Acoustic Sound of an Electric Guitar

dindude

How much importance do you place on the unplugged sound of an electric guitar?

Have you noticed any patterns in the keepers or great guitars you've owned?

My own experience is that, whilst it has never dictated which guitars I buy, all my favs have also had a very nice acoustic tone to them.

The worst two I've had for this are unsurprisingly at the budget end of things - a Squier Esprit, scratchy weird tone to it, and a Yamaha Pacifica 311H which was horribly thin and scratchy, I remember even my wife saying that it sounded awful when I was playing it unplugged on the sofa.

What's your take?

JDE

Whether it's "mojo" (aka "balls") or not, a good acoustic tone is indicative of the resonance of the guitar. I'm not sure what difference the resonant qualities really matter once you screw a pickup and some metal to it and plug it into a Big Muff. That said, I do normally play a guitar unplugged for a bit before I buy one, mainly because playing though an amp is distracting, and I want to hear any buzzes or choked notes clearly. Generally all my better electrics have had quite a nice acoustic tone.

ICBM

It's often a good indication but not always. I've come across plenty of guitars which don't have any real correlation and sound great plugged in when they "shouldn't", going by the acoustic sound. 335 types almost universally sound poor unplugged.

It's an electric guitar, so what matters is the amplified sound. It is at least true that if a guitar sounds great acoustically but poor amplified, you can fix it by changing the pickups or electrics though.

ThePrettyDamned

If the strings vibrate differently, the pickups are 'picking up' a different thing - a louder ring and more sustain on the strings will, surprisingly enough, give more sustain and a higher output through an amp.

Therefore, I place value in it.  

It's worth noting, especially for sludgy, doomy stuff, I think a less ringy guitar is probably a bit better.

Edit: obviously, this is nit picking and assuming excellent playability which is more important.

JDE

ICBM said:

. 335 types almost universally sound poor unplugged.

It's an electric guitar, so what matters is the amplified sound. It is at least true that if a guitar sounds great acoustically but poor amplified, you can fix it by changing the pickups or electrics though.

Quoted for truth. I've only played a few 335's that didn't sound like dobros strung with stockings unplugged. I don't think SG's ever sound that great unplugged either.

Dave_Mc

ICBM said:

It's often a good indication but not always. I've come across plenty of guitars which don't have any real correlation and sound great plugged in when they "shouldn't", going by the acoustic sound. 335 types almost universally sound poor unplugged.

It's an electric guitar, so what matters is the amplified sound. It is at least true that if a guitar sounds great acoustically but poor amplified, you can fix it by changing the pickups or electrics though.

Yeah. Guitars with Floyds often sound like balls unplugged, to the extent that if I'm playing unplugged (I do a lot, for practising) I generally avoid my Floyd guitars for that. But they sound great plugged in (at least I think they do, and for the type of tones I use them for).

impmann

I think it's very important. If the strings do not ring correctly, then you are not going to get good sustain. If you think about it, the string is plucked and the oscillation of the string is picked up by the pickup to create the output. If it were suspended in air, all you would hear would be the sound of the string and all the vibration created by the pluck would purely be collected by the pickup.
With a wooden bodied guitar, the oscillation of the string is changed by the wood type and construction of the guitar. This change is also collected by the pickups.
I quite agree that the electric sound of a guitar is the most important, but the acoustic sound affects the vibration collection of the pickups, therefore the acoustic sound is important.
As an observation, most of my guitars sound warm and balanced acoustically. My 2 HB Tele sounds a bit bright and scratchy acoustically, and that does maintain into its electric tone too - whether its the combo of woods, the bridge or just a fluke of the body, I don't know but I can hear it.
I had two SGs the same year etc recently - one was bright and the other warm and dark, both acoustically and electrically. I sold the bright one...
I believe there is a correlation - but agree it isn't the only factor in how an electric guitar sounds.

crunchman

I'd concur.  My old Les Paul was very bright acoustically, and also very bright (for a Les Paul) plugged in.  My current Les Paul is warmer acoustically, and warmer plugged in.  My Strat is is also a very warm sounding one both plugged and unplugged.

ESchap

Fender solid bodies resonance translates more than Les Pauls is my experience.  However, I find SG's relate pretty well.  Perhaps it's something about plank versus sandwich body? 

Agree about 335's, and add plywood hollow bodies e.g. ES175, ES330 .... unplugged they sound like a banjo, and not a very good one at that! 

bertie

IME,   Id agree that the more resonant the unplugged guitar, the more articulate the sound when plugged in.  For me that = better, certainly when played clean/warm.  For more cranked/OD sounds,  sometimes a less acoustically/resonant (dull?) guitar actually works better. 

Loobs

I've always been a believer in the proviso that good acoustic sound with an electric is nothing but a good thing. 

57Deluxe

Hold the guitar in one hand by the headstock and give the body a sharp tap... hear and feel it ring... This is the definitive way to tell a good guitar for resonance and harmony.

stickyfiddle

A good acoustic sound is definitely an element of a decent electric guitar overall, but "good" can mean all sorts. 

My SG and CS336 sound vastly different; the SG is quiet acoustically, and rather plinky, whereas the 336 is louder and richer and has much more low end to it; both are brilliant, strident sounding things when plugged in, albeit with the SG sounding a bit treblier and with more bite.

daveyh

If I don't like the sound of an unplugged electric I don't buy it, particularly with LP type guitars. Although I do have a FR guitar I bought unplayed that I really don't like the sound of unplugged, but sounds brilliant plugged in. My Jackson has a great unplugged tone.

So my take is if you have a good unplugged sound - resonance, volume, balance etc, then you're on a winner. But it's not necessarily the definitive.

axisus

Yup, I agree. All the best guitars are really good on that front.