What I did in college was to run the guitar through a digital effects board and then into my cheapo computer speakers (which could be set to reasonable volume levels) or into headphones. Sound quality isn't as great, of course, but the digital stuff doesn't really care how loud you play and sounds about the same at all volume levels. You could get some pretty decent tones out of the higher-end effects boards, too.

If you want sweet tube amp sound, you're basically out of luck. That's caused by the power tubes and speakers distorting (not the pre-amp tubes), so you've gotta crank them up to 11.

There're also some products available that cut the power ratings on standard amplifiers. When I was into this stuff around 1998, your options were basically limited to YellowJackets (which let you substitute 18W EL84 tubes for EL34 amplifiers, like 50W and 100W Marshalls) and the PowerSink, which was an induction coil that would bleed off excess power as heat before it reached the speaker. Both of these would only cut the noise level from "will blow your eardrums out" to "will annoy the neighbors", and so weren't really suitable for apartments or dorms. Since then, I've heard that a bunch of manufacturers have wised up that there's a huge market in low-power tube amps, and it looks like you may be able to find 1-5W tube amps out there now.

There are definitely many more low-power tube amps available now. There are some really neat ones in the 1.5 watt config. Even still, I think there is room in the market for more.

If you already have a larger tube amp for gigs and are obsessive about the tube tone, I'd recommend searching for "power scaling" and "amp attenuator." You'd be very surprised with the sounds you can achieve at decent volumes. You can buy amps with power scaling built in or you can retrofit the circuit. Attenuators vary in quality, but they are easy to use external devices. I'm addicted to tube amps...and I used to like playing in my office in downtown Chicago to blow off steam. I often used a 30 watt amp with an Air Brake (attenuator) and I never got into any trouble because of the noise. I was able to use the same amp to play a gig in Grant Park on a Saturday and then to play in my 10 X 12' office on Monday.

For $40 you can try one of these: http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/musical-instruments/a94...

If you want something with more options, go for: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PocketPOD/

You can also do it through your computer, just google "free amp sim" and you'll find plenty. The only catch is that you'll usually need a music program that supports VST.

Thanks!

I played the violin from my 8th to about my 16th year. Then other interests took over (programming, hanging out with friends, you know, the same story everyone has).

After about ten years I finally picked it up again. I was afraid that I'd lost all the skill I'd developed and after a day or two of playing this seemed justified.

However, I stuck with it and after a week some of it started to come back.

The violin has a very piercing sound (as in : goes through walls) and if you're practicing and making mistakes this makes it worse (on your neighbors especially).

I bought a damper first, but this didn't nullify the effects enough.

Then I bought an electric violin. Because it doesn't have a soundboard, it's very quiet. I can plug a headset in and just practice/play for myself. The sound isn't the same as an acoustic violin, but it's ideal for practice.

I assume there's a way you can do the same for the guitar, either by plugging a headset directly into the guitar or by redirecting the output from the amp to a headset.

Look into it, being able to practice/play at anytime has worked out well for me.

Build a pocket amp and use headphones (if you have a pair of headphones with a 1/4 inch jack you can just plug them directly into the guitar. It'll be really quiet without using any amplification though).

Either that or get a Pignose and don't turn it up too loud. I think Marshall makes a baby sized amp as well.

There are tons of little solid-state amps that have headphone outs and will give you a good sound. (The Roland MicroCube, for example, is a very popular choice. I even have one, and I'm normally a boutique tube amp snob.)

There are also little battery-powered headphone amps that clip onto your belt, but they tend to really suck sound-wise. Something like a MicroCube would be a better investment if you think you'll stick with it for any length of time.

nostrademons mentioned above playing around headphones so I'll also throw in suggestions for Guitarport or Guitarrig, computer-interfaced amp modeling solutions which output to headphones or speakers.

You might want to look into a community art center. For example, in Silicon Valley there is http://www.arts4all.org