Mick received this query:
“I’d like to get some sort of device with headphones or ear buds that would allow me to hear my hd when 10 others (or more) are also playing. Is there such an item??”
Having a personal monitor system in a loud jam or workshop setting is useful for folks who have trouble hearing their own playing over the volume. It also might enable folks to play with less volume, if they’re just wanting to quietly “play along”…
Most recent advice comes from Shelly Ellingon, attached as a handy PDF right here:
The HoneyTone Mini Amp
What you would need (Scroll down to see a slightly larger but well illustrated solution!):
1– Pickup for your instrument. If you don’t have one built in, something like this will work:
Dean Markley Artist Transducer
The pick up may also help your electronic tuner function in a loud environment, if you have a tuner with an input jack.
2– Headphone(s) or ear bud(s). Although bulkier, I’m a fan of headphones — afraid of earbuds; harder for me to avoid blasting too much volume way into my ear canal!
Leave one ear off, of course, at jams or workshops…
3– Headphone amp (usually made for electric guitar/bass):
(My favorite marketing quote for the headphone amp, for the electric player was, “…let’s you practice as loud or funky as you want without waking up your old lady.” No real help for the spouse of the HD player.)
Here are a couple relatively inexpensive examples. I can’t vouch for sound quality, but the sales people at Sweetwater are helpful on the phone.
Vox amPlug 2 AC30 Headphone Guitar Amp
Nady AxeHead Mini Headphone Guitar Amp
4– Depending on the headphone/pickup jacks/inputs, you may need to buy an adaptor or two to fit the plugs in either side of the headphone amp. These are inexpensive and readily available at electronic sections of big box stores, music stores that sell amps, etc…
5– A few years back, Deb Richard brought a little Honeytone amp with pickup and ear-jack, and sent a lovely one page illustration of her set up, copied below.