Tag Archives: gear

What Do Others Think About that Guitar/Amp/etc?

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Many online music stores (as well as Amazon) include user reviews of gear they sell, and that’s certainly a place to start when you are considering a purchase. But also visit this one-stop site containing years of reviews, especially if you are considering buying a used item that is no longer sold new:

http://www.harmonycentral.com/user-reviews

Since the review format is uniform and detailed, you may get more information than the frequent Amazon “I bought it 3 weeks ago – it’s awesome!”

Also see my post about determining a fair price for used gear if you missed it.

Hearing Protection For Musicians

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Whether you play in a rock band or an orchestra  (e.g., viola section in front of the timpani, woodwinds in front of the brass, etc), you NEED to protect your hearing.

The cheap foam earplugs many bars will sell you for a buck are better than nothing, but you will rightly complain that you cannot really hear music properly through them – it’s all muffled with lots of frequency loss.

Which it why it’s best to plan ahead and obtain “musicians’ earplugs” which are designed to filter sound evenly over the entire spectrum, low to high – protecting your ears from damaging sound levels while still allowing you to enjoy all elements of the performance.

Depending on your budget, musicians’ earplugs are available from around $10 for a basic model to $150+ for a custom fitted set.

Alison Brill & Alison Murray, who I met at Ladies Rock Camp, recommend these custom plugs. They say:

Best investment I’ve ever made, seriously. They allow you to hear accurately while protecting you from damaging sounds. They’re $150 and you can get them at Brookline Hearing Services, or from most audiologists. Keep rockin’ (safely)!

And if you are not up for that cost at the moment, I recommend Alpine Musicsafe earplugs – not custom, but they do a good job, are comfortable, and have 2 different interchangeable filters depending on how loud your environment is. These go for about $22 ($28 if you want a choice of 3 filter levels).

There are more choices in the $8-$20 range here. Frankly, the best earplugs are the ones you have with you everywhere – if you suddenly find yourself in an uncomfortably loud movie theater or other event, are you really going to run back out to your car for them?! Most models come with a case that fits on your keychain. In addition to my “good” pair on my keys, I also have a $10 pair on EVERY instrument case, and a spare set in my car in case my partner forgets hers.

My father had 80% hearing loss by the time he was 80, due to firing anti-aircraft guns during WWII with only cotton stuffed into his ears – don’t be that cranky old guy/gal!

Korg Monthly Giveaway Until December 2012

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Korg makes all sorts of keyboards, synths, effects, etc. To celebrate their 10th anniversary, every month through December 2012 they will be giving away one of their Micro-series products. You may enter once per day for each month’s prize drawing, at this  page:

Korg Mega-Micro Giveaway

What Should That Used Instrument/Gear Cost?

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You want a piece of music gear, but can’t/won’t pay for it new. You can look for it used on eBay, CraigsList, etc. – but how do you know what a fair price is for it?

  • First, price it NEW online – I’ve seen used items advertised at a price for which you could get a new one!
  • Check www.prepal.com, which lists the current going price for many brands of band gear (guitars/keyboards.amps/etc), and whether the price is trending up (as it may for something rare that folks desire) or down.
  • Search for the item in completed listings on Ebay – to do this you must be logged in, then next to the Search button click “advanced”. On the Advanced Search page check the box for “completed listings” under Search including, then enter your search terms. This will show you both successful and failed auctions, whcih helps you to judge what price people consider to be too high.
  • Use the knowledge gained above to bargain with a CraigsList seller (e.g., “these are going for $$$ less than your price on eBay”).