-
Do you practice with an amp or prefer not to?
-
12-28-2015 08:09 AM
-
Yes of course, practice how you intend to perform.
-
In that case, have you considered filling your practice room with drunken strangers talking loudly? Or a sound engineer who seems to be obsessed with turning everything up REALLY LOUD? :-)
Just out of interest, what sort of volume level would you advise?
I used to practice without an amp all the time. Now I kind of see the value of practicing with one. The main thing, as I see it, is muting and consistency of tone.
As I often practice late at night, however, I am considering a headphone amp.Last edited by christianm77; 12-28-2015 at 08:46 AM.
-
I have started practicing way more with the amp because when I play acoustically, flaws in my technique, buzzing, etc. seem to be enveloped in the "acoustic vibe" and don't sound so bad; but when they come through the amp, wow do I sound horrible. So I have started mixing the two. I work out new or problematic stuff without the amp, but as I refine things I tend to go to the amp. Not at performance volume, but enough to mimic a decent amount of sound pressure and hear all my mistakes.
-
I am a "bedroom" player, and I have spent 99.9% of my time playing without an amp for the past 9 years. I have to steal moments when I can and playing with my amp attracts my young kids every time and I don't want to turn them away.
Consequently, I find that when I use an amp, I have to get adjusted to the millisecond time delay some amps have as well as muting and ghost notes that I was not aware that I was generating.
A benefit I think I have is that my picking is strong and I purposefully pick a little softer when playing with an amp since I don't really need to pick hard to be able to hear the sound.
(In the past month, I have started using the amp. The kids are finding other interests besides hanging with Dad and dancing to his guitar playing or plucking the strings. Don't know if that is good or bad...)
-
James Chirillo taught me to practice without an amp. I could hear my mistakes more clearly that way.
There are benefits to both as has been stated.
-
If your playing at home for yourself, practice however you want.
If you intend to play with others and you'll be amplified, it's a good idea to practice plugged in. It's a different sound, and if it's one you're not used to, it can cause problems when you're actually in a playing situation.
-
I had to buy my own amp to contend with the feedback issues of my guitar. Now, that's solved.
Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
My problem is that by DVJazz is still too dark.
If one more person compares me to Pat Metheny... I think I will take a sledge hammer to their guitar. Yeah... it's that bad!
Heh heh. Is replacing the speaker to an amp really hard? I was thinking of swapping the DVMark speaker with a Celestian speaker. I want that chime that Johnny Smith gets with his axe. I got close without an amp, but amplified I "sound like Pat Metheny"
Grrr, gets me mad tight just thinking about the comparison.
I listen to Howard Alden, Bucky P, Jim Hall, JS, Chuck Wayne, Joe Puma, CC, Kenny Burrell, Ed Bickert, Gilad Hekselman, Julian Lage, Kurt Rosenwinkie, Lionel Loueke, and Jimmy Raney.
Where do you see Pat Metheny on that list? I don't want him or his hair on my list of guitarists, so why the heck does everyone say I sound like him. At this point, that's more of a put down than a compliment. Sorry, gotta call it like it is.
I get so angry with the Pat comparisons that even those nice waitresses and eggs like pillows at Lou Mitchells can't even make me happy. Oyyyyyyy Veyyyyy
Last edited by Irez87; 12-28-2015 at 12:28 PM.
-
I'm sure most folks intend it as a compliment.
Buy a fender voiced preamp and be happy.
-
Yeah I wouldn't mind getting compared to Pat, and when I first picked up jazz guitar in the early 80's that's the sound I was going for.
Now I like a more Kenny Burrell/Grant Green thing.
I think the point is to make with your instrument the sounds you hear in your head. If you can do that without an amp, great. If not, plug in and turn it up. To be honest I couldn't appreciate a guitarist who can't get a decent sound unplugged.
I practice (too little unfortunately) 80% of the time with an amp to get that tone I am looking for. I do have a couple of guitars with great acoustic tone (Godin 5th Avenue and Harmony Brilliant Cutaway), also a nylon string, that I pick and play regularly just for a different feel and sound.
-
So I can use the fender voiced preamp with my DVMark? I have a HotRodDeluxe, but it won't take my guitar at performance volume levels. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
I wanted to get an AER, but they are too damn expensive. Even with a new speaker, that DV would be cheaper than an AER
-
That's the thing, I am not going for Pat's sound. I don't even like his sound, it's way way too dark for my tastes, darker than Jim Hall. And his 80s sound... Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
Listen, I think he is a creative genius in his own right...
But, I just don't like what he does musically and that's fine cause I gotta sculpt my own sound.
Thing is, he ain't part of the clay that I'm sculpting with.
Those that I mentioned, they are. Along with Dex, Farmer, Coltrane, Miles.
Hell, to be honest, I dig what Sco and Frisell are doing a hell of a lot more than Metheny. I saw Metheny live and it didn't do anything for me. Frisell blew my mind. Sco made me feel dirty, good dirty (is that such a thing?) Bernstein made me wanna get up and dance in a bar too small to do any dancing (Smoke).
Bucky P can swing the hair right off of Pat's head, with a smile the size of Canada, and that's fact.
Pat... he gets other people going an that's cool. As the song goes:
Last edited by Irez87; 12-28-2015 at 01:47 PM.
-
My teacher say practice how you play. When I make a video my teacher can hear if I have been practicing without my amp my attack changes, because you play harder to hear yourself. Then there's Don Mock who used to practice all the time with big stone picks on a Ovation nylon string guitar, then switch to his Les Paul for non-practice playing. Don called it his weighted bat approach, that after the nylon string and heavy stone pick both forced him to over rotate his wrist and have to chase the nylon string around that once back on his Les Paul things were easy.
I think it relates in one of Bruce Forman's videos he is talking picking and technique and he you need to let the amp work for you especially for Bebop playing. To get that more legato flowing lines like a sax you want the amp up so your picking can do more for dynamics and not choke off notes.
Last to play fast my teacher and other say you have to play relaxed and lightly which again is letting the amp work for you. Practicing without a pick you're going dig in more to hear yourself. I'd say you want to practice without an amp grab your acoustic it will also bring in the Don Mock weighted bat aspect too.
-
Why the hell would you want an AER, when most of the tone choices you list are tube sounds? Originally Posted by Irez87
AER's are totally overrated for electric guitar sounds, imho.
Go on amazon and spend 30 bucks on a Joyo American sound (or spend a little more on a tech 21 blonde)
Try that before doing anything drastic.
-
I like to vary my practice gear and environment, switching guitars, amps (or ampless), room acoustics, and with or without background distractions. It keeps the practice routine fresh for me. By changing instruments or environments I sometimes discover new things. It also makes me feel more adaptable to a variety of performing situations.
-
I really like the way my Fender Tele sounds through an AER Alpha. I don't like the sound of my other electrics through it. I think it suits good quality single coils.... The American Sound is pretty good with my humbucker guitars, but with the Tele I don't bother... Definitely a useful bit of kit for $30.
Strange but true.
TBH the Alpha does for quiet gigs but it gets a bit honky when the going gets tough. The Compact 60 is better, but heavier, and the killer feature of the Alpha is that it is very portable. The DV Mark I haven't tried.
I find it hard to hear my mistakes when I play acoustic. But then if I play acoustic I will concentrate on projection. For a long time I held out, but I think having a radically consciously different technique for electric and acoustic will help me separate them out.
Now the thing I find really tough is practicing how my Macceferri will respond when plugged into my AER and cranked. It's a completely different animal to the instrument I practice acoustic. TBH it's horrible, but I play some loud gigs on it. It's slightly better through an active PA speaker....
That said, playing band loud on a Tele is a different thing too...
Some things seem to be a matter for the bandstand....
-
Oh well, they are probably trying to be nice. Originally Posted by Irez87
FWIW I don't think you sound like Pat Metheny. But you do have a very smooth, even tone.
Some people also have limited reference points. People say I play like Django, which is nice (and also untrue haha), but I think that's inevitable when you play swing music on a Maccaferri. They probably don't think I sound like Django when I play my Tele or my Archtop - although one guy did say he could hear a lot of gypsy jazz language in my Archtop playing...
Someone once said I sounded like Pat Martino before I had heard any of his music. Lovely thing to say, completely meaningless.
These comparisons are often done at a very superficial level. People are just trying to be nice... You can hear it if someone is really trying to copy a player exactly - but when you are trying to let go and do your own thing, people are usually off base... Anyway, there you go...Last edited by christianm77; 12-28-2015 at 03:06 PM.
-
Iilawson-stone's response is almost verbatim a Wes Montgomery interview.
the artists you list vary massively, Rosenwinkel layers and layers of effects to BurrelBurrel no grease.
Changing a a speaker is very simple but the gain can be marginal.
A valve amp will be brighter.
if the soul of the amp is not you it must go to its rightful owner and your search must continue. Go for something different Voxac15. Cheap, not to heavy not too loud and a stunning clean sound at its core.
-
Comparisons to Metheny are mainly because he's the one they all know, don't take it personally or seriously. When I was young and just getting into the pro scene in the after-hours clubs in Philly and Boston, my main influences were Jim Hall, Barney Kessel and Wes. Most of the black jazz fans in those places kept comparing me to Charlie Christian, which was a mystery until I realized that my influences came out of CC, and that's who they knew, being somewhat older folks. Of course, I was very pleased, if somewhat embarrassed, to be compared to the great master, as I would be 50 years later if that were to happen.
-
I always practice with an amp, unless I'm just kind of playing around. Originally Posted by christianm77
Best headphone amp I've found is the Phil Jones Bighead. It doesn't have adjustable reverb, but believe me...the sound is not too dry. They must have built just a touch of verb into the signal, not enough to notice reverb but enough to not sound too dry, and in fact sound really really good.
My Mambo amp has a good headphone out but if the wall power is not super clean, I will get annoying noises and hiss. It's not the amp, it's the power supply in the walls. No such problems with the Bighead since it has 5 hours battery life and/or you can power it by USB or with an iphone charger while you play.
-
I only recent started practicing with an amp. I'd say within the past 5-6 years. It's important, but I preferred being the stealth guitarist around the house. I liked not bothering anybody and practicing anytime I wanted to. But as said you tend to not heartier own mistakes a lot.
-
Just got back from a lesson with Richie Vitale. He really liked my tone, and he didn't hear Pat Metheny at all. I felt like this when he complimented my tone:
Ronjazz, you are probably right. Thing is, I would LOVE for someone to compare me to CC. That's an honor I may never have. But I am turning some heads at jam sessions, so as long as Pat Metheny doesn't mind...
-
12-28-2015, 07:19 PM #23destinytot GuestThe Compact 60-3 is just as portable (it's only 0.3kg/12oz heavier than the Alpha). Originally Posted by christianm77
-
Originally Posted by ronjazz
Amen !!
-
I think I might try out the Joyo at a big box store and then bring my amp down to a small shop that does amp work. I like the sound of the amp, it is full bodied for what it is. However, I just want more room on the treble side to capture the chime I get acoustically. I've finally graduated to the treble side of jazz, and boy is it hard to get that going and still sound full toned and smooth.
Like I said before, my models are Chuck Wayne and Johnny Smith as well as John Williams and David Russell. JS was on to something when he said his role models were Django, CC, and Segovia.
Reply With Quote
Moffa Mithra
Today, 08:31 AM in For Sale