Who Else Likes to Play Unplugged?

[jwag]

When I’m looking to purchase a new guitar I always play it unplugged for a while before plugging it in! If I do plug in a potential new purchase....you can bet it plays great and has a very good acoustic sound.

 

[JMP]

Please forgive my resurrection of this thread, but I think it’s a valuable discussion, especially considering the pandemic and many of us who got stuck at home for long periods. I have a small house and a family. It’s rare that I get to use an amp. Most of the time I play my Les Paul unplugged or with a headphone setup. It’s not ideal and it requires a period of adjustment when I do get to opportunity to use an amp. But, it is better than not playing at all.

I agree with others in that the amp is the 2nd half of the equation and one really needs practice using an amp.

 

[Musha Ring]

I like my rock loud and kicking ass. Amplification is my friend.

 

[LuthierVandross]

My main guitar has a lacquer back and sides stock from Gibson. The top had been resprayed so I stripped the top and sprayed stew macs gold onto it. After I put it back together, I found it was way more verbal and it vibrates more when I play it. I play it 90% of the time unplugged. It sounds great plugged in, but I’ve found I’m more focused and clear when I play unplugged. Plugged in just isn’t as fun anymore lol!

**note** this guitar was put together through the pandemic and I found myself more apt to pick up and play the guitar without the amp, due to small living space and not living alone. I found that I wanted to play more after I found a good guitar that “fit” (IE neck size/profile, weight, the feel of the playing overall.) She’s packed with some goodies that makes her sound good through an amp too.

 

[lawrev]

I love to play my Custom Shop SG Junior unplugged, because it is a fantastically resonant guitar. As for my 2013 Les Paul Studio? That is not as resonant as the SG so I only use that plugged in.

 

[LesPaul60sTribute]

I do have some very fun and beautiful Fender and Vox tube amps but most of the time I enjoy playing my electrics acoustically - I have spent the last while in an apartment so that has something to do with it also. Most all my electrics have a very resonant acoustic sound so it is still very enjoyable.

Also when I was first learning I only played acoustically so it reminds me of days long gone by also

 

[irocdave12]

IMHO one of the best ways to audition a guitar initially. My best sounding guitars are the ones that sound the most resonate and ring out unplugged. If it sounds dead and stiff acoustically played than chances are it will be a turd plugged in has been my experience.

 

[John_P]

Play unplugged if you like (everyone practices silent from time to time) but please don't confuse unplugged tone with amplified tone. If you never use an amplifier you'll get a skewed perception of what an electric solidbody is supposed to sound like. After some time you start to think of your Les Paul as a flat top acoustic and bizarre discussions about "acoustic qualities" commence on guitar forums.

 

[01GT Eibach]

I have a Squier Telecaster Thinline (Shoreline Gold "Vintage Modified" model with 7.5" radius ebony fretboard and 22 frets). It just sits on a stand in my office, and is a great guitar and perfect for just picking up and playing acoustically. That is the one guitar that I mostly don't plug in. The funny thing is that I put Fender MIA Tele pickups in it, and -- when I do plug it in -- the guitar absolutely sings. It almost surprises me how great it sounds amplified as that is not how I am used to listening to to it. (LOL)

 

[gball]

I really don't ever play unplugged. I honestly can't see the point of playing an electric guitar without an amp - you're missing at least half of the tone equation, probably more than half. And I have never been able to tell if a guitar will sound good plugged in without actually plugging it in; sometimes they are nice and resonant but not so great through the amp, and sometimes they are bricks acoustically that sing through an amp (I have one of those right now).

 

[JMP]

I really don't ever play unplugged. I honestly can't see the point of playing an electric guitar without an amp - you're missing at least half of the tone equation, probably more than half. And I have never been able to tell if a guitar will sound good plugged in without actually plugging it in; sometimes they are nice and resonant but not so great through the amp, and sometimes they are bricks acoustically that sing through an amp (I have one of those right now).

You’re right….but sometimes playing unplugged (for me) is the only option. Sad, yet true.

 

[efstop]

I might pick up a guitar and strum it for a few minutes, but if I want to play for a while, I have two headphone amps, and several of my amps will work with headphones. It might not sound like an amp pushing air, but way better than unplugged.
Headphone amps are cheap.

 

[01GT Eibach]

Sometimes it is just handy to pick up a guitar that is right there by you just to re-enforce some new song I learned, or something that I was working on ... so that I don't forget it.

 

[moreles]

?? Like others, I practice unplugged, but as for playing seriously that way, of course not. I play for other people -- that's the purpose of music, isn't it? -- so using an unplugged electric makes no sense in that context.

 

[rjwilson37]

I hear you... When I am at the store trying out guitars, I just play them unplugged until I find the right one that sings out to me and feels great. Then I go and plug that one in after jamming on it unplugged for 10-20 minutes.

 

[neoclassical]

Way too often. Even with a micro terror stack, and a headphone amp sitting near me.

 

[Dilver]

I play unplugged while watching TV. Annoys the crap out of my family.
I play through my amps as loud as I want. Annoys the crap out of my family.

 

[dro]

I play unplugged while watching TV. Annoys the crap out of my family.
I play through my amps as loud as I want. Annoys the crap out of my family.

Can you see the pattern forming here?

 

[JMP]

I play unplugged while watching TV. Annoys the crap out of my family.
I play through my amps as loud as I want. Annoys the crap out of my family.

Sounds like my situation exactly.

 

[grumphh_the_banned_one]

The tone of a solidbody electric played unplugged can at best be described as being about as pleasant as the tone you get from biting an egg slicer.