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Ear Protection For The Guitarist

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All Ears by Mike Glendinning

I moved to Albany, CA in March of 1996. My new home was a good 20 miles from where I once lived. Being in my early 20’s, I was eager to get some kind of music job. I was curious to find out whom I could meet and what I could learn about this instrument that I had been obsessed with most of my life. After a month I landed a job testing equipment at a Wireless company East of San Francisco. On the morning of the first day of my new job I remember watching a TV commercial with Primus Bassist Les Claypool speaking about hearing loss. Almost 10 years later I’ve taken a hearing test to find out that I have the hearing of a 54 year old in my left ear. What happened?

In the 10 years since my “Music Job” that I no longer have, to the present where I teach guitar and perform at least 3 times a week, I see a lot of the mistakes that I made. I hope you will take my advice and do yourself a huge favor and learn from the mistake I made. If I had been more careful then, perhaps I wouldn’t have to be so paranoid now. The good news is that if I play my cards right, as an old man I’ll have the hearing of a 54 year old. If you take my advice you won’t have to deal with this when you hit 30.

Below is a list of situations that other musicians and I have been in on a regular basis and my advice on how you can save your hearing.

Turn it down! Think of it this way regarding headphones: With the music playing, take them off and hold them about 2 feet away from your ears. If you can still hear the music coming out of them, it’s too loud. If you are practicing and the sound is louder than a regular household vacuum cleaner then it’s too loud.
Hearing protection: I have seen people run sound boards in some of the areas finest and they all have one thing in common… Loud noises will happen! Wether it’s someone unplugging a guitar through a direct box and its not turned down or mic feed back. If you are in the audience ware earplugs. I recommend something that filters out about 30 DBs. If the music is still too loud go outside and enjoy the music. If enough people go outside because of the noise, maybe that will give the club owner a clue. Being onstage is different, because you need to hear yourself and your band mates, so I recommend High Fidelity Ear Filters. They cut out about 12 Decibels so if things feedback your not completely screwed. With all earplugs, make sure you read the instructions on putting them in and taking them out. Either way, do it correctly so you don’t hurt yourself. One big problem I’ve run into over the years is at rehearsal. Taking your earplugs in and out of your ears can be a huge pain, so I recommend using Head muffs. The kind you use at a shooting range so you can put them on fast if some oaf starts to make noise without warning you.
As guitar players we all find ourselves in situations like having to play through someone else’s amp and maybe the treble is too high. Or it could be a jam where they plug you into a direct box and the monitor is pushing out a lot of highs. I recommend spending the money on an EQ box. Boss makes a great one for about $150.

About a year ago I went to a workshop on how to run a band. One of the speakers was showing the class how to communicate with people you are playing with and I asked him what he used for earplugs. He looked at me like I was crazy, turned around and simply turned down his amp! He said, “Those are my earplugs!”

www.mikeglendinning.com

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Updated: 4/10/09