Homebody Electrics

TDavis · #1 10-08-2021, 09:16 PM

Pretty simple…I’m having a time convincing myself to buy an electric when I know I’ll never gig it at all, and it’ll never leave my house.

Are there some of you that are truly only home players…that have electrics & amps just for the sheer fun of it?

Lillis · #2 10-08-2021, 09:53 PM

Yeah I just got into electrics five months ago and have three of them although one is going to have to go up for sale. They’ll never leave the house I just play for myself but they are a LOT of fun. They’ve also made me a better player.

Glennwillow · #3 10-08-2021, 11:51 PM

For the most part, the only time I use my electric guitars is when I'm doing recordings. Then, having an electric guitar is a real help. I love doing multi-track recordings and working out arrangements. For example:

I do play my Eastman AR910CE archtop through my amp fairly regularly, just doing jazz songs. For example,

I haven't performed publicly for money for a long time, ~30 years.

- Glenn

BoneDigger · #4 10-09-2021, 01:20 AM

I have way too many acoustic and electric guitars, especially since I only record and don't gig. But, I can afford them, and they bring me joy. Do I really NEED another reason?

Bluside · #5 10-09-2021, 04:55 AM

I haven't gigged in over 20 years and still enjoy my electrics. I don't have the big amps anymore but have a few smaller ones.

I even have them out in my living room so I play them more.

rmp · #6 10-09-2021, 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ozarkpicker

Pretty simple…I’m having a time convincing myself to buy an electric when I know I’ll never gig it at all, and it’ll never leave my house.

Are there some of you that are truly only home players…that have electrics & amps just for the sheer fun of it?

sure! why not?

life is short

guitars are good

amps too

find your happy place!

Dru Edwards · #7 10-09-2021, 06:05 AM

It's irrelevant whether you only play at home or not. If you want to play a guitar then play. Electric offers something different than acoustic. Both enjoyable and rewarding.

I used to gig but don't anymore; however, I expect to find a band again in the next couple of years. Even if I don't I still enjoy playing even if it's only at home.

Buy an electric and enjoy it!

Bob Womack · #8 10-09-2021, 06:43 AM

"There’s a simple joy of using a very expensive ballpoint pen to write on real paper. I don’t know how to describe it but in a way these are like different kinds of paper, different kinds of ballpoint pens. You pick up certain instruments and for some reason, immediately a melody or a song or a theme or something comes to mind, inspired by the instrument." - Jeff “Skunk” Baxter from Turn it Up!

I'm not sure exactly what metric works for assessing need or want for musical instruments. Jeff Baxter gets it, though. Some people buy lovely paintings or prints to decorate their walls. Other people decorate their world with music. Part of the beauty of being individuals is the ability to decide how to express yourself, even with your money. Go be an individual.

Bob

FrankHudson · #9 10-09-2021, 09:57 AM

Yes, I play electric guitars at home or in my studio space.

You will see threads here (after all, Acoustic Guitar Forum" where people have decided that, for them, this is unsatisfactory. Different people, different goals, different experiences....

Ways that I enjoy them:

Just playing them plugged in by themselves as vocal accompaniment. It's not a widely popular commercial musical genre, so some forget that it can be done. John Lee Hooker, Live at Sin E Jeff Buckley to give two examples of recordings that show how it can work.

Trio pedal. When I just want to enjoy the sound of a guitar/effects/amp or keep my fingers flexible and accustomed to playing electric, this has been my go to device for the past few years. Drum patterns are better than a metronome for me, and I can get the Trio's "bass player" to play something that interests my not-picky ear fairly quickly with it. I have mine play into a powered PA speaker in my studio space. I have the plus version with the looper, but I myself don't use the looper much at all. I'm not knocking loopers, a lot of folks use them like I use the Trio's "Band" to create thing to play along too. I also used to use Band In A Box a lot to quickly generate "backing tracks."

Recording. For when I want to spend a bit more time and have more control over what the other parts are playing. Yes, I have a Project where I publicly distribute some recordings, but I'll work out a drum/percussion groove and bass track myself just for grins some days too.

Composing. My Parlando Project drives me to compose a whole lot. I live with others who don't want noise. I compose a great deal of my guitar parts on electric guitar using headphones. I don't try to make the electric guitars sound like an acoustic when doing this, but the lighter strings/easier action and smaller body sizes helps when I'm composing, even for something as logistical as when I have to reach over the instrument in my lap to write down in my cod notation/chord chart format that I use when composing.

raysachs · #10 10-09-2021, 11:47 AM

Yeah, I have a couple electrics and an amp and only play at home. I use it for recording, and sometimes I just jam with a backing track or (much more often) a looper. And sometimes I just noodle. But I love playing electric at least as much as acoustic and will always have one or two. And a good home level amp (currently a Blues Cube Hot).

-Ray

PapaC · #11 10-09-2021, 08:17 PM

Yup. That would be me. Four electrics, and a couple amps. I find enjoyment from all my guitars, acoustic, and electric but sometimes the electrics just suit my mood perfectly. I’ll play to a backing track, or with a looper, or along with a song using my Fender Mustang micro and headphones.

I have no itch at all to scratch playing for a crowd. I do play at church occasionally, but not often. Occasionally a friend, or my son in law will come over and play along on bass.

Look at it this way; some people collect stuff, and just look at it while it collects dust. I can enjoy actually using the guitars I’ve collected.

CarolD · #12 10-10-2021, 08:01 AM

Yup, me. PRS SE Hollowbody II Piezo and a Yamaha THR30II. So very much fun to play!

Mr. Paul · #13 10-10-2021, 09:19 AM

Quite sure most electrics owned by members of this forum are never gigged, same as acoustics.

Dadzmad · #14 10-10-2021, 12:53 PM

I often run into folks who misunderstand electric guitars. The point is they have a volume control and turn down nicely with the right solid state amplification. When the house is closed up during the winter I play my Tele through an amp sim pedal hooked to my computer and out to an old ss stereo tuner with 4 small bookshelf speakers. Has a quiet but full sound. She who watches Below Deck is much less disturbed by this setup than me playing my unplugged little 0 size Seagull.

Don't get me wrong I do have a tube amp with a 15" speaker that gets a regular workout in my garage during warm weather. To wrap this up I enjoy playing acoustic guitars just as much as solid body electrics as well as a few somewhere in between.

BoneDigger · #15 10-10-2021, 01:09 PM

I think there is a belief among some, and I once thought this way too, that an electric guitar is only at home when jamming with someone or playing in a band. First off, using backing tracks on YouTube, a Trio pedal, or Band in a Box, or just playing to your favorite songs is a blast. If you mess up, nobody's gonna know! Second, rhythm on an electric can be just as addicting as on an acoustic. Third, it's just a whole lot of fun and very inspiring to just play around with the different sounds and tones you can get, especially, once you throw effects (pedals, software, etc.) into the mix. Lastly, with the right amp, you can play through headphones, making the whole thing extremely quiet, which is good at night, or in an apartment/condo, with your kids, etc.