# Clapton losing hearing



## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

I'm sure most of them are hearing impaired by now.

Eric Clapton reveals he's going deaf


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

man, that's too bad

article is from 2015 as well....

getting old sucks


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## geetaruke (Jan 29, 2017)

Yes, these aren’t young men anymore. Not to mention the years of blasting amps et all.


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## Lord-Humongous (Jun 5, 2014)

I'm sure a lot of us have lost some hearing too.


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## mawmow (Nov 14, 2017)

"Slow hand" ?! Deaf ??
Geee... ain't I that surprised ?!
I was just playing "Nobody knoows you when you're down and out"

P.S. BTW, how is Sir Paul's hearing ?


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## SaucyJack (Mar 8, 2017)

bolero said:


> man, that's too bad
> 
> article is from 2015 as well....
> 
> getting old sucks


No that article is recent.


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Not surprising. I'm a third of his age, with ~55 years less stage time, and I'm suffering from hearing damage. And my amps are way smaller to boot.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Lord-Humongous said:


> I'm sure a lot of us have lost some hearing too.


Pardon?


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

Ear plugs! If you got them wear them.


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

Lola said:


> Ear plugs! If you got them wear them.


Yup, I take them to any concert I go to now. Not that I go to many.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Tinnitus would drove me bonkers, I just know it. I'm glad my hearing is still functional with no noticeable deficits .


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Yep that was from an interview yesterday. I myself have hearing loss from playing and listening to loud music. I wear a hearing aid now. Initially it was just the higher frequencies that I don't hear but now even the volume has gone down too since I notice a boost in my hearing aid whenever I wear them. I have to turn up the volume of the TV set when I take the hearing aid off. For a while I didn't use it when I'm playing but recently I'm starting to miss a lot of the details in the sound I get from playing live music so I started using it. My HA also has a built in attenuator which is good when you are in a loud place like a pub but I turn it off when I'm playing.


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

I also suffered some damage to my ears through the years. Right now i have a set of custom made ear plugs to cut decibels when i am playing loud. i hate them cause they cut all clarity but have to wear them. Down the road probably will need some type of hearing aid. To be honest, i dont know of any old rockers who dont have some type of hearing loss.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

I was always under the impression he lost most of his hearing in Cream.

I remember him saying in an interview several years ago that by the time Cream split up he had nothing in one ear and severe damage to his other, hence the smaller amps for a while.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Whatever hearing loss I have is likely from factory jobs during my youth.


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## keithb7 (Dec 28, 2006)

Tinnitus showed up here finally when I started building my own tweed clone amps. Cranking them up. It has not receeded. However I am well aware of it now. I diligently wear custom fit ear plugs at every opportunity around noise. Lawn mower. Concerts. Impact guns. Skeet shooting. Whatever.

It is hard to keep plugs in at band rehearsal or at a jam. I struggle to keep them in. They screw up what I expect to hear. I am wondering if my future band/jam days may be few and far between.

I bought a Katana 50W recently for use at home. It does pretty well. My tube amps all sound great, but I am starting to falter on why I have so many. I have not been playing out much at all over the past year. I’ve got a 1960 Bassman sitting here. I’m starting to question why. I love them all but...Look after your hearing folks.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

keithb7 said:


> Tinnitus showed up here finally when I started building my own tweed clone amps. It gas not receeded. However I am well aware of it now. I diligently wear custom fit ear plugs at every opportunity around noise. Lawn mower. Concerts. Impact guns. Skeet shooting. Whatever.
> 
> It is hard to keep plugs in at band rehearsal or at a jam. I struggle to keep them in. They screw up what I expect to hear. I am wondering if my future band/jam days may be few and far between.
> 
> I bought a Katana 50W recently for use at home. It does pretty well. My tube amps all sound great, but I am starting to falter on why I have so many. I have not been playing out much at all over the past year. I’ve got a 1960 Bassman sitting here. I’m starting to question why. I love them all but...Look after your hearing folks.


Hold on to that Bassman.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

This article flies in the face of all those "I need at least 100 watts" threads on another site. LOL No you don't. Not at all.

Personally, I blame drummers and those damn crash cymbals right by my left ear. It's the deafer of the two. I imagine the 80s had their impact on my hearing as well.


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

I have a family friend who ended up on suicide watch due to agressive tinnitus. Former auto mechanic. 

When the tinnitus strips you of you ability to think or sleep, it is a bad thing to see.


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Dont know if anyone has any experience. Would good quality ear monitors or earphones help out ? Thinking


High/Deaf said:


> This article flies in the face of all those "I need at least 100 watts" threads on another site. LOL No you don't. Not at all.
> 
> Personally, I blame drummers and those damn crash cymbals right by my left ear. It's the deafer of the two. I imagine the 80s had their impact on my hearing as well.


Funny you mentioned the drummer being the problem as i always blamed my drummer of over 30 years for my hearing loss and he blamed me for his.LOL.


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

High/Deaf said:


> This article flies in the face of all those "I need at least 100 watts" threads on another site. LOL No you don't. Not at all.
> 
> Personally, I blame drummers and those damn crash cymbals right by my left ear. It's the deafer of the two. I imagine the 80s had their impact on my hearing as well.


This is one reason I sometimes consider going back to a modelling rig. I can get a very good reproduction of cranked tones without destroying my hearing. I love my two tube amps, but I can rarely turn them up to the point where they get "the tone".


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Lola said:


> Ear plugs! If you got them wear them.


Amen
All that kind of stuff is so available these days, there is no reason not to wear hearing protection. 
Back in the 60's & 70's though when the damage was done, nobody realized yet that hearing could be damaged by exposure to loud music, or that hearing damage was cumulative, or that once hearing was lost, it didn't come back.


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

This stopped me dead in my tracks! My son said to me, “ mom, can you imagine not being able to hear yourself play?” I couldn’t even fathom that.

He is an advocate for ear protection. He wears them on his construction site religiously! He even went out an bought me some girly pink ear plugs that are rated for 60 db. I wear them.


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## ZeroGravity (Mar 25, 2016)

Here's a to a technical paper on new tinnitus research. They believe that there is an underlying neurological condition and that it can be lessened by retraining the neurological hearing response with a specific sequence of aural stimulation followed by an electrical stim to the hearing centre. Some promising results. Auditory-somatosensory bimodal stimulation desynchronizes brain circuitry to reduce tinnitus in guinea pigs and humans


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Between guitars and planers...... I can't hear my daughter . Her voice is just in the range I have lost.


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## zurn (Oct 21, 2009)

Can anyone recommend some ear plugs for shows and loud music? Something below 100$.

Thanks


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

zurn said:


> Can anyone recommend some ear plugs for shows and loud music? Something below 100$.
> 
> Thanks


I use these and they work pretty well and are comfortable.
Etymotic High-Fidelity Earplugs, ER20XS Universal Fit Hearing Protection: Amazon.ca: Health & Personal Care


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

shoretyus said:


> Between guitars and planers...... I can't hear my daughter . Her voice is just in the range I have lost.


I trashed my hearing running hydro-vac trucks all through university. 120+dB for 50-70 hours a week.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

Yep, I have bad, bad tinnitus in my left ear. It drives me pretty batty when I'm alone in the house trying to read. I used to read a lot more than I do now, but it's all I hear sometimes. Funnily, (or not) I have the hardest time with one on my nephews. It's not is volume, its the frequency (tonal, not how often) he speaks. It's just at that certain frequency where it cuts through the other 30 or so people gathered for a family event. It's all I can hear, and I gotta get out! Remember back in the 80's when certain car alarms were making people pass out or vomit?!?! Poor kid, he drives me away! 

I still gig, but not with a band! I can't take the drums. In my last band I wore custom earplugs made at the audiologists but it prevented me from singing. The other guys wanted me to carry certain vocals and/or harmonies, but I couldn't. Well, I could, but I said no way. $125 (my cut) a gig was not worth worsening hearing loss and tinnitus!

PROTECT YOU EARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

If you have an iPhone there Decibel apps! I just downloaded one. I am curious to see what levels we play at rehearsal.


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## Guest (Jan 13, 2018)

Clapton will finally have to learn to read music.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

I never jam Without hearing protection. Same goes for concerts and loud events. 

When I’m not prepared I have the rolled up toilet paper to the rescue. NO fudging around with my hearing.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

Lola said:


> If you have an iPhone there Decibel apps! I just downloaded one. I am curious to see what levels we play at rehearsal.


I check frequently and it’s usually 2-10 decibels above safe long term exposure. 

It’s a factor of decibles and time exposed.


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## Guest (Jan 13, 2018)

Playing through my pedals into my computer with S-Gear for my amps really helped lower the volume I practice/record at. With good monitor speakers what I hear coming out when I record is what I am recording. I did recently plug my amp in again after about 6 months and the amp is definitely superior in the room. But it gets loud so quickly.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

pardon?


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

sambonee said:


> I never jam Without hearing protection. Same goes for concerts and loud events.
> 
> When I’m not prepared I have the rolled up toilet paper to the rescue. NO fudging around with my hearing.


Geez, I wish I had thought of that at a Hip concert I went to a few years ago. It was so loud it actually hurt my ears. Damn sound men at the back of the hall. They were probably wearing hearing protection.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

ITs like rolling an empty spliff to about he circumference of a green pea. Tear off a 3/4-1” piece And tighten the tip end that’s you intend to insert. .


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

sambonee said:


> I check frequently and it’s usually 2-10 decibels above safe long term exposure.
> 
> It’s a factor of decibles and time exposed.


The higher the decibels should mean less time exposure but for some that is not part of the equation. 

Outdoor concerts have a lot of room for the sound to travel but indoor ones?!


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

sambonee said:


> ITs like rolling an empty spliff to about he circumference of a green pea. Tear off a 3/4-1” piece And tighten the tip end that’s you intend to insert. .


Superb analogy! Lol 

Only you could come up with something like that. LMAO


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

marcos said:


> Funny you mentioned the drummer being the problem as i always blamed my drummer of over 30 years for my hearing loss and he blamed me for his.LOL.


Yea, I think I had a couple of drummers complain about that - but I couldn't hear them because THEY MADE ME FRICKEN DEAF ALREADY!!!!


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