Practicing electric unplugged
- Thread starter alnicopu
- Start date
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Do you mean me personally, or the guitar?
JL_LI
Poster Extraordinaire
I was just practicing sans amp. I got out of the hospital with two new stents on Saturday morning with release instructions advising no repetitive motion of my right wrist for three days. There was something stuck in my head I wanted to try. My wife would start yelling if she heard the guitar. My Strat is resonant enough and can’t be heard upstairs. 15 minutes and I worked the idea out before I forgot it with no damage done.
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985plowboy
Poster Extraordinaire
More than plugged in.
Dave Hicks
Poster Extraordinaire
More often than plugged in. There are some problems with doing this, though - when I do plug in, I hear all kinds of mistakes (e.g. wrong string ringing) that aren't audible unplugged.
D.H.
D.H.
I do that pretty often with different guitars. It helps me figure out the physical characteristics of the guitar a little better, and I find that I 'understand' the guitar better when I plug it in.
- D
- D
Yes. I find it convenient for quickly playing a spontaneous musical thought, some quick practicing, and detecting unwanted vibrations and sitaring. But I need to practice some through an amp too, so I don’t get sloppy about unintended sound from the fretboard and strings, and remain attuned to how the guitar and amp controls affect the tone.
Almost exclusively unplugged. This is one reason I'm so inept with my pedals.....I rarely "fiddle" with them, except at rehearsals, and the other guys don't want to go through the effort to "experiment" with different settings. Yesterday I got delivery on a "handmade" Klon copy.....played it a little last night, and already think it's better than the Mosky Silver Horse I was using.
esseff
Friend of Leo's
Yep, me, depending on which guitar I choose and where. Downstairs, the Gibson Melody Maker has got a really low action which is great for amplified noodling but buzzy unplugged. The Tele and Yam SG200 are fine either way. The others are kept upstairs and used with headphones as a courtesy to the neighbours.
loopfinding
Poster Extraordinaire
for me it's kind of like doing exercises with weights strapped on. when you plug in you find it's so much easier to play than when you were playing acoustically trying to hear yourself. but you also hear muting and noise mistakes.
right now i have an iridium and run it through monitors, but at a low/music listening volume (i live in an apartment, though my neighbor is a violinist and practices every day in the morning, and that's definitely louder than i am). i can hear both the electric and acoustic sound, so it's kind of best of both worlds. but i tend not to practice with fuzz/distortion, unless i'm practicing something that requires fuzz/distortion and needs that lighter/legato-y touch to execute perfectly.
right now i have an iridium and run it through monitors, but at a low/music listening volume (i live in an apartment, though my neighbor is a violinist and practices every day in the morning, and that's definitely louder than i am). i can hear both the electric and acoustic sound, so it's kind of best of both worlds. but i tend not to practice with fuzz/distortion, unless i'm practicing something that requires fuzz/distortion and needs that lighter/legato-y touch to execute perfectly.
yes indeed
GreatDaneRock
Tele-Afflicted
ALL. THE TIME
Fearnot
Poster Extraordinaire
I play my electrics unplugged all the time, and have for decades. Big, boxy acoustics just aren't comfortable to me, and my Tele Thinline sounds great on the couch.
As an aside, I recently bought a Mustang Micro headphone thingie that's getting more playtime than I thought it would.
As an aside, I recently bought a Mustang Micro headphone thingie that's getting more playtime than I thought it would.
I played mostly acoustic for years. When I changed over primarily to electric it was for the nuances and tones I could get that I never got with an acoustic. When I play unplugged now, rarely, it is with the acoustic.
I just can't get into playing an electric without an amp, that is just me though.
I have a couple of acoustic guitars for that
I have a Spark amp that I can carry around anywhere in the house that I can use to play quietly.
I need to get a battery pack with the proper cable so I can ditch the power cable when I want to mobile.
I have a Line 6 G30 wireless system so I can go completely wireless.
I also have an old Line 6 pocket pod that I can use with headphones for self contained mobility.
I have a couple of acoustic guitars for that
I have a Spark amp that I can carry around anywhere in the house that I can use to play quietly.
I need to get a battery pack with the proper cable so I can ditch the power cable when I want to mobile.
I have a Line 6 G30 wireless system so I can go completely wireless.
I also have an old Line 6 pocket pod that I can use with headphones for self contained mobility.
regularslinky
Friend of Leo's
At home I'd say 85% unplugged, 10% through Waza-Air headphones, 5% through an amp. The Waza-Air sounds great and I thought when I got it that I'd use it all the time. But when I pick up a guitar at home it's almost always just to noodle for a couple minutes, or to find something that's in my head. It's just easier to do that unplugged.
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