How Loud IS "Bedroom Volume"? 

My ears have acclimated to my tube amps through hearing loss👍 I live feral, in the country, no wife, no kids. I throw a can of chili on my amp, set the controls to the heart of the sun, and go full Spinal Tap! 🤣🤘

The answer to that question is: it depends on who you're Wife is, or maybe even your neighbours wife!

“How loud is bedroom volume?” Depends on what you’re doing 😎

I find that most of the time, during these days of fatherhood, I typically play an acoustic for my baby for entertainment and play my electrics through a fender Mustang Micro and Sony studio pro headphones. The pair sounds incredible to me and more time than not, scratches the itch to play loud. When the family is out, I plug in my Princeton and push it to 4… 5 if it’s the weekend 😂

A whistle is 75 dB in my space. My acoustic bass is 65 dB, Acoustic Guitar is 70-75 dB. Perceived loudness is definitely impacted by the frequency being played. Higher notes definitely perceived to be louder. I probably play my electrics at about 80 dB as I play with backing tracks through my Katana Air and like it louder than the string noise. Obviously Imlive in a house not an apartment. My darling wife starts turning up the main floor TV ABOVE 85 dB. Completely agree on delta between pick and fingers/nails.

I'm kind of glad they're discussing all this. I bought my first electric guitar at 62 years old along with my first amp. I bought a 50 watt Marshall jvm215c all too bad. I keep it at low volume so I don't hurt my hearing any worse than it is. But where I damaged my hearing was on a fender micro mustang headphone amp. I've had tinnitus ever since I was using that microamp. When you're using headphones there's no place for the sound to go.

I have a Fender tonemaster amp. It has an attenuation switch in back. You can kind of get the gain up without the volume you would have from a tube amp.

Wow..! Very informative! I love when you have David Barber on. ( I still want to get his over drive). I tend to play a little louder... I'd say I probably play around 70-75 db , depending on content. I have no issues with neighbors, being that they are all at work while I'm working on my music. I ,generally, record in my home studio all day long scoring films and recording my band.

I find my Spark Mini is perfect for “bedroom loud”. It will actually get louder than that, too, but it has really amazing tone in the 2/3rds volume range.

I sadly haven't been able to make it to the live stream much lately. I miss it! Great topic guys, very informative!

Nice one Keith, sorry I didn’t get to see this live. Great to have David sharing his expertise.

VERY good vid! Very useful and well done! More please! 😎

My wife and I live in a 2 bedroom apartment. The small bedroom is my studio. I bought the Bugera G5 Infinium amp that you can play at 0.1, 1 and 5 amps. play it at .1 amps through half of a Marshall 1960 cab. It breaks up nicely and has a full sound. I use a wireless system so, if I walk out to the living room, you can hardly here it even with the door open.

I bought my Yamaha Silent Guitar when my child was born and it gives me a lot of additional practice time. ❤ I also take it with me on vacation, because it has a headphone amp and a tuner.

Bedroom to me is having the amp just loud enough so I can hear both the TV and the amp.

My ears ring louder than that. OMG That's some funny stuff Dave.

I haven't used an amp or computer in years when playing my guitars/basses. I don't miss them, to be honest, I can hear the notes I play just fine.

Home I most often play through a pair of my near field studio monitors, with a multieffect pedal in front of it with basic amp and cab IRs.

Great video.

Love the channel, Keith! Don’t have anything to say, but figured I’d leave some engagement

I use a Friedman IRX, line out with no IR into a tube power amp, turned down pretty low. The tone comes from the IRX. Works great.

Bedroom level is wherever I lay my head, so if it doesn't rock the windows out and the wall don't fall down and it still sounds good and everything is not feedbacking in the room. So it really depends on you. I always lived my the motto of if It's too loud, you're too old. I've been playing 39 years load. My hearing thank goodness is still very good.

I use a JOYO BantamP XL Jackman head into a 1X10 Marshall cab. I run a Voodoo Sparkle Drive Mod into it. That's 20 watts of hybrid tube tone. It's plenty loud but still has great tone with the gain turned down.

Bedroom volume is when anyone in the next room cannot hear you play

Enjoyed this on the plane, my Ducati friend said "Got a $100 head? Get a $100 helmet". Thanks gentlemen.

My office is like a sonic black hole and I have some foam I blockade the crack under the door with. And as long as the kid’s not trying to sleep (just in case) nobody cares how loud I play. 😊 But the sound, weirdly enough, doesn’t really travel from my office to the bedrooms if the door is closed. With all that said, I’ve been playing a lot of acoustic lately. Finger picking blues. On a quiet little Japanese Yamaha red label Nippon Gakki FG-75 that really doesn’t make much noise. Show volume with my Twin Reverb and an Orange is a very different situation!!!❤

Three situations where I checked the DB with my phone ap: driving a semi & a refer trailer, flying in a plane, playing my guitar, the first 2 are known quantities and it was spot on to that, I’m sure yours is better, but mine is close enough so 5 years ago, I decided to limit my volume to around 85, I am losing hearing, but slowly. And driving the big rig was worse, my ears ring from that, the tires rumbling so it’s a good balance loud enough to feel right, not loud enough to do a lot of damage

I have the same RadioShack meter and according to the manual the range is 50-126dB

Good work on Uncle Al’s bass, Keith! 🥹

My Bassbreaker 30R is the perfect bedroom volume amp, the only thing is the bedroom in the a house on the end of the block , in my house it make the wallpaper fall off the walls.

I could do anything from using a Captor X with a -20 or -38 dB reduction, Master Volume dialed to a mouse squeak, a low wattage amp like my old Champ, or right down to my HX Stomp with headphones. Is any one option perfect for everything? Of course not but if you remain realistic and just have fun, the worries of if "my tone is just right" will go away naturally. It's no Bassman with 2x12's but as long as I'm playing I'm all good about keeping the volume down. If I want more clipping I'll plug in a pedal.

My nylon classical is the only guitar that the cat actually "likes". 😻

According to my next door neighbour, bedroom volume is too loud, every time I play amplified, even if it is no louder than my television at low volume.

You mention track days on the Ducati... I had a V4 Speciale ..... broke my leg (tibia) a year ago ... 40 years riding and no injuries... now I'm retired from bikes.. sadly. Thanks for the good content btw...

that's easy, and dream-killing. It's the volume allowable so the people on the other side of the wall(s) don't get woken up or otherwise annoyed. It's what THEY say is acceptable, and there is nowhere else affordable to live. The old affordability vs longevity thing, happiness not included (it makes the lack of longevity easier).

For the last 5 years at least bedroom volume means playing electric with no amp, and late at night that can be too loud. Daytime bedroom volume means that’s never too loud, and if your tube amp can sound amazing with the master volume at 0.5 through a 4X12, that’s also bedroom volume. Decibels: 80 and below in NYC. In the ‘burbs maybe 70db max.

62 db's. I played in my bedroom while watching the news. I heard the TV well, and my guitar clearly through the amp (fender mustang v2). After watching more of this video, I wonder if my meter is broken.

I bought one of those db wall meters from Amazon... like That Pedal Show has. Found it only has A weighting... so it's kind of worthless for music. Off by 10-20db at times compared to my other Meter... the one Keith has. Still looking for another wall meter brand that has C.

In my experience, it depends on where the bedroom is. If you live in an apartment, a non attentuated tube amp *at* *all* isnt really an option

Never thought about this, I just looked this up online and found the rock concert was around 129 dB. Responding about elevating amps, my 68 twin reverb I use an aluminum angled stand like JW.

Loud enough to drown out the Tinnitus ringing in my ears🫨, from 52 years of Bass playing.

I live with my elderly parental units. I do not want to bother them even with my 5 watt, 1 watt, 0.1 watt Bugera combo amp. I practice with headphones and a Vox Amplug or Fender Mustang Micro. It is an inexpensive solution and wireless as well.

I run a germanium treble booster (w/range control) into a dirt box, most often my BJFE Emerald Green, into any amp and can get great feeling and sounding tones at any volume. The TB cleans like a Fuzz Face so there is no mud anywhere and it works well with most dirt boxes and especially AIAB pedals. If you use a treble bleed on your guitars volume control go with Silicon as it won’t play nice with germanium. Smaller speakers keep details at really low volume. Bedroom volume around 65-75db?

Hearing protection is required for an 8 hour time weighted exposure to 85db or higher.

Recently I come back to guitar after few years and I bought an EVH 5150III LBXII and I'm in love with this amp for Fenderish style clean (green) channel. My old Mesa Boogie Recoverb Combo is far tooo laud for bedroom or small rehearsals. I have it with 1x12 Hesu cab and its rock solid blues/rocka machine, pleasere to play. I run it in apartment only on 3,75W mode and its far far toooooo much than its needed for bedroom volume. With decent cab it will be even enough for rehearsal with drummer. Im my opinion bedroom level tube amp is below 1 W of power if you are looking for tube brake up.

Us Brits actually spell metre like this, no typo, just language spelling differences.

For me as a "bedroom player" I put music on behind (rythm tracks or mainly live music) and of course I need to hear it in order to play in time. So I can't really boost the amp for that reason....but playing loud is the only way to enjoy a tube amp (mine is old Orange AD 5) and experience good and nice feedback

Kemper toaster through interface/PC and out to powered JBL monitors. Serves up nice bedroom volume!

I am not sure anyone ever measured dB when I was playing sessions and got asked to play on stage with GFR with a wall of Marshall stacks. Maybe 150 dB. We did not use meters in 66, just loud.

5150III through a 2x12 at 1 in my living room will start my ears tingling after 10-15mins, obviously WAY too loud. With the volume lower, the amp sounds muffled. Not sure if it's the power section that isn't really doing anything or the speakers not being drioven enough. Either way, I've moved on to modeling. First with a Kemper (had it for 10 years) then a QC (which might need 10 years to catch up to everything else). You don't get the amp in the room feel, but you get the tone... at tv volumes. Add in a Freqout to get that decay into feedback!

My wife insisted I start playing acoustic since apparently my Princeton on 2.5 was still too loud. I said sure babe, and gotta j200. 😂

We just plug into our interface and use our near field speakers my guitarist uses amplitude plug in using a virtual fender twin and I use a B15 ampeg plug in for my bass and we have keep it down because we have neighbours we don’t want to disturb

In an apartment I continue to struggle with "bedroom volume." For my situation it amounts to what reasonable television volume would be. I generally practice in clean mode but would love to be able to get good crunch or lead sounds at the volume level I have to deal with. I fully understand I am not going to get great dynamics until I can turn up at someplace like a small venue. I'm working on a small pedal board and have gone back and fourth between a Vox modeling amp with 8 inch speaker and a Fender 15 watt amp with a 10 inch. I prefer the Fender for tone. I am hoping the pedal board allows me to work across a wider guitar palate.

As loud as is satisfying listening to your favourite track on the hi fi. I do realise that while playing guitar, one can become a bit louder, but using a synth and drum machine you can set a comfortable level and you can get a good, satisfying, playing volume. We become acclimatised to relative sound volume; equipment today can easily sound loud without actually being so.

In my home, I'm using a TK Imperial MkII and when it's fully attenuated (-36db setting) i can dime it and stay inside the limits I would consider 'bedroom' volume, but if I push it with pedals (AND have it dimed - something i wouldn't really do) it can go a bit past bedroom levels for me. Late at night, I find myself wishing I had one more click on the built-in attenuator, if I'm still wanting to dime it. All in all, it's actually a great bedroom amp with the built in attenuator because it still sounds great (imho) when fully attenuated with plenty of over driven goodness for my blues/classic rock tastes.

Marshall ds1hr into a 4 x 12 cab...with back removed

70-75 DB is about where I play

Using a hx stomp in fx loop with my tube amp i can control the volume in my stomp and i can heat that tubes with the volume in the amp high.

Mine is my strat or tele with no amp. Actually taught me to get the best sounds with fingers and or pick. Like pinch harmonics etc. Then once I am plugged in ... wow makes it so easy to play. Plus it is easier to play without my fingers getting broken by my wife 😂

Keith! Do you or your peers know anything about groove tubes amplifiers? I got my mits on a solo 75 and 4x10 cab. It's been epic gigging it but I have not seen them in the wild. Like ever.

I bought a Vox VT40X for playing at home as I thought it had a 1 watt switch for playing at home but it hasn't, it is ok at low volume though, I had been looking at a few small modelling amps and got confused with the specs, my regular amp is a 1973 WEM Dominator MKII and is far too loud for the home

I use a whammy DT. I just don't want to hear my strings over my amp.

funny thing is you never know on account of you never being round your neighbours at the same time you're playing!

Has anyone tested any boost pedals with the DB meter? You see the X DB boost claim often. I'd love to know what the reality is.

We were over the top in the late sixties! La dee dah, oh well!

I feel for people who need to be speaking-level quiet when at home. With a 1.5 year old sleeping upstairs at night I play my Princeton at 3 to 4 on volume using second input because of the layout/addition in my house. I’ve only been able to be inspired at super quiet volumes when using a stereo setup e.g. Hx stomp through studio monitors can sound good quiet. That would be my recommendation for ultra quiet, to try stereo

@five watt world I know you have done a video on the short history of the Marshall JTM 45 amp so why not do a follow up video to that by doing one on the JMP Master Volume amps and the JCM 800 amp as well?

Would be nice to have a DB pedal invented, that way you it set to Not to annoy neighbors and not worry

I play a lot very early morning with the free tonex plugin and that works for me, but it still takes some volume in the noise cancelling headphones to get over the acoustic sound of the electric guitar, like louder than I like at that time of day when my ears are fresh. I still wake up the wife with "tink tink" 2 bedrooms away. Bedroom volume to me just an electric unplugged. I wonder where that term even came from, because it's really stupid.

The only truthful test is to have the db meter outside the bedroom door to actually hear what housemates would hear. I need the sound/fullness of a bassman at 45-50 db

Many people say that the ideal clean sound is to set it on the edge of breakup. You are high on Princeton amps. Have you measured the dbs when you are getting an enjoyable sound out of one?

75-80 db, Matchless Chieftain 1x12, Volume @ 9 o'clock, Master at just below 9 o'clock. Volume on guitar rolled down 1.

Hahah when I was a kid I wanted to play drums. Parents thought it would be too loud, so I got a guitar instead. Now, I doubt I'd ever have come home late after partying and tried to play the drums at 2am, but I sure thought I could pull it off with a guitar...Dad let me quickly know there is NO "bedroom volume" at 2am!! 😂😂😂😂

at my house bedroom volume is however loud I want to play as long as the walls stay standing. I don't have to worry about neighbors and my wife is very supportive.

Even if I am not playing guitar and my amps are switched off, my wife thinks its too loud.

This conversation makes me think of another situation. When people discuss modelers vs real amp (and the amp/speaker in the room thing). I know guys who only will pay tube amps... but late at night they are set very low... so to me not much 'amp in the room thing" at all. So ... at what db does a real amp need to be to get that "air moving" etc? Below which you could very well be playing a modeler or such.

Silly phone based with phone close to my ear, in standing up mode (so further than the video acoustic level...and again, just using a phone DB app): electric guitar (non Vela), off: 45-55, quiet mode amp: 45-55 (so, the same ish). Which totally means the acoustic part of my bedroom sound matters a lot. Which explains why my favorite guitar sucks at bedroom level. My Vela is more like 55-60 acoustic, and also quite bright, acoustically, which mixes poorly with my "amplified bedroom tone", by the time it hits my ear.

Probably _not_ how loud it is in the next room so much as the next apartment. The next room will have one or two really light door that will just take the edge off of the sound and no sound deadening in the walls that will act like a large speaker cone. Apartments (newer ones since the 80s or so) will have separated walls and insulation, some even a lead sheet or concrete wall. Apartment doors (the main one) are often as much as a 10db drop, unlike a bedroom door with a 1/2in or more opening on the bottom and two layers of door skin over mostly air space.

by myself, I loop with an RC505, so everything into mixer into looper and it's output is whatever is acceptable.... Time of day and whether the neighbors or significant others are home. But add live drums and it gets really hard. I don't think there exists, a bedroom level drummer.

I am a very conscientious practitioner of respectful bedroom volume because the less I annoy the family with my guitar volume the less likely they are to remember that I was supposed to be doing something instead of playing the guitar.

I have heard that the average 12in guitar amp speaker needs 1.5watts (before breakup) or more just to start sounding right... which is pretty loud already. Anything less than that you may as well use headphones and an amp modeler ... because you have removed the reason for using a "real amp" already. Or to put it another way, if you have a group of people jamming, amp modeler into a full range "PA" or stereo amp, turned down till you can sing over it. I am lucky to be able to play at louder than "bedroom" levels ;) If you are worried about bugging the neighbours... Singing may already be too loud. Having the singer sing into a sound absorber may help even if that is a large absorber (heavy curtains) against the far wall so they don't feel they are breathing into the absorber and facing away from everyone else. Bedroom volume might be about what you level you can get away with the TV or stereo playing at. It may sound dumb but probably the TV can run louder than the stereo before complaints. The type of music would matter for sure too. It isn't just levels, psychology plays a big part too.

I think probably significantly less than 80db, which is to my mind, 'shouting volume' and could get away with a bit over 60db, which is like 'normal talking'. So I think you could possibly say 65-75db. Because with normal talking, you'll only really hear the bass of the voice, or deeper talkers, in the next room, with door closed. And I think you can get away with pushing it above that, with playing amplified guitar, especially if you cut the bass significantly, when trying to be at 'bedroom volume', which I do.

Living in an apartment building, I find that my 1w Supro is plenty loud.

How loud is bedroom volume? Depends on how deaf you are...😂

My band plays with small amps and small drums. Some dampening on some drums at certain points. I play a champ and it’s plenty loud. It’s the drummer that dictates how loud it needs to be.

Depends who is in the bedroom with whom.

DB meter is on my iphone, ☺️

My room/house is not sound proof, but I play at 86-90DB, (MB 5:25 & a 1 x 12) it’s not audible 18’ away from my front door. That’s all I wanted I can’t be heard outside of my property line….. but add bass and drums…… nope, 2 guitars? Maybe….not exactly bedroom, but my studio is also my bedroom 🤣

Kevin Bacon is called David Barber? Kinda weird stuff goes on up there in the NE....

I think my answer is a question - how loud is a blues deville 60w 4x10 at 2 I shake my head about why I thought that was a good idea…

I live in apartment upstairs I have people who live below me to the right of me and below them and I play my guitars on around 5 on every amp I own which martial origin a 20 fender X2 A Laney Cub A black star 20 W and I play all of them at the same time on about 5

I find i don't get enjoyment out of playing anything less than 85 dB. I know this may be too loud for some but can't do it any other way

Headphones unless I am using an acoustic or recording at very low volume and few if any effects and zero or almost zero gain.

I’ve gotten rid of a perfectly good amp just because it was too loud.

65 db is just fine....

70/80 db

Believe or not I live where the by-law officers can indeed charge you for disturbing the peace by making too much noise. The bizarre thing is it is arbitrarily from what they think too much noise is. The very most I can get out of them is the noise should not be louder than a vacuum cleaner. My meter tells me my vacuum it is running at a constant 85 dB so I keep it to that. I also am quiet until noon in case of shift workers sleeping etc. I also stop at 7 pm although 8 pm is the cutoff. I checked in dozens of other cities and regions and they have detailed dB levels and for different zones of industrial, commercial and residential. We have only the humble vacuum cleaner. Truth is stranger than fiction.

65dbs

A Tandy company

I gave this a like but this got way too slow and weighing to micro detail. The point is we got to be careful with our ears and for a lot of us like me it's already too late. The tinnitus is there and it's not going away.