Your best electric guitars, do they sound great acoustically?

Hellbat said:
The don't necessarily sound great acoustically, but they all sustain well and are balanced. Like I wouldn't mic one up or anything.
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Right on. They're electric for a reason. Still, sometimes it's nice to just grab one and run through an idea without powering everything up. On those rare occasions I usually reach for my Gretsch Black Falcon.
 
fcs101 said:
Right on. They're electric for a reason. Still, sometimes it's nice to just grab one and run through an idea without powering everything up. On those rare occasions I usually reach for my Gretsch Black Falcon.
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I have an ES-339 for that.
 
Yes. In fact, there has been a pretty strong correlation to it and the guitars I eventually get rid of. More or less everything currently hanging on my wall does this. I've got this MiM strat that I won't get rid of because of this.
 
I think you'll get a fairly good idea of how an electric guitar will sound amplified just playing it acoustically. I tend to like the ones that resonate well, are balanced sounding and the attack is right (a very important thing). If the guitar has decent pickups, the sound will come through. I've actually mostly lost interest in changing the pickups, because I tend to think, that it just changes the EQ. You can't really alter the way the guitar sounds. But that's just my experience.
 
Actually my two favorite electrics to play don't. They have dense heavy bodies and necks (for their size) but they do sustain better than most of the others. Denser woods reflect sound and softer woods (sometimes lighter) absorb it more easily and resonate more. Eric Johnson said he could tell if he would like a guitar or not by holding the head stock in one hand and hitting the strings with the other to see how it would resonate!?
 
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Mine all do sound good unplugged. To me, the guitar or bass needs to sound balanced with no dominating resonances when playing up and down the neck.

If I am in a guitar shop, another test I do is plug the guitar into the fx return of a combo amp and get a clean sound. If it sounds pleasing without the preamp/tonestack coloration, it's usually a winner for me. Bonus points if the tone controls do more than just throw a blanket over the guitar when turned or make it sound like an AM radio.
 
All of my electric guitars have been tested by me before ever plugging them in.
I like to get a feel for the fretboard first whilst listening for sustain, balance & general playability without concentrating on actual tone.
If I'm happy, I'll then plug it in and concentrate on the tone.

Consequently all my guitars sound great acoustically & plugged in and generally only need a slight tweak to tune them up as they all stay (mostly) in tune even if left for awhile without playing them.

As always though I think everybody's approach is different, for as many reasons as people are different.
 
stink said:
Now my Tom Anderson drop top, OTOH, rings and vibrates all through the neck. I'll go out on a limb and say acoustically, it's the best guitar in my stable. When plugged in, it's over the top amazing.
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The guitar in my av is a Zion. If there's interest I wouldn't mind telling its story sometime in the Guitar sub-forum but I haven't made 10 posts yet. :yum:

It's definitely the craziest, loudest guitar in my collection, even with the floating Floyd Rose. The body was commissioned by Zion from... Tom Anderson Guitarworks sometime back in the early 80's. I think it landed in my Dad's collection around '84. He handed it off to me in November 2019 after about 35 years of me looking at him sideways, daring him to overeat (he doesn't.) Not entirely sure (don't have proof, and Tom himself didn't say for sure when I asked him) but it is possible the neck came from TA as well. So, it's a solid 9+ lbs. of quilted maple body, birds-eye maple neck, and ebony fretboard. Sucker is LOUD.

To answer the OP's question I can't really keep an instrument if it doesn't turn me on unplugged. I make exceptions for a couple of my cheap beater guitars but all the guitars that "belong in the family" sound loud, bright, and proud acoustically.
 
Sii, I spend more time playing unplugged if Im helping setup someone’s guitar, or buying new or used. I do get annoyed when there are rattles, buzz, n spring noises. As I get more versed in guitar setups, I also listen more intently to the guitar. Even those small springs on the fender bridges sometimes they need to be taken off and stretched out. My strat pick guard actually buzzed with screws tight, I had to put a small piece of tape near the neck and mid pickup to keep pressure. Once I get through those hurdles then the guitar sustain starts to shine.
 
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