Nice To See the Acoustic Section Busy Nowadays

thomasross20

Tannin said:

I like the way @Open_G thinks.

Play acoustic because it saves having to get an amp and a lead out of the cupboard. Tick.

Play fingerstyle because it saves having to look for a plectrum. Tick.

So ... anyone for air guitar?

Hahaha brilliant

thomasross20

Thing with electric is, you ultimately really need a band to complete the package. And while that can be great, I'm done with all that and acoustic means I can rely only on myself (good or bad lol)

jaymenon

Winny_Pooh said:

Acoustics are not a sexy as electrics, pedals , modding potentials and a fun amp, so they naturally get more traffic. But in reality more than 50% of the music I listen to has an acoustic guitar so.....

Actually singing and playing acoustic guitar will get you more girls...

jaymenon

Open_G said:

I’m a far better player on acoustic vs electric and end up picking it up to play far more, purely as it doesn’t involve getting an amp, lead, cable etc out of the cupboard under the stairs to set up. I’ve ended up playing finger style 99% of the time as I just don’t have an array of picks to hand. Essentially a style borne out of laziness. 

You could be my twin brother...

sev112

jaymenon said:

Winny_Pooh said:

Acoustics are not a sexy as electrics, pedals , modding potentials and a fun amp, so they naturally get more traffic. But in reality more than 50% of the music I listen to has an acoustic guitar so.....

Actually singing and playing acoustic guitar will get you more girls...

Well, older women in my case

p90fool

Devil#20 said:

Neck geometry apart, an acoustic is less forgiving of bad technique and I like to practice stuff on acoustic first.

I think the opposite to be honest. If I hand any of my acoustic-only mates an electric guitar they can't even play it in tune. 

Tannin

p90fool said:

Devil#20 said:

Neck geometry apart, an acoustic is less forgiving of bad technique and I like to practice stuff on acoustic first.

I think the opposite to be honest. If I hand any of my acoustic-only mates an electric guitar they can't even play it in tune. 

I think there is merit in both arguments. On acoustic you certainly can't get away with a lot of the lazy left-hand technique electric players use, and some (not all) electric players last about 3 minutes on an acoustic before their fingers give out.

On the other hand, there are things electric players do as routine which acoustic players don't even have on their radar. 

In truth, they are very different instruments requiring quite different playing feel and technique. Many of the skills are transferrable but someone who only plays the one generally makes a right royal mess of the other without some serious relearning. 

(Most players have done a bit of both, which obscures this reality. If one had to start acoustic from scratch (or start electric from scratch), only having ever played the other sort, it's a big learning curve. Yep, sure, you'll pick it up faster than, say, an oboe player or even a cellist, but you can't just be handed the other sort of guitar and know how to play it.

jaymenon

sev112 said:

jaymenon said:

Winny_Pooh said:

Acoustics are not a sexy as electrics, pedals , modding potentials and a fun amp, so they naturally get more traffic. But in reality more than 50% of the music I listen to has an acoustic guitar so.....

Actually singing and playing acoustic guitar will get you more girls...

Well, older women in my case

I can identify with that. I actually wrote a song about it
https://youtu.be/gsrCvGJbrik

Devil#20

Tannin said:

p90fool said:

Devil#20 said:

Neck geometry apart, an acoustic is less forgiving of bad technique and I like to practice stuff on acoustic first.

I think the opposite to be honest. If I hand any of my acoustic-only mates an electric guitar they can't even play it in tune. 

I think there is merit in both arguments. On acoustic you certainly can't get away with a lot of the lazy left-hand technique electric players use, and some (not all) electric players last about 3 minutes on an acoustic before their fingers give out.

On the other hand, there are things electric players do as routine which acoustic players don't even have on their radar. 

In truth, they are very different instruments requiring quite different playing feel and technique. Many of the skills are transferrable but someone who only plays the one generally makes a right royal mess of the other without some serious relearning. 

(Most players have done a bit of both, which obscures this reality. If one had to start acoustic from scratch (or start electric from scratch), only having ever played the other sort, it's a big learning curve. Yep, sure, you'll pick it up faster than, say, an oboe player or even a cellist, but you can't just be handed the other sort of guitar and know how to play it.

I think this is it yes. As I tend to play both in equal measure nowadays the comment about lazy left hand technique is a no go on acoustic. Acoustics are definitely more of a left hand workout than electric but lower string tension on electrics obviously allow for specific skills for that instrument. 

Interestingly, and a slight aside, looking at @allen recent videos comparing various humbucker and single coil guitars went a good way to demonstrate that electrics are a law of diminishing returns. The more expensive guitars weren't as big a difference as you'd expect. Be intresting to take a HBenton and fit it with the pickups and same strings as say the R9 and blind test it. Might not be as nice to play but I'll bet it sounds the same.

With acoustics though, there is a massive difference between guitars and it's a relatively easy job to differentiate acoustics from cheap and nasty up to eye-wateringly expensive and everything in between. With acoustics (unlike electrics) it can generally be said that you get what you pay for, except for the inflated price of some of the usual suspects from the US.. Acoustics also develop better tone over time. What's not to like. 

Tannin

^ To which I say amen Brother @Devil20.

bertie

p90fool said:

Devil#20 said:

Neck geometry apart, an acoustic is less forgiving of bad technique and I like to practice stuff on acoustic first.

I think the opposite to be honest. If I hand any of my acoustic-only mates an electric guitar they can't even play it in tune. 

yet,  if I hand one of my acoustics to electric only mates,  they dont have enough strength to fret the strings properly

Mellish

Hmm...I'm not sure. I play acoustic, electric and banjo.

Different beasts for sure but, if you play them often, don't you adapt?

 

LastMantra

I wonder what makes guitar so popular?

I'd say electric guitar is probably one of the most expressive instruments there is, apart from computers,but I've also preferred the sound of acoustic (and maybe piano) over pretty much all "traditional" instruments. 

Tannin

Mellish said:

Hmm...I'm not sure. I play acoustic, electric and banjo.

Different beasts for sure but, if you play them often, don't you adapt?

 

Absolutely. We are talking about the circumstance where you (say) play electric only and are then asked to play acoustic. Or, as in my case, always play acoustic and then try to play electric. What a dreadful sound I make!

Mellish

^ and that's why I should have fully read the thread

 

thomasross20

Can one really be great at both, given family, work commitments etc? 
One day I will throw all my electric gear onto Reverb so can dedicate myself to acoustic, I'm sure... I think....

jellyroll

Tannin said:

In truth, they are very different instruments requiring quite different playing feel and technique.

Just wondering whether Jazz is where they overlap, Jazz being sort of electrified acoustic playing?

 (Not that I can play a single note of jazz). 

Tannin

thomasross20 said:

Can one really be great at both, given family, work commitments etc? 

If one is sufficiently talented and dedicated, sure. But note that key word "dedicated". If necessary that may mean giving up your job and/or abandoning your family. Not a trade-off worth making, IMO. Especially not when one remembers that just being very dedicated does not guarantee success. 

Devil#20

LastMantra said:

I wonder what makes guitar so popular?

I'd say electric guitar is probably one of the most expressive instruments there is, apart from computers,but I've also preferred the sound of acoustic (and maybe piano) over pretty much all "traditional" instruments. 

On the first point,I'm not sure that playing guitar is considered popular or even cool anymore. We think they are be we're all biased. I think generally they aren't. 

On the second point, although I used to think that, I have to disagree. There's no doubt that in the right hands an electric guitar can be very expressive but there's a lot of stuff going on between fingers and speaker cone that isn't organic. With an acoustic guitar there is none of that. The sound coming off the guitar top is solely down to you and by definition organic and the truest form of guitar playing. Nothing to hide behind. This is why I sound better on electric than I do on acoustic but it's also why I've moved to playing acoustic more than I did. Well that and a lot more playing at home during lockdown without pissing the neighbours off playing through an HRD. I've since bought a Princeton Deluxe Reverb and a Cornell Romany which are both low powered but they are still loud when pushed. 

thomasross20

Very very wise posts above. 

Wish had dedicated all those electric years to acoustic.