# Why play the acoustic electric?



## noobfret (Nov 25, 2007)

I've been hearing a lot about the acoustic electric guitar. What advantages does it have over a regular acoustic guitar? If I already own an acoustic, what kind of new sound can I produce with the acoustic electric?


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## xuthal (May 15, 2007)

The acoustic electric guitars arent that much different from a standard acoustic guitar.The main difference is that an acoustic electric has a pickup and most times a cutaway.There is another type of acoustic electric, 
http://www.yamaha.com/guitars/products/productdetail/0,,CNTID%25253D451519,00.html
this guitar is called a slimline because the body is much shallower than an average acoustic.The slimline guitars mostly all work the same as a normal acoustic.They are made shallower than say a dreadnought to compensate for feedback that can happen on stage where theres allot of volume.
http://www.gibson.com/Products/Gibs...re Shoulder Dreadnought/Traveling Songwriter/
this on the other hand is almost a solidbody.The "acoustic" guitar has a chambered mahogany body and a pickup installed.I've never played one before so i can't say how they sound unplugged but im guessing not as good as the real thing.

EDIT: the shallow bodied acoustic electrics are called "thinline" guitars


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## exhaust_49 (Jan 4, 2007)

I play an acoustic electric because I find an acoustic guitar easier to play. With an electric guitar, the strings move around the neck more and are too easy to bend. With an acoustic guitar I find that the strings "stay in their place more", if that makes any sense.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

noobfret said:


> I've been hearing a lot about the acoustic electric guitar. What advantages does it have over a regular acoustic guitar? If I already own an acoustic, what kind of new sound can I produce with the acoustic electric?


It's mostly a performance thing. The pickup allows you to plug in to the PA onstage and move around, unlike a mic'd acoustic, where you have to stay fairly still. Also, as mentioned above, a lot of acoustic electrics have cutaways. 

Whether there are any tonal differences is up to debate. Some claim cutaways negatively affect the overall tone of the guitar, others claim that's hogwash. It's up to you to determine the difference.

FWIW, as far as I'm concerned, there's nothing like a nice Tak with a cutaway for rockin' out the acoustic onstage.


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

You really only need a pickup in the guitar if you need to play through a P.A. for venues where unplugged just doesn't work. The challenge becomes getting the acoustic to sound as good as it sound unplugged, plugged in.


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## JCJ (Jan 3, 2008)

Jeff Flowerday said:


> You really only need a pickup in the guitar if you need to play through a P.A. for venues where unplugged just doesn't work. The challenge becomes getting the acoustic to sound as good as it sound unplugged, plugged in.


And that is indeed a huge challenge.


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

exhaust_49 said:


> I play an acoustic electric because I find an acoustic guitar easier to play. With an electric guitar, the strings move around the neck more and are too easy to bend. With an acoustic guitar I find that the strings "stay in their place more", if that makes any sense.


Put a set of 13s (or higher) on your electric. If you can still bend them easily, you are either Stevie Ray Vaughan or Paul Kossoff back from the grave


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## satch09 (Jul 26, 2008)

devnulljp said:


> Put a set of 13s (or higher) on your electric. If you can still bend them easily, you are either Stevie Ray Vaughan or Paul Kossoff back from the grave


agreed...but as for the thread, acoustic electrics are for playing gigs, i have one but rarely use the pickup, just more work for me to plug it in, i just want to play...


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