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Lost with Electric

Stickman12Stickman12 Posts: 504
in Musicians and Gearheads
Ive been reading this forum for some time now and know that there are some very talented musicians out there. To all of you, your input would be appreciated. So Ive been learning guitar now for a little over four years now. 90% of what I play, practice, and learn on is the acoustic guitar. When I get the electric guitar, pedals, and amp out, I feel lost, I mean completely lost. I can pick up the acoustic and strum, fingerpick away. Whether its a cover song or something just made up, it comes more natural. With the electric guitar and pedals, I dont have any direction, foundation, or knowledge of what to do. Ive played around with different pedals, different tones, but havent gotten anything out of playing that makes you feel as if you are progressing. So Im really at a point now where I feel as if I want to abandon most of my electric equipment and stick with just basically the acoustic. My questions are, is this normal? What can I do to transition from what Ive learned on the acoustic to the electric? Should I just stay exclusively with acoustic? Any and all input is appreciated.

Comments

  • 2-feign-reluctance2-feign-reluctance TigerTown, USA Posts: 23,331
    I started out on an electric and then bought an acoustic years later. So I had the opposite issue, but I play both comfortably now. I didn't get into pedals until later. It may be you are biting off more than you can chew trying to get into tones, etc. Who knows. You also may just love acoustic more. There are artists that just prefer it and stay exclusive to it. You go with what feels right for you and follow that feeling. Maybe keep your electric equipment though. Just in case...
    www.cluthelee.com
  • Stickman12Stickman12 Posts: 504
    any tips on how to make it easier to transition from acoustic to electric?
  • 2-feign-reluctance2-feign-reluctance TigerTown, USA Posts: 23,331
    Stickman12 said:

    any tips on how to make it easier to transition from acoustic to electric?

    Put the acoustic down for a few weeks. Play the electric a lot. Even unplugged. Get a device to exercise your fingers and build up some strength. Maybe stronger fingers won't notice so much. Play without effects when you go through your amp. Explore the tones your amp provides - turn the knobs!!
    www.cluthelee.com
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,289
    2-feign-reluctance said:

    Stickman12 said:

    any tips on how to make it easier to transition from acoustic to electric?

    Put the acoustic down for a few weeks. Play the electric a lot. Even unplugged. Get a device to exercise your fingers and build up some strength. Maybe stronger fingers won't notice so much. Play without effects when you go through your amp. Explore the tones your amp provides - turn the knobs!!
    2-feign's suggestions (here and above) are excellent advice- leaving the pedals for later and just playing the electric only for a while. Even after decades of playing, if I find myself grabbing one of my acoustics almost exclusively and I haven't played an electric in a while, it feels a bit awkward until I've put in a few days plugging in. It just takes some time to get the feel and once that comes you'll be more comfortable tweaking the sound with you guitar switches, amp and pedals.
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  • PJammer4lifePJammer4life Los Angeles Posts: 2,649
    The electric guitar sustains notes longer, so playing with a backing drum track or drum machine helps immensely. You get the grrrrr of the electric but can work on timing it and controlling it, so it's not just loud noise. Scratches also are more key for timing with electric when you start out.
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  • xtremehardy388xtremehardy388 Posts: 2,759
    I learned on electric. It was easier to play BUT easier to hide mistakes. When I started acoustic, I needed to build up finger strength and clean up all of my chord transition mistakes.
    Grand Rapids '04, Detroit '06
    JEFF HARDY AND JEFF AMENT USED TO LOOK THE SAME
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