Do you play your electric acoustically?

munky · February 2014

Never known if this is just me, but at home, 85% of the time I play my electrics acoustically. Does anyone else?

If I'm just picking one of my guitars up to practice, or even just to hold it (now that does sound weird!), I rarely plug it in, even though I have my Roland practice amp right by my sofa.

Obviously, outside of the home, or if I'm jamming with mates I always plug in, but at home, I rarely do!

Is it just me? I guess it depends on the style of music you play - I generally just noodle blues licks, and play with very little if any distortion on my amp anyway.

ICBM · February 2014

Yes, mostly.

meltedbuzzbox · February 2014

I probably play 90%+ of my time at home on electric unplugged.

Its quiet enough to let the misses watch the tele and they are more comfortable to sit with than an acoustic.

But rationale aside I always have ever since my first electric

bertie · February 2014

sometimes.............tends to be what/which ever is closest.. Ive acoustics and electrics within "reach" - and there's not a great deal (that I do) that I cant do on either, "acoustically" that doesnt require access above the 14th of course

DrBob · February 2014

Yes, most of the time..

wrinkleygit · February 2014

most of the time unplugged for me as well or thro a korg pandora & headphones if i want something raunchy !!

chrisj1602 · February 2014

Yes mostly, mainly due to having a 22 month old son and trying squeeze a bit of practice in whenever I can.

munky · February 2014

Interesting! I always assumed that most 'normal' guitarists, especially the gearheads always plug in, so maybe I'm not that odd after all.

I do have an iRig HD jobbie that I can plug into my phone and use with headphones, but all those wires! Amplitube doesn't sound all that good either, but maybe it's the apple headphones!

Neil · February 2014

Occasionally, but the sound of an electric guitar plugged in is wonderful so that's how I mostly do it.

After all "Brang Brang Brang" is better than "tinky tink tink" IMO.

Skipped · February 2014

When I was gigging I practiced at home unplugged, never plugged. This meant that I had to imagine the dynamics of a guitar, at volume. in a live performance because otherwise the practice would be a waste of time. This visualisation was not a problem.
Whereas...practicing at home with a small practice amp, responding in a completely different way to my live rig, simply did not work (for me)
Maybe the Yamaha THR (or similar) has solved this problem?? (Other than feeling air move)

ICBM · February 2014

Skipped said:

When I was gigging I practiced at home unplugged, never plugged. This meant that I had to imagine the dynamics of a guitar, at volume. in a live performance because otherwise the practice would be a waste of time. This visualisation was not a problem.
Whereas...practicing at home with a small practice amp, responding in a completely different way to my live rig, simply did not work (for me)

I agree completely. Playing unplugged gives you a real feel for the dynamics and inherent 'string tone' of the guitar in a way that a small practice amp doesn't, for me.

fretfinder · February 2014

Yep mostly, so it doesn't interfere with the wife's telly watching. I normally plug in once or twice a week though, to get some drive going and move some air.

musicegbdf · February 2014

Yep mostly unplugged. I think most of us do. I think it is important though to do both , as the dynamic is different for both

bertie · February 2014

tomstacey said:

Interesting! I always assumed that most 'normal' guitarists, .........................always plug in,

normal guitarists play acoustics as well

Lew · February 2014

Nope!

HAL9000 · February 2014

Should this thread be in the 'acoustics' category then?

I've often wondered why there are 'guitars' and an 'acoustics' categories rather than 'electrics' and 'acoustics' (goes off to get a life).

PS - I always plug my electrics in.

breakstuff · February 2014

For the first few years of playing I played mostly acousticaly but now I have a Yamaha THR10 sat next to my guitars in the living room I plug in alot more.The only problem is that now I find muting the strings a bit of a challenge because I never noticed that I was hitting other strings when playing acousticaly.I think the main problem is how I hold my pick so I'm tryin to rectify this but after so many years holding it a certain way it is not easy.

benmurray85 · February 2014

I do and what's worse I use the volume, tone and pickup selector and reckon I can hear a difference. Idiotic!!!

jd0272 · February 2014

All the time. Mrs would soon get pissed off with a half stack in the living room...

Often tempted to get a 1 watt thingy but the point of playing in the house for me is the 'grab and go' aspect, quick easy and not having to bother on plugging in etc.

ICBM · February 2014

bertie said:
normal proper guitarists play acoustics as well

:P

Bellycaster · February 2014

Yes.in the week, I don't bother with the amp hardly ever as I can't see the point in practicing technique or scale/arps etc at volume, especially with my results. The weekend is "Amp On" time playing to backing tracks, songs etc.

I like to have the Pedalboard hooked up to the amp as well when I play through it at weekends. On the rare occasions I have the amp on in the week, it's straight into amp as it's a bit of a faff for a "School Night", knackered after work etc.

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Do you play your electric acoustically?

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