I wanna rock.

January 17, 2006 3:13 PM

Help me rock out.

I'm in San Francisco, and I own several guitars and a couple of nice (but loud) amplifiers too. My apartment building's walls may as well be cardboard; by the time the tubes are hot enough to play through, the volume is rattling the windows in the entire building.

I don't want a hotplate-type or headphones-type solution. I want to go somewhere else and rock out at a reasonable volume without disturbing anyone and without incurring studio costs.

I have no reason to want to record my wankerish chops; I'm not a very good player. For the same reason, busking doesn't appeal; I don't want tomatoes thrown at me.

Is there some brilliant solution that I'm missing? A deserted mesa with a power outlet and a highway leading up to the top would be about right.

I do have a car.

posted by ikkyu2 to sports, hobbies, & recreation (17 comments total)

Secret Studios. There are costs, but they're minimal.
posted by youcancallmeal at 3:20 PM on January 17, 2006

I've been driving around town and seen guys playing on streets beneath freeway overpasses, where for one reason or another, there's a live power outlet. Given their location (not a residential area) and the traffic noise, I would doubt that many people would actually hear them, but doing this probably breaks any number of laws. Nonetheless, I always think about doing something similar when I pass random outlets in parking garages and light posts while walking around the city. My apartment isn't exactly feedback-friendly, either.
posted by LionIndex at 3:28 PM on January 17, 2006

A deserted mesa with a power outlet and a highway leading up to the top would be about right.

I guess a little more realisitc solution would be to buy a generator and go to some desolate area? I have friends who actually put on concerts this way in the middle of the desert. Four-wheel drive may be beneficial if you follow this suggestion.
posted by LionIndex at 3:31 PM on January 17, 2006

I have similar issues (though I do like to play live at clubs and whatnot).

My solution has been to find a bassist and a drummer who has a great practice space that's free. We have a weekly jam that allows me to use my loud as all getout amp's full potential without getting evicted. So find a drummer who doesn't totally suck and who practices regularly, and you can play loud wherever he or she does.
posted by JekPorkins at 3:34 PM on January 17, 2006

Either rent out some rehearsal space or get a friend with a basement, an agreeable Mom, and low-to-no aspirations of ever "making the big time."

You don't have to be anywhere near professional to rent rehearsing rooms; some guys I work with (software developers) ROCK OUT once a week for a couple hours in a rehearsal space and the price is cheeeep.. But then, I'm in Maine. Might be different 'round your neck of the woods.

Finally, you could try sneaking into the practice rooms at a local University. I used to do this all the time in Boston. The local university had something like 30 Steinway grands, each in a room of its own in the basement of their Arts building. I didn't have a pass, either. As long as you don't look too terribly sketchy, someone will usually walk by and let you in. It's a long-shot, but if the University is big enough you can probably find some sound-insulated practice rooms.

For example, practice rooms in:

• University of San Francisco
• San Francisco State University
• UC Berkeley

posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:46 PM on January 17, 2006

Buy a power inverter and use your car to power the amp?
I'm not sure if your alternator can provide enough juice, as I know little about guitar amps or the size of the fuse on a typical car's cigarette jack...
posted by jewzilla at 3:57 PM on January 17, 2006

I can't help you find the mesa with an outlet.

The other solution is to get the cranked tube amp sound at lower volumes. You might consider a really low wattage tube amp. Something to get great sound at apartment levels would have to be under one watt*. The problem is I don't know of any commercially available amp that fits that bill but one might exist. I build my own tube amps and am part of some DIY boards where people have built low wattage amps. If you don't have the desire or time to build an amp I think you're SOL outside of an attenuator or finding a place to crank your amps.

Also, sometimes it just feels right to crank an amp loud and push the speakers hard and feel the bass. That's something low watts will never get you.

*Yes I really mean less than a watt. I built a friend a 5 watt amp (Tweed Champ) and it is FAR too loud for an apartment. His solution is to play late at night in the basement of the lab building where he does research. Do you have a similar basement where you could play late at night at work?
posted by 6550 at 3:59 PM on January 17, 2006

Padded cells at the psych ward?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 4:14 PM on January 17, 2006

Where do you work? Could you get permission to play there after hours?

Are you a member of any civic group or church with a building that's seldom used?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 4:35 PM on January 17, 2006

Find an old house that has lost a great deal of its value due to being situated next to an interstate highway. Rent or own as necessary. It will be fairly cheap, and the road noise will provide extra insurance that you will not be bothering your neighbors with your music.
posted by macinchik at 5:01 PM on January 17, 2006

Playing under an overpass definately bumps your mysterious badass rank up a few points.
posted by phrontist at 5:01 PM on January 17, 2006

You'll want to have a backup car battery if you go the DC/AC converter-route.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:04 PM on January 17, 2006

Have you considered the morgue at your hospital?
posted by horsewithnoname at 6:57 PM on January 17, 2006

I've got a Marshall MS-4 (one watt, but it's a double stack!) and I can turn the drive up to 11 in the middle of the night and still not wake up my girlfriend. Fender has a mini-amp too. They're both battery powered, so you can take them outside. If you've absolutely got to have tubes, try this.
posted by fuzz at 1:56 AM on January 18, 2006

Get a battery-operated amp and a helmet with a headlamp and go for a careful wander on defunct industrial sites or down in the city sewers. You won't need much amplification if you're inside an industrial cavern. Start your search here.
posted by pracowity at 3:41 AM on January 18, 2006

Good call on the ZVex Nanoamp. I'd forgotten about that one.
posted by 6550 at 10:04 AM on January 18, 2006

LionIndex, I'd very much like to know what town it is where you see guys playing guitars beneath freeway overpasses which have live power outlets.
posted by Rash at 11:17 AM on January 18, 2006