Oh yes, we all know that the deafening roar of a cranked guitar can be the most exciting sound in the world.
However, if your speaker-hugging devotion to loud sound means you've come out of a rehearsal or gig with ringing in your ears, then that's definitely not a good thing .
Our ability to hear comes from three tiny bones - the ear ossicles - that connect the outer ear cavity with the ear drum itself. The bones vibrate and these vibrations are interpreted into sounds we can understand by a structure called the cochlea.
Damage
The humble lug 'ole is a resilient organ, but it can be damaged - sometimes permanently - by regular and prolonged exposure to loud sounds: your cranked amplifier being one example.
To avoid damage, we strongly recommend investing in a set of earplugs. The good news is that technology has come on sufficiently to ensure that use of plugs doesn't impair your actual hearing to anything more than a subtle degree: gone are the days of filling your cranium fins with Blu-tac and hoping for the best.
In use
These MusicSafe plugs offer two pairs of attenuation filters that offer varying degrees of protection, two plugs that can be easily trimmed to size and a carrying case too.
Although minimal music loss is to be expected (hi-hats and super-low bass at the opposite ends of the aural scale), we can report that we were very pleased with the plugs.
At £13.99 if bought online (or around £20 from an actual store), these are great value for money and, regardless of what music you listen to or your band plays, you owe yourself a set of quality earplugs… like these!
