I live out of town so I dont have to worry But I see your problem. Stand up for your rights, just say, "If you've gotta problem with me playing music, it's your problem not mine."

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riley

Tell him to get a life and go out so you can jam, or try a stand and put the stand and amp on top of carpet samples about 24in by 24in by about 4 to 6 samples to muffle the sound, or put the amp on a couch. Keep Jamming F him. Abe

Ali

Sod all the sensibilities and laws. Just wait till he walks past and jump out the door and smack him one, or eleven.
Leave him in a bloody mess on the floor and tell him theres more where that came from should he come any more rubbish. You cant negotiate with idiots and the guys obviously got a serious problem.
Argue the point that came to your door making all kinds of threats, you felt intimidated at his aggressive behaviour and threats. His hand came up and you made the premptive defense of busting his nose.
Your word against his, no witness's. Should it all fall flat I'll buy your Folsom Prison Blues album.

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No no and no

Niki, if I ever get to have a room mate I want it to be you Bro then I wouldn't have to worry about crazy neighbors!

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

+1 I wish I handled my old neighbour like that. The first time I did lose the rag with him he phoned the police and I got a caution for breach of the peace.

CC

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Fender Stratocaster (parts build)
Fender Telecaster 72 Custom RI
Fender Telecoustic Deluxe
Gretsch Electromatic Pro-Jet
Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus
Gibson ES-135
Zenith Type-17
Marshall 70's JMP Superbass 100w
Blackstar HT-5

Well honestly, this is one of the main reason's I bought my own house (well, that and I hated paying rent!). That said, aside from the headphone option...which I -do- agree with (again, good, studio quality headphones make a world of difference...big Audio Technica fan myself) and the isolating your amp idea (also well worth a try), I have a few other suggestions for you as well...

First and foremost, most cities have a local "sound ordinance"...a legal description of what levels (volume) of sound are acceptable during what times of the day. Go to your local City Hall and get a copy of this and MAKE SURE YOU COMPLY WITH IT. In other words, if the ordinance states that you can't have the volume above 92db between the hours of 8 am and 10 pm (usually winter hours tend to be a little less than summer hours), then as long as you keep your volume BELOW that 92db, you are within your legal rights. Granted, this may require that you get a decibel meter (last time I looked they were still available thru Radio Shark) to make sure you comply but it's been my experience that this is the best -legal- solution. This way, if the guy comes knockin' again, you can show him the sound ordinance (and your readings) and that you -ARE- in fact complying with local laws. Don't be rude or a dick about it...be calm, respectful, rational and "matter of factual" about the situation. Further, if the guy should keep knocking, you are within your full legal rights to call the cops ON HIM for harassment...you can show the cops your copy of the sound ordinance as well as your "evidence" that you are doing everything to comply with the law...in fact if push comes to shove and this guy is a serious a@@hole about it, you could even get a restraining order over the situation.

Do remember though that the law is about "proof"...you will need to make sure that you can prove you are in fact complying with local laws (recordings and db levels are usually sufficient) but as long as you can prove this, you can REALLY stick it to this guy...and do so within the system.

Another option would be to simply rent some "jam space" somewhere. Most major cities usually have places where musicians can rent practice space with 24 hour access where the rooms or the building is isolated so as not to disturb the neighbors. I've seen practice spaces here in Northern Ohio for as little as $100 a month with full security.

As far as sound proofing and sound isolation goes...please remember that this is a VERY expensive option...although it is certainly still an option. Simply hanging carpeting on the wall...or even putting up actual sound panels will cut the volume a little but unless you have it done by a pro, you could find yourself in serious violation of local fire laws (which being in an apartment, the landlord -could- have some serious issues with!). That said, if you have a large enough closet or something similar, you could set yourself up a small "isolation booth" as well for much less expense. For that matter, if you have a living area in the apartment that's large enough, it's not all that difficult to build a small "room inside of a room"...something just big enough for you, a chair and your amp (and maybe a small computer if you do any recording). In fact, if you talk to some local contractors about taking some scraps off their hands, you could potentially do this for next to nothing (assuming of course you know which end of the hammer to hold! LOL!).

Personally I can't go with the "beating the crap outta the guy" idea...there's always a chance the you could get your own a@@ kicked...if not worse (these days you never know who's gonna pull a freakin' gun on ya) or you could simply land yourself in jail for it...and in my opinion at least, it sounds like this one stinkin' idiot isn't really worth any of that. Nice to think about but a rather impractical solution.

Last but not least, again problem neighbors (along with having to pay rent) was one of the big reasons I simply bought my own house. Yea, I still have neighbors and from time to time over the years I've still have had some problems with them but it does make my life -A LOT- easier . If you really are in a situation where you need to rent, than instead of renting an "apartment", maybe you should consider renting a small house somewhere instead. Quite often you can rent a small house in a urban areas for the same or less than you pay for a "nice" apartment. For that matter if you live here in the states, thanks to the recent and ongoing economic disaster, real estate is dirt cheap in some cities. In Detroit for example, groups of "artists" have been getting together and buying whole buildings for next to nothing and turning them into something not totally dis-similar to the "communes" of the late sixties/early seventies! Yea, the neighborhoods really suck but as I understand it, these "mini communities of artists" are truly something spectacular to say the least.


Anyways, hopefully that will give you a few ideas...both large and small...and a few things to consider. As always these are just my own personal opinions and should only be taken as such.

Peace,
Jim

Ali, move out of your apartment and rent a room in a house. Maybe with some musicians. No dopers, though. It is Turkey after all.
Find a back house or guest house on a large estate. Become a handyman,
known throughout the land as honest and competent. You can service the estate of the land holder by day, and play guitar at night. You will have a place to be alone with beautiful doe-eyed, raven-haired women you will lure with your music.