Conference napalm::guitar

    When I first started playing electric bass, I thought you couldn't hear
    it without an amp, but over the years I've found that's not the case. 
    What you don't hear is the "full" tone since the solid body doesn't
    project the full frequency spectrum well.  But you can definitely
    detect pitch and hear what you're playing.  In fact, things like fret
    noises are perhaps more obvious playing unplugged.  
    
    You will definitely not get long sustains possible when plugged in, and
    you can't practice controlled feedback  8^)  
    
    Sometimes when watching TV, I'll just sit and plunk away on my scales
    and I hear it fine...so does my wife who usually asks me to stop it!
    
    							Brian

    I've found that the type of instrument (acoustic/electric) & amp setup
    definitely affects the kind of song I *write* when I'm in a song
    writing mood. I've also noticed that if the string sizes & tensions of
    the 2 instruments are much different that I have to play a while to get
    back into the groove of the other one. I've also noticed that I've
    found ways of doing things on acoustic that I doubt I would have
    thought of on electric but that come in handy when I later switch back
    to electric. 
    I use extra light strings on my electric, & something a lot heavier on
    the acoustic. If you wanted to minimize the impact of the difference,
    use similar strings on both.
    I've also spent a lot of time playing the electric with no amp, & I
    find it helps me, but your results may vary.
    
    Paul

    I personaly do not like playing an electric unplugged. It has an effect
    on the sound which has an effect on my playing. I also find I will put
    it down after a couple of minutes of playing. I invested in a headphone
    amp a few years back when I was living in an appartment building. Done
    to keep from being thrown out. I use this amp all the time now...even
    though I don't rent any longer. My wife can watch TV, the kids can
    sleep...and I can play and have it sound the way I like it...plugged
    in. If you do any multi-track recording these amps are great. 
    Bob
    

    I think you're better off playing an electric plugged in. I used
    to play mine unplugged a lot and found that I picked a lot harder
    when it wasn't plugged in so that I could hear it. But that real
    hard picking sounded lousy at when the guitar was plugged in. 
    
    - Dave

    I think I have to agree with the last couple of responses.  I've done a
    lot of practicing with electrics unplugged and while I like that, and
    it's good for certain things, I also find that I start picking up "bad
    habits" that don't translate well to having the thing plugged in.  So
    then when I plug it in, I have to rethink my "technique".
    
    Greg

    I agree with .4.  I'm just learning electric guitar, but I've already
    found I play it harder unplugged than plugged.  Maybe that's because
    I'm a beginner, but I recommend buying a headphone amp.
    
    Of course, any kind of practicing is better than not practicing at all!
    
    Dave

>    Of course, any kind of practicing is better than not practicing at all!
    
    Amen there, bro!

    Rebuttal for those who say that unplugged practice leads to bad habits:
    
    When I'm doing *serious* practicing, I'll plug in.  When I'm watching
    Oprah and wanna just mindlessly run scales, unplugged is OK and loud
    enough, as far as I'm concerned.  
    
    I *do* advocate a good headphone amp when you need low volume.  A
    headphone amp plus a tape deck and a drum machine is a great practicing
    setup.  
    
    						Brian

    Yo, Brian, to pick up on something in your note, do you record your
    practice sessions?  I just started doing that...what an ear-opener!
    I listen to the tapes the next morning on the way to work and I really
    can pick out the weak spots in my playing.  For example, I heard my
    picking on descending passages as very uneven in both time and
    dynamics; now I'm trying concentrate on fixing that.
    
    Just another 100 years or so of practicing and I'll be an adequate
    player.
    

    re: .9
    
    Interestingly enough, I was just reading Howard Roberts' column in a
    recent issue of Guitar Player yesterday and he recommended recording
    all your (individual) practice sessions and making use of the
    recordings a part of your normal practice regime.  Said it really
    helped point out problems that you might not hear when you're
    concentrating on playing.
    
    Greg

    
    A related point....
    
    I find that practising with the amp turned down (to 'domestic
    environment' levels, say 5 watts or so max) is a different ball
    game to playing at 80 watts. Here's a little challenge just to prove my
    point. Just try playing the melody for Baa Baa Black Sheep at miminal
    volume. Sounds fine doesn't it? Now wack the volume up to 60 watts plus
    and listen to all those rough edges. Fingers catching adjacent strings,
    awful sounding slides, buzzing  etc etc. Even the quality of the pick 
    stands out.
    
    I started thinking along these lines some years ago when I was
    discussing the technical merits of Hank Marvin with a guitar instructor
    I had at the time. His comment was "You try playing a perfectly clean
    melody line with absolutely no flaws at 200 watts plus in front of a
    couple of thousand people. You can get away with rough edges in blues
    and rock but not with this type of music."
    
    Richard

    
    
    practice?.......you guys practice?
    
    

    Not nearly enough, dude, not nearly enough.

    >>Not nearly enough, dude, not nearly enough.
    
    
    

   Who needs practice when you've got band rehearsal twice a week?  :-)

   Actually, come to think of it, I did put in a couple of hours last night
   on my own.  Still learnin' how to get the most out of the 12 string.

   -- Sam

    what I do for practice is to get out my box o' tricks(korg a5)and plug
    headphones into it and leave out my amp altogether until I feel like
    playing through the amp.With having such as small place and thin walls
    I can't crank it up as often as I like so the headphones/korg a5 works
    for me!~
    
    
    
    it's just a pity I can't play for toffee! 8)

    
      I use my Tascam 424 multi-tacker as my primary practice device. My
    guitar is fed through the H & K ACCESS (w/ the Rocktron effects in FX
    loop B) out the recording out - into the multitracker. Sometimes
    I use the ACCESS stereo into the multitracker since the stereo effect
    is fairly intense with the headphones on (I set up two channels on the
    Tascam for playback, learning songs or a jam track, and the other two
    for my stereo guitar signal. My Korg A5 seems to work well in this 
    arrangement as well, I use it for a "quick set-up" practice. The ACCESS
    obviously sounds better (and costs a *lot* more).
       With a 2-1/2 year old daughter and 5 month old son, I have to have
    that headphone practice capability.
    
    							-B{}{}M-