Playing your Archtop unplugged

**Mark Kleinhaut** · 07-17-2015, 06:51 PM

Originally Posted by Joe DeNisco

Mark, I've told you this already in the past but you can put strings on a pile of dog poop and make it sound good.
Your Halfling is one of the best sounding archtops I've personally ever played. One day I'll own one. Unfortunately, I never played on plugged in. It has such a unique natural sound, I don't think you can make it sound better plugged in. It really is that good.
Joe ..

Thanks Joe, lost me a little on the dig poop reference, but the compliments are Appreciated!

**mr. beaumont** · 07-17-2015, 06:59 PM

Originally Posted by Chazmo

I play my Godin 5th Avenues unplugged a lot because they have great acoustic properties, even though they are laminated.

Agreed. For such a small laminate box, they punch waaaay above their weight.

My heritage 575 has a pleasant acoustic sound, but its quite quiet.

My old Kay is brash and unapologetic. Its as loud as any flattop, but its not nuanced like a nice archtop.

I'll need a nice acoustic archtop someday. Till then, its summer! 8 weeks of noon beer and my Taylor!

**mrcee** · 07-17-2015, 07:32 PM

Originally Posted by Cunamara

I play my archtop unplugged most of the time when practicing. There was a long stretch when I was struggling to get an amplified sound I liked (since the sound in my head was basically an ES-175 and I own a carvetop with floater, it took a long negotiation between me and my equipment to get a sound I dug). Now that I've got that settled, I rarely plug the archtop in when practicing. My guitar has a really nice acoustic sound and I live sitting on my front porch and playing acoustically in the evenings after work.

Since putting my jazz Tele together, I have been plugging in on a daily basis to practice and get the sound dialed in. If you have a solidbody guitar you pretty much need to plug in to practice.

I agree completely that you need to plug in a solid body but it seems that there is some value to practicing with one unplugged sometimes to really hear what the natural acoustic properties of the instrument are. I've heard that when Buddy Holly was recorded they isolated him in a room and close miked the Strat as well as the amp which was in a separate room. It seemed to work. His guitar had a great tone. This has probably been done more than once. I think I may have tried it myself years ago.

**Dennis D** · 07-17-2015, 09:51 PM

Originally Posted by Cunamara

I play my archtop unplugged most of the time when practicing. There was a long stretch when I was struggling to get an amplified sound I liked (since the sound in my head was basically an ES-175 and I own a carvetop with floater, it took a long negotiation between me and my equipment to get a sound I dug). Now that I've got that settled, I rarely plug the archtop in when practicing.

FWIW, once I asked a pro at a gig if he plugged in his archtop when he practiced.

His response: " Always - - I play out plugged in, so I practice plugged in. "

**mr. beaumont** · 07-17-2015, 09:56 PM

Wise words. But there's also this thing called "enjoyment."

And I've said forever...people play jazz too damn loud anyway.

**DanTheMan** · 07-18-2015, 05:47 PM

When I play plugged I have a tendency to always play with the settings, changing channels etc. trying to optimize my tone. By playing mostly acoustic it is all in the technique and choice of the right pick. I end-up having more fun that way and get a better tone also. For me I get the best tone plugged if I practice mostly acoustic.

Daniel

**Mark Kleinhaut** · 07-18-2015, 09:01 PM

I love playing softly. It's the best!!

**Jimmy Mack** · 07-19-2015, 10:10 PM

[QUOTE=Sam Sherry;550555]To top it off, most players set their personal sonic goal based on "the sound xxx got on the yyy record, man." As a skilled producer you know that's another impossibility -- that yyy sound literally never existed in real time even in the studio. It's a product of what came out of the amp, fed into a particular mic sitting impossibly close to a particular point on the speaker, processed in myriad ways.

It's fundamentally beyond our control. Mostly, all we can do is shrug and say, "That sounded ok to me. What do you think?"

So what's the harm in striving to get THAT yyy tone??? It is possible more often than not if you have a similar rig.
There is enjoyment to be had in searching for it. And when you find it..... you have come a long way, with rewards awaiting.

**Mark Kleinhaut** · 07-20-2015, 07:46 AM

Too loud

**Jimmy Mack** · 07-20-2015, 08:39 AM

One of my quirks is that I love the feel, and response of electric guitars when played unplugged. With even a semi-hollow body guitar, there is a richness and vibration I dig. The challenge , and it is difficult, is to reclaim those qualities when plugged in. P90 pickups help get me there. Humbuckers and Fender style single coils seem to have their own voice in reproducing the notes, and don't really get me there with them

**gspirro1** · 07-20-2015, 12:29 PM

My D'Aquisto Solo is a frustrating guitar in some respects! It has a sweet tone acoustically, but because of the sound hole placement, I don't get the full acoustic dimension unless I play it classical style, resting on my left leg. But I've heard it played from the listener's perspective, and really like the tone. I've not been successful finding an archtop transducer to get an acceptable amplified tone, though.

**Mark Kleinhaut** · 07-20-2015, 03:51 PM

I'm finding a simple Humbucker floater (Kent Armstrong)!dies a great job amplifying my halfling. Lots of vids on my YouTube channel demonstrate this. Thanks in advance for visiting

**jzucker** · 07-20-2015, 03:59 PM

Originally Posted by Mark Kleinhaut

Does your axe need an amp to sound good or can it make a good tone acoustically? Here's mine au natural...

Great to see you here Mark.

**entresz** · 07-20-2015, 10:20 PM

With my floating pickup archtop guitars I tend to practice acoustically about half of the time. I prefer the sound of the guitar plugged in, particularly for practising lead/single line things. I do really enjoy practising my rhythm guitar on acoustic guitars though- I usually use my 1958 Hofner Senator for that as it has a very 'barky' kind of sound that suits that style. There's a certain directness in feel when playing an acoustic that doesn't seem to exist once plugged into an amp. I think practising both amplified and unamplified is important overall.

**jzucker** · 07-21-2015, 01:43 PM

Originally Posted by joe2758

I was just going to post almost the exact same thing.

my 175 sounds great acoustically. And I have played a number of guitar duo and trio gigs where the other player(s) have said how great the acoustic sound of my 175 is...

**mr. beaumont** · 07-21-2015, 01:47 PM

Interestingly enough, i find 175's very hit or miss on acoustic tone, and the ones i've played that sounded better unplugged sounded better plugged in, too.Just my experience.

**jzucker** · 07-21-2015, 02:06 PM

I briefly owned a '57 175 and the acoustic tone was incredible. Much better than anything made since the mid '60s.

**entresz** · 07-21-2015, 06:13 PM

I think the earlier ES175s were built a bit lighter too, that would have a lot to do with a better acoustic sound. I've played a couple newer ES175s that were very heavy guitars, and sounded very dead (not in a good way) both amplified and unamplified.

**Jimmy Mack** · 07-21-2015, 07:28 PM

Wow, they are all different - aren't they. I have to say that the recent Epiphone ES175's I've played (maybe 6) while not acoustically great, are fantastic thru Fender amps (at my local GC's). Made me question owning my L5, when I got fabulous "WES" tones and great "blues-rock" tone dripping. I thought I was dreaming, so I went back to repeat the experience, and sure enough, they do sound just as good the second time around. Read something about them being "Vintage voiced" ---- well they got me going! Could be the Gibson Classic 57's or the lighter weight woods they've used.

Now they are on sale. Sheesh....what color do I want?

**Mark Kleinhaut** · 07-22-2015, 02:47 PM

Thanks to everyone who responded to this thread. Don't forget to check out the video I started it with. Thanks!

**rickthescot** · 07-25-2015, 09:36 PM

I bought my Ibanez AG75 so I would have the ability to play unplugged without going to a full acoustic. Love the tone when sitting on the porch or the couch any time of day or night. Plugged in I tend to spend more time messing with settings.

**kid335** · 07-25-2015, 11:13 PM

Originally Posted by Mark Kleinhaut

Thanks to everyone who responded to this thread. Don't forget to check out the video I started it with. Thanks!

Bravo Sir, very inspiring!

**John A.** · 07-27-2015, 02:32 PM

I'm currently archtopless, but I used to play my archtop (a humble but proud Samick HF 650) unplugged quite a bit, mostly out of necessity (apartment living ...). I sold it and the Les Paul I also had because I picked up a D'Angelico semi-hollow, which covered all the electric bases of both of these, and I really don't have room for a lot of guitars (according to my wife, anyway). I've definitely had second thoughts about this, mainly because of its acoustic properties. It didn't have the volume or timbral richness of a carved top, but it was distinctly acoustic. I have a dreadnought and a classical for unplugged playing, but around the house they're both pretty loud, and the archtop filled a quiet-but-not-too-quiet home-practicing niche quite well. My semi, which has a trapeze tailpiece and a spruce top, has a surprisingly loud acoustic sound; it's much louder than stop-tail 335. But it still sounds like an unplugged electric guitar.

John