Volume concerns in a duplex?

[Leo Chang]

Hi Guys,

I am moving from a house to a duplex, and I am just wondering how much leeway I would have in terms of the sound volume.

In my current house, even though I crank up the amps to a pretty loud volume for me, the neighbours have never been able to hear me inside their respective houses, which is great, I don't want to be a nuisance to anyone.

The new duplex I am moving into is divided front / back. I have the back unit, the front unit is already occupied.

I am planning to park my Bogner Uberkab 4x12 and Mills Acoustic 4x12 + 2x12 in the detached garage (facing the lane), for the times when I feel like cranking it up. And get the Axe Fx Ultra for my home studio for daily use.

Anyone currently living in a duplex? Would like to hear your experiences.


Thanks,




- Leo.

[neilli]

Not the same situation, but if it's any help - I live in a wood frame apartment building with hardwood floors, and so sound really travels. I have my cab on one of those sound isolation boards to stop the 'contact' transfer of vibration. Then I have pretty much everything else in the room on rugs, so even if the desk picks up the vibration, it's not transferring it to the floor. And that seems to do pretty well.

Plus of course, talk to your neighbours to make them aware that they should talk to you if it's too loud / at the wrong time. And try not to play loud at anti-social times

[Trussrod]

Parts of the tone might make it through a brick wall and most might make it through wood/drywall construction. I don't like to play loud, but when I lived in an apt. the neighbor who lived directly above me offered to let me crank it up on Fridays or another agreed upon day (or days). Pretty funny--he saw my electric guitar and offered saying it was only fair that I be allowed to play loud. You could ask your new neighbors or figure out when they're not home.

[tomanyjacksons]

Depending on the quality of the build, which all of them I've lived in were built cheap. Most of them have what's called a dead wall between the 2 halves, which is nothing more than 3 peices of sheet rock back to back. The last one I lived in, the noise me and the little woman made at night got the neighbors going and we were pretty quiet about it. So best wishes dude I feel for you.

[JacksoNeal]

Well I hope it turns out to be a non-issue, unlike where I live. I live in an old ass duplex and I can hear everything that yuppy fucker says/does over there. When I moved in it was vacant on that side, didn't realize how thin the walls really were. I'm headphoning it 95% of the time. I just try to say "better than nothing"

[Drake S.]

Screw you neighbors Krank it to the 11's, tell them to move out you need they're place for studio room! :ROTF:

[DonP]

I am moving from a house to a duplex

That sucks.

[Axewielder]

I moved from a house in the country to an apartment, and the sound situation is not good! Of course, I had complaints from multiple neighbors back when I was in the house, so...

[Rsmacker]

The last one I lived in, the noise me and the little woman made at night got the neighbors going and we were pretty quiet about it.

Ohhhhh, you used to be in a band with your Mrs and rehearsed at night, I see.

[Musician78]

Ya that wicked sucks. The best thing you can do is talk to the neighbors about it. I would never want to live in an apartment again; the last time I had neighbors from hell. It was friggen unreal.

[Bri]

You just need to talk to your neighbors and get it sorted. Find out just how loud is too loud. Ask if there are times you can crank it up and not be a pain. The duplex I live in is front/back divided. Our master bed/bath has the only shared wall with mostly closets and built ins. When the other unit was empty I went over there while blasting the home theater which is all the way in the front and couldn't hear a thing.

The bad news is our rent just went up 10% because we had two kids while we lived here. If we moved in today with two kids, we'd pay less. Ain't rent control grand? We'll probably move back to MN now so we can buy a house. Here in L.A., we'd pay twice as much for a small, dumpy house in a scary neighborhood than a nice house back there. I love L.A., just can't afford it. O.K. done whining.

[Leo Chang]

Thanks for all the feedback, I got a better idea what to do now

The builder of my duplex originally built it for him and his parents (him and his wife + kids in one unit, his parents in the other), but then realized they still preferred to have one big house with everyone in it.

So the build quality and design is uncommonly good, so I am pretty sure it's not gonna be a "thin walls" type scenario... but keeping my fingers crossed

The only shared wall is the front unit's kitchen area and my stairwell, so I hopefully SHOULD be ok in terms of not too much sounds / noises will come through in either direction.

Looks like it'll come down to talking to the front unit occupants, and setup some mutually agreeable guidelines.

Or if they turn out to be horrible neighbours, I can always pull out my 4x12s and aim the cabs at their bedrooms


- Leo.

[DonP]

I am a little paranoid with letting people know what I have at home. Just saying....

[Spivonious]

I am a little paranoid with letting people know what I have at home. Just saying....

+1

I wouldn't mention specific gear. Just comment that they should come over if you're bothering them. Once you get to know them better, then use your judgement.

[Larz]

Just say "I decided to leave the quadruple-bass drum kit in storage" and they'll be relieved that all they will have to listen to is a guitar.