hybrid acoustic / electric guitars, any opinions?

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  • BigMonkaBigMonka Frets: 1763
    ICBM said:
    BigMonka said:
    I tried leading with my Thinline at our church practice on Friday night and the thing which I found was really missing was the dynamics you can get out of an acoustic. The other musicians take their cues from what I'm doing (e.g if we're building the sound up, or quietening down etc) but they just couldn't pick up those small changes in dynamic with the thinline.
    What string gauge do you have on your Thinline? I find that makes a big difference - you get much more acoustic-guitar dynamics if you put acoustic-guitar string gauges on them... 11s or 12s with a wound 3rd. You can hit them much harder as you would with an acoustic without them going out of tune like light electric strings do.
    That's interesting, I hadn't thought of that factor. I've got 10s on at the moment, but I could try 11s when I next change them - the only thing is this is my main electric so I really want it to feel like an electric (which for me normally means lighter strings)
    Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman, in which case always be Batman.
    My boss told me "dress for the job you want, not the job you have"... now I'm sat in a disciplinary meeting dressed as Batman.
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  • 4114Effects4114Effects Frets: 3131
    tFB Trader
    @bigmonka if I'm leading I'll still be using my acoustic for that reason. This guitar will be for when I'm accompanying my wife, who leads from the keyboards. I find then I can concentrate on adding some textures and different sounds to the different styles. Unfortunately we don't have enough musicians to have an electric and an acoustic playing at the same time, hence my experiments with this guitar. :-)
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  • BigMonkaBigMonka Frets: 1763
    @4114Effects has it arrived yet?
    Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman, in which case always be Batman.
    My boss told me "dress for the job you want, not the job you have"... now I'm sat in a disciplinary meeting dressed as Batman.
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  • 4114Effects4114Effects Frets: 3131
    edited March 2015 tFB Trader
    @BigMonka Haha, erm yes, and now it's up for sale ... 

    The acoustic sound was surprisingly good - plugged in to the PA you'd struggle to tell the difference between it and a conventional acoustic. Unfortunately I found I missed the feel of an actual acoustic - something about it all resonating together when you strum, and feeling like you can really bash the strings - I get carried away sometimes ...

    It's a shame because the action is superb - so you get the acoustic sound with the feel of an electric - probably ideal for someone who has played a lot of electric but needs an acoustic for a few songs.

    I did briefly play the two pickups split and liked the sound - mixing in the electric pickup with a little distortion was a lot of fun. 

    Ultimately though I'm going to stick to plain acoustic.

    I'll let you have this one at a bargain price if you like? I want to buy the EVH Special in the classifieds! :)
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71957
    Why not put heavier strings on it? That will be the biggest difference between the feel of it and an acoustic.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • 4114Effects4114Effects Frets: 3131
    tFB Trader
    Good point. I could try that I guess yeah. Something with a wound G would probably make a difference. 
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71957
    Something with a wound G would probably make a difference. 
    Definitely. You really don't want a plain G on something like this unless you want to make it as much like an electric as possible.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • BigMonkaBigMonka Frets: 1763
    @4114Effects that's such a shame. So did it sound good as both an electric and an acoustic but lacked the real acoustic feel? Do you set it up as the piezo DIed into the PA and the magnetic into an amp (which amp do you have?)?
    Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman, in which case always be Batman.
    My boss told me "dress for the job you want, not the job you have"... now I'm sat in a disciplinary meeting dressed as Batman.
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  • 4114Effects4114Effects Frets: 3131
    tFB Trader
    @bigmonka I run the acoustic side through a compressor and reverb pedal then into a DI to the desk. Electric I run through a Vox multi effects thingy, handles the amp and cab emulation etc.

    Yep, felt slightly strange strumming. But I'm sure I would have got used to it. I might try it with some acoustic strings or heavier electric strings before I rule it out completely though.
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  • BigMonkaBigMonka Frets: 1763
    @bigmonka I run the acoustic side through a compressor and reverb pedal then into a DI to the desk. Electric I run through a Vox multi effects thingy, handles the amp and cab emulation etc.

    Yep, felt slightly strange strumming. But I'm sure I would have got used to it. I might try it with some acoustic strings or heavier electric strings before I rule it out completely though.
    Would they need to be electric strings in order for the magnetic pickup to work properly (I seem to remember reading somewhere that acoustic strings don't work well with pickups, but I could have dreamt it)
    Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman, in which case always be Batman.
    My boss told me "dress for the job you want, not the job you have"... now I'm sat in a disciplinary meeting dressed as Batman.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71957
    BigMonka said:
    Would they need to be electric strings in order for the magnetic pickup to work properly (I seem to remember reading somewhere that acoustic strings don't work well with pickups, but I could have dreamt it)
    Unless it's a specific pickup designed for bronze strings (like a magnetic soundhole pickup is), yes. Otherwise the plain strings will be much louder than the wound ones.

    You can get nickel strings up to at least as heavy as 12s, so it shouldn't be a problem.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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