If a guy wanted unplugged acoustics on an electric...

[sully]

Just curious, for you that have built many different guitars. I do a lot of practicing after kids go to bed, so I play unplugged a good bit.

Some guitars I have played seem to sound better than others unplugged. In your experience, would the reason for this be primarily the wood used? I know, the whole which wood is better topic is impossible to emperically define.

In my attempts to learn as much as I can before I purchase a custom, I ask myself these types of little questions. While I would like to make a purchase that I don't regret a year later, and obviously want to get something that sounds good to my ears, I wonder about the unplugged nature. I would love to have something that has good sound unplugged. It is always going to be muted compared to a real acoustic, but that is exactly what I want. But some sound really dead compared to others when unplugged.

Maybe there are some common combinations that those here have found that are noticably different when played unplugged, and also might produce a good plugged in sound as well.

I realize many here have answered a ton of such questions. The truth is for those of us who have just begun our journey, the best information comes from those who have already been doing this for some time. I apologize if some of my questions are so noobish. When looking at custom parts, especially warmoth, this is the best resource available.

 

[Johnny]

I really am not the right person to answer; however, I'm going to anyway.  I suspect wood does affect the tone of an unplugged guitar and I wouldn't know which would sound better or worse.  But, the one thing that comes to mind that I think would help would be having a chambered/hollow body.  It seems logical to me that having a space for the sound to resonate in would help, but this is really just simple reasoning and nothing I can back up.  Seems like an f-hole would also help.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Are we talking "sounding better" or "more volume"?

Because IMO the two doesn't necessarily combine.

If it "just" getting the loudest acoustic guitar I'll go chambered/hollowbody. Or just with top route/pickguard instead of rear route.

 

[sully]

That is a good question. I had not thought about it really. I guess it is which is loudest, although more resonation might actually be what the ears pick up as more volume because it lasts longer?

My thoughts were just that if certain hardware/wood combinations made unplugged playing more "noticable" and the plugged in sound was fine, I would rather have one that I could play unplugged and "hear well" than one that was "very soft". Don't get me wrong, I know this isn't an acoutic. Its just a question I was trying to find an answer for, and really don't see an answer for.

Probably another one of my wierd questions that don't have an answer

 

[sully]

I understand how the hollow/chamber would produce more unplugged sound.

How does a top route/pickguard do the same? Because of the cavity that exists under the pickguard?

Funny, I would have thought that a good resonating body would have more resonance with more wood...

 

[vox_rox]

Interesting question. I, too play unplugged often late at night, but it was more to get some scales and arppegios under my belt, never thought about the "tone" so much.

I have two electrics in the house right now, one Michael Kelly Patriot (Les Paul copy) made of mahogany, and a Reverend Warhawk made of korina. The LP copy sounds dull and flat unplugged, but the Reverend has more volume and quite a pleasing tone. Don't forget thought that control cavities and body shape/size/mass on both are very different, and I think those factors would be more important than the wood.

Or not. What the hell do I know?

Peace,
Pierre

 

[Tonar8352]

I have found that most great electric guitars sound great unplugged no matter what the type of guitar it is. Some sound brighter some darker depending on many variables but a great guitar rings and sustains unplugged.

If you look at this picture of my guitars and were asked to pick the electric that is loudest unplugged I think most would guess the 1959 Gibson ES350T but it is not. I played it unplugged last night after playing the rosewood board Strat and the Strat was louder. Plugged in they are two totally different animals but unplugged there is a slight difference. I think the bottom line is to make a guitar that you love having in your hands and it will bring hours of enjoyment both plunged in or unplugged.

 

[sully]

Hmm.

Perhaps I should rephrase my question.

I don't want to purchase a custom guitar in order to get a "louder" unplugged sound. And I understand that some will be louder than others.. whether that translates to more resonance or a better tone really doesn't matter.

I am just wondering, as I try to educate myself on what I will order, is there a common ground that "tends to produce" louder unplugged sounds.

I realize that at some point I am just going to have to get what I think I want. My goal is not to be able to say that wood X and wood Z will give me exactly what I want. I see now that is just not going to happen. But rather, it would be nice to be able to know that "in general, from many others experiences, wood X and wood Z is considered to have good lows, which I like, but also that wood X and wood Z have been found, according to those who have them, to be perceptively louder when unplugged".

None of this is going to get me to the "I will use wood X and wood Z to get exactly what I want" but all of it can be used to develop a better overall picture I believe. This is, for me, a journey into areas I have never gone. Wood for staining or wood for refinishing, or wood for strength, wood for moisture or wood for looks - this is what I am used to. Wood for sound? As there is no possible way to know "for sure" what you will get, I try to think of many different facets, and learn how things "might" work. I should think there would be some "commonalities" in things of this nature, which seems to be how all of my questions have been leaning  :-\

Thank you for the feedback btw.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

How does a top route/pickguard do the same? Because of the cavity that exists under the pickguard?

Can't say. It was just a quick comparison between my top routed vs rear routed guitars. The top routed/w pickguards seems louder.

The loudest being a swamp ash strat - hardtail - with wenge/wenge neck.

The "better" sound is coming from a basswood rear route - hardtail - goncalo alvez/pau ferro neck.

But off course it is not much to base statistics on 

 

[Cagey]

Hmm. Perhaps I should rephrase my question.

I don't want to purchase a custom guitar in order to get a "louder" unplugged sound. And I understand that some will be louder than others.. whether that translates to more resonance or a better tone really doesn't matter.

I am just wondering, as I try to educate myself on what I will order, is there a common ground that "tends to produce" louder unplugged sounds.

It's tough to say. I have a hollow Mahogany Tele here that's both loud and articulate, which was totally unexpected. I mean, it's dramatic. People pick it up, strum a chord, and say WTF? I also have a Gibson SG-style Melody Maker with a Maple body that's as dead as any possum unlucky enough to live within a mile of a rolling possum flattening machine. Also unexpected. I've got nearly a dozen other bodies that are solid or chambered and made of a wide variety of woods, and if you didn't know them there'd be no predicting what you'd get picking one up.

Buy and assemble what you want, then get a headphone amp/sfx box to play it through when you wanna romp and stomp in the middle of the night. Those things often sound best in stereo, but if you get a mono headset with only one earpiece, they're actually easier to live with.

​

It was for me, anyway. I didn't like being cut off from the rest of the house when I had headphones on.

 

[sully]

I guess I was hoping there might be some common themes in what produced more pronounced unplugged playing, as I do a good bit of it. It seems I must resign myself to the fact that when it comes to wood and sound, my rather anal and exact nature is not going to be satisfied. Maybe the best way to look at it is that I will always be suprised :icon_biggrin:

I have been building amps and effects pedals already. I was going to try my had at a cmoy amp, basically to do exactly as you describe. I have some 1/2w amps I built already that I can and have used, but they are not stereo. Sounds like this might be the only way to get what I want if whatever I order is "lackluster" in the unplugged department.

Now if only I could find a money tree so I could buy one of everything, that would make thngs easier lol.

 

[DustyCat]

Hey once a noob, always a noob  :icon_thumright:

I noticed a couple quasi-contradictory points in your question: Best sounding vs. Practicing while kids are asleep.

Best sound will always be subjective and vary from case to case.

I practice a lot unplugged too, and lately have been on a semi-hollow body kick. I have a (stock) Fender Thinline reissue (2010 I believe with the Wide Range Pickups) Laminated Maple neck with Swamp Ash body. I also recently summoned a Warmoth Canary/GA neck with a Maple/Mahogany VIP body. Both have a single "f" hole.

Doesn't mean they sound "better" per say versus my solid bodies, but they might be more interesting to me because of my inexperience. But even to my ears the Tele with Swamp Ash has a noticebly different sound than the VIP. I would say that the two guitars being very similar in shape (although one is boxy and the other is contoured) that the wood shapes the tone tremendously.

The Tele has a noticebly "Chirping" nature. The higher up on the neck I play, the higher up I want to go! The notes in the upper register just seem to soar. Run out of 21 frets REAL fast. Harmonics galore. I definitely envision beavers and lumberjacks while I'm playing. If you have ever seen the Lumberjack championship on ESPN where they have to cut down trees real fast and wood chips are just flying away with every swing of the axe you might know what I mean. Lower register however may sound a bit grilled, or fried. Burgers "Well done"

As I have only had the VIP for nary 1/3 year I am still tuning into her sound. However I definitely get the impression of wrapping myself with a big warm blanket because the sound is much fuller. More midrange and bottom end for sure. I have to be very careful with the notes in the higher register. But the guitar itself feels silkier and much smoother. More of a complete wall of sound guitar rather than a "Cutting through the mix." Also feels and sounds "juicier." I think the size of the frets may also have an effect on the sound with the 6100's. I'm not sure exactly how to translate into words.

Long story short, when I play my tele (which needs a new scalloped neck with wider nut) it sounds like I'm playing my tele. But with my VIP, it sounds more like I'm playing my guitar.

But if you don't want to wake the kids with a "Grand Symphony" hollow body, much less a semi-hollow, you might think about sticking to a solid body. Maybe even pursue the cooler/mellower sound of nylon strings instead of the bite of steel. And if you don't want to experiement with different wood choices, you really cannot go wrong with anything Warmoth has to offer. Even my "middle of the road" Alder Strat (first Warmoth combo) with maple neck just felt more like a "Man's Guitar."

Actually, I tried playing my very first Fender Squire Strat for the first time in ages the other day and it felt like a toy. Action way too low, frets practically filed down to the nub. Standard nut width for its day...it still sounded okay with the DG-20's but just not very "pro." 

It's all subjective though, I mean even what I said here might change cause my ears keep like to play tricks on me!  :tard:

 

[sully]

Thanks for the reply.

Its not that I'm after a certain sound unplugged really. Its just that I've noticed some guitars are louder or sustain more unplugged - which for me would be better than a very muffled or muddy or quiet sound, simply because I can hear the guitar better without having to amp up or use a headphone.

I am more concerned that the woods I choose are not too bright overall when powered. I was hoping the "sound" of an unplugged guitar, as I am describing it, could be quantified by others, and there would be a repeating combination that yielded "OK" and "better than OK".

Something along the lines of 6 of 8 say alder body seems a little quiet, while 5 of 8 say mahagony body seems louder or fuller to them - unplugged. This way when I am choosing which wood I want to go with, the whole "unplugged" issue might be included, if possible.

Square pegs and round holes here it seems when it comes to quantifying "sound".

 

[Jumble Jumble]

If your guitar sounds a little too bright when it's plugged in, don't worry. You can try the following:

Turn the tone down on the guitar
Change the EQ on the amp
Swap out the pickups

If none of that gets you where you want, there's something weird going on.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

My baritone tele is the loudest of my solidbodies, but certainly not the brightest.
I've been fortunate, all of my current solidbodies are very resonant, but they all have very different tones which each serve a specific purpose, ie; the right tool for the job.

 

[Steve_Karl]

I play unplugged 98% of the time and because of that my next build ( as is my first and third build ) will be mahogany.
My second is black korina and isn't as open sounding as my mahogany bodies, even though it is very nice.
The openness on the mahogany is what I like when playing unplugged.