How to keep the vibrations down at home..

[Kev]

Well, i am about to own a rather powerful valve amp and 6x10 cab, and i'm going to want to practice with it at home. Not talking stupidly loud volumes here, but im expecting a fair amount of sound and vibration to travel. And i live in a terraced house. Not ideal.

Anyone have any tips to reduce vibrations/sound leaving the room? I am not in a position to soundproof a room or do anything drastic, but any tips would be great. I guess the best start would be something to put the amp atop of to absorb the vibrations?

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Mmm...maybe you're just better off getting a cheap practice bass for home,and use the big rig for gigs.

[Kev]

Would be more sensible, but i'm not sensible

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Raawk 'n' roll

Edited July 21, 2013 by RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE

[JapanAxe]

Gramma pad? Beyond that all you can do is build an isolated room that floats inside one of your existing rooms. Or Pod and headphones...

[EssentialTension]

Move house.

[Stan_da_man]

Headphones?

[Dad3353]

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1374439228' post='2148831']Well, i am about to own a rather powerful valve amp and 6x10 cab, and i'm going to want to practice with it at home...any tips would be great...[/quote]

Valve or not, makes little difference. Loud is loud. Most amps have a volume control; you just have to keep it down some.

An old trick, which works quite well, is to lay a mattress on the floor (dense foam is good...), then lay the cab, face down, on the mattress. If it's rear-ported, lay another mattress over that. This will absorb some of the sound. Works best on concrete floors, as in a garage. Worth a try..?
You still have to keep the volume control down, though.

Hope this helps.

[CPBass]

You'll be fine Kev. Ive used it in the house plenty and it still delivers 'its sound' at lower volumes. You can then open her out if you get a jam session or bigger room.

Your going to love it mate. I'm still gutted she's leaving

[jezzaboy]

I live in a tenement flat and use a 25 watt Marshall to play through and my upstairs neighbour can hear me playing it sometimes. Unless you insulate the room, there is no way to stop bass frequencies travelling next door.

I have now bought a TC BG250 and use the mp3 input and headphone sockets and everyone is happy.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1374490249' post='2149209']
... Unless you insulate the room, there is no way to stop bass frequencies travelling next door ...
[/quote]
I think this is about right but it's also the case that older houses are better at insulation of sound. My house is 1890 build and never hear neighbours.

[xgsjx]

Foam pads on the walls might help reduce the vibrations as well as a floating floor (Gramma pad, small drum riser, etc).

[Ian Savage]

Cheap alternative to a Gramma pad is a sheet of ply resting on half-a-dozen chopped-in-half tennis balls. I used to use that as a drum riser/vibration reducer for my electronic drum kit, surprisingly effective.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1374493352' post='2149251']
Foam pads on the walls might help reduce the vibrations as well as a floating floor (Gramma pad, small drum riser, etc).
[/quote]Foam will absorb midrange and high frequency reflections within the room, but it will do nothing to stop low frequencies passing through walls, ceilings and floors. Gramma pads don't do anything to stop low frequency passage. The only thing that stops low frequencies is mass, a lot of it.

[xgsjx]

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1374494704' post='2149288']
Foam will absorb midrange and high frequency reflections within the room, but it will do nothing to stop low frequencies passing through walls, ceilings and floors. Gramma pads don't do anything to stop low frequency passage. The only thing that stops low frequencies is mass, a lot of it.
[/quote]

What if he's not a Catholic?

[Mr. Foxen]

Turn down the bass.

[Prime_BASS]

Sit right infront of the cab?

The volume goes down aswell as up.

[tonyquipment]

Deaf neighbours or move to desolate area

There's no good way of dampening the sound. It will reverberate and shake the walls

[Telebass]

I use a Tascam bass trainer. My amps are never turned on at home, except occasionally the Bassman 25, and then only at very low level.

[Stealth]

Gramma pad seconded

Plus sock in the ports

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1374495103' post='2149296']


What if he's not a Catholic?
[/quote]

Brilliant

[Marvin]

Practice in a field...

[xgsjx]

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1376229411' post='2171026']
Brilliant
[/quote]
Thank you.
I thought it had went like the giraffe's gonads.