Expert: Peter G. Lee - 12/21/2006

Question
Hi, thanks for volunteering! I'm the mom of a budding young rock star- my son Jimmy. He's 15. He just got his new giant Ibanez amp last night for Christmas. He plays the electric guitar and is into Power Metal, learning to shred, Death metal and all things loud!

This is cool with me, but I'm a single mom on a budget and we're noticing the amp sounds different in his room than it did in the store. I'm assuming this is a matter or acoustics. Can you please suggest some budget friendly ideas we can do in his bedroom so he can jam? The room is about 15ft by 12ft. There's a windo on one wall, a door on one wall, and a closet on one wall. He has stuff hanging all over the walls. We noticed the sound is better when he put on the casters to get the amp off the carpet. Any suggestions on what we can do to the room would be appreciated!!
Thanks,
Lisa
Jacksonville, FL

Answer
Hi Lisa,
I don't know anything about this home stuff, I work on cars. But my brother-in-law Jens is the boss of "Code Red music" so I asked him and he says the room is way too small to get any decent acoustics at all, O.K. for his studio as it's all digital but for acoustics, no. He would use headphones in such a small space.
But he said try dampening the sound by using drapes, drop some heavy drapes on the walls covering the normal day to day stuff, (mount them on rods and hook them up to hooks in the ceiling or on the wall when needed). Getting an amp of the floor shouldn't make any difference or are you talking about one of those horrible combination practice units, amp and speakers in one box. separate amp and a pair of three-ways and a woofer, only way to get decent sound.
hope that helps. Peter
Sorry
Peter