Strumming an electric...blah

[AM866]

I started out playing acoustic and loved playing rhythm then. It was so responsive and easy to coax different sounds out of it. Had a richness and fullness; a 'golden' ring to it.

I've been playing electric more and more over the years and certainly there's a lot of things I can achieve with it that I can't on an acoustic but sadly, I just can't get that warmth and power for rhythm. It sounds choppy and uneven. I love the way a full strong strum sounds on an acoustic but on my tele, to me, it sounds colder and raucous.

Any advice? Lower the mid-section of the pups? A good compressor? Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

 

[BajaDerek]

IMO you're on the right track talking about a compressor. There are a million. Don't spend a lot at first. A good cheap one that you should be able to obtain fairly easily is the good ol boss compressor sustainer I think it's a CS-3. should be just what the Dr. ordered!

 

[thejerk]

I do chording on mine all the time.

I find that electrics respond better to bar chords than open chords, unless you're arpeggiating them out.

You may also try changing up your plectrum hardness, your pick attack angle, and how close to the bridge you are strumming to see what kind of different sounds you can get. Don't do a floppy, weak, loosey-goosey dead fish hand strum on an electric. While that flies on an acoustic, you've gotta manhandle a tele.

Also, experiment with palm muting at different intensities.

I'd try adjusting technique before I laid out cash on effects!

 

[jbmando]

I love arpeggiated chords on an electric guitar. If you love your tone, it should sound good to you whether you are soloing or chording.

 

[wshelley]

Start with adjusting your technique as mentioned above, maybe attacking the strings a little bit more. Work on dialing in your tone so that your sound has more oomph behind it, for me this is usually to add some bass and either roll off the tone knob or go to the neck pickup.
If changing technique doesn't help, possibly thicker gauge strings will give you the response you're looking for.

 

[BenM]

I know what you are talking about but I agree with jbmando, if your tone is right you can sound good strumming chords on an electric.

What kind of guitar are you playing? I really like the way the bridge pickup in a good archtop sounds for strumming chords. Maybe it has some of that acoustic response that you are missing, but there is something there that I can't really get out of a solid body, but it is still totally different from an acoustic guitar... one man's opinion.

 

[Stuco]

I do chording on mine all the time.

I find that electrics respond better to bar chords than open chords, !

That's how I see it. Some electrics can sound good strummed open though. 12 strings and hollowbodies mostly. I don't think there is any reason you can't get a nice usable sound strumming open on a solid body either if you have it dialed in right.

 

[AM866]

Don't do a floppy, weak, loosey-goosey dead fish hand strum on an electric. While that flies on an acoustic, you've gotta manhandle a tele.

Interesting. I would think that the softer the attack the sweeter it would sing. I guess this has to do with it's natural compression properties?

 

[TaylorPlayer]

My own experiance coming from mostly an acoustic background is that by putting heavier strings on my electrics, I can get a much fuller strumming sound. I personally use 12 gauge electric strings with a wound G string on my Les Paul and love the neck pickup strumming tone of that guitar.

 

[bingy]

Quote:
Originally Posted by thejerk View Post
Don't do a floppy, weak, loosey-goosey dead fish hand strum on an electric. While that flies on an acoustic, you've gotta manhandle a tele.

Interesting. I would think that the softer the attack the sweeter it would sing. I guess this has to do with it's natural compression properties?

This is the right way to approach it.
The first thing I thought of was turn the volume down and hit it harder.
Roll off high end to taste.

 

[sacizob]

Try damping the strings (mute) with your palm right after the strum. It will kill the harshness and give you a nice sycopated rhythm when you get it perfected.

 

[Frontier9]

Strumming works well on an electric, but you really have to adjust your technique as mentioned above. Listen to some recordings and see what appeals to your ear. You can't strum an electric the way you would an acoustic - there has to be a little more thought involved when strumming an electric.

 

[Alex W]

Saw a band recently in which the rhythm guitarist was strumming on a Rickenbacker 330, playing a lot of open chords. The whole band kept their volume down, and I thought his chord playing and the band overall sounded really good. He appeared to be strumming with a lighter touch.

 

[Little Willy]

To get a warmer sound when I am strumming on my electric, I use a compressor and a lighter pick or no pick at all (thumb strumming). I also have a boss acoustic simulator that I use which can add a nice warm sound, but darn those simulators add a lot of line noise. Often times I strum using the neck pickup only.

 

[Tommy Biggs]

Excellent points, it's different on an electric.

Chording and Arpeggios are different from "strumming".

If the rhythm guitar "strums" acoustic style on an electric guitar it washes the band mix with mids and tends to remove dynamics. makes it very difficult for another guitar to bring subtlety and dynamics into leads and fills. Not to say you can't do it in a one guitar band - with the right material, but you have to create those dynamics, and leave space for Vocals, durms and bass lines.

The Acoustic 'decay' has to be manually recreated on most electrics. palm muting, partial chords, "boom chick", etc.

I find open chords to be very effective on a Tele, but I don't play them the same as I do acoustically. no Bluegrass flailing (which I love) on the old Les Paul either!

 

[BigDaddyLH]

Try three note chords. Less is more.

 

[ac15]

If you don't like strumming an electric, I assume you're referring to the feel of the guitar and the relative lack of "warmth" to the sound. I usually turn down the volume and tone controls on the guitar so they're at a lever where I feel comfortable that a hard strum will produce a good tone. In other words, I adjust tone and volume until it "feels" right (i.e. so it feels like you can strum freely without feeling like you'll make a bad sound). Using .012 gauge strings helps also.

 

[AM866]

If the rhythm guitar "strums" acoustic style on an electric guitar it washes the band mix with mids and tends to remove dynamics.
...

The Acoustic 'decay' has to be manually recreated on most electrics. palm muting, partial chords, "boom chick", etc.

Exactly. Those mids don't decay, they just pile up...which when I think about a compressor might not help with, only the attack.

I usually turn down the volume and tone controls on the guitar so they're at a lever where I feel comfortable that a hard strum will produce a good tone. In other words, I adjust tone and volume until it "feels" right (i.e. so it feels like you can strum freely without feeling like you'll make a bad sound).

This would probably be my best bet. I sort of have to have a 'set it and forget it' right hand approach because I'm usually singing. Plus, the extra volume would be nice when it's time to play lead. Thanks for all the responses.

 

[Old Mr. Wilson]

Open strumming--Telecaster---Mendocino---Sir Douglas Quintet--2 chords

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=proQ4WzgiI8

 

[TG]

I find this a bit of a problem too...but there are other things you can do with electrics that you can't on acoustics so it sort of balances out, IMO.


I find that rolling off the volume can help alot with playing rhythm on an electric.