Skinnyman

The Yamaha Silent Piano system seems like it might be an answer. It depends whether anyone will take hers in PX for a reasonable price....

My first guitar/bass tutor had neighbours who were, to say the least, inconsiderate. Matters came to a head after a drunken Saturday night that went on to the small hours and ended up with a screaming domestic. At seven a.m. on Sunday morning my tutor gave them the benefit of an impromptu performance through a full Marshall stack turned up to the max. They never made a sound after that little episode

I used to be the triangle player in a reggae band....😁

And that’s exactly what I want to avoid. I’m hoping that i can be quiet enough for there to be no issue - but if there is, I’d like them to tell me. If my practice is too loud and is annoying then I’ll stop and use headphones. The piano is harder but if it’s a problem then it will have to be played during the day when there’s no-one in next door. I don’t want to cause any problems to my new neighbours and would expect the same courtesy in return - if I need to adapt my behaviour, I will. But if the bookcases, thick curtains and an isolation pad will help the issue even arising then they’re useful tips and worth trying

Haha. I really don’t - I just want to practice at a sensible volume. I’m not a guitarist 😁 I like the bookcase idea. Fortunately, I have some of those!

Possibly not but I’d like to hope that I’d come across as being considerate and adding “please let me know if it disturbs you” would hopefully head off any antagonism before it started. Thats good to know. ”One of my houses”, eh? Nice. 😁

Not an option I’m afraid. She’s very, very good and plays a very nice Yamaha piano. Headphones are an obvious choice late at night but in the daytime and early evening I’d like the option of playing through an amp or just listening to the stereo without causing the neighbours any issues. It obviously makes sense to talk to the neighbours and I’ll do that but I’m also wondering if there are any practical solutions that might help too....

There's a chance that we'll be moving house soon and the property we've seen is a nice big semi-detached. Weirdly, given how often we've moved, we've never before lived anywhere with neighbours the other side of a party wall so my concern is that practicing at moderate volumes is likely to cause annoyance. Plus, Mrs S plays (acoustic) piano and that can get some volume to it when she's in full Rachmaninoff mode. Any advice on how to set things up to prevent noise leakage into next door? The property is about a hundred years old and pretty substantial. The only option for "The Music Room" (as we shall grandly call it whenever we get chance) is on the side of the house with the party wall although speakers and the piano can be placed around the room, away from the shared wall itself. I'm not talking about late night sessions - just practice and playback at sensible volume during the day. Am I worrying too much? Should I consider some sort of isolator to put a cab on to decouple the bass from the floor?

There can’t be many guitars that allow you to play a rhythm part and a xylophone solo on the same instrument

Absolutely. Over the years I’ve had a Genz Benz 6.2, a Fender Bassman 100T, an Aguilar TH350, the Genzler Magellan and, most recently, the GK Fusion. I’ve liked them all in their own way but the GK is my favourite of the bunch - largely because it seems to be an amalgam of all the others. It can do the “dirty” sound of the Fender and the Aggie at one end of the scale and get close to the “clean” of the Genz/Genzler. If one wanted to be picky, it lacks some of the build quality of the Genz(Ler) and it’s not as simple to use as the Aguilar but it’s certainly not flimsy or badly built and once you’ve found the sounds you want between the two channels, it’s easy enough to find them again. I tend not to play around with my amp settings that much - I might swap between a clean sound and something with a bit of grit but that’s about it - so once I’ve got an amp to sound the way I like I tend to leave it there. If I was playing lots of genres and needed to keep changing the fundamental sound of my bass then maybe the Genzler is a better and more flexible choice - or a Helix and an FRFR speaker. But as the amp that lets me find “my” tone, the Aguilar and the GK have been my favourites and, of those two, the GK has just that bit more versatility and character. I used to have a couple of Bergantino CN112s which I swapped out for a pair of Barefaced One10s so the pairing of GK head and One10 cab may have more of an impact than if I was still using the Bergs. That said, those Bergs were incredibly good and I wish I’d had chance to play the GK through them.

I really like mine. I just wish I had chance to use it now and again... ☹️

Story of my life

You beat me to it! And another vote for the Fender Mustang

I had a similar problem with a B3 when using it with a non-Zoom power supply. They seem to be okay with Boss PSUs but mine definitely had a tantrum when powered with an EHX power supply even though it was nominally the right rating.

I didn’t want to see you triggered again....🤭

Indeed. Nobody tell Lefty though....

I just bought some strings from Cameron. As pleasant a chap to deal with as you could find, goods shipped straight away and prompt communication throughout. The ideal BC transaction!

Good to hear that the Soundbox works well. The biggest challenge I find these days is the excessive volume of background music making it hard to distinguish dialogue. That’s where a surround system or decent sound bar really comes into its own.

A locking mechanism that prevents volume being increased above sound check values on instrument, amplifier and pedals. Fitted to guitarist and operated by bass player.

I just picked up the “City of Love” by Deacon Blue. I’m enjoying it - it’s a good DB album - and Lewis Gordon’s bass is superb, especially on Hit Me Where It Hurts.

Mmmm, Jaffa cakes.... *wanders through to kitchen, returns chewing with chocolate stains around mouth* Truth time. I don’t really have a behringer pedal. I do want one though. I want a Hell Babe but they can’t be had at the moment until the next bot arrives from China.

Really? I’ve read nothing but bad things about them*. That’s why I sold mine. That and it was crap and made everything sound mushy, especially at open mic nights. *they voted for Brexit and trump. They’re COVID deniers, anti-maskers and they’re scousers.

😁

Fixed that for ya

As I understand it (and I could well be talking out of my fundament)... If you’re going up to the fifth you’ll be playing the major 3rd, 4th, flat 5th (the “blue note”) and 5th which will work nicely in a rock blues setting so long as the flat fifth is just a passing tone. If you’re going to the root you’re playing the 6th, flat 7, major 7 and root. Again, that flat 7/major 7 in a rock/blues context works nicely as passing tones before resolving to the root. In both cases, you’re introducing a note that clashes slightly before resolving it on the fifth or the root. Theres probably a better explanation but that’s how I’ve explained it to myself....