The dreaded "Hearing loss"

Discussion of history's greatest guitar player.

The dreaded "Hearing loss"

Postby lakepikr » Wed Feb 07, 2018 2:21 pm

Hi all.

As someone who has experienced hearing loss most of my life, ( thanks to jet engines while in the Navy 50 years ago )
and wearing hearing aids the last few years, it's been a challenge for me to judge how tones of my guitar playing, are actually sounding.
The hearing aids help to hear most sounds, although with very limited "tone" quality.

Of course I haven't let that keep me from murdering a lot of music over the years. :)

I had some dental implants put in last Fall, which got infected and I had to take two anti-biotics for 3 months.

As I have found out the hard way, anti-biotics are known to damage auditory nerves.
Well ..... "they DID"

So, now, I'm almost deaf in one ear, and the other has more damage than before.

I don't remember seeing any posts on this board, about anyone's experiences with "hearing aids" and how it has affected their guitar playing.

I suppose they just "keep on picking".

I know a lot of us "Chet pickers" are "seniors" and I'm guessing, I'm not the only one with hearing problems.

I also find myself wondering if Chet or Paul had hearing issues. Obviously, if they did, it didn't stop them from playing some mighty beautiful music that gave me "goose bumps" from time to time.

In all the years that Chet fought health problems, it would seem he would have had to deal with hearing problems too, on top of everything else.

bill
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Re: The dreaded "Hearing loss"

Postby Roger Pratt » Wed Feb 07, 2018 3:24 pm

Hey Bill.......I got hearing aids a couple of years ago and paid a hefty sum for them with the assurance that they are engineered for musicians specifically. Well, they are no such thing!! I found that the only way I can play guitar is to take them out and put back in later. I went back to the audiologist and she called the laboratory and talked to the designer and they supposedly tweaked the settings for my special needs. Once again NOT!!! I only hear the shrill highs when I play and the audiologist has thrown her hands up and quit. I thank God that I can still hear well enough to be able to play and my headphones help a lot. Good luck buddy, I feel your pain.
Roger
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Re: The dreaded "Hearing loss"

Postby lakepikr » Wed Feb 07, 2018 3:51 pm

Hi Roger.
You won't believe this, but I hadn't even thought about using head phones plugged directly into my amp.
Doing that would let me dial in all the base and treble to where it might sound better.

I'll bet my wife will love it too .... since the head phones would cancel out the speaker on the amp, ....she won't have to listen to the *%#%*&# noises I make with that guitar.

bill
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Re: The dreaded "Hearing loss"

Postby Ray Bohlken » Wed Feb 07, 2018 4:19 pm

I had the same results with hearing aids. The sound of music is no where near what it was. I asked the audiologist if there could be a setting of no adjustments as one of my choices. She gave me that, but none of the settings, including that one, lets me hear what I think is the "real deal". voices are clearer, though and I can have a rational conversation, too. My videos on Youtube sound terrible to me. I should have written the amp settings down or photographed them because I don't remember what they were. I have to take the aids off...out...to get close to what I remember as "my sound". That's life I reckon. II still enjoy playing.
Ray
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Re: The dreaded "Hearing loss"

Postby Norm » Thu Feb 08, 2018 1:34 am

Les Paul was apparently working on some sort of hearing aid project I think.

That's a good start. Having an agressive musician on the board









L
...that's how it looks to me...The opinion expressed above is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of this station. Your mileage may vary...

Audio samples: http://www.youtube.com/user/acountrygent/videos
That should do it.
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Re: The dreaded "Hearing loss"

Postby Doug Working » Thu Feb 08, 2018 6:46 pm

You mentioned dental implants and infection. I had considered implants, but a lady at my church had them, and she now has horrible problems in her vision, believe it or not, stemming from the implants! She is almost blind and she is miserable.

I think your post makes up my mind about dental implants. Never in my life.

Doug
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