i've been told some electrics are better than others when an acoustic player transitions to electric.
this theory seems to hold water because i have a squier strat and an old harmony solidbody from the 60's/70's and definitely prefer the harmony, even though the pickups are microphonic and it has tiny frets that make it more difficult to play. (i plan to wax pot the pickups, but i can't justify what the local shops charge for refretting.)
it's difficult to explain but it seems to me like the strat requires a very precise technique and exaggerates every little error, while the harmony appears to be slightly more forgiving of sloppiness in my playing.
it isn't the feel i'm concerned with. i can get used to the different feel of the strings and the narrower nut- it's just more difficult for me to get a good sound out of the strat. i've tried other strats with similar results. i also have a teisco del rey that, on a scale of 'forgiving' to 'unforgiving', seems to be somewhere between the strat and harmony.
i like the fact that the harmony cleans up and plays 'acousticy' sounding open chords, but i also need something that will produce a good over-driven blues rock lead sound. (the harmony needs a little help from a gain pedal for that, but it does okay.)
is there a reason some electrics seem to be easier to transition to, and is there any make or model that is particularly suited for this purpose?
it's difficult to explain but it seems to me like the strat requires a very precise technique and exaggerates every little error, while the harmony appears to be slightly more forgiving of sloppiness in my playing.
Ah! The penny drops!
Hey...don't think "guitar". Think "precision instrument". There's less ability to hide on a well setup Strat. So don't think that, automatically, you'll play "better" because you suddenly have a "better" guitar. Ha! For me, the penny has just dropped...that many, many years ago I assembled a slew of axes that are now classics, because "I thought they'd make me play and sound better"!
Funny...but true...
Cat
"Feel what you play...play what you feel!"
You know... sometimes you just like one guitar over another. Being the neck shape, or the feel, or sound.. My guess that the older electric has a neck much closer to your accustic guitar, what is making it feel more, "at home" to you.
it's difficult to explain but it seems to me like the strat requires a very precise technique and exaggerates every little error, while the harmony appears to be slightly more forgiving of sloppiness in my playing.
Well I cant say thats realy the way to judge. Ive tended to go the other way. Im a player starting out, and have a TON to learn... and I have to say... Ive started the other way. Started electric, and play accustic off an on. At times I liked to pick up the accustic just becouse it DID challange me. With the electric you can fudge a lot of notes. The pickups will still pickup muted notes from bad fretting... The accustic lets me learn to fret the notes more on target, becouse if I dont, well... you get no note. :)
As for what brands to look for? You just need to play them. You will know when you find it.
Paul B
Scale length and string gauge are big factors in the transition. Strat scale length (distance from nut to bridge) is 25 1/2 inches. I bet the Harmony has a shorter scale, more like a Gibson -- 24 3/4 inches. That makes a difference when you're playing. On the acoustic you're probably playing on .011s-.012s. Electrics tend to be strung with .009s. (Brother Cat strings with .008s, but he's an outlier.) Lighter strings handle differently. They need a different touch.
Practice slowly, for tone. On any instrument. As slowly as necessary to get the sound you want. You will get the hang of it.
"You can't write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say sometimes, so you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream." - Frank Zappa
