"What's the difference between acoustic and electric guitars?" A question that I have been asked often enough. Once, I would have said nothing at all. They both have six strings, they both have the same chord shapes, you can essentially do pretty much the same thing with each. To a certain extent this much is true. However, after many years of playing electric guitar, very long and very loud, I have come back to the fine art of the acoustic guitar. Both respectively fine arts, mind you. When I first set out to play I had both the acoustic and electric guitars lying around. They were balanced. They found moods and feelings when I need them. The expressed the angry dark times and the deep reflective times. Some days that all I felt I had. As live gigs and rehearsals took over, the dust on the old acoustic grew thicker and she was played few and far between. No love was lost but a strong bond and artistry grew between myself and the electric guitar, as played as a lead instrument.
During this time, the development of playing and performance were geared toward the electric sound and the electric feel. These skills were honed, shaped, trained and explored. The electric guitar was set as low as possible on the action. The picks up upgraded, the channel sector manipulated with accurate cause and effect. The expansion of other electronics grew. From 1960's tube amplification, to pedal after pedal after pedal. To pedal boxes, tremolo bars, ebo's and on and on. The endless amount of possibilities are overwhelming, time consuming, brilliant and an absolute must for any 60's inspired guitarist wanna be. The more you look, the more of an art form you see. The idea of comparing the electric to an acoustic just seems somewhat hard to do. And that's without looking at my more recent discovers of the acoustic guitar.
After many years of electric guitars, burrowed away in hard cases in the back of station wagons, squished in with guitar amps, pedal boards, bass rigs, drum kits, friends, beers, drugs and what ever else you think you might need, a change slipped in. Like a train on the horizon that never arrives. The practicality of dragging it all around ceased. And when I moved to the UK many things changed. First, no car, and with that quickly follows the amp, the pedals become cumbersome and eventually the sight of a man playing an electric guitar through a DI at open mikes simply wreaks too much of Jeff Buckley. Done.
Around this time I wrote a song called "All you know"
you traded everything you know
left it all to what unknown
your keys, your love, your un-kept home
you're scared for it to turn to stone
but life is now you've done no wrong
you're a soaring melody in an unborn song
the time will pass it wont be long
before you rise the day is gone
all the while you take it in
all the while you stake your claim
conquered by a virgin sand
role reversal in a foreign land
take hold
can you find all that you had?
do you need to let it go?
So by and by, pretty much all my old ways have been replaced or prioritised ,in the year I've dubbed - "the year of change". The biggest change being that of promoting the acoustic guitar to number one. The number one position has many perks. It's the choice guitar for the current batch of songs. It's on display. Often, when it's not standing proudly upon the chair, it just might be lying sweetly on my bed. Arms length away from when I fall to rise. Many times have I fallen a sleep with a guitar in my hands, and many time woken to continue playing the same licks in the morning. One of the best ways to start the day. One of the best ways to end one.
Practically though, the acoustic has recently offered up some new pros. Other than it's ready to play and portability, as a writing tool and instrument it has again shown itself to be quite flexible. Within the depths of vibrations, steel string and wood, lay harmony and melody ready for the plucking. I have enjoyed the refreshing changes that the acoustic guitar has given me recently. I will have to cop to- and tip my hat- to bands that have down the mtv unplugged realms as far as getting me inspired again about the hollow body. Hearing songs being played in such a toned down way, made me ask how these songs where written and how come they translate so nicely as acoustically and why did the unplugged thing get such a warm welcome? I concluded, that probably most of these early 90's tracks were born upon the acoustic guitars, or at least the souls of them did, before the riches and fame, and with this in mind I set full stroke into trying my hand exclusively at writing tunes on the acoustic guitar. Solely for the acoustic guitar? Well time will tell. To hear the latest batch of tunes electrified is something that really excites me.
I'm not sure where the energy has come from, but I know that the this instrument has at least met me half way. The change has been good and refreshing. The tone and growl of the guitar has been held within my minds eye. The pop of the right hand as a rhythme instrument has been crucial. LInking up the feeling with a foot stompin vibe. The versatility that it offers to my style, where I can play hard riffs, slide guitar, hammer on and pull off runs, driving muted riffs, clean crisp open chords. It's been able to keep up with me and provide a wider selection and option of musicallity without all the plug ins, mainly due to wide variety of tones that you can pull. Yeah - it's about the tones man, for sure. So for now, the acoustic has it. You could knock past me down with a feather I'm sure.
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