On Stage Hearing Protection, Do You Use Any?
 

I don't play in a band or anything, my only steady "gig" so to speak is leading worship for about 40 folks once a week and it's only me unplugged on my HD-28 so I don't use any hearing protection while playing, but if I ever get to the point where I must plug in, I don't have a clue what to use. Any recommendations for onstage ear protection?
BTW, I always carry a set of those inexpensive little sponge type ear inserts that I use whenever I find myself in an extremely noisy environment. I've been to several church services of late where the music volume was WAY too loud for my preference. I already suffer from tinnitus so I try to protect what hearing I have left.

http://www.hearnet.com/

Great folks doing great work.

Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers, and much more.

Well thought out. I ripped an eardrum when I was younger. I think it was Black Sabbath in my buddy's van. :evilgrin: Shooting took a further toll. Some of the best ear plugs are for shooters. Check out Cabela's.

http://www.cabelas.com/hearing-prote...ncements.shtml

Skip over the ear phones

+1 on Larry's advice. I have always protected my ears.

Regards, Glenn

It always makes me nervous when the band has ear plugs:D:D:D


Seriously, I've never used hearing protection while playing, but maybe should have at times.

I can't afford to damage my hearing because I make my living with my ears. As a result, I've concentrated on adjusting the band. I LOVE drum shields and find myself on the opposite side of the stage from anyone who insists on being loud. And yes, I carry and use ear plugs.

Bob

When I was young and stupid, I didn't. Now I have persistent tinnitus in my left ear. Whenever I go to concerts, i use my custom molded earplugs that I had made when I was in competitive shooting sports. When on stage, I use the Shure PSM200 in ear monitor system to isolate from all the stage noise. Looking at getting some custom IEMs made from ultimate ears soon.

Pat

Nope. I played in a journeyman blues/rock outfit from '66 into the early 1980s and and I am paying for it and will do so for the rest of my life.

These are the ones I use.

Etymotic ear plugs

Me too. There's nothing like working with a stage full of people who've worked through the ego issues and now do it out of love for the product, process, and people.

Bob

I use HEAROS ear plugs. Get this. I use them when I play my single cone resonator at home! Yes it is brutally loud, but more than that it's the attack. My ears feel slightly numb, and there is a little more background noise, not to the level of tinitus, if I don't use the plugs .

My tricones, and my normal guitars don't bother me, but I can feel my ears reacting to the single cone. If in doubt, get some plugs. The HEAROS are inexpensive, way under $15 if I recall correctly. they may not be as high fidelity as the nicer ones, but they are reasonably flat across the spectrum, and they do the job.

I'm paying the price of a hearing loss, due largely to loud music when I was younger, especially on stage and as a radio announcer/DJ. I HIGHLY recommend hearing protection. The best kind, I think, is generic - keeping the overall volume on stage, in the audience, and in our headphones moderately low. Next best is ear plugs.

My wife and I attended a concert a few weeks ago. Great group, but they were very likely bumping above 120 dB where we were sitting, with an average above 110. We moved immediately to seats we thought might be "out of the line of fire," to little avail. We left at first opportunity, our ears already aching and ringing. I made sure, politely of course, that those in charge knew why we were leaving. We were told that three mothers with small, crying children had already left. I know why they were crying - their ears hurt! But there was no effort, evidently, to solve the problem. The next day, I talked to someone who stayed for the whole concert. He didn't know anything about hearing loss, but both he and his wife woke up the next morning with a roaring waterfall sound in their ears! His has gone away, but hers is still there, though not as loud.

Be careful, folks - damaged hearing is not always temporary.

cotten

i have played in loud bands for years, and was the only one that would use ear protection. i still hear fine, and a lot of my friends/former band mates are experiencing either hearing loss, or tinnitus; neither of which i would want to deal with.

they used to give me crap about using ear protection (i'd even wad up toilet paper if that was all there was) for doing so. i don't give them grief now, but i always knew i was going to be fine. music, and hearing in general, are important to me. i never wanted to lose that.

you get used to the attenuation very fast.

and in any playing situation, stay away from the drummer. the cymbals will kill your hearing.