Practicing unplugged

[Faber]

Am I the only one to do this? I often see threads about amps for home/bedroom use. I never plug in at home, partially for the sake of the neighbours, this apartment bulding got some thn walls, but also because I've always felt that my semis, even my strat!, were loud enough unamplified to practice with.

 

So, let me hear whether you like to practice amplified or not, and why

[elsupermanny14]

I usually tend to practice unplugged for one of two reasons:

 

1. I have an acoustic guitar and I'm not feeling like overdrive cuz most songs can be played on acoustic.

 

2. I'm to lazy to get my chords and plug things in lol.

 

So yes, I do practice unplugged A LOT! However, I do practice plugged into amps as well and when I do, I do crank em up lol. It just depends what mood I'm in and how lazy I am at the moment.

[Joebelow]

No, I'm the same.

 

I spend more time practicing my strat unplugged than amplified.

 

Sad truth is I sound better that way too....

[chisa]

i practice unplugged a lot. think it makes you a better player.

[csm]

I practice both ways, depending on what time of the day (or night) it is, and also on whether I want to work on execution or tone.

[o.versteer]

I do all the time. Not sure if it makes you a better player, but it certainly makes you pay more attention - there's nowhere to hide.

[VRob98]

I practise unplugged more often than not. I figure if you can make a piece sound good unplugged, you've more chance of sounding good amped.

 

Having said that, unplugged playing tends not to show up issues like unwanted harmonics and string noise, so you have to remember to still pay attention to damping techniques, otherwise it can sounds like chaos when you plug in for a rendition of your well-rehearsed piece.

[clay sails]

Are you serious? An electric guitar must be plugged in. Otherwise its just a crappy, heavy acoustic.

 

Quit whimping out: plug in those guitars or switch to something sedate, like the oboe.

[Kasper]

Ha! And I thought I was about the only one to do this . I practice unplugged 90% of the time, bass, Tele, semi-acoustic, acoustic, with everything. I feel I really need to play a lot cleaner 'cause you hear the rattles and squeaks a lot more, though like someone said, you don't hear other things as well.

 

What I like is that you need to play more precise and 'interesting' than when you play amplified, especially amplified with a lot of effects.

[Verence]

i practice unplugged a lot. think it makes you a better player.

 

I was between aparments, crashing at a friends place for about a month recently. Amps in storage. So I had no choice but to play unplugged. And I agree, I think I came out of it a better player.

 

Playing unplugged really makes you focus on the mechanics of gutiar playing rather than the electronics of guitar playing.

[Professor Tom]

I play unplugged when I don't feel like playing, while I'm watching TV, just to keep my fingers in trim.

[clay sails]

Playing unplugged really makes you focus on the mechanics of gutiar playing rather than the electronics of guitar playing.

 

How positively tedious! :poke:

[59humbucker]

I keep my strat by the sofa and play quite a lot unplugged, but its always a nice surprise when I plug in and find I have the tones I spent my teenage years chasing

[blueshawk1]

I started practicing, and writing, unplugged many years ago after reading about some well-known guitarist, (Buddy Guy I think, but I won't swear to it), said he wrote unplugged. He said if it sounded good then, it will sound great when you plug it in. He was right.

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

 

I practice both ways, depending on what time of the day (or night) it is, and also on whether I want to work on execution or tone.

 

 

Precisely, but I think of execution as not practice, but exercise

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

How positively tedious! :poke:

 

I see this point of view too;)

[nautaki]

I do that too! Apartment life is a problem especially if the neighbors have a baby and the block is 150 years old. I have a book with licks and interviews by many players in which EVH says he plays unplugged at home too.

[csm]

 

Precisely, but I think of execution as not practice, but exercise

 

 

Well, it's hoarses for coarses (so to speak). Sometimes when I'm working a part out and trying to get all the notes, riffs, changes and twiddles under my fingers, I can get too easily distracted by trying to dial in a particular exact tone I might want. Whereas once I've figured out all the fingery stuff, I'll plug in and get to work on making it SOUND right, choosing the right guitar, messing with the knobbage, deciding which pickup to use for which part of the song, where I'll need to turn up or down, etc., etc.

 

Also: I do most of my practicing, arranging et cet on a Tele these days, even though my main live guitar is a Strat.

[archer28]

I play unplugged too. The only negative is that when I practice bending notes unplugged, they sound fine, but when I add the amp, I find that I have strings ringing that I couldn't hear unplugged.

 

I do lots of exercises unplugged though. My Floyd Rose DST-1 (with 11s) is very loud unplugged, and since I installed stainless frets, its my constant practice guitar (don't have to worry about wearing out the frets!).

[danswon]

 

I practice both ways, depending on what time of the day (or night) it is, and also on whether I want to work on execution or tone.

 

 

same here. it's important to get the balance right, you need to sound good in every situation. i will say this - i tend to come up with a lot more complicated and perhaps more interesting guitar parts when unplugged because of the big difference in tone compared to amplified. i do think its made me a better player - for my circumstances it is essential to practice unplugged

[danswon]

Playing unplugged really makes you focus on the mechanics of gutiar playing rather than the electronics of guitar playing.

 

well said!

[Burgess]

Lately I've been keeping a jazzbox up in our media room. When I'm watching TV I'll occasionally grab it and noodle a bit, maybe write a song, that kinda thing. It sounds nice unplugged and after playing that thing (strung with 13 flats) the rest of my electrics (except for the other jazzbox) feel like toys.

[Burgess]

I was between aparments, crashing at a friends place for about a month recently. Amps in storage. So I had no choice but to play unplugged. And I agree, I think I came out of it a better player. Playing unplugged really makes you focus on the mechanics of gutiar playing rather than the electronics of guitar playing.

Very true. You can't mask anything unplugged. You hear it as you've executed it.

[tiltsta]

I practice unplugged all the time. Usually just noodling on the couch.

[jerry_picker]

Very true. You can't mask anything unplugged. You hear it as you've executed it.

 

That is why Knofpler sounds like himself.