any ideas for low volume playing, maybe without an amp?

[Stanford Guitar]

Maybe a loud amp would keep would be thieves away?

 

[Alex_C]

NUX mightyplug and a tiny powered speaker? The advantage to these two is that they can fit in your guitar case or even your pocket.

 

[CupofJoe]

I have a Vox Amp Plug clean that I use at the office but only put one ear bud in so I know when folks come in and I can put it away … I usually get there an hour early to practice away from the family at home. Super easy to hear both guitar and stuff going on outside it. I use a beat up 98 Squire tele so pretty simple sounds but they make heavy versions for hard rock sounds. With one ear bud they could be pretty quiet too.

 

[Fenderdad1950]

I think everyone has played unplugged in their electric guitar life. A mini amp is the solution.

 

[CharlieO]

I play my solid body guitars unplugged at home 90 percent of the time. And my semi-acoustics, too. Who really needs an amp to enjoy playing for yourself?

 

[thankyouguitar]

i'm sorry guys, my wife rolled up with a load of groceries and i got distracted and didn't finish my thought. what i'm after is some way to increase the volume just a bit without an amp. now, i've got a handy and sweet little champion 600, but i'm looking to not have to drag a bunch of stuff in and out every night i work.

i know i'm throwing out a longshot, but i just believe that among so many with so much experience, somebody's done this.

and thanks for all suggestions.

Ok trying to stick with your original parameters of same guitar no amp, I've come up with two suggestions. One is to get some kind of rigid reflective surface to put on your desk to bounce more of the guitar's sound back at you. Plastic sheeting? Creatively positioned laptop? Picture frame?

I have a strat that I removed the middle pickup from for other reasons, but I did find that the hole in the pickguard acted a bit like the "soundhole" in an acoustic guitar. This is by far the loudest "acoustically" of my electrics, but would require modification.

Also, many congrats on your new "night gig!" XD

 

[bobbythegoose]

Not sure how you you would feel about this suggestion, but if you go up a string gauge and slightly raise your action, it will make it a little bit louder for you

 

[Alex_C]

A semi-hollow will be louder than a solid body.

 

[arnie5150]

I am not crazy. Put your chin on the upper horn of a Strat and your cranium becomes a built in amplifier of clean tones.

 

[Flaneur]

Hollowbody. Something to spend that extra income on......

 

[Skyhook]

Hi, Yall. hope things are sunny in your world today.

i have just rejoined the ranks of the gainfully employed, part time after 5 years of retirement. need to pay some bills and buy some toys.

so. i'm back doing what i do best: nightwatchman. mellow. quiet. no boss in my face. you understand. and i just found out that bringing in a guitar to keep myself awake between rounds is A-ok. but i have to be careful about volume - but i can't do a headphone amp because i have to be able to hear whatever might be happening in the building. so a stethoscope is also off the table.

what i wonder is does anybody know a trick one could use to maybe double the volume of an unplugged solidbody electric? for instance, i know that you can set the headstock of your axe up against a cabinet and get some volume, but that gets really awkward pretty quick.

anybody got a trick?

Aside from duct taping some weird cardboard contraption to the guitar body... ?
Buy a cheap semi-hollow for just this use case.

 

[draggindakota]

I am not crazy. Put your chin on the upper horn of a Strat and your cranium becomes a built in amplifier of clean tones.

I used to do this all the time when I played in a church band. The mix was always horrible and I could usually never hear myself if I was plugged in to the PA.