I enjoyed reading Laura's article on Acoustic Vs. Electric, and it had me think about how I went about purchasing my first guitar.
The first instrument I learned was the piano. While I was in High school I met a dude that played electric guitar, and got me interested in the instrument. At that time I was a pretty introverted person but felt the need to have a creative outlet. I went with an electric first because a) I wanted to play distorted electric sounds (AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, etc), getting out my teen aggression and b) I figured the type of musical experience I would feel out of an acoustic guitar would be the same as the piano. My first electric guitar (which I still have) is a BC Rich Rave II. To this day I am not sure if it is a good guitar, but it serves my needs.
Then when I hit college, I became less introverted. I had met a bunch of people of various musical backgrounds, and it was a blast. Problem is that when a jam session occurred at a house or around a campfire, I could not participate because, as Laura said, electric does not resonate and project sound as good at a acoustic guitar when un-amp'd. And when you are camping, there is no electrical outlet. I guess you could bring a gas powered generator, but then I think the sound from that machine would kill the mood. ;)
I guess the point I have for this debate is the social aspect of the musician's decision. Ultimately, I am sure everyone would like to perform in front of a group. A musician is an entertainer and should share his/her creative outlet with everyone who wants to listen. However, at that time in H.S. I wanted to just learn the thing and keep it to myself. (dumb thing was that I never jammed with that dude from HS). When I wanted to share music with others, acoustic seems to be the more versatile choice. What do you think?
I agree with ceratin points However for unorganized jams acoustics are the best. However I play with other musicains such as pianists and drummers whitch are much louder then acoustics so/.....
Electric acoustic. It's obviously the best of both worlds. You can jam around the camp fire with your buds, or plug into an amp when your playing with a basoon... or piano, whatever.
But if you want a whammy bar, toggle switches, and the cool look, and you want to play that rockin led zepplin distortion, then the electric is the obvious choice.
my person choice: acoustic for my first. will be getting an electric acoustic when i'm a rocking guitar player. that should be sometime in the next ten to twenty years.
acoustic just sounds cooler.
So, uh, which part did you say the strings were?
You might as well learn to enjoy being stupid, because it's not something that's gonna like wash off, ya know?
I recently bought a Seagull Electric/Acoustic, and have been playing with that exclusivly. It's insteresting because when I do go back to the BC Rich, it seems so easy now. Maybe it's because of the different action. I really have to work hard to hit any power chords on my acoustic.
Cool thing about the acoustic is that I use it for open Mic nights. Doing that is forcing me to actually learn songs and become proficient with them than when I used the electric.
kjrosti,
I am curious about how you decided on a Seagull guitar. Did you compare with many other brand to select that one ? What do you especially like about that guitar ?
I have a Norman guitar, it is made by the same company (LASIDO) in Québec, Canada. I think the Seagull is their more expensive line of acoustic guitars.
Florent Vollant, http://www.eworldmusic.ca/artist/florentvollant , uses a Seagull guitar.
to me i odnt mind if i play in front of people or not, i play for me and i think acoustic is better sound, so i play that.
I know this is an old topic, but I gotta say...
I have a Seagull electric/acoustic, and they are the most beautiful guitars. The sound is so thick and mellow.....not tinny at all......the quality is superb.
I also have a pink BC Rich electric from the 80's......it is also very nice...
Acoustics are the best to play in my opinion, but electrics look better.
I know this is an old topic, but I gotta say...
Never too old, just like many of us 8)
-Laz
I forgot about this post. Anyway, I recently bought a Yamaha acoustic, I still have the seagull.
The Seagull sounds nice, but the neck is too wide for me. after playing for a while I found it difficult to bridge, etc. I kept it for now because it sounds nice, but I play the yamaha more often. The new yamaha (APX-5A) is easier to play for me.
