Playing guitar in an apartment (noise level/angry neighbor woes)

[ilyti]

I have to agree with all the people suggesting a POD HD. I bought one a couple of years ago, and it's one of the most useful pieces of gear I've owned. One of the biggest reasons why is that I can experiment with sounds and effects with headphones, and the volume being high or low does not affect the quality of the sound. What you hear is what you get, and is what will be recorded directly into your computer. And they are the most practical thing for living in apartments.

I have an OK apartment living situation right now, but it wasn't always like that. I have neighbours who are young enough not to care if I turn it up once in awhile, but having the POD means I can work at any and all hours. It just makes sense.

I sympathize deeply that your neighbour is a grumpy old bastard. I've dealt with that before, and there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING you can do to make this guy less of a bastard. No matter what sound dampening efforts you make, this guy has made up his mind about you and that's not going to change. With any luck, his kids will insist he moves into an old folks home soon.

A similar thing happened in my building - this grumpy old couple lived there for 20 years, but eventually they left because several neighbours complained (more than once) about the smoke smell they caused. And the guy in the apartment above them was noisy and arrogant, that eventually they figured it wasn't worth it anymore, and they moved to an old folks home, which is where they should have been for some time anyway.









tl;dr If you are going to live in apartments for the forseeable future, get a POD. It eliminates the worry about "Oh is this building soundproofed enough?" forever. Old bastard neighbours stay old bastards, there's no reasoning with them, so don't even try. Eventually they die or move out.

 

[goherpsNderp]

I like all these suggestions about dampening my noise. Unfortunately that wont change for my horn but he seems to have most of his problem with my guitar even though my horn is louder. This furthers my thinking that I should find some cheap type of dampening. So ill look into all these suggestions but at the same time my other goal is not to run from this problem. Im going to talk to management because I know that I am well within my rights (extreme dampening precautions aside).

sounds like he has an axe to grind and doesn't like guitar playing or the culture he has somehow associated with it inside his mind.

did you mention to management that your horn is louder but he only complains about the guitar?

 

[ArrowHead]

sounds like he has an axe to grind and doesn't like guitar playing or the culture he has somehow associated with it inside his mind.

did you mention to management that your horn is louder but he only complains about the guitar?

As I already explained, louder in the room doesn't mean louder in the next apartment. Low frequencies travel further. It's never safe to assume something like that - go visit the neighbor and see how loud it is for yourself.

 

[DrZoidberg]

I used to have the same problem. I lived in an apartment and my upstairs neighbor would throw a tantrum and stomp on the floor every time I turned my amp on. (On the lowest volume possible.) I wouldn't mind so much, if I hadn't heard EVERY step the fatass took. I knew what he was watching on TV all the time because I could hear it, but oh lord if I should try and practice (which being a music student I do a lot of) he'd act like an angry 12 year old kid. After I got tired of this and hearing sex noises (from him, not her) I decided to show him just how bad it could be if I was an asshole. (Which I am.)

So we had ourselves a little noise war. Needless to say, my half stack easily beat out his shitty rap music. It sucks when you try to be nice and respectable, and a grown man has to resort to acting like a child. My landlord threatened me, and the other musicians I knew that lived in the building. I even informed him that I was a music student and he said that it'd be no problem, but less than a month after I moved into the place the war with my neighbor began. My advice to move out (I know that's not reasonable, but I felt so much better after I did.) or get some comfy headphones.

 

[Joose]

My amp is useless in my apartment. It and my pedals are all setup for high volumes. Damn 400 watt Hybrid, lol. Whatever, I still love it.

I do have a Line 6 Spider III 2x10 in here too though. I just have it held up by 2 stools. As long as it isn't on the floor or touching a wall, people don't seem to complain.