Anyone else practice acoustically?

[Lo-E]

I practice unplugged if I’m only practicing for a few minutes but if I’m doing any serious work I plug in.

 

[Rfan]

It’s the only way I am allowed to practice.

 

[J Wilson]

Never.

Personally speaking, an unplugged bass is a plank, a doorstop, and an amp with nothing plugged in and turned off is a very expensive project box.

My instrument is Bass Guitar + Amp/Cabinet(Effects). Withdraw anything from that chain, I have a lot of nothing.

Your results may differ.

 

[KidAmnesia]

I play mostly plugged into a small combo at low volume, but if it's too late to make any noise I'll play unplugged. I have no problem playing unplugged keeping the same right hand dynamics as when amplified at low volume, the same way I have no problem keeping my dynamics when playing louder in band context.

And I don't feel I need to work on my tone whenever I grab a bass; It doesn't make a lot of sense to me to work on my tone if I don't have the context where that tone would need to function (ie. my band); so when I practice alone I work mostly on ideas, precision, intonation... I can do that just fine unplugged if I need to, if there's no ambient noise I can hear myself loud enough without having to dig in more than any other time.

 

[Suho]

I agree much with what KidAmnesia said. I also got a lot of chuckles out of the number of people who are convinced practicing unplugged is so terrible.

I've played for 35+ years, and been in a number of bands, although I've been on extended hiatus since my kids were born. I've also practiced A LOT unplugged, even during my busy years. And yes, I tend to play with a heavier hand than some. I can't even fathom delicately finger-tip-toeing across the strings. I dig in and pretty much always have. I've never had a hard time finding a good tone when amped up. [If I'm being 100% honest, my slap style playing gets adjusted a bit when amped up, but not my fingerstyle. ]

Band practice was obviously at full volume. (I also always use earplugs, so my hearing sensitivity is preserved throughout the practice or gig.) When I was gigging with two different bands, I sometimes played through other bands' bass rig to make it easier for me to show up and play. I've practiced through the amp in the practice space at times. My bass sound always came through as my own, with minimal tweaking. If I was confident in the sound of my bass guitar, I didn't have a problem translating that into whatever rig I played through. I guess I never realized so many people struggled with this.

 

[Jazzdogg]

No, I find bass playing to be much more enjoyable when I don't have to rely on my fingers to make myself loud enough to be heard, if you know what I mean. I used to pound the strings like Geddy, had blisters, and still couldn't hear myself. Then I read something that was attributed to Tom Kennedy that said to use way more amp than you need so that you can play with a light touch and still be heard. So when I play with a group now, I set my amp so that it's basically "too loud", and then use my hands and the volume knob to dial it in. I play much better when I'm relaxed, and in most cases I prefer the tone. So I practice that way at home too, with an amp, but I don't crank it, I just turn it up enough that I can clearly hear myself. You could have a conversation in the same room if you wanted to.

I think one should practice in a way that closely mimics how you're going to perform. Since I perform with amplification, I practice with it too.

Gives you much better control over dynamics!

 

[ajkula66]

I haven't practised unamplified since I bought my first amp many, many, many harvests ago.

The only instrument which I practice unplugged is the acoustic guitar.

 

[LowWay]

I did in my teens and twenties, but not now in my fifties. I run my pedalboard, which is all i use for tone shaping, into a tonex or other amp sim, or into my DAW, and out through some electrostatic headphones. It sounds so big and huge. Like a bass should, and it helps me clean up my muting, my fretless intonation, my touch, my technique in general...

 

[fdeck]

Most of the time. The things that are crucial to improving my technique are not hard to hear or notice when I'm unplugged. In fact I think the amp may actually hide a lot of problems.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Depends. If I am playing along with music I plug in. If I'm just running through scales, arpeggios, etc. I just grab an instrument.

 

[Clark W]

I have always just grabbed a bass, turn on a song and play. I firmly believe it has molded my style. Every band I’ve ever tried out for, their first comment was, wow! You play hard!

I did it just because I’ve always had wife or kids around, but even back to my teenage years, I was just too lazy too hook everything up.

Even now, I really only hook everything up when I’m trying out or adjusting pedals and amps. Practice, just pick up bass and play.

So what? Well, it really doesn’t mean anything, but it has definitely been an influence on how I play. And I love gigs even more because when I get to the gig and play with everything full on, it is pure bliss.

I sold a cab and amp to a guy locally a few years back. I told him to bring a bass if he wanted to test them out. He was a great player and so soft and smooth. I grabbed my jazz and plugged in and started playing and he looked at me like I was an alien.

Just curious if I’m the only one.

Nope, you're not the only one.

I own 3 rigs.

My gig rig gets moved around playing out on Fridays every week.

My church rig stays at church, I play it every week on Sunday. I just carry a bass in & out.

The third, my practice rig, sits at home setup for practice, where I can play as loud as I want.

It hasn't been turned on since October.

Yet I practice every week. I grab an acoustic strung with flats and play along to covers coming out of an Altec Lansing surround system from my computer. I set the volume up enough to force me to play harder to get more volume out of the unplugged acoustic. It's a great workout.

 

[nonohmic]

Yes I prefer it, it highlights your mistakes a lot more.

 

[Pilgrim]

I have an acoustic-electric. Very handy for practicing; no cables or amps needed, and you hear every note.

 

[Ritter667]

Used to do this all the time, living in an apartment, and not having a proper ampless setup either, it was just the most convenient solution.

But after I managed to put together a proper ampless setup, which is also my band jam/rehearsal and live setup, I started practicing plugged in with headphones.

I never played particular hard though, though back then I did play with a pick, which helped being able to hear what I did, these day I primarily use my fingers, and have a rather light touch, simply because I prefer the tone that gets me.