I have 2 pair of Custom fitted Westone w/ 25 db reduction, but as of lately, I have only been using my in ears...

For the custom fits, I had to see an audiologist. He made molds of my ears and then they made the plugs. The filters are little discs that snap into the plug.

I'll try to remember to post a pic later....

I've heard of what latz is talking about. I've heard that's the way to go if you want the ultimate product for sound. Exspensive and an easy to lose item but worth it in the long run.

Curtis

I wear ear plugs at (just about*) every gig. I've talked with too many musicians that regret choosing to not do so, mostly drummers and guitarists. So, I started wearing them in college and continue to do so to this day. I use the foam ones because they're cheap and they work great, and I keep a backup pair in one of those guitar pick keychain thing-a-ma-bobbers, so I'm never without a pair.

*except for the vocal quartet and occasional acoustic coffeeshop gigs

At 42, I wish I would have always worn the earplugs. I can definitely tell the difference between my right and left ear hearing these days.

Earplugs just take a little time to get used to hearing through the muffled sound. After a while it begins to be normal and you can adjust your playing with them in.

These days, I always wear my Vic Firth practice headphones when I am having a shred session. Some damage has been done but now I want to keep it from getting worse as I get older.

BTW first post here. I'm going to have fun drooling over all this vintage gear that is posted!

Eye Ballguitar2guitar3 Exposure to over 85 decibels for prolonged periods of time puts you at risk of having the little cilia's get brittle and break off. We get this spiel at work constantly. At some plants, we have to wear foam ear plugs with ear muffs over them to reduce the decibels down below this magic, 85 decibel, number. My point is that simply reducing the noise isn't good enough, if you aren't below the number that is considered safe, and that you may wish to put a little thought into the numbers to maximize your hearing protection plan.

toodles

drumhack Car Driving2Group Hug

I'd like to see some pics, I tried playing with ear plugs and I could not get used to it, as for the other bands, well worth having..........I understand the more expensive ones that are custom made work much better...

I do believe I am one of the few that does not use plugs...nor have I ever. I am 31 now, been playing for about 10 years in a band at stage volume. At first my ears would ring so I tried a set of the foam things, used em for a week in practice to try to get used to em for the stage. They worked well for me but made on stage communication reduced to crude hand gestures or the guitarist flagging the neck of his guitar up and down which never worked. I simply lowered my own level and improved my skill level in the same movement. Remember loud does not equal good, but hearing your mistakes allows improvement.

For the last few years up to today, I remove any speaker from around me, the amps point straight forward and are at least 6' away at all times, I use no monitor speaker, and I play at a level that I could nearly carry on a conversation behind the kit at all times. Since I lowered my level of play I have not experianced ear ringing or anything of the sorts. The guitarist and bassist both use ear plugs because everything is pointed directly at them...ie the amps and my drums. It gets really loud where they stand.

Having said all of that...am I damaging my ears? I am sure that at some level there is some damage being done. I am doing what I know works for me to reduce the damage done. I am sure they make some high tech ear protection devices that eliminate risk and I really hate to put a dollar sign on a sense, but I can't afford high dollar stuff. I could afford the foam specials or some $25 dollar ones like my bandmates use...and I may soon try em again cause I aint gettin younger!

Well, you can get an audiometric survey performed very easily. They will establish a baseline for your current hearing, and be able to detect which frequencies are being deteriorated as time passes. This is standard stuff in high noise occupations, but being a musician makes one a rebel, by default, so I guess I can see why it never really took!!!LoLoLoLo

I had one of those done at the university I studied at for practice for the students. It was free...so I figured what the heck. I still had pretty darn good hearing. The worst was in my left ear which I actually attribute to driving with the window down my whole life more than anything.

Bottom line, as mentioned ear plugs are HIGHLY advisable and really should be used to protect such a delicate sense...just as eye protective wear should be worn when working with power tools. You never know how much you used it until it's gone.