Electric guitar is hard!!!

[PorchPicker]

I've always had a electric guitar around but never put much time in. Had a nice telecaster once and could never get used to it or bond. Of course I've always had a nice Martin guitar around so I would grow impatient with the tele and go back to the acoustic.

Here about 6 months ago I bought a new Gibson Les Paul and a while later a new Fender Twin Reverb amp to enjoy along with it. I thought I'm really going to try hard this time with a electric. Once again I'm ready to throw them both out the window.

Not to start a debate, but for me the electric guitar is like pulling teeth. I just cannot wrap my head around it. I'm constantly pressing notes sharp on the fretboard and my mistakes jump out of the amp like bullets. At least I can cover up mishaps on the acoustic underneath the melody or bass lines. I've been playing guitar for 15 years Yet when I pick up a electric I feel like I'm on day 1. So there's absolutely no way anyone can convince me that acoustic is harder than the electric. I dunno maybe it's the fact that electric forces you to be perfect in order to keep those " bullets" from shooting out of the amp at you. I can't even keep a decent rythem going on it. It's either harsh and uneven or stale and flat. Another thing is nothing I play on acoustic seems to translate over to the electro. Complete difference.

Ok so my rant is over. But I did learn a huge lesson from this. They are both guitars, but totally different instruments. Seems there is another big thread going about how acoustic is not a easy alternative to electric. Guy says anyone who says so will get the spit slapped out of their mouth. Well, guess I'm going to get slapped.

[baimun]

I agree. Acoustic and Electric are different animals.

The sharp notes are definitely from the lighter, more fluid touch that an electric requires compared to holding down 12 gauge strings on an acoustic. By contrast, When I made the transition from playing electric for 20+ years to picking up my first acoustic, my acoustic playing was so buzzy and sloppy as I would try to comp from one chord to the next like I would on a jazz electric. I still don't have an overly strong chording hand so I'm playing a Taylor T5 that has much lighter feel than the Ovation, Luna, and Ibanez Montage that I played before it.

Before I used to sing or play leads... but the closest I came to singing and playing simultaneously was holding power chords while singing. With the acoustic, I began learning how to keep the rhythm and melody both flowing while singing different things from what I was playing.

Now that I've gotten comfortable doing that, I'm concentrating my practice on being more melodic or counter point while singing... like a piano player's right and left hands while singing.

[clintj]

I have days like that too. Keep in mind you're playing with a narrower string spacing at both ends than the Martin and a different neck profile. Shorter scale too. I can play a Les Paul pretty well but end up sounding like I have no idea what I'm doing on a Strat, there's just enough different there to befuddle me. I warm up with some scales, especially legato ones if I haven't picked up the electric in a while. You may like a string set one gage heavier on an LP, the shorter scale makes them feel lighter than they are. I usually keep a little bit of palm mute going just to help minimize unwanted noises too. I totally agree, the two instruments are alike in name only in some respects. I have even gone so far as to split my music collection into two separate binders, one acoustic and one electric.

[saxonblue]

What gauge strings are on it. They usually come from the shop with 9s or 10s max & set up for would be shredders.

The LP's a sturdily built guitar (given the basic blueprint hasn't changed much in 60 yrs) & will take 12s or 13s without a worry albeit with maybe a tweak on the truss rod, or maybe not, perhaps that extra bit of relief's what you need.

There's plenty of adjustment for intonation (I'm assuming it has a tune-o-matic bridge) & you could put a new nut on at whatever height you please.

Basically there's so many variables you could easily have it set up to feel more like what you're comfortable with & get rid of the buzz & sharp fretting.

LP & Fender twin reverb, mmmmm.........I'm jealous.

[zumaboy]

From a guy who played acoustic for years before picking up an electric guitar: Stick with it, you will improve. The biggest thing I had to learn was that I didn't need a full six-string strum on every single beat - more times than not all that's required for a good electric rhythm sound is chunking on two strings. Plant your palm down on that Tune-O-Matic LP bridge and learn to use just the right amount of muting as you dig in with your pick. Don't worry about trying to get a big sustaining "karrrrraaaaannnnggg" out of each downbeat - think Keith Richards.

And about that pick, don't use a wimpy light one. Don't use "Super Slinky" style light gauge strings, go for a set of 10's - maybe even try a set of 11's but make sure the guitar is set up for them. Even with that, understand that it will require much less finger pressure on each string to keep individual notes from going sharp as they stretch over the frets. Eventually understand that this can be used as a technique also, adding vibrato through alternating pressure on those chords that you do let ring out and sustain.

Don't play clean all the time, dirty things up with some overdrive (not nasty distortion) via a good pedal or a cranked 5 watt (or less) tube amp.

Acoustic and electric guitars do require different techniques, but as you spend more and more time with both, you realize that they really are close cousins. Which one is harder depends on your starting point I think...

[Long813]

If you go from Electric to Acoustic, you'll complain that your bent notes are always flat and your hands hurt from fretting.

... It works both ways. You need to learn to master both. Using the right finger pressure on every instrument you play is essential.

[zabdart]

Yes, they are different beasts and the electric guitar responds more readily to differences in touch and attack because of all that volume... which is the point.
A Les Paul is designed to produce a very high-output signal and the Fender Twin is a very LOUD amplifier. Unless you're in a band with regular gigs lined up, you probably don't need all that volume. Look at investing in a smaller practice amp until you get less intimidated by the volume. Are you just playing around the house for your own enjoyment or onstage for money? Your answer will determine everything.

[J Patrick]

... a few thoughts....first off....electric guitar is not generally a solo instrument...it was designed to be used in an ensemble setting....the only solo electric players i've heard that can pull it off are very accomplished musicians and have likely spent thousands of hours playing....if you are playing electric you need to be playing along with a band or at least a recording of a band....that will soften the effects of the bullets flying out of your amp....it will also inform your playing and help guide you through what sounds right and what doesn't...another issue is gear...a Twin Reverb is a concert hall amp...its designed to be played at ear splitting volume...a smaller amp like a Princeton may give you a much more usable tone....ambient effects like chorus and delay can give your tone something to work with as well...of course the most important thing is practice....if you had the hours into electric playing that you have into acoustic playing you would be equally proficient...theres no way around that....

[hbucker]

They are indeed different animals. But if you can play one, you can play the other.

It's easy to spot an acoustic player who is playing an electric guitar. They just sit and strum it. Very few (good) electric players just sit and strum their electric the way they would playing an acoustic. A key to playing an overdriven electric guitar is only playing a few key notes and letting those create the fat harmonics off of each other. Play all the strings at once and it sounds like mush.

By the same token, an electric player will try to finesse an acoustic in ways that make it obvious that they are trying to play a few strings... and barely have the strength to do that.

Of course these are generalities and not rules, but you get where I'm coming from.

FWIW: A Telecaster through a Fender amp is one of the most unforgiving combinations there are. Yes, everything you do, mistakes and all, will come through loud and clear with this rig, more so than almost any other rig. But when you get it right it will be really cool.

[Diamond Dave]

Interesting that the OP says he can cover up mistakes better on the acoustic. David Crosby disagrees, saying that you're basically naked playing the acoustic, and every mistake shows. On the electric, add a little gain and you're golden.

I enjoy both, but for very different reasons and for different styles.

[PorchPicker]

Originally Posted by zabdart

Yes, they are different beasts and the electric guitar responds more readily to differences in touch and attack because of all that volume... which is the point.
A Les Paul is designed to produce a very high-output signal and the Fender Twin is a very LOUD amplifier. Unless you're in a band with regular gigs lined up, you probably don't need all that volume. Look at investing in a smaller practice amp until you get less intimidated by the volume. Are you just playing around the house for your own enjoyment or onstage for money? Your answer will determine everything.

The twin reverb has a volume knob like any other amp does. I don't find it to loud at all. Not all amps have to be played wide open. And yes it's just playing around the house

Originally Posted by PorchPicker

The twin reverb has a volume knob like any other amp does. I don't find it to loud at all. Not all amps have to be played wide open. And yes it's just playing around the house

You seem to know what you're doing. The best to you...

[mikealpine]

They are different, but both are guitars and if you "take out your head trash" and stop overthinking, I think you'll enjoy it more. Relax and have fun. Make noise! Make mistakes, and make a lot of them. You'll make fewer and fewer as you learn to finesse the guitar a bit. I put 11s on my LP copy. On my other electrics I play with 10s at a minimum but prefer 11s. I don't play much in terms of lead, and learned to fill in with arpeggios. I play a little light on the electrics because they don't require the same "oomph" to get volume, so you can work with a little lighter touch. I would also suggest playing with others, if you can. I just started playing with a group of 40-somethings and up at a local music school and feel like my electric guitar playing has really improved. The other thing I did was connect my iPad to my amp and play along with backing tracks so I feel like I am playing with a purpose, which makes it more fun, which means I play more, which means I improve faster...

It can be a blast just playing along with backing tracks. Also, I bought an iRig so I can now connect my guitar directly to my iPad, play along with songs in my iPod library and even slow them down without changing the pitch so I can learn lead licks.

Just have fun and don't give up!!

As an aside, I also bought an electric that has a Piezo pickup in it so I can get acoustic tones as well. Then I can play acoustic while still playing an electric, and even blend the tones. Many, many possibilities in the electric world. Enjoy!!

[jomaynor]

Since you've got a Twin and a fine electric guitar in the LP, have some fun while you improve your electric technique by getting some effects pedals, especially a looper. The Twin, with all that headroom, handles multiple simultaneous loops better than any other amp I can think of.

[Davis Webb]

I hate to see an electric played like an acoustic. Its such a waste, just mic your acoustic for goodness sake!

To me electric is all about learning how to use gain, distortion, chorus, reverb, delay in a tasteful mix and then mastering shred and then developing a strong melodic sense doing solo work. Notes that sustain forever lend themselves to so much, as does tapping, harmonics etc etc...

To just strap on an electric and then play acoustic stuff isnt electric. Electric to me, is about power. Pure power. And emotional release without the nitpicky elements of fingerstyle.

Put it this way, when I want to improve my technique I do acoustic. When I want to let out all the pain that this life gives you, I turn to electric.

If its not loud, it aint electric. Electric needs to make your ears bleed to do its thing. Good headphones with a headphone amplifer are your best friend.

So no more Bob Dylan covers! Get your freak on.