Just me or is it age, laziness, or possible just less complicated?

[Gilpy]

I do many rock, country and r&b gigs and for them, I plug in and practice loud.
I only play jazz guitar at home and almost always acoustic. That’s the sound that attracted me to the guitar in the first place. It helps to have a good archtop guitar, like my Rancourt, that was specifically designed for its acoustic sound.

[m_d]

I think that approach is 100 per cent legit. It used to be the traditional approach. Unplugged jazz guitar can sound extremely beautiful, but such a sound is not easy to achieve. An amp lets you get away more easily with average right hand technique IMO.

[rpjazzguitar]

I often practice with an unplugged solidbody, but I don't recommend it.

Doing it this way allows you to gloss over problems with clearly articulating notes and with damping unwanted sounds. All problems I deal with.

If you want your technique to sound crystal clear, it would be better to follow Warren Nunes' advice to practice with your amp turned up pretty loud.

[2bornot2bop]

I plug in almost 100% of the time. But at low volume. Because, my favorite sound is the stereo mix between the acoustic archtop and the luscious sound of the Twin Reverb.
The “almost 100%” of time is because when I put new TI12’s on, I really like the acoustic sound of my L5’s with new TI’s.
JD

If I played like you I’d play plugged in 100% of the time too, if only simply to hear how great I sound!

[Irishmuso]

I find that unless I have an upcoming gig where I need to use particular sounds e.g. a rock musical such as 'Rent', I don't find any disadvantage in practising and playing on an archtop without an amp. In fact, on jazz gigs, I find that I seem - to my ears - to be more fluent as a result of not having relied on any assistance from an amp. I'm in a minority of one locally however. I'm also quite lazy and over the years have dispensed with effects unless absolutely needed for a particular gig. Guitar, amp, lead if possible.

[Jim Soloway]

I don't like playing an electric guitar unplugged. Playing at home, I usually play through an amp sim on my computer and listen on my monitors and I have a nice little Fender headphone amp for the times that I want to play quietly. Both of those give me a feel and sound that's similar to playing through my amp.

[RobbieAG]

I almost always practice plugged into an amp (Roland Cube 60 or Fender Champion 40) through headphones. Most of my practicing is later in the evening before bed so I don't want to disturb anyone.