Going all acoustic

[Willis]

I'm wondering if anyone else who plays/has played both electric and acoustic music has gotten rid of all their electric gear and gone full acoustic, and how that has played out.
Electric guitar was my main deal for a long time, and I played in many bands when I was younger. Nowadays, I'm usually up and out of bed about the time I used to go to bed after a gig. The real clincher is that I also have tinnitus now, and owing to that and barring a cure in the next 20 years, I doubt I'll ever play in an electric band again. I've really been digging back into the mandolin and flattop guitar lately and enjoying it more than ever.
There's a really nice Collings dread I'd like to pick up, and selling my Tele and Deluxe Reverb and all that would fund that purchase. I have one kid who has a vague interest in the guitar, but it's not her passion that way it always was for me.
So, has anyone else put the electric years behind them and: a) felt a wonderful sense of freedom, b) been seized with bitter regret afterward, or c)none of the above?
Thanks for your time.

[Mandoplumb]

Never played electric but the subtle richness in tone in acoustic has always spoke to me. Given the chance I think you will come to agree.

[Rob Beck]

That's pretty much my story too, right down to the tinnitus!

I sold all my electric guitar, effects pedals and amp a couple of years ago and haven't missed it at all. Having said that I was always more comfortable playing acoustic instruments.

The only thing I would say is that we generally still have to amplify the acoustic instruments in order to be heard, so that side of things remains, but lugging that big old PA and speakers around keeps us fit!

I think the drums probably contributed more that their fair share to the tinnitus, now we use a cajon we don't need to be nearly so loud, and the audience don't expect the same volume levels.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Still have (and love) my electrics and amps, but I started on acoustic and will probably end that way, too.

So I think you're on the right track!

[MikeZito]

Early in my 'career' I went the opposite way. I was pretty much an acoustic purist for the first dozen years that I played; then slowly started to drift into playing a 50/50 mix of acoustic and electric (thanks to the incredible acoustic-type feel and tone of Rickenbacker guitars). Then one day a local (and clueless) newspaper reporter saw me playing an acoustic guitar and called me a folk singer . . . after that, I was all electric for several years. Nowadays I am comfortable going back to both on about a 70/30 split - with my Rickenbacker's still in the lead. So for me, it's not one or the other - I think it's a healthy blend of the two.

To make a long story short - a number of years ago I was writing a bluegrass song but didn't have an acoustic guitar handy, so I wrote the song on a Fender Stratocaster. As it turned out, I liked the way the song sounded better on the electric guitar than the acoustic, so I recorded the 'bluegrass' song using only electric guitar, bass and mandolin . . . a strange combination, but a fun tune.


p.s. - I have always been a guy who played electric guitar with a 'clean' tone (no distortion or fancy pedals for me), so the difference between my acoustic and electric sound is not that drastic.

[Willis]

To make a long story short - a number of years ago I was writing a bluegrass song but didn't have an acoustic guitar handy, so I wrote the song on a Fender Stratocaster. As it turned out, I liked the way the song sounded better on the electric guitar than the acoustic, so I recorded the 'bluegrass' song using only electric guitar, bass and mandolin . . . a strange combination, but a fun tune.

I also have a handful of bluegrass tunes that started out on a Fender electric guitar.
It's funny, I was saying this to my wife the other day and she agreed: when I hear an album that's mostly acoustic and and electric instrument pops in somewhere, I tend to think, "What's that doing here?!", but if an acoustic tune shows up on an electric record, I think, "What a nice change of pace."

Thanks everyone for your replies so far; good fuel for thought.

[CES]

There are plenty of teles, strats, and amps out there. Won’t be hard to reload the electric stable if you change your mind down the line. I play primarily acoustic, but like having the option of electric mando and guitar when a song calls for it. I want to upgrade my amps, but really don’t need to. Come to think of it, don’t think I’ve plugged in in 6 or 8 months...

[Frankdolin]

I had a short foray with electric blues. And while I love the power and passion that volume provides I was always more worn-out and never able to relax and really enjoy the playing itself. But I'm still a sucker for a bad-ass electric guitar solo and dig my Strat out when I want to make some NOISE. I love acoustic so much more because to me there's nothing like the interaction of just wood, strings, and a human.

[Victor Daniel]

When I decided I was serious about mandolin I sold all my electric gear to fund my first professional level mandolin, a 1988 Givens. I haven't looked back and now have many more toys to help fuel my full on acoustic addiction.

[Willis]

There are plenty of teles, strats, and amps out there. Won’t be hard to reload the electric stable if you change your mind down the line. I play primarily acoustic, but like having the option of electric mando and guitar when a song calls for it. I want to upgrade my amps, but really don’t need to. Come to think of it, don’t think I’ve plugged in in 6 or 8 months...

True, and I think I've owned half of them at one time or another! My Fender amp is worth at least 4 times what I paid for it nearly 30 years ago; that would be the only hard one to replace. I've also had the same Japanese Tele for about that amount of time. But, yeah, like you, I hardly ever plug in. I play unplugged, but whenever I think about setting up the pedalboard and amp and all that, I either play the electric unplugged or turn to the acoustic. Like I've told my wife, I really want to go all or nothing on this; I'm kind of curious what it would be like to not own an electric instrument for the first time since I was eleven.
Also figuring into this is the beauty of having less "stuff." If I got rid of all the electric-associated ephemera, it would blow out some clutter.

[Caleb]

I sold my electric rig when I got into mandolin about ten years ago. Last summer I got an urge to play a Stratocaster again and got another rig. Sold it three months later, the thrill apparently being gone. YMMV.

[Beanzy]

I’m only acoustic now, but I still have my bass stuff as my son uses it for gigs and recording. If it were me I’d keep the Tele, flog the rest and buy a nice clean keyboard amp or small PA, with some amp modelling options up front of it, along with a good acoustic guitar preamp to enable that to use it too.

[BrianWilliam]

I sold almost all of my electric guitar/bass/effects gear. The remainder has been packed away for years. Safe, for now....

[Russ Donahue]

I did that 10 years ago and haven't looked back. Being all acoustic has made it easier to play spontaneously, and I can grab an instrument and take it wherever I go - something much more difficult when you have a trunk full of cords, effects, an amplifier and an instrument case...Best decision I ever made, and I am playing more than ever before.

[Daniel Nestlerode]

Went the 'full acoustic route' in 1995 or 96. Sold all my PA gear, vintage Fender Bassman, Strat, etc. and bought a good acoustic guitar. I have since gone back and forth a couple of times.

I have electric mandolins now and spent about year 7 years ago playing emando in a local band in Modesto, CA.

I'll never get rid of the emandos or the first gen Squier Telecaster with the amazing one-piece maple neck, and I'll always have a little amp to play through.

The cool thing about a lot of sonic technological development is that you can get darn near any sound/tone at any volume. You don't need 100w Marshall head to get that tone any more. So you can sound like David Gilmour without aggravating your tinnitus.


Daniel

[Steve Ostrander]

After many years playing electric bass I went acoustic in 2008 when I bought my first mandolin. I thought I was done with e-bass until this year when I was offered a spot in a band. I went to a rehearsal and I liked what I heard, so now I am playing bass and mando in the band, as well as mando in a acoustic duo. Good thing I never sold my bass rig.

[EdHanrahan]

... put the electric years behind them and ... b) been seized with bitter regret afterward ...

It wasn't the selling of the '65 blacktop, piggy-back Bandmaster amp that bothered me so much (it was big!) as it was selling the '62 Jazzmaster. I had bought it in '66 for $160, sold it in '72 for $100, funding an (acoustic, and somewhat cheaper) Epiphone 12-string... still kickin' myself on that one!

If I'd had an ounce of foresight (and maybe a few more $ in my pocket!), I should have sprung for a used '68-ish Martin 12-string, which would have been way less than the $400 or so for a new one in '72. Instead, I waited 20 years to spend 3-4 times that on the same guitar!

Oh yeah: I re-electrified in the '90s thanks to a pawn shop near the in-laws, and have been most happy with a little Fender (red knob) Champ 12 tube amp.

Your mileage may vary!

[Brian Harris]

I'm a techy/nerdy type... until it comes to music. Then, for some inexplicable reason, I want simplicity.

Never been electric after 30+ years. I guess I never will!

[catmandu2]

It IS hard to dish all those artifacts from the Great Romantic Period of Analog - sexy electric guitars, amps, vinyl... But there comes a time. I started giving those things up several decades ago - when I chronically strained my back hoisting my Fender pedal steel and Super Twin. I worked a lot as a drummer mainly, so quitting the bar circuit was liberating. But "ideologically" I gave up electric music long ago - pre disco.
I did keep one last relic - a boutique Tele that was sui generis - thinking i would hang on to it for "keepsake"... several folks in town wanted it, so i eventually traded it for a double bass.

[Jill McAuley]

I sold my last electric guitar in 2008, right before I moved to the States - prior to that I had ALWAYS had an electric guitar (or multiple electric guitars since getting my very first one (an old Epiphone Coronet from the pawn shop in 1978). I can't say I miss having one, though I still sometimes see a nice used one for sale and have a moment of wanting to hit the "buy now" button! Recently saw a surf green Nash telecaster that I'd be very tempted by, but realistically it just wouldn't get played nowadays.

[NursingDaBlues]

With the exception of a Rickenbacker lap steel and amp, I’ve been acoustic for the 50 years I’ve been playing. But, then, I’ve always leaned toward folk and country folk with an occasional dash of Laurel Canyon. I’ve always found that acoustics bring the audience emotionally closer to the performer (if that makes any sense).

Ironically, though, a good friend called me last night asking if I had any interest in his 1962 Les Paul cherry and 1967 Fender Twin Reverb; both originals, not re-issues. Truthfully, I’m really thinking about it. Don’t know what I’d do with a rig like that, but I’m thinking about it. Who knows? I may turn into a rock and roll star yet.

[OldSausage]

[JeffD]

I have an acoustic heart, but have recently put my toe in the electric waters.

The acoustic mandolin is like riding a bicycle up hill, one can move along but the effort is continuous, and if you relax, everything comes to a stop.

The electric mandolin is like driving a loaded semi down hill. There is so much momentum the game is to get control of it all. I feel like if I relax the whole thing will just roll away from me and crash and burn.

I think I will always be 90% acoustic and 10% electric.

But if a rock drummer moved into the house next door....

[jawgee]

Haha!! Why can't we have both?!?

The band that I'm now has different configurations depending on who's available for which gigs. Sometimes it will be a duo, other times it could be a full band or something in between.

I love acoustic music and the intimateness of it, but I also like mixing acoustic with more electric sounds. It's more difficult logistically, but done right and with the right songs, I think it sounds and feels great!

[Br1ck]

Really the only good reason for electric is if you play in a band, or are a seriously good jazz player, but who needs a good reason? For a really no good reason, I bought a used Tech 21, just because I didn't think a solid state amp could sound that good. It also has a direct out for recording.

Recording is all I really use my electric guitars and basses for these days. I have pickups in all my acoustic guitars, and my Uke, so I guess that makes me all electric. Odd but the mandolins are all I have with no pickups in them. But no more loud drummers for me, except if a really good one comes along. How's that for being non comittal?