http://groups.google.com/group/rec.music.makers.bass/browse_thread/thread/3bcbed546f5d4dbb#
Looks like that thread is too old to reply to, so here goes…
I like the idea of the taser, and yes I realize that, when performing
to an audience, I just need a bigger amp and bigger speakers. But the
neighbors three blocks away won't appreciate that when we're
practicing in a garage. So I found something else that really helps –
foam hearing protectors from Home Depot - green foam hexagons that you
put in your ears. They do a great job of attenuating lead guitar
wailing and drums, but they still let my bass through.
Actually, as they come out of the package, they are a little too
effective, and I have trouble hearing a conversation between songs.
But if I cut the top third off of the hexagon with scissors (i.e. not
reducing their length but reducing their diameter), they're just about
perfect. I can hear myself pretty good, and on the way home, my ears
aren't ringing from whiney 6-string guitars and cymbals.
Speaking as a 51-year-old who has already lost too much of his hearing,
I've been using earplugs in all rehearsals, whether I'm playing 'bone in
one band or electric bass in the other one. If I can't hear myself, I plug
in some 'phones and wear them over my 'plugs.