Who Else Likes to Play Unplugged?

[ARandall]

I like noodling unplugged, but you WILL pick up bad/sloppy habits that will come through the amp when you plug in.

IME You're WAY more likely to pick up good habits than bad ones. As you have none of the inherent amp compression to assist (even played clean its helping a bit) you are forced to finger any notes strongly and cleanly to make them loud.
In 100% of cases I have found extensive unplugged playing more beneficial to speed, clean fingering and note definition than plugged in playing. If you have played with an amp and with distortion before, it only takes one or two sittings to restore your various damping skills to reduce string noises.
I've also improved feel out of sight.

 

[ARandall]

If you were to try and play with the sensitivity of Peter Green, you wouldn't even be able to hear that unplugged.

I can hear detailed feel when im playing unplugged Maybe you've lost the required ear sensitivity with too much loud noise.

 

[HogmanA]

Instead of casting aspersions (or anyone else foolish enough to listen to this "no playing motherfucker" Thankyou Quincy!), it's easy enough to test...

Set a loud light gain sound on your amp, and play as gently as you can. Remember how lightly you played and now do it unplugged.
No sound. If you tell me there is, then you already have a seriously limited dynamic playing range. Probably caused by practicing unplugged...

 

[Byron Blue]

It seems the thread can get out of hand a bit.
Everyone seems to have their preferences: Light strings/heavy strings/light action/heavy action/amplified practice or not. That is why there are choices. I try to respect the choices everyone makes and keep an open mind.

 

[grumphh_the_banned_one]

Of course it can get out of hand.
This is the internet and well, you have a large group of people here who love to make absurd claims such as that that acoustic playing on a solidbody electric is necessary to both assay a guitars amplified sound and makes for better electric playing.

That is about as ludicrous as claiming that not starting the engine on your car makes you a better driver* and driving (downhill obviously) without the engine on will give you a better feel for how the car handles.


*Which unfortunately in many cases is actually true - but that is an entirely different discussion....

 

[KelvinS1965]

I just think that being able to grab a guitar late at night and work on a solo or whatever is going to benefit my playing more than not playing it because it isn't plugged in. It's not as if I don't play plugged in a lot of time too at home (often through a Marshall 'Plexi' SV20H albeit with an attenuator). I'm more interested in getting the muscle memory going rather than worrying about a particular tone if I'm working something out late at night.

But of course, like anything on the internet, there will be extremes of arguments both ways. I bet this wouldn't happen if we were all sat around chatting in a bar...

 

[Guitpicky]

I also like Diet Coke, condoms, soy burgers, flag football, looking at fast cars, and hand jobs.

Handjobs are a lot better without the condom

 

[Guitpicky]

Of course it can get out of hand.
This is the internet and well, you have a large group of people here who love to make absurd claims such as that that acoustic playing on a solidbody electric is necessary to both assay a guitars amplified sound and makes for better electric playing.

That is about as ludicrous as claiming that not starting the engine on your car makes you a better driver* and driving (downhill obviously) without the engine on will give you a better feel for how the car handles.


*Which unfortunately in many cases is actually true - but that is an entirely different discussion....

As analogies go that one is REALLY bad

 

[Guitpicky]

I just think that being able to grab a guitar late at night and work on a solo or whatever is going to benefit my playing more than not playing it because it isn't plugged in. It's not as if I don't play plugged in a lot of time too at home (often through a Marshall 'Plexi' SV20H albeit with an attenuator). I'm more interested in getting the muscle memory going rather than worrying about a particular tone if I'm working something out late at night.

But of course, like anything on the internet, there will be extremes of arguments both ways. I bet this wouldn't happen if we were all sat around chatting in a bar...

No, it still would because instead of direct conversation they’d all be texting the person right next to them

 

[grumphh_the_banned_one]

As analogies go that one is REALLY bad

It's actually a really good analogy.
Go and play your electric with a drummer without an amp and it's exactly the same as sitting in your car without the engine on, just making vrrrmmm vrmmmm noises.
The intended purpose of either car or guitar is negated by refusal to recognise that intent.
Iow, neither approach gets you anywhere.

...except that sitting in the car you can actually hear youself making noise...


It's an electric guitar - its entire and sole reason to exist is to plug it into an amplifier.

 

[ARandall]

Instead of casting aspersions (or anyone else foolish enough to listen to this "no playing motherfucker" Thankyou Quincy!), it's easy enough to test...

Set a loud light gain sound on your amp, and play as gently as you can. Remember how lightly you played and now do it unplugged.
No sound. If you tell me there is, then you already have a seriously limited dynamic playing range. Probably caused by practicing unplugged...

I hear so many nuances unplugged that are impossible to hear through the amp due to the inherent compression of amplification.
Your ears are shot.

 

[JMP]

I play my Les Pauls unplugged regularly out of necessity. I prefer using an amplifier or headphones when possible. If you are happy playing your electric guitar unplugged, nothing wrong with that.

 

[grumphh_the_banned_one]

I hear so many nuances unplugged that are impossible to hear through the amp due to the inherent compression of amplification.
Your ears are shot.

As you yourself say, the amp compresses (and distorts) so much, that all those nuances are impossible to hear when playing amplified, iow, when you would like others, such as an audience or band members, to hear your playing.

So, ermmm, what is the point of playing/hearing nuances that you are the only one to ever hear, and only in the silence of your practice room at home?

...

I can only repeat, the electric guitar is meant to be played through an amplifier that compresses and distorts the pickups electronically low-pass filtered output and is then sent to primitive speakers that band-limit the final sound - making it a totally different, and much more crude, sound compared to any acoustic stringed instrument.

That is the sound of the electric guitar that we know and love, and "practicing acoustic nuances" you are never even going to be able to reproduce, much less hear through an amp is pretty much futile

 

[Big Do]

Can't say I'm a huge fan of playing unplugged. The essence of electric guitar is the combination of guitar and amplifier together? I like to play loud to get the dynamics. If you play unplugged you can miss the fact that you are playing in a sloppy way. The problem with loud is that it can annoy other people.

 

[Byron Blue]

I mostly only after coming near the end of a setup to check for string buzz. It's harder to hear on an amp.

 

[charlie chitlins]

IME You're WAY more likely to pick up good habits than bad ones. As you have none of the inherent amp compression to assist (even played clean its helping a bit) you are forced to finger any notes strongly and cleanly to make them loud.
In 100% of cases I have found extensive unplugged playing more beneficial to speed, clean fingering and note definition than plugged in playing. If you have played with an amp and with distortion before, it only takes one or two sittings to restore your various damping skills to reduce string noises.
I've also improved feel out of sight.

I wasn't suggesting always playing with a cranked, distorting amp.
The range of nuance is MUCH greater when plugged in.
Picking strength/attack makes more difference, where you pick along the length of the string....
If you are not plugged in, you will never hear, for instance, the noises other strings make when you bend and release.
My amps are musical instruments and much more responsible for my sound than the guitar.
If you're going to play electric guitar, it's best to practice electric guitar.

 

[ARandall]

^ However you still have to play the guitar, whether or not the amp is involved. Hence a wide range of different practice techniques all can assist. Its like athletes, who gain benefits from all sorts of different training sessions, not merely a 100% copy of the event they do.

If you are not plugged in, you will never hear, for instance, the noises other strings make when you bend and release.

Did you not read the below part of my post, I clearly state that I am not proposing no amped time.
If you have played with an amp and with distortion before, it only takes one or two sittings to restore your various damping skills to reduce string noises.
It seems like you are wanting to completely misrepresent what I wrote.



As I've said before on this thread (and the first part of my post was IME, maybe another bit you chose not to read), I have found my plugged in (and acoustic for that matter) playing much improved by unplugged playing. I also find the nuance in fact way more varied unplugged given my particular techniques and style.

If you find that only plugged in works for you, then I don't doubt it, and I'm certainly not trying, unlike others, to force people to change what they do. I merely give a highly personal perspective on what I find has worked for me - the ONLY thing that anybody can give in these circumstances......why oh why do so many people find it hard to accept that others might have different experiences, and respect them.

 

[The Slayer]

Love playing unplugged, that is how i picked out my Les Paul. That is the only true way to hear what the instrument sounds like.

 

[grumphh_the_banned_one]

Love playing unplugged, that is how i picked out my Les Paul. That is the only true way to hear what the instrument sounds like.

Except that no one but you (and perhaps members of your household) is ever going to hear "the true sound of your guitar."

What good is "the true sound" if no one but you ever gets to hear it? Just wondering...

...of course, one could actually amplify the guitars "true sound" by placing a contact mic on the body and amplifying that through a hi-fi monitoring system...
This technique would also be the answer to the age old question of "how can i make my electric guitar sound like a banjo with more sustain?"

 

[Slash'n'Burn]

Yes, but mainly for the wrong reasons.

No dedicated place for my amp to be accessible and plugged in.
Young kids so little time, easier just to pick up a guitar and play unplugged for a few minutes.

I realised recently that in 5 years of living in my current house, I had only plugged into my amp on two occasions!
that is shocking!

I have fixed this now by setting an area up where my amp and gear has power and is ready to go at short notice, not boxed in by toys or other stuff, so no excuses now!

It's nice to play unplugged sometimes (more so a telecaster which acoustically is louder than my LP), but too much can lead to picking too heavy and sloppy technique that sounds noisy when actually plugging in.