Age and playing more acoustic

[abn556]

A few years back when I was looking a retiring, I thought I would probably have a lot of time to get back into playing acoustics. So I started by getting a 000-18 and a OM-40R thinking I would be good to go with a mahogany and a rosewood acoustic. Then when I actually retired and started getting much more seriously into playing acoustic after 45+ years of primarily being an electric player, I realized that I like acoustic guitars as much as I like electrics and I started buying more acoustics. Now I have 5 acoustics that cover everything except a maple backed acoustic. Meanwhile I have 10 electrics sitting in the music room collecting dust.

So how many of you rotated over to playing acoustic when you got older?

Did you go back to playing electric or are you spending most of your time on acoustics?

[Silly Moustache]

Hi, I took up acoustic guitar in the late '60s because I had been a drummer and was getting tired of the noise levels of he electrics and big black boxes either side of me.

I took up acoustic guitar because I wanted to sing. I never wanted to play electric.

I gigged until 2017 when I started throat cancer and then once I'd "kinda" recovered in 2020, up came the covid era. I only play at my own acoustic music club, and some small "Folk" clubs, make my YouTube videos and teach.

At least with acoustics you can play at home for yourself, but I can't see that you can do this with electric guitars ... can you?

[TheGITM]

I'm sure there are some around these parts that started with electric and transitioned over to acoustic, and some that do both, but I expect that most of us are acoustic players first and foremost... and likely started off that way.

I started with acoustic guitar, and while I have played electric on and off my whole life, the acoustic guitar is my first love and what I have played (and still play) the most.

[mr. beaumont]

I had always played both acoustic and electric, but during the pandemic I found myself playing much more acoustic...and that hasn't really stopped. So for me it wasn't age, it was a year with no gigs/no need to plug in that made me realize how much I enjoy playing acoustic.

[warfrat73]

I've been mostly an acoustic player since my mid 20s... so, not me. Maybe I'll go the other way when I retire.

[Bluenose]

I bought a very nice Fender strat back in the 70's and I have little Yamaha amp that I haven't even plugged in for several years now. I also had a Yamaha APX semi acoustic.

When I retired 10 years ago at age 60, I started buying acoustics. It started slowly and gained momentum. First I bought a 000 Blueridge which I sold shortly there after and then I got a Recording King 000 that I still own. Next was an Eastman Slope I still have and then I bought my first Martin a reimagined D28 which I sold a couple of years ago. I then bought a used Martin OM18A which I was so lucky to have during the pandemic. A few years later I was looking for a 00 MD and ended up buying a 00028 MD, no regrets there. And finally at Christmas I bought a National NRP Tricone.

There's just something about the sound of a live acoustic guitar that really appeals to me and I need another lifetime to learn all the things I'd like to play. Gypsy Jazz, Flamenco, the list is endless really.

[Chriscom]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

Hi, I took up acoustic guitar in the late '60s because I had been a drummer and was getting tired of the noise levels of he electrics and big black boxes either side of me.

I took up acoustic guitar because I wanted to sing. I never wanted to play electric.

I gigged until 2017 when I started throat cancer and then once I'd "kinda" recovered in 2020, up came the covid era. I only play at my own acoustic music club, and some small "Folk" clubs, make my YouTube videos and teach.

At least with acoustics you can play at home for yourself, but I can't see that you can do this with electric guitars ... can you?

A drummer!? Well I never....

Can't think of any reason why electric players can't play for themselves. In fact I've often thought it's an advantage in close quarters, you can either play with a home amp turned way down or bring on the headphones and wail away. I'm an apartment dweller and try to stop strumming my acoustics around 10pm.

[donlyn]

Age and playing more acoustic

Practicing septuagenarian here. Been playing since the 60's, and went 100% acoustic in the mid-80's about 40 years ago and haven't looked back (or plugged in) since.

But I kept my Les Paul just in case.

Kind of like an ex-drinker keeping a sealed bottle around ?

Be well and play well,

Don
.

[rllink]

In the seventies I fashioned myself a folk singer. So it was acoustic. I had a Les Paul for a while. There is just too much stuff involved with playing an electric guitar. I seldom played it. I am not into a lot of stuff. With acoustic guitar all you need is your guitar. That said, I do have a Gretsch hollow body that I use when our group is playing an outdoor event. But I don't have anything to do with the amplification, someone else in the group thinks he is in charge of that. I just plug it in and play. But that is the only time I play it.

[Stratcat77]

I may be in the smaller % of players here who did primarily electric in bands for the first 30+ years. I always owned an acoustic, but it didn't get played much in those years.

Then I turned 50...

I was driving home from a late gig at about 3am, feeling like I'd been ran over by a truck and realized it was time to make a change. The late nights and heavy equipment had become too much to offset the enjoyment. And what I didn't fully realize at the time was that the years of excessive volume had taken it's toil on my hearing as well.

I so wish I'd pursued the acoustic as my primary from the beginning. I never thought I'd enjoy it like I do, but I'll never go back. I love to sing and the setting is so much better when I can now clearly hear my voice and guitar with no competing drums and bass! My gigs are typically much earlier as well. Where I used to commonly get home at 2am or 3am, my gigs now are usually much earlier. The other benefit is that I can now play songs I couldn't get away with when I was in a rock/dance club band. It has been a total win-win for me.

[min7b5]

I sold all my electric gear in 1998 when our first of three children were born. I was 32. In the years prior, I was living in San Francisco and gigging multiple times a week, often going out for dinner with the band at 2 AM… The first time my daughter woke up at 5:30 and my wife left for work, I realized things had to change 😅

To me at the electric guitar was always an ensemble instrument, and at that point it made more sense to do solo instrumental acoustic music. Focusing on that turned out to be a good move. Not only was the typical gig at like 7 PM, but things started to takeoff, and got a record deal a few years later, while, that was still kind of a thing.. Never looked back.

Now days I just don’t relate to the sound of electric guitar at all anymore. I mean, maybe a little bit. We play classic rock on long drives or in the car sometimes..but I can’t imagine noodling on electric guitar by myself in the house anymore, or playing electric guitar in a band or anything.

However, considering I have worsening arthritis in both of my middle fingers, and between playing and teaching and writing and stuff, probably with a guitar in my hands six or seven hours a day still… It’s not hard to imagine the day in the future when electric guitar Might be the only option. But until then, it’s just me and the 00.

[PapaLobo]

I've played both over the last 50 years, after I retired 6 1/2 years ago I started playing more acoustic.

Last year I started Hosting a weekely Open Mic which is acoustic oriented, since then I've aquired 3 Private Stock PRS Acoustics that I play weekly at the Cafe'.
All are tuned to open tunings (usually Open G or DADGAD)

I still prefer jamming on electric , and bring both.

[Medford Guitar]

I first learned guitar at age 8. Took up bass at 13. Bass had been my main instrument 40+years. Countless gigs. loved it all.
In 1982, I picked up a cheap Ibanez acoustic I've kept with me to this day. Did some pickup gigs with it, some one offs like family weddings and such.

Then COVID hit. My band at that time was coming apart anyway, so it seemed like a good time to end that. 2 years ago, my wife who also sings and the former female lead singer of my former band decided we should provide some music for a friend's party. So we did an acoustic show for about 1 1/2 hours. Had so much fun decided to eventually work it into an act. Sold, my big PA stuff, got an EV Evolve 50, small mixer and away we went booking gigs and having fun. Picked up a third female singer, so we really do quite an amazing three part harmony thing for audiences.

I get to sit in back and play my little heart out on a new Gibson J-45 having a blast. Plus, I love working through transcriptions of different songs adapted for acoustic or figuring out acoustic versions of different songs.

Anyway, as long as my arthritis doesn't get worse, woo-hoo!

[Rosette]

I started on electric and played in bands for years (either as a guitarist or bassist depending on the band.) I played acoustic only occasionally during that time. Once I was no longer playing with groups, I continued playing electric on my own but felt I needed a new challenge and wanted to play music that could stand on its own versus just being one instrument or part in an ensemble. So that’s when I started focusing on acoustic guitar, almost exclusively what I play now. Still keep some electric guitars and a bass around, although I sometimes wonder why.

[seaveez]

Being the 'youngest' in the sibling lineup, the oldest two exposed me to folk music of the 60's-70's, and brother just older educated me in rock and prog-rock of the 70's. MTV and college radio influenced me further.

When I (finally) started to learn guitar, I was all over the map; I thought, I needed both acoustic and electric guitars. As I started to find my style/voice, I've gravitated to acoustic. Those songs that were made famous played electric, I now look how to play or reinterpret them as unplugged versions.

I still do pull the electric guitar out, mostly because I don't want it to feel neglected, but rarely plug in (just sitting on the couch playing riffs and crazy bends you can't really do on acoustic).