leoroberts
C.O.G. 
Posts: 25,940 
My main instrument is: probably needing new strings
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Post by leoroberts on Jan 7, 2014 12:16:48 GMT
and I spent the proceeds on a used Fylde bouzouki which I still have, though it's living with leoroberts just now. I gave the Bouzouki back to you just before Christmas, ocarolan, you probably just forgot... (really hoping this works as I've fallen in love with it)  |
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Post by paganskins on Jan 7, 2014 13:38:14 GMT
Yeah I can echo most of the sentiments in this thread, I have a LP sat in a case (partially unstrung I think) which hasn't been played in a couple of years. Don't have an amp at the mo either.
I won't be selling it as it's got a lot of sentimental value and I suspect will see some use in the future if only in a recording context, not sure how I'll cope with the narrow string spacing now though.
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minorkey
C.O.G.
On book 3 of the Guitarist's Way, thanks Keith
Posts: 3,629
My main instrument is: Tanglewood TU13M concert ukulele named Kalea
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Post by minorkey on Jan 7, 2014 22:39:08 GMT
One good thing about an electric, near silent practice-handy that. Plus if you get a small headphone amp you can hear shat you're doing, including pick up choice, volume etc.
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Post by sigmadel on Jan 8, 2014 1:47:10 GMT
yup ive switched back and forward over the years , being a big rock/metal fan for years the acoustic just didnt fit my plans . Now thats all changed and ive only got the 3 acoustics in fact my last electric (an Epiphone SG ) was sold to help fund the sigma which im actually toying with the idea of selling ..I know I know i really love it but three guitars and four kids plus dog and clepto wife means space is short . Theres other things id like to get too , for starters i fancy one of those Vox AGA70 amps for small gig and moniter use and i want either a multi FX or just a decent Chorus and reverb pedals.  |
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Post by jackorion on Jan 8, 2014 7:24:29 GMT
One good thing about an electric, near silent practice-handy that. Plus if you get a small headphone amp you can hear shat you're doing, including pick up choice, volume etc. I think the problem for em is that I DO hear 'shat'!  |
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Post by vikingblues on Jan 8, 2014 8:25:05 GMT
Sort of coming at this question from the opposite direction, but it may still have some relevance.  We've had a Tanglewood TW45 acoustic in the house for over 6 years. During that time I've been almost always playing electric guitars of various makes, models, shapes and sizes. Every so often I would pick up the acoustic ... BUT I always found it more difficult to play and more uncomfortable too. I really did like the sounds it made though. Given the large number of guitars that have been bought and sold (and built) in the last 6 years it's quite amazing that it survived. Then last year my better half took a keen interest in Ukes and I started joining in to give her someone to play along with - and using the acoustic guitar was the obvious choice. I found I was starting to enjoy playing it more although it was still not as easy to play as my electrics. A spider capo further heightened my interest in the acoustic - I especially like to hear open tunings if it's an acoustic guitar being played. A Crafter Hybrid 12 string + acoustic amp then got added to the collection for these informal "sessions". Next thing I know an acoustic resonator has joined my collection, and this last month my electric collection has largely been left to gather dust. But I still find all three of the Tanglewood, Crafter and Gretsch are more difficult to play than my electrics. Of course as I've had so much practice on the electrics that is maybe an unfair statement and the fault is maybe with me rather than the guitars! But I'm sure glad I didn't sell the Tanglewood in those 5+ years of little use - I would now be regretting it. As far as getting good sounds from electrics that was a long drawn out process of lessons, practice, upgrades, changes in amps etc. At least with an acoustic you know what you can get from the start.  |
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Post by clydeslide on Jan 8, 2014 9:38:43 GMT
But I still find all three of the Tanglewood, Crafter and Gretsch are more difficult to play than my electrics. Is it a neck shape thing, a body shape thing or is it the strings and pressure? I know you mentioned arthritis in another thread. If it is neck shape or body shape thing there isn't much you can do about it with those guitars but in terms of strings and pressure an acoustic guitar should be no more difficult to play than an electric with the same gauge strings on (and if you aren't doing bends there isn't much difference between 10's -13's). If the guitar is comfortable to hold and the neck suits your hand have a look at the action and see if you can get it lower. A lot of acoustics are shipped with the nut cut too high, mainly so people can set them up how they want. After all, you can cut a nut but you can't add material to it. |
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Martin
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Post by Martin on Jan 8, 2014 13:33:45 GMT
the sigma which im actually toying with the idea of selling ..I know I know i really love it but three guitars and four kids plus dog and clepto wife means space is short . Tell me more   Selling the Sigma!!??  |
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windminstrel
C.O.G.
Posts: 147
My main instrument is: Tanglewood Sundance Historic TW40
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Post by windminstrel on Jan 8, 2014 14:37:16 GMT
..... what's an electric guitar? One of those new-fangled things I suppose. |
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Post by sigmadel on Jan 8, 2014 14:55:42 GMT
the sigma which im actually toying with the idea of selling ..I know I know i really love it but three guitars and four kids plus dog and clepto wife means space is short . Tell me more :sherlock Selling the Sigma!!?? I'm thinking about it Martin but I really connect with it and every time I pick her up I fall in love all over again . Its just the space issue and the fact that I'm playing the Freshman more . I had it at the open mic on Sunday but that's the first shed been played in weeks . If I'm playing every Sunday and every second Thursday plus were thinking of doing a free gig the last Friday or Saturday of each month then unless I fit a pickup to it then its going to get less and less use . Were also going to be recording a CD either at the end of Jan or sometime in Feb , I could mic it up and use it on that rather than using the Freshman and 12 er for all the songs . I'm still not 100% sure but there are other things I need . |
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Phil Taylor
C.O.G.
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Post by Phil Taylor on Jan 8, 2014 15:54:03 GMT
I started on electrics - Jedson then Shaftesbury Les Paul the a proper Gibson. Was not in a band and could play the rhythm from this and the lead break from that etc. Then in the early 1980's I borrowed an LP from the library 'Contemporary Guitar Workshop' with people like Duck Baker, Dave Evans, Leo Wijnkamp on it and that was it. Swapped the electric for an acoustic, well almost - it was an Ovation Balladeer which was fortunately stolen.
I did have GAS for an electric a year or so ago but went to play some and it swept away any desire I thought I had for playing the electric - I still listen to electric guitarist though but mainly solo acoustic instrumental stuff.
Phil
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Post by scorpiodog on Jan 8, 2014 16:23:11 GMT
I'm thinking about it Martin but I really connect with it and every time I pick her up I fall in love all over again . At first I was wondering whether you were talking about the Sigma or your wife! I could mic it up and use it on that rather than using the Freshman and 12 er for all the songs . I'm still not 100% sure but there are other things I need . But you could always fit a pickup in the Sigma! I don't subscribe to all this selling guitars malarky. Guitars are for buying not for selling (unless it's your business, Trevor). Really, though, Derek. When you find a guitar that speaks to you, if you don't keep it, you will regret it one day. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon. And for the rest of your life.  |
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Post by sigmadel on Jan 8, 2014 18:29:39 GMT
I'm thinking about it Martin but I really connect with it and every time I pick her up I fall in love all over again . At first I was wondering whether you were talking about the Sigma or your wife! I could mic it up and use it on that rather than using the Freshman and 12 er for all the songs . I'm still not 100% sure but there are other things I need . But you could always fit a pickup in the Sigma! I don't subscribe to all this selling guitars malarky. Guitars are for buying not for selling (unless it's your business, Trevor). Really, though, Derek. When you find a guitar that speaks to you, if you don't keep it, you will regret it one day. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon. And for the rest of your life. Ha ha you're right and hit the nail bang on the head , I'll sell the wife although I doubt I'd even get one Camel for her ;-) here's lookin at you kid . |
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Post by vikingblues on Jan 9, 2014 19:19:10 GMT
But I still find all three of the Tanglewood, Crafter and Gretsch are more difficult to play than my electrics. Is it a neck shape thing, a body shape thing or is it the strings and pressure? I know you mentioned arthritis in another thread. If it is neck shape or body shape thing there isn't much you can do about it with those guitars but in terms of strings and pressure an acoustic guitar should be no more difficult to play than an electric with the same gauge strings on (and if you aren't doing bends there isn't much difference between 10's -13's). If the guitar is comfortable to hold and the neck suits your hand have a look at the action and see if you can get it lower. A lot of acoustics are shipped with the nut cut too high, mainly so people can set them up how they want. After all, you can cut a nut but you can't add material to it. Good questions! Possibly different answers for the three guitars? Tanglewood (TW45) : It has a pretty good low action, nut slots are nicely done too. The neck is no wider and is about the same distance across the fretbaoard and all the way around the back of the neck to the fretboard edge as the electrics. I suspect it's the angle of the neck that makes the difference - if holding a guitar in a way that it's parallel with a line drawn across the ends of your feet the extra depth of the body means the neck means the neck is pointing at 9 o'clock, then with the Tanglewood it's more pointing at 10 o'clock. If that makes sense. I may have lost weight the last two years but I still have a bit of a paunch!  The Crafter : Simply I think due to the wider neck. But it is a 12 stringer after all. Still way easier to play than I expected a 12 string would be though. Good action, but it did get a full set up at Richards guitars when I bought it. The Alligator : Because it's set to do either "normal" fretted notes with the left hand OR slide, it's a wee bit higher on the action than best suits me. However it sounds SO good on slide I think it's worth the extra difficulty when used "normally". Just need to be less adventurous with the chords I try to play I guess. But also - in a similar way to the Tanglewood because of the deeper body the neck angle for the left hand is more awkward than with the electrics. OR .... maybe it'll get better the more I play them and the more I can adapt to them. |
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minorkey
C.O.G.
On book 3 of the Guitarist's Way, thanks Keith
Posts: 3,629
My main instrument is: Tanglewood TU13M concert ukulele named Kalea
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Post by minorkey on Jan 9, 2014 22:55:13 GMT
But I still find all three of the Tanglewood, Crafter and Gretsch are more difficult to play than my electrics. Is it a neck shape thing, a body shape thing or is it the strings and pressure? I know you mentioned arthritis in another thread. If it is neck shape or body shape thing there isn't much you can do about it with those guitars but in terms of strings and pressure an acoustic guitar should be no more difficult to play than an electric with the same gauge strings on (and if you aren't doing bends there isn't much difference between 10's -13's). If the guitar is comfortable to hold and the neck suits your hand have a look at the action and see if you can get it lower. A lot of acoustics are shipped with the nut cut too high, mainly so people can set them up how they want. After all, you can cut a nut but you can't add material to it. I find that my Fender Dreadnought can be hard to play compared to my electric (Squier strat, rarely played). This is a combination of its large size and the fact that I find the strings hard to bend, I don't know why the strings are harder on my fingers than my Tanglewood but they're like wires. Its wearing Fender 11s but I bought some D'addario lights for it. Hopefully that'll improve things. The Fender still sounds great and I had a set up done on it a year after I bought it, and a good job was done. Just never tried lighter strings on it. The Tanglewood has lovely bendable strings but has a narrower neck so not so easy to play fingerstlye. Of my guitars the strat is the easiest to play. It's also the dustiest |
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Jo whoever he is.
