a Sony bluetooth speaker (via aux cable). It sounds pretty incredible, actually. Those types of speakers are really good at delivering a full range sound at low volumes.
I actually used that same rig for a tune in the studio the other day... I was using a bunch of fuzz and pitchshifting and wanted a screaming out of control sound without it being too big sounding for the mix. Worked great.

And, forgive me: what’s a SarnobV8?

[Mark Helm]

I use the Vox MV50 with attenuation set to max value. This allows me to play normally at lower levels while the amp thinks its outputting a full 50 watts but really only outputs a few watts. Sounds incredible.

What Kind of Speaker Are You Using?

I use a Bugera 12" Turbosound. $150 for the cabinet and speaker.

Anyone else use this Vox MV50 head?

[Dave Grafe]

$300 will get you a Roland Street Cube, which has very good reverb and effects, a 1/8" mini-TRS program input and a 1/4" TRS headphone jack. When housemates are sleeping I can play to my backing tracks while wearing headphones, sounds excellent to me, silent to everyone else. Unplug the headphones and you have a decent, battery-powered low-volume amp with 2×8" speakers.

[Paul Honeycutt]

I recently picked up a DigiTech RP 360 which is a modeling thing. It has 99 presets and 99 user slots. I got it to use through my computer speakers for practice, but I've started gigging with it. It has a headphone out as well. I found mine for around $125.00. I'm really impressed with the quality of sound. I've been a tube amp snob for years. This thing is surprisingly good.