Occasionally if I happen to be watching TV at the same time I'll turn off the volume if I want to hear something pertinent.
Do you often play your Strat unplugged?
- Thread starter Della Street
- Start date
Treble maker
Strat-Talk Member
Love the sympathetic overtones of a B note on a Strat unplugged.
Grandfunkfan
Strat-Talker
Every morning before work so I don't wake up the wife.
I usually pick up my guitar while watching TV and play unplugged so it doesn’t bother anyone. If an awards show or American idol is on I will try and play along to practice my ear training. I make it a point to play every day even if it’s only 10 min
Johnnyg123
Senior Stratmaster
I jam along with everything. Film scores, adverts, theme music, you name it.
Focused practise is good. But anything that keeps your fingers moving is better than nothing
meat cheese meat
Strat-Talker
No! I can't hear the details and that's where the devil is. Not pluging in is a good way to develop bad habits. When I don't want to plug in I play an acoustic.
I play almost always through my Boss GT100 and wireless headphones it suits me well and does not disturb anyone plus, I can't hear the unnecessary phone calls.
Startocaster
Strat-Talk Member
^^ This. I play for hours a night now thanks to Spark. After the kids came along, I was getting increasingly depressed about not being able to play my beloved amps.
Spark + a good pair of headphones changed my life, sorry to sound melodramatic but it's true. Every player should have one imo.
Spark + a good pair of headphones changed my life, sorry to sound melodramatic but it's true. Every player should have one imo.
MGW-AB
Strat-O-Master
"Dear Internet,
I play my electric guitar unplugged.
I play mostly rock and some bluesy, jazzy stuff.
What pickups should I get?"
- Joe Noobie
I play my electric guitar unplugged.
I play mostly rock and some bluesy, jazzy stuff.
What pickups should I get?"
- Joe Noobie
Johnnyg123
Senior Stratmaster
I find it mad that me playing the guitar unplugged upsets other people that will never hear me. 
MGW-AB
Strat-O-Master
Sometimes you see something odd and you just need to point at it.
Kinda like, "Hey look Bob, he's doing it again."
Nobody gets upset when they see it but they do tap on the shoulder of people around them and point.
That's why people comment.
You can relax, nobody's upset.
Kinda like, "Hey look Bob, he's doing it again."
Nobody gets upset when they see it but they do tap on the shoulder of people around them and point.
That's why people comment.
You can relax, nobody's upset.
Johnnyg123
Senior Stratmaster
I'm totally relaxed. Neither of us knows who is upset or not so let's leave that one.
I'll rephrase. I find it mad that playing an electric guitar unplugged is remarkable in any way. I presumed everyone did it
It might be a bit odd if they played it unplugged always. But........
I find it a bit odd that anyone would refuse to play their guitar unless it was plugged in. But I never would have commented on it. And just like you it doesn't upset me in any way.
I'll rephrase. I find it mad that playing an electric guitar unplugged is remarkable in any way. I presumed everyone did it
It might be a bit odd if they played it unplugged always. But........
I find it a bit odd that anyone would refuse to play their guitar unless it was plugged in. But I never would have commented on it. And just like you it doesn't upset me in any way.
The Ballzz
Senior Stratmaster
I often play all my guitars unplugged. They all sound so great that I regularly strive to achieve that same sound through an amp, for my clean sound!
Just Unpluggin'
Gene
Just Unpluggin'
Gene
circles
Resident Pinball Enthusiast
Rarely.
StratMike10
Dr. Stratster
I do, by necessity, but don’t like doing it. Electric guitars sound and behave completely different when plugged in, and when playing unplugged for a while I pick up nuances, bad habits, and little sounds, buzzes, and clicks that go unnoticed until I crank the amp, then it’s “wait, what was that?!?” its a different awareness.
Intune
Most Honored Senior Member
That’s pretty much what I was saying. We all play unplugged to a certain point. It’s impossible to not play unplugged, I think we all day it. It’s the I always play unplugged part that can get you into these bad habits. Learning is learning anytime you pick it up and noodle, it’s still learning. Just doing this 100% of the time for years and then finally plugging that electric in to a clean loud channel. Good luck!! I bet you’d have a huge learning curve thrown at you.
Just like you said, my buddy is a wicked player and strictly played acoustic guitar. Plugged a strat into a twin reverb loud and clean. Jammed out is Nirvana tunes and said “what is that”. It was him making all kinds of noises.
MGW-AB
Strat-O-Master
Strange or not, here we are.
We are participating in thread about whether or not people play their electric guitars unplugged.
It is by no means the first time there have been threads on this subject, here or elsewhere on other forums.
I submit that indicates it is in fact something remarkable to people, both the yeas and the neighs.
By the responses, I would also add that not everybody does it so one should probably not assume that everyone does; no offence intended.
I imagine that's probably why there are threads about it.
I suspect people know it's odd (after all, it is an "electric" guitar so it is obviously odd) and they likely want to know if they are alone in their odd behaviour.
As for me personally, I don't play an electric unplugged because I don't care how it sounds unplugged.
I'm never going to perform with an unplugged electric guitar so I only care about how it sounds plugged in.
It's not a refusal to play unplugged; I simply see no benefit in it.
There is no practical knowledge for me to glean from it.
In my view it's like wondering if bald men ever run a comb over their heads.
When I was 12 years old and got my first electric, a poor Strat copy made by Kent, which is a company I believe may no longer be in existence, I played unplugged for several months because I did not yet have an amplifier.
I stopped when I got an amp; a used Fender Princeton my mum got for me.
Sure wish I still had that one.
There have been other times I've played unplugged as well but I don't know if I would actually call it playing.
Every time I have an electric on the table for a setup I pluck the strings for the sake of tuning, intonation adjustments and to listen for buzzing up and down the neck while I search for any high frets that might become a problem when I do plug in and actually play.
Just last week I had a friend's MIM Strat on the table for a setup and I plucked strings unplugged for those same reasons but I plugged in when it came time to adjust the pickups for tone and volume balance across the switch positions.
Those are the only times I play unplugged.
I could not possibly care less what sonic abilities or disabilities are present when playing unplugged and/or whether or not those attributes translate to the plugged in sound.
The plugged in sound is the only thing that matters.
I'd like to address another common comment I often see in threads like this; that being how some people say they want their clean sound to sound the same as when playing unplugged.
I think it's odd to want a clean sound that is thin, rattley and barely audible.
My two cents.
YMMV
We are participating in thread about whether or not people play their electric guitars unplugged.
It is by no means the first time there have been threads on this subject, here or elsewhere on other forums.
I submit that indicates it is in fact something remarkable to people, both the yeas and the neighs.
By the responses, I would also add that not everybody does it so one should probably not assume that everyone does; no offence intended.
I imagine that's probably why there are threads about it.
I suspect people know it's odd (after all, it is an "electric" guitar so it is obviously odd) and they likely want to know if they are alone in their odd behaviour.
As for me personally, I don't play an electric unplugged because I don't care how it sounds unplugged.
I'm never going to perform with an unplugged electric guitar so I only care about how it sounds plugged in.
It's not a refusal to play unplugged; I simply see no benefit in it.
There is no practical knowledge for me to glean from it.
In my view it's like wondering if bald men ever run a comb over their heads.
When I was 12 years old and got my first electric, a poor Strat copy made by Kent, which is a company I believe may no longer be in existence, I played unplugged for several months because I did not yet have an amplifier.
I stopped when I got an amp; a used Fender Princeton my mum got for me.
Sure wish I still had that one.
There have been other times I've played unplugged as well but I don't know if I would actually call it playing.
Every time I have an electric on the table for a setup I pluck the strings for the sake of tuning, intonation adjustments and to listen for buzzing up and down the neck while I search for any high frets that might become a problem when I do plug in and actually play.
Just last week I had a friend's MIM Strat on the table for a setup and I plucked strings unplugged for those same reasons but I plugged in when it came time to adjust the pickups for tone and volume balance across the switch positions.
Those are the only times I play unplugged.
I could not possibly care less what sonic abilities or disabilities are present when playing unplugged and/or whether or not those attributes translate to the plugged in sound.
The plugged in sound is the only thing that matters.
I'd like to address another common comment I often see in threads like this; that being how some people say they want their clean sound to sound the same as when playing unplugged.
I think it's odd to want a clean sound that is thin, rattley and barely audible.
My two cents.
YMMV
Intune
Most Honored Senior Member
Yes, I don’t want that sound either. I agree with everything you said. That is very odd to want that thin gangly sound through an amp. So there’s like a doubling meaning here to playing the guitar unplugged and that’s what’s getting confused.
Setting up a guitar and playing it unplugged to fine tune it is a giving. Then plugging in to set pickup height is a given. So it’s kind of one of the questions that should be yes for anyone that sets up their own gear. Actually playing an electric guitar 100% unplugged is to me a odd thing. Just get an acoustic?
Sometimes you just be noodlin' on the couch wth no amp. Nothing wrong with that.
