Practicing on electric guitar
Due to a small apartment I tend to only practice on my electric. Will I come crashing back to earth trying barre chords and riffs on my acoustic? Any tips for a 3/4 size easy to play acoustic that can plug in to an amp?
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Buy a Yamaha THR5 and you can play your electric in otherwise acoustic events.
One of these and you can use common 12v rechargeable batteries to run the THR5: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The Baby Taylor BT2e, is my favorite reasonably priced 3/4 acoustic electric guitar. |
Welcome to the AGF, Munnerz.
Just to confirm - you're looking to get a 3/4 size acoustic, correct? Any reason why you wouldn't want a full size? A Taylor GS Mini is a great little guitar and you can get it with a pickup. |
Just a thought but if volume and space are your concern you might look at a yamaha slg200 and a small amp to go with it.
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A 3/4 size acoustic won't be significantly quieter than a full size. Especially through an amp! If you want to play electric stuff, why not just stick with the electric? If you want to play acoustic stuff, why not just lighten your attack up a bit on the guitar you have now? |
I think the responses to date miss the point because the OP added the "what guitar?" request as if it informed the context of his question, when it appears his question really was comprised of 2 parts.
As I understood his question, he wants to know: "If I spend a lot practice time on something with lighter strings/tension than an acoustic, and, perhaps, a narrower fretboard, like an electric, will I find it difficult ("crashing back to earth") when I try to apply barre chords, complicated riffs, etc., to the thicker-stringed, higher-actioned (and, perhaps, wider fretboarded) acoustic guitar? In my mind and limited experience, the answer is "yes," but you'll adapt to the acoustic with time/effort. The skills won't go away, just be more work to apply, and probably never be as easy as on the electric. Perhaps in anticipation of that response, and wanting to avoid the re-adjustment period from electric to acoustic, the OP then considers whether s/he should be practicing on an acoustic in the first place, and asks about smaller-sized acoustic candidates, I assume because s/he thinks it'll be quieter in the apartment. I agree with the poster who said the volume won't be that different from a full-size acoustic. Several recommended the smaller Taylor Baby/Mini guitars. While good choices, their much shorter scale length might be a consideration if your electric is 25.5". That means a significant difference in space between frets. Again, a readjustment process over time, but doable. In the OP's place, and recognizing acoustics are, for most (save Tommy E and his ilk), never as easy to play as electrics, I'd consider a small-bodied acoustic, with a pickup, with the same (or close) scale length as my electric, then insert one of those rubber Planet Waves soundhole covers (has to be a full-size soundhole, though), or otherwise block the soundhole (painter taped cardboard works, but is unsightly), and run the guitar quietly through the amp. |
Why not pick up a (relatively) inexpensive hollowbody and set it up with 12's or 13's (the way they were intended) - you'll have sufficient volume for home practice, a useful new range of tones when you plug in, and it shouldn't be hard to find a used Gretsch 5400/5600-Series Electromatic (stick to the Korean-made versions - light-years ahead of the Chinese stuff IME) or Godin CW II in the $500-700 range (comparable to a Taylor GS Mini)...
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I'm puzzled by the OP's question too. I'm not even sure what the question is enough to post my usual "give us more info if you want suggestions."
Some guesses in the dark: there are a lot of used Ovations out there, most with electronics. The necks tend to be vary similar to electric guitar necks and many great players back in day "shredded" on them. Many Ovations are small by acoustic guitar standards, and the shallow bowl models are not any bulkier than an electric guitar. Acoustic only tone varies and tastes differ, but for lower volume acoustic playing they work IMHO. The electronics (once a large part of the Ovation appeal) vary too, but it won't be hard to find one with a pickup. A much more expensive solution with what is reputed to be excellent plugged in sound and necks that will be similar to electrics are the recent Fender Strat and Tele acoustic models. Again, quiet acoustic tone when played unplugged, which may be what is desired. If it's a thin ceilings and floors apartment situation, there are "silent guitars" designed with pickups that are very quiet outside of the sound output into headphones or an amp, but an inexpensive solution if one wants to explore acoustic-like playing is (pace Steve DeRosa) heavier strings on an electric guitar. Doesn't have to be a big archtop (if one is really constrained for space). A set of heavier strings (.011 or .012) with a wound G string will let one play electric but think acoustic a bit better in my experience. If the OPs chord work is at a high level though, I'd join Steve in lobbying for more newcomers to old-style archtop playing to carry on that tradition. |
I used to use a Taylor T5 for unplugged practice when the babies were asleep. Worked well for that task.
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I bounce back and forth between a Les Paul electric and a Taylor GS Mini all the time. Throw a ukulele into the mix as well. At first, as I introduced myself to each instrument there was a bit of confusion to work through whenever I switched between them. Maybe five or ten minutes to get my brain and fingers switched over as well. It did not take a long time for that process to become seamless. It is like speaking two languages, you speak both of them regularly and often enough, you can switch between them without thinking.
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For me, electric guitar and acoustic guitar are different instruments, they respond to different techniques and I play them completely differently. If you want to play electric, then play that, if you want to play acoustic, play that. Your right hand touch will be very different, sustain, feel, power, are all quite unique.
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Quote:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ceWWMfhAvD4 |
I actually found that picking up an electric improved my acoustic playing. Got my first electric a few months ago and after playing power chords, cool riffs, etc., etc., it all translated well to my acoustic and broadened my acoustic playing. It greatly improved my muting technique on acoustic, which is something I was really struggling with. It also taught me that I can play my acoustic much more gently, if that makes sense. I learned that I don't have to mash the strings down on the frets as much as I used to. My barre chords suddenly got easier to play, which I attribute to the more gentle touch I started using. I do find there is a bit of an adjustment period after going from one to the other, especially after playing one for an extended amount of time. But, for me at least, the adjustment is more of getting comfortable/used to again the body size difference. Not so much the nuances and feel differences of actually playing the two.
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