Does J Wear Earplugs When Performing Live ?

[dazedcola]

Im very curious about this. I was at one of the dinosaur jr gigs and was really up close and the show was so loud i lost my hearing for like two days. J didn’t seem fazed at all by the huge sound out of his amps. Is he wearing earplugs during the gigs or does he just have some born in tolerance to massive noise ?

[stanner]

i’m PRETTY sure he did and does!
from an old interview w/ Lou:
"We were good, but our shows were way too loud. J didnt give a fuck about the audience. He wore ear protection all the time. We would be practicing and he would put earplugs in and the blast cups over the top of them-like a construction worker-and he would have both of his amps pointed directly at us. His whole thing was he wanted to ‘feel the music’. We were just so myopic, not able to see outside ourselves and our little gnarled energy."
also in an old radio interview J says he has "tinnitis…doesnt everybody?"
s

[AGAP]

here’s something George Berz told us about earplugs…

Hey folks,
Just a quick word on the earplugs issue. We all wear them. If we didn’t, I’m sure that our hearing would be even more toasted as the result of nightly pummelings for weeks at a time. It is important to keep in mind that earplugs don’t eliminate hearing damage, but certainly go along way towards reducing permanent impairment. J and Matt prefer the thick foam earplugs. I personally prefer the "fancy" plugs that you get from a doctor. They pour a mold of your ears, and you can choose the decibel cut that you want. I obviously went for a larger reduction, but even so, the sound quality was remarkably good. Unlike the foam plugs, these provide an even decibel cut across the sonic spectrum. They cost around $110 per pair, and you should be able to get them at any ear doctor. Here in NYC I refer people to the NY Eye and Ear Infirmary, on E. 14th St. I know that they’re pricey, but I’m sure that most folks, as I have, have spent money on more foolish things.

J Mascis & The Fog concert volumes

[lookitssam]

"stanner " wrote:

also in an old radio interview J says he has "tinnitis…doesnt everybody?"
s

It’s true

[kracked873]

i got those "hearoes" or whatever they were like 15 bucks a pair they work good and i can hear the music good at the show and i ussually get little to no after effect. bought a pair for my brother and friend too and they all agree theyre much better than the foam ones.

[Cpt Nemo]

Gotta put my 2c worth in on this thread.

I am almost 33, and I have tinnitus, the result of extended exposure to loud music, and partially because I was stoopid enough to wear those little bud earphones (like you get with iPods etc) with the volume turned up way loud…particularly when listening to Dinosaur Jr on my walkman. I also DJ, which doesn’t help, because you have to turn your headphones up to 10 on the mixer to hear your mix over everything else. I have been regular concert goer, festival goer and nightclubber for about 15 years now, and I am suffering.

I have been wearing earplugs at gigs for about 5 years, usually those shitty foam industrial ones, but after a two-day reggae festival I DJed at two weeks ago (where I neglected to wear my earplugs), I had ringing in my ears for two days so bad I swore never to make the mistake again. This week, I had my ears cleaned by a nurse using a microsuction technique (they suck all the wax and dead skin out), and I went to my local music store and invested in some proper musician’s earplugs, worth $NZ40. Eventually, my hearing will deteriorate even more.

I have seen Dinosaur Jr electric twice, just over 10 years ago, and fuck me it was seriously loud, but of course fantastic. On another thread, a poster mentions Mudhoney as the loudest show they’ve been to, and I’d agree with that – seriously, the loudest band I’ve ever encountered live. Worse still, I couldn’t light my spliff at that gig, which really pissed me off.

For your own sake people, start wearing earplugs if you don’t already. Tinnitus CAN NOT BE CURED, and once you have it, you are stuck with it – this is a condition which has been know to drive people insane, because the ringing/humming NEVER GOES AWAY. I wish that as a younger gig goer I’d taken some precautions with my hearing, and worn earplugs. I am now learning to cope with tinnitus, but it’s pretty tough some nights trying to get to sleep.

I’ve been to all kinds of gigs, bar metal and punk, and believe me, rock’n’roll of the kind Dinosaur Jr etc produce is the roughest on your hearing. The damage is done by the high-end frequencies, which by my reckoning is the feedback.

Please, take my advice, learn from my mistake. There are a lot of irresponsible sound engineers and musicians out there who turn the volume up way too loud and we, the audience, pay the price. Anything over 85db is damaging your hearing, and I’d wager most bands play well in excess of that.

I love Dinosaur Jr with a passion reserved for very few other musicians, but when I see them next month in Auckland, New Zealand, I will definitely be wearing earplugs. I don’t want to go deaf.

And I certainly hope J doesn’t.

[tom_in_chicago]

yeah, Dinosaur is brutal on the ears. The shows in Chicago broke 120dB I made the mistake of taking them out for part of one of the shows and had this "whooshing" noise in my head for about a day.

[img]http://www.pbase.com/tmeyer/image/53223298/medium.jpg[/img]

I have a very mild ringing after the last 18-20 yrs of shows (I’m 36). I can only really hear it if I’m lying in bed w/ no other noise. The "hearos"/"earlove" style things work OK but I’ve also found that Leights foam earplugs do well and don’t actually muffle everything. They are the ones Lou uses. I generally wear them all the time but sometimes won’t if it’s not seriously loud or the type of sound would be seriously degraded.

Kids, do yourself a favor and get earplugs.

[Cpt Nemo]

120db? Fuck man that is just ludicrous. And unsafe.

[Annastefka]

I started my job in September and by December they had a collection jar with my name
on it and a plea to help me buy a "miracle ear"

My nick-name around here is "miracle" I would like to think it is because of the results I get but I think it is a by-product of J mascis fandom.

[Lucrife]

I’m sure all the members of Dinosaur Jr. have something mildly wrong with their hearing even if they do wear earplugs. Trust me, being near those amps is brutal. I’ve seen them twice and I’ve been right up front. Even wearing earplugs to the shows I would occasionally twitch from the high volumes

[SonicD]

haha, i think he has to. standing infront of 3 marshall stacks isnt really room volume huh?

[sonicdeathmonkey]

What kind of earplugs would you suggest I get? I need something reasonably priced seeing as how I work a crappy part time job and get paid ever so slightly higher than minimum wage. I want something in the $10-20 range. Any suggestions?

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