Acoustic to electric

J Rock,
The practice will absolutly positivly carry over. When you switch back to using an acoustic, it will take some getting used to, but not more than a few songs worth.

I've recently started playing on an electric after starting out on accoustic a few months back. The main differences I feel are:

a) It look me a little time to get used to the wider frets on the electric because my strat has a longer neck (25.5 inches I think).

b) Finger picking is a little harder because of the lower action.

c) Playing any kind of scales/leads/bends seem a lot easier because of the lighter strings and lower action.

But, now I want to play both often so that I switch without thinking.

(And I had to overcome a barrier in my mind: in the beginning I felt very compelled to take advantage of the amp and play only how an "electric should sound" .. read lot of sustain and bends and such. I am slowly getting over it, and starting to think of both as difference incarnations of the same instrument).

Have you considered an acoustic/electric?

Have you looked into one of .......THESE?

The point is to keep it quiet. Well exactly how quiet do you need it?
You can put something, like a piece cardboard, over your sound hole. (I believe I saw something on the market made out of plastic for this very purpose) that will lower the volume considerably and still allow you to practice your beloved acoustic.
Travel guitars are smaller and produce less volume.
Perhaps, with your landlords permission, you can attach a few sheets of DOW board (Styrofoam insulation) to the ceiling in one room to practice in.
EDIT: I was still typing while Tracker was posting. LOL

Here's another one.

Thnaks guys. But I think that I need something really quiet. Like I said I like to play late and the person upstairs has a baby. Those things do look cool though.

Trust me, that baby is going to be keeping you up!!!

:lol: :wink: :lol:

Headphones sounds like a good idea to me, but there are other options.

There are several ways that you could quieten down your accoustic - including stuffing a bunch of T-shirts, or whatever, into the body. Drummers often do this so that they can practice without being killed by the neighbours. You'll see a bass drum full of pillows, and so on...Might be worth a try - it won't cost you a thing to experiment. You could also ask the person upstairs to give you a sound/annoyance level check. :)

You can still hear the sound of the strings on a guitar that's been muted - or on a full electric with no amp (from the player's perspective that is). It's still OK for practising some things, but you really do want to hear a better sound at least some of the time.

You will find quite a lot of difference between playing an electric and an accoustic, but it shouldn't take long to "switch back". I've got a classical style guitar (wide neck, nylon strings - and it feels like a tree trunk when I pick it up straight after the electric!) but it only seems to take a few minutes to adjust and settle back in.

Somewhat surprisingly, all guitars are a wee bit different from each other, and require small adjustments. A friend of mine played in a classical duo at a very high standard. Both musicians had the same style of guitars, hand made by the same person, numbered only forty or so apart. They swapped over one day and were amazed to find that they couldn't just get the same sounds that they were used to straight away.

I also read a book about the history of Fender, where well known musicians talked about "their" strat, etc. One commented that you don't so much fall in love with all strats, but a particular one that you've played a lot and know inside out. I don't think I'd be able to tell the difference, but the point is that all guitar swaps require some adjustment, even if it's only small unconscious changes.

Apparently Segovia told John Williams that playing electrified music with Sky could ruin him - but Williams obviously disagreed and appears to have been proved right. :D