The Steel Guitar Forum

Do you practice without turning on your amp...and when you do turn it on your attack is all mess up?

Yes. No.

It doesn't mess up your attack, it improves it.

If it is messing up your attack then I would say it's your use of the volume pedal that's causing it.

It doesn't mess up your attack, it improves it.

Agree.

Conversely, players who are fine with an amp but can't play without one seem to either rely on a volume pedal or compressor (very common ailment in the 6-string world) too much.

Excuse my lack of knowledge on this one folks but i have not heard of this method of practice without the amp....what are the advantages , how does it work ?

Practicing without an amp helps you learn to pick harder. Many people are scared by the sound of their amp, and they approach the strings too timidly.

Also, it helps to develop the aspects of sustain that come from the hands.

Playing dobro does the same thing.

To me, the big advantage is that one is forced to listen directly to the thing that produces the actual sounds - the fingers/picks on the strings interacting with the guitar itself. It's just another reference point. I have always spent significant time practicing electric guitar unamplified, and I can usually tell whether or not I'm going to like a new guitar's sound by playing unamplified - I can usually 'feel' it. It opens up ones senses to something different. I want to get to where I can feel that same thing on steel - not there yet.

The other obvious advantage is that you can do it 24 x 7 without bugging anybody.

Of course, it's also important to practice amplified. To me, mo' practice is mo' betta'.

I wish I could get a sound out of my amp that I like as much as without it.

Rick

I agree. I like the sound I get from my unamplified steel, but as soon as I add the amp to the mix I'm disappointed with what I hear. Also, my attack becomes intimidated and not as robust as it is with the unamplified approach...bumber!

My reply........same as Gary C......Yes, No

There is surely some value to practicing some without an amp, or volume pedal, or vibrato, or picks, etc., as long as it is not habitually the only way you practice. These are nice exercises to help gain control of different aspects of playing. But seems like most of your practicing should be exactly the way you intend to play live.

I practice with my amp on, but then the wife says shut up and I practice with it off !

I think practicing sans an amp can give you a "reality check" on your basic playing skills. Especially if you use effects in your signal path. But, I also think that alot of tonal nuances go unheard with out the aid of a good quality amp. These tonal nuances are just as important when practicing. I think practicing with just a good clean-sounding amp (no effects or even a volume pedal) is more effective in developing a good picking technique. Rather than with just the guitar - no amp.

b0b mentioned earlier, practicing without an amp may help you to pick with a more aggressive attack. However, I'm not too sure a highly aggressive attack is the answer in all picking situations. IMO, right-hand practicing to ensure the picks attack the strings at a proper angle (squarely, not on the edge) is of primary importance. How aggressively you pick the strings is subject to how you want to play. In some cases a very aggressive picking style lends itself to the music. In other cases it doesn't. For example, would one pick "Farewell Party" with the same aggressive pick attack as "Orange Blossum Special"? Both require a proper angle on the picks to get good tone, but not necessarily the same level of picking aggression. I would compare this picking issue to strumming a standard guitar, or playing the piano. You can play all three aggressively or not and sound good. It all depends on what a song may call for.

Just my oppinion....

Keep on pickin'!
Glenn

But seems like most of your practicing should be exactly the way you intend to play live.

It's really impractical for 99% of the players to practice exactly like they play live. There's no way most...unless they live in some remote area or have a soundproofed studio at their house...can practice at gig volume, and the benefit really isn't there anyway - without a band, you have no way of knowing how you would blend...or cut though.

A mix of amplified and unamplified playing seems the best balance to me. Amplified, even at low volume, helps you learn how to coax the best tone out based on the electronics of your rig. And unamplified practice helps tremendously in developing good right-hand control, with the added benefit of taking volume pedal-pumping out of the equation altogether. It's also a tremendous way to go for players who use compressors when laying amplified - compressors can make you really lazy with your right hand and cause you to develop a ton of bad picking habits. Unamplified practice helps control over-reliance on outboard gear.

Well, of course you usually can't play gig volume at home. Your amp should be turned down appropriately, but your picking should be just as hard, and your volume pedal should be in the same place. Playing with headphones helps.

There is something to be said for a very steady hard picking action, with volume being controlled mostly by the volume pedal. This gives the maximum tone and sustain from the strings. There is a whole different sound to playing quietly by picking lightly, and playing quietly by picking hard and backing off the volume pedal. There is a time and place for both. It is a very different technique from picking guitar, Dobro, or lap steel with no volume pedal.

I would think the answer is play thru one of those inexpensive battery powered head phone amps !! Play as loud as you want with all effects and pedals and only to your own ears !! ?? You won't bother your wife or that mean guy upstairs !! My 2 cents worth !!

This is a good practice!
Like others have said, it allows you to develop your picking technique; your slanting control, etc.

Then, if you get really PO'd at what you've just done, you can really STRUM THOSE STRINGS or bang your bar or all at the same time, without blowing out the cone in your amp or the windows throughout the house.

Definite advantages.

As for headphones, I found that the cheap guitar headphone amps are not good for steel - not enough clean headroom. I tried using headphones with my psg plugged into a small mixer - harsh and too much treble. The I discovered I could run the psg through a POD XT with the Twin Reverb and 15" speaker models, then into the mixer - fantastic steel headphone tone. For playing along, my CD player goes directly into the mixer and is unaffected by the POD modeling.

Sure have. My wife goes out of her mind when I am practicing scales for too long and/or trying new and wonderful things on my machine.

She is usually the one who unplugs the amp on my behalf.

I only use the amp at band practice, love the sound and feel of no amp when I practice alone on all of my electric instruments.

I find that playing through the amp is the best because your technique has to be good to deal with string noise, etc. However, there's times when you can't use your amp at home, for a variety of reasons. Then, practicing any way you can is way preferable to not practicing at all. I have a little 4 inch battery fake amp, that doesn't give me enough headroom, but at least i can hear a signal for the times I don't want to turn on the amp.

Bob Sloan How about a pocket rockit! Nice and quiet. with headset on or off. Keeps the wife happy to.

David Doggett wrote:As for headphones, I found that the cheap guitar headphone amps are not good for steel - not enough clean headroom. I tried using headphones with my psg plugged into a small mixer - harsh and too much treble. The I discovered I could run the psg through a POD XT with the Twin Reverb and 15" speaker models, then into the mixer - fantastic steel headphone tone. For playing along, my CD player goes directly into the mixer and is unaffected by the POD modeling.

I practice in my office with a setup similar to David's - steel into DI box into small Alesis mixer (has FX built in), then CD or iPod/MP3 player into the mixer, headphones out. To work at picking harder, I turn myself down in the mix and then play hard enough to hear myself. Works for me.