Turning guitar volume down before unplugging

xSkarloey

guitars4you said:

SteveRobinson said:

Lots of people seem to do this, does it serve any useful purpose?

I have noticed that Steve but never thought to ask

Maybe I should ask why do customers strum a guitar when it is on the wall - one strum then walk away - Please tell me what you have learnt from this process - enlighten me with the knowledge you have acquired !!!!!

@guitars4you On a slightly related vein to this, I did see a video with that great American session player Carl Verheyen where he said that he tests a guitar's unamplified general liveliness by (I think it was) playing a single string (maybe a b or g) when the guitar's on a hanger, but holding the body somewhere near the jack plug.

I guess the theory is that if it feels resonant then you've got a good one. Perhaps it's a more elaborate version of the adage
that it's informative to play an electric unplugged first.

 
Thoughts?

Maynehead

If the body is resonating, that is eating up the energy of the string, so theoretically you get less sustain. For accoustics, the tone is generated by the body so resonance is a good thing, but for electrics, body resonance is not necessarily an indicator of how "good" a guitar is.

guitars4you

Skarloey said:

guitars4you said:

SteveRobinson said:

Lots of people seem to do this, does it serve any useful purpose?

I have noticed that Steve but never thought to ask

Maybe I should ask why do customers strum a guitar when it is on the wall - one strum then walk away - Please tell me what you have learnt from this process - enlighten me with the knowledge you have acquired !!!!!

@guitars4you On a slightly related vein to this, I did see a video with that great American session player Carl Verheyen where he said that he tests a guitar's unamplified general liveliness by (I think it was) playing a single string (maybe a b or g) when the guitar's on a hanger, but holding the body somewhere near the jack plug.

I guess the theory is that if it feels resonant then you've got a good one. Perhaps it's a more elaborate version of the adage
that it's informative to play an electric unplugged first.

 
Thoughts?

Totally agree with playing a guitar un plugged - 100% agree - By sarcastic comment was about when it is on display and the someone just turns a knob, strums it once and moves on, trye kicking style - what have you learnt

crunchman

Maynehead said:

If the body is resonating, that is eating up the energy of the string, so theoretically you get less sustain. For accoustics, the tone is generated by the body so resonance is a good thing, but for electrics, body resonance is not necessarily an indicator of how "good" a guitar is.

The body is connected to the strings though so that body vibration feeds back to the strings and affects how they vibrate.  Different bodies (different woods, shapes etc.) filter the frequencies differently.  If the body had no effect than a Les Paul with 57 Classics would sound the same as an SG with 57 Classics and the same as a 335 with 57 Classics.  Those 3 guitars all have the same scale length and same electronics configuration but don't sound the same.  The difference is the way the body interacts with the strings and electronics.

Differences between two mahogany bodied Les Pauls, or 2 alder bodied Strats are significantly smaller but they are still real depending on how the particular piece of wood vibrates.

Maynehead

Yes, it does affect the tone, there's no denying that, but I still don't think the amount of vibration is any indicator of how good a guitar sounds...

SimpleSimon

I do this and its a hang up of playing live - putting the guitar on the stand or swapping between guitars in between songs/set. Most punters hate that loud muffled sound you get whilst plugging in at loud volumes and echoing what someone else said above if you put your guitar on the stand next to the amp with the volume maxed your likely to deafen the audience with feedback if the guitar volumes left up.

HAL9000

normula1 said:

No difference at all as it's the act of unplugging / plugging that generates the noise unless you have silent plugs fitted. That said. I do it every time and as per @vasselmeyer I also do this when unplugged.

Also, if you unplug the cable from the amp, rather than from the guitar, it doesn't make any noise. No idea why this is but sure someone will be along shortly to explain.

professorben

octatonic said:

I once played in a band with a guy who refused to acknowledge that he was constantly out of tune.
His argument was that he had a locking trem so he wasn't out of tune, the bassist an I were.

You should sort yourself out mate. 

ICBM

As already said, it's just one of those habits you get into when you play a few gigs - like always keeping a hand on the guitar to stop it buzzing (unless the volume is turned down), always looping the cable through the strap so it doesn't get pulled out (or break the jack) if you stand on it, always plugging the cable in at the amp end last and unplugging first etc. Things that make you look more professional and don't annoy the audience or the soundman with loud irritating noises when things buzz or feed back.

SimpleSimon

Forgot to mention in my case I also switch on the tuner pedal to mute the amp! We are all creatures of (different) habbit!

impmann

Maynehead said:

Yes, it does affect the tone, there's no denying that, but I still don't think the amount of vibration is any indicator of how good a guitar sounds...

I'll agree to differ on that.

However, it depends on what you are wanting the guitar to do. I'll expand...

A lot of metal players actually prefer the whumpfff that you get from a heavy, pancake body, Les Paul Custom from the mid 70s-mid 80s. The same guitar might sound dreadful if you want a big, open clean-ish sound. There is a compression to the sound that is intrinsic to the guitar that sounds at its best when used with high gain.

Likewise a resonant, lightweight SG may not sound thick enough even with dollops of high gain for some metal players but the same guitar will do the big, open thing well.

These are generalisations, but I hope you get the point.

An old friend has a (to me) awful late 70s "Anniversary" Strat that weighs about the same as a small continent and has the resonance and vibracy of marshmallow. When I play it, I think it sounds dreadful but for what he does, it sounds great. I always look for resonant, vibrant guitars - maybe thats the difference.

ICBM

octatonic said:

I once played in a band with a guy who refused to acknowledge that he was constantly out of tune.
His argument was that he had a locking trem so he wasn't out of tune, the bassist an I were.

In the days of analogue tuners there was another problem - they weren't always calibrated perfectly. I was once in a band which constantly sounded awful because two players had tuned perfectly - with different tuners, that must have been slightly off. Each was absolutely certain he was in tune and was always accusing the other of being out of tune. I eventually realised what the problem was and got them to swap tuners to check - and they were surprisingly far out. Thankfully with everyone using digital tuners now that problem has gone away...

impmann

I played one gig... and one gig only... with a band where the lead singer and rythmn guitarist refused to use a tuner as they were "not rock n roll". He would tune by ear from the bass at the beginning of the night and slowly (and hideously) go out of tune as the night and alcohol progressed. It was made worse by the keys player not having the same issue... He was an arrogant prick who blamed me for being out of tune three times during the night until I could stand no more and on his final remark, I  quipped into the mike "well, its the last time you'll have to put up with my guitar being out of tune with yours, as I'm not doing this again...". I got a cheer from the pub and he went quiet...

StanleyAccrington

guitars4you said:

Maybe I should ask why do customers strum a guitar when it is on the wall - one strum then walk away - Please tell me what you have learnt from this process - enlighten me with the knowledge you have acquired !!!!!

I've worked through the strumming guitars while they are on the wall stage. (I've even managed to play a few rolls on a banjo that was wall mounted). I have now 'progressed' to switching on store/shop amps to see if they hum or buzz.

octatonic

I turn the volume down on my guitar so when I plug it back in it doesn't immediately feed back annoying me and everyone else.
I thought this was generally understood.

Nitefly

guitars4you said:

Maybe I should ask why do customers strum a guitar when it is on the wall - one strum then walk away - Please tell me what you have learnt from this process - enlighten me with the knowledge you have acquired !!!!!

It tells me whether or not it's in tune with itself.

vettahead

stops the noise of pulling the cord out, thats all.. i mute mine with the tuner first. Then again i dont wipe my guitars after a gig.  dirrty

Neil

I always turn the guitar volume down if I have been using My Peavey Bravo as the clean volume pot has sheared off in the "max" position.