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January 2004
Posts: 648
Location: Florida | I saw Al's response (a good one too) regarding practice amps, saying he prefers none.
It got me thinking - a dangerous thing for sure.
I am as newbie/green as it gets. Been playing solid bodies forever, the recitivist bluesman. Somehow, through fate, I ended up with an Ovation.....
What I'm definately finding is that I play differently plugged in. I tend to ease up on the way I attack the strings - letting the amp make the volume. To me this is totally, and completely different than trying to mic an acoustic, where your fingers are still striving for volume along with everything else.
So, to Al's good point - and a very valid one - I want to add a point of my own. And that is, if you're playing through a sound system, and tend to use the amp as part of the instrument, letting it effect your style, maybe even your choice of material, then I see how a practice amp would be good.
Maybe what I'm trying to say is... there seems to be a very valid "third" type of guitar (and playing), that is totally different from "electric" or "acoustic" and a fusion of the two, like that which Ovation provides. |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | There you go CharlieB, You keep thinking like that and you'll need to change your signature line. |
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December 2001
Posts: 10582
Location: NJ | I never practice with an amp. I think it was becuase when I was a kid my parents were constantly yelling at me to "turn that hippie sh*t down" (I remember one particular saturday afternoon where i had my kustom 200 w 3/12's turned full up and I was practicing my jimi feedback, that my dad came running down the stairs and finally cut the cord off the amp.I have to admit that it was after about 2 hours worth of "music")
You absolutely play differently plugged in and acoustic. the way you attack the instrument is totally different. When I play plugged in I absolutely rely on the amp to react in a certain manner so that I don't have to "work" as hard. (sort of like using humbucker pcikups and letting them sustain as opposed to working single coils to sustain)
Using effects again changes the whole way the guitar is approached.
practicing acoustically also lets you hear all your mistakes right out in the open. |
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January 2004
Posts: 648
Location: Florida | A classic case of JGS* if I ever of heard one.
"....turn that hippie sh*t down" (I remember one particular saturday afternoon where i had my kustom 200 w 3/12's turned full up and I was practicing my jimi feedback...."
*JGS, Joe's Garage Syndrome, first identified by Dr. Francis Zappa in 1978. |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 420
Location: On the beach in Southwest Florida | I also rarely practice with an amp but agree that you definately play in a different "attack mode" when amplified. |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | I would aggree that with an electric guitar the amp is as much a part of the sound as the guitar & player. As for amplified acoustics I find the crucial aspect is monitoring. Regardless of whether I'm playing through a mic or a pickup as long as I can hear myself clearly within the context of the mix then I don't think being amplified makes a huge difference to the way I play. On the other hand there are some players whose style is derived from & dependant on the fact that they're plugged-in. Adrian Legg when he was playing Adamas guitars is one that springs to mind. |
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December 2003
Posts: 13987
Location: Upper Left USA | On that I want to chime in on the importance of monitors and having a system laid out to work for you. The only time I see acoustic players with broken strings is when they aren't monitored correctly (or at all). I have also shared a monitor with a bass and (the elite LX) had major reso-feedback issues. I 've been considering an earmike monitor - but the wireless equipment can be inimidating.
Play easy and let the instrument do it's job. If it sounds sucky just give the sound guy the ol eyebrow! |
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December 2001
Posts: 10582
Location: NJ | PT
cut me a break.. don't all your "rigs" contain a compressor? |
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March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | It took me a while, when I started playing with a band, to realize that what I hear in the moniter is not what the audience is hearing. When I first heard myself loud in my moniter, my first thought was to turn myself down or play lighter. Now, I want to hear myself loud so I can know what I'm doing. And I rely on the guy at the board (assuming that he knows what he's doing), to fit me into the mix. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Al, correct I use a Carl Martin compressor on clean electric guitar & a DBX compressor in my acoustic rig. With the electric set-up it's very much an integral part of my tone. On the acoustic rig the DBX is set so that when I hit the guitar hard it'll kick in, but most of the time I'm playing below the compression threshold. Apart from preventing the console input clipping when I whack the guitar, when set correctly a compressor can take care of some of the tonal problems caused by piezo pickups when they are played hard, so it means I don't have to play differently plugged-in. |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Paul;
I've never used compression in my rig before.
Really just a little bit of reverb and a touch of "de-tuned" chorus of my ART pedal.
You're gonna have to "edumacate" me on the fine art of compression on the ride up to CT. |
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December 2003
Posts: 13987
Location: Upper Left USA | "You're gonna have to "edumacate" me on the fine art of compression on the ride up to CT."
How many of you will be riding in that rented Geo? |
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Playing differently when plugged in....
