take care of your ears folks.

[dragonbat13]

I just wanted to let everybody know that you dont want tanitis. my hearing is shot from working on engines. I am 31. You dont want to loose the range and have a constant ringing in your ears. I am a party animal, wild, tattooed mofo like most and like loud music also. But you dont want to have to say "huh" or "What" just because the air conditioner is on!

Take it easy and take care of your ears, however ugly they are!

[tele_player]

Hear, hear!

I'm 52, get occasional ringing in the ears, have to pay very close attention to conversation, and my hearing tests pretty badly above 5-6k.

I used to rock and roll real loud, and still sometimes get in situations which are noisier than I should.

My brain still makes up for it much of the time. I can usually pick out what's playing in background music in noisy places when others don't even notice music is playing. Go figure.

[Bob-I]

Good advise. I've always taken care of my ears but still I have a minor tinitus problem. It doesn't affect my hearing at all but it can be annoying in quiet places.

I've always used ear plugs, the one on the side of the drummer VERY tight, the one on the side of the vocal monitor slightly loose in my ear. I've also always played a low volumes on stage, usually a 20-30 watt amp and using a master volume or pedals to keep it tame. Let the PA do the work. MY gigging amp today is a 4x6V6 Dumble clone that I typically run at about #5 on the master. Measures out at about 90Db.

Last year I had my hearing tested again. Not only do I test good across the entire range tested (100-6000Hz is all that's tested as it's difficult to distinguish pitch above that) in the range of 500-2000 my left ear is actually over sensitive. Typical good means 5Db recognition, I could hear down to 2-3Db in that range.

Go here http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/ and get a good set of musicians plugs. I'm having a set of the ER-9's fit. The cool thing is if 9Db isn't enough you can replace the filter for up to 25.

[heisthl]

In spite of what you might read on the subject you can recover much of what you've lost. I have played in loud bands (and worked with drummers who thought it was funny to hit the crash cymbal hard when you stood next to it) and went to bed with the 3 and 4 layer sirens in my head several more nights than I could count. I got to the point where conversations across the room were very difficult and the TV had to be way up. Once I got away from it all it took a few years(maybe 5) but for the most part it all came back, I haven't had ANY tinitus (ringing, usually when you least expect it) for 2 or 3 years now(so 12 years to get rid of it) and hear as good as the average person

[Fischerman]

I have a tumor/node/growth, whatever my doctor decides to call it that day, on the Auditory nerve for my right ear (it's like the optical nerve for your eye but for your ear to hear...there is also a Vestibular nerve to each ear for the inner ear/balance). It started as a Vestibular problem and I had vertigo and nystagmus pretty badly...and I actually played in a rock band with that nystagmus. Over time the vestibular problems have waned but at the expense of my hearing. Not only is my right ear almost totally deaf...it rings like a mofo. So my left ear has to make up for it.

None of this is music related though. I had my ears tested annually for a while (prior to this problem) and my hearing was excellent and I could hear really high frequencies. Then this BS. I can relate...take care of your ears.

EDIT: doc said he could try to go in there and remove it but said he'd have to through bone and basically rip everything else out that I'm trying to save...and even then it still might ring. Uh...I'll pass.

[Bob-I]

In spite of what you might read on the subject you can recover much of what you've lost. I have played in loud bands (and worked with drummers who thought it was funny to hit the crash cymbal hard when you stood next to it) and went to bed with the 3 and 4 layer sirens in my head several more nights than I could count. I got to the point where conversations across the room were very difficult and the TV had to be way up. Once I got away from it all it took a few years(maybe 5) but for the most part it all came back, I haven't had ANY tinitus (ringing, usually when you least expect it) for 2 or 3 years now(so 12 years to get rid of it) and hear as good as the average person

Yes, there's a level of hearing loss that's recoverable, but once the nerves get involved there's no recovery.

[heisthl]

I have a tumor/node/growth, whatever my doctor decides to call it that day, on the Auditory nerve for my right ear (it's like the optical nerve for your eye but for your ear to hear...there is also a Vestibular nerve to each ear for the inner ear/balance). It started as a Vestibular problem and I had vertigo and nystagmus pretty badly...and I actually played in a rock band with that nystagmus. Over time the vestibular problems have waned but at the expense of my hearing. Not only is my right ear almost totally deaf...it rings like a mofo. So my left ear has to make up for it.

None of this is music related though. I had my ears tested annually for a while (prior to this problem) and my hearing was excellent and I could hear really high frequencies. Then this BS. I can relate...take care of your ears.

EDIT: doc said he could try to go in there and remove it but said he'd have to through bone and basically rip everything else out that I'm trying to save...and even then it still might ring. Uh...I'll pass.

Maybe on your next visit to Amsterdam you could find a chunk of something to put in that ear that would slowly melt away the ringing.

[skyboltone]

20db down at 3k right ear worse, 70db down at 5k. Wear hearing aids.

1) Rock and Roll bands and BIG Stereos
2) Quite a large number of rounds of skeet + hunting.
3) A career in construction that started long before hearing protection was manly
4) Private pilot. Lots of time in little loud airplanes. Nwodedispu semitemos.
5) Runs in the family

Wish I could get some back. In the meantime I take care of what I've got.

Dan H

[Luthierwnc]

I first started noticing the ringing after a friend was loosening up a new Boogie MK4 and stepped on a death ray pedal. I got a pair of custom-made Beltone plugs at a hearing aid store. The lady put a mixture of what looked like bubble gum in each ear, let it dry for a couple minutes and two weeks later I had a set.

These are the type with a small filter in the center so you could pull that and use in-ear monitors instead. I don't think I paid too much over a hundred bucks but that was ten years ago.

FWIW, Skip

[tomrasdf]

The lady put a mixture of what looked like bubble gum in each ear, let it dry for a couple minutes and two weeks later I had a set.

These are the type with a small filter in the center so you could pull that and use in-ear monitors instead. I don't think I paid too much over a hundred bucks but that was ten years ago.

I just had similar things made. My dad's 65, long time guitar player, private pilot, hunter, and he's starting to go deaf. 6,000+ hours in a bonanza will do that. When I started playing in bands in highschool, he got me a set of those earplugs for me for Christmas. They work with both in-ear monitor or the "musician's" filters that are supposed to, and actually do, have a pretty flat response.
I use them all the time and they work great. But a word of warning, if you play in a highschool band that only sounds good because it's really loud, they kinda have an "emporer's new suit" sort of effect (why is the emporer naked/why do we sound like crap?).

[Luthierwnc]

I really only use them when I am listening to other people play. You know how when you go to a show and are in the line of fire of the front-of-house system? Even if it is a good mix, the SPL is pinning your ears back. At least these things are designed to let some highs get through. Most plugs drops all the highs. Think cap in parallel with a resistor rather than just the resistor. Of course, cocktail napkins have been used in a pinch. Cigarette filters work well but hardly anyone I hang with smokes anymore. sh

[tele_player]

4) Private pilot. Lots of time in little loud airplanes. Nwodedispu semitemos.

I like that one!

[candh]

My dad is 63 and was discharged from the navy in his early 20's for hearing loss. He attributes it to the guns. I've seen how he has lived with 60 and 80 percent hearing loss and I DO NOT want to get like that. I have been lucky that all of the bands I have played in have kept the volume at reasonable levels and at 41 my ears are in good shape.

[Tonegeek]

In spite of what you might read on the subject you can recover much of what you've lost. I have played in loud bands (and worked with drummers who thought it was funny to hit the crash cymbal hard when you stood next to it) and went to bed with the 3 and 4 layer sirens in my head several more nights than I could count. I got to the point where conversations across the room were very difficult and the TV had to be way up. Once I got away from it all it took a few years(maybe 5) but for the most part it all came back, I haven't had ANY tinitus (ringing, usually when you least expect it) for 2 or 3 years now(so 12 years to get rid of it) and hear as good as the average person

I had a similar experience in that after I stopped playing professionally my hearing seemed to get better. I never wore ear protection and still don't. I started back playing in a band about 3 years ago and even though it is part time, I am wondering how it will affect my hearing. I am 55 now and do have some ringing. I have tried plugs but it just kills the experience for me. I have to hear my amp and all the nuances to really enjoy it and especially now that I am finally achieving some tonal bliss with my HRM build.

I do wonder if the plugs designed to retain highs might be for me. Also, since I am considering a monitor system purchase I wonder if would it be better for my hearing to get in ear monitors. Less stuff to carry too. I think I will start a separate thread on he pros/cons of monitor system types.

[phsyconoodler]

I pounded my ears for 30 years as a mechanic and was constanlt belittled by my wife for not being able to hear her.I stopped being a mecahnic and started building amps and most of my hearing has returned.I do play loud but not loud enough to hurt.I find that watching music at a club with a bonehead sound guy is far worse than playing onstage.They mix it really loud so no one can hear how bad at it they really are!