http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinnitus

check that out. if cts scares us, then we might as well add this to the list.

paul gilbert reportedly suffers from tinnitus and wears those headphones to prevent it from worsening. guess its time to invest in earplugs at least...specially when dealing with really noisy set-ups. 

pete townshend also has tinnitus courtesy of keith moon's exploding drum set stunt....

Does that mean deafness or something? Cause I knida lost some volume on my left ear which was always nearest to the amp... Altho I had a bad cold that time... The amp was never too loud.

to an extent. tinnitus is a symptom of injury to the mechanism that translates sound into electrical impulses for your brain to process. tinnitus is often associated with constant ringing that doesnt stop and the intensity varies. however, periodic ringing in your ears are normal.

tinnitus cannot be cured and the damage is irreversible. go to your local otolaryngologist (ear and throat doctor) or audiologist/ speech therapist to learn more about caring for your ears.

My doctor said it was because of my allergy + aircon addiction because of this frustrating temperature and humidity. But it was accidentally the time when I was playing close to my big sound amp.

eric johnson also wears headphones... i saw him wear one dun sa nabili kong g3 dvd..

Rommel  dela Cruz (barbie's cradle bassist) has tinnitus... postive side is that he says the ringing tone in his left ear is in F# so may instant tuner na agad siya

Rico Blanco, Noel Cabangon, Buddy Zabala, and even Raymund Marasigan supposedly all suffer from hearing loss in at least one ear.

Ako, when I watch a band, earplugs parati.  When I play, I cant stand earplugs!!!

"ever wondered why paul gilbert wears those headphones?"

Hehe kala ko po monitor nya yun.. 

I wonder why they turn up the amp so loud in live shows. Its not cool to be loud.

Marami meron nyan, Dimebag, Tony Iommi, Kerry King, etc...

prior to this reading, i started wearing earplugs during our gigs. now it looks like i need to get better earplugs.

theres someone in the forums selling earplugs...dunno kung may stock pa. or if you want to look goofy like paul gilbert, i saw similar headphones in shopwise.

I think he pretty much answered why he does in this link: http://www.paulgilbert.com/Speaker_Cabinets.html

gumagamit ako ng headphones kapag pumapalo ng drums 

He also uses them as monitors. At least dun manageable yung volume as compared to the actual stage volume.

i guess its ok to be loud if you're paul gilbert.. it depends naman kung ano ung setting ng gig. kung nasa arena or large venue ka, y not? cguro pag small setting lang di naman cya ganun kalakas.