I can't believe this.

[rich2k4]

after playing for so long without an amp, or my cube 30 set quietly. Whenever i go and play on any of my tube amps at a loud volume, it just sounds bad to me. My ears aren't used to it, and my playing suffers because of it.

Tomo was right, always use an amp. I'd also like to add, use an amp at a medium volume level, not too quiet.

[Redhouse-Blues]

after playing for so long without an amp, or my cube 30 set quietly. Whenever i go and play on any of my tube amps at a loud volume, it just sounds bad to me. My ears aren't used to it, and my playing suffers because of it.

Tomo was right, always use an amp. I'd also like to add, use an amp at a medium volume level, not too quiet.

I had the same problem, sometimes I'll just have a guitar and practice and things sound cool unplugged, then I'll plug in and play the same thing and it sounds bad to me. I have to play it different plugged in, I don't get it, but there is something to it.

[JimmyD]

I always sit around the house unplugged. If I was too play plugged in then I would have to stand and that is just too much work. :-)

Seriously my amps are only ever on when I'm gigging or working out a pedalboard related problem. YMMV.

Jim

[rich2k4]

I always sit around the house unplugged. If I was too play plugged in then I would have to stand and that is just too much work. :-)

Seriously my amps are only ever on when I'm gigging or working out a pedalboard related problem. YMMV.

Jim

that's how i used to be too, but i can't do that anymore after my discovery.

[Redhouse-Blues]

I also think that playing unplugged can mask mistakes like bending not in pitch and chords not being as clean as they should be. Unplugged I tend to dig in more and I don't focus on my touch and dynamics as I should.

[futureshredder]

I always play plugged. That way i can hear all the stuff im doing wrong.

[Tom Gross]

I have a guitar on a stand, plugged in thru a looper to an amp, and a chair with no arms, always at the ready. I can play over chords at the drop of a hat, and hear my mistakes and all of the subtleties.

[buddastrat]

Maybe just need to practice how you'll play. I mostly practiced without an amp, but am very conscious of the techniques and things needed so it'll sound right at stage volume. I never use an amp at home, they sit in storage only used for gigs.

[Echoes]

after playing for so long without an amp, or my cube 30 set quietly. Whenever i go and play on any of my tube amps at a loud volume, it just sounds bad to me. My ears aren't used to it, and my playing suffers because of it.

Tomo was right, always use an amp. I'd also like to add, use an amp at a medium volume level, not too quiet.

I would say BE AWARE that there is a huge difference between practicing with an amp at volume and with a quiet amp and without an amp at all...

practicing without an amp is better than not practicing at all. You have to adjust in each situation which, in and of itself, *IS* a good practice....balance teaches you to adjust to differing situations which is EXACTLY what happens when you gig different rooms and stage volume levels..

every time I play live I have to adjust the volume and EQ for the room and situation.

[guitarspaz]

New member chiming in with my .02. I practice without an amp a lot because of situations. I practice in my office at work sometimes, child's asleep at home, etc. Unplugged practice is better than no practice. I prefer practice plugged in when possible. However, excessive gain can also cover up slop so it must be done with that in mind.

[cram]

you can force yourself to pay attention to dynamics without the aid of an amp, but an amp surely... *AMPLIFIES* it for you! :)

I'm going through a very discipline intensive routine of playing with a different picking attack - I'm a bit heavy handed at times and I'm working on this. I've tried to take every moment and some of them are not with the amp.

[buddastrat]

New member chiming in with my .02. I practice without an amp a lot because of situations. I practice in my office at work sometimes, child's asleep at home, etc. Unplugged practice is better than no practice. I prefer practice plugged in when possible. However, excessive gain can also cover up slop so it must be done with that in mind.

Sometimes, but it can show other problems. A truly good high gain player will make it sound so clean as if there's no distortion only sustain. The bad high gain players play, and it's a fuzzy mess, though they aren't aware. It's very difficult compared to playing clean or semi dirty. Fingers need to lift/fret in such precision and the right hand has to barely move or it will bring in noise, and also muting of both hands is very important. Brings to mind my first guitar teacher who was a great Benson type jazz player, but on high gain, it was a mess. Again, I'd suggest to someone experiencing something similar, just practice how you'll play with the same gear, same volume, same pick...

[guitarspaz]

Good point. I've tried to get into tapping a bit and every time I think I'm getting pretty good at it I plug into my amp with some gain and I've got a bunch of extraneous string noise. Takes awhile practice with the mud to get my muting straightened out. I like the way you said good players will make it sound like there is no distortion only sustain. Very true.

[yeahyeahyeah]

When I practice and have to go below a certain volume, its time for me to switch to an acoustic guitar. I find that it helps me enjoy low volume practice more while the responsiveness of an acoustic will let more dynamics pop out at those low volumes. The heavier gauge strings on the acoustic also keep my fingers from getting lazy. It also forces me to put more emphasis on intelligent playing to "fill out" the sound where gain and effects would usually do that job on an electric.

With electric guitars, I think that once you go below a certain level the dynamic range become very limited. Louds feel "harder" and tend to take over the sound and make you tend play louder for a more consistent sound because the softs are hardly heard above the string noise of the guitar. When you turn up the amp, the louds become a little more compressed and softened (in a good way) but your messo pianos and messo fortes are where most of the action stays with normal picking while the differences in tones above and below them can be easily heard...hence a more "feel-able" dynamic range.

[medrawt]

I think I basically wasted a couple of years by spending most of my guitar time on an unplugged electric or on acoustic. My electric chops went way up, but always "disappeared" when I was checking out gear in a store. When I bought a new amp and was geeking out over it at home, I finally realized: "Oh, wow! I can't play nearly as fast as I thought I could! Oh, wow, my right hand muting isn't nearly as good as I thought it was!" I actually got so depressed that I considered just giving up on electric and going all-in on playing acoustic. (Hand position, playing fingerstyle, etc., meant I didn't have the same issues on an acoustic.) I'm sorting it out. Other people, clearly, are fine. For me, playing unplugged electric was really bad for my technique, because I just didn't hear what I wasn't in control of.