United States

There's plenty out there, but most seem content to do solo acts/coffee houses, etc.

I love Carbon Leaf's (Virginia band, check them out) sound - vocal harmonies, rhythm guitar is 95% acoustic, lead guitar player may play electric, acoustic, mandolin or any of a half dozen instruments, depending on the song.

I'll keep searching ...

I think it depends on where you live. Also electrics can add all the effects, and such . . .

I have both acoustic and electric guitars, and an electric guitar is a lot easier to play. That probably influences folks, too.

Anyway (here in CT), in a week's time I'll see 10 -15 acoustic guitarists, and maybe 3-4 electric guitarists . . .

Someone once told me "it's like painting a picture".

With an electric, you get more and different color paints to paint your picture.

With an acoustic, it's less paints, less colors and less canvas.

Although some might say it's the other way round.

"to each their own".

Because nearly anyone can play electric guitar. Maybe not well, but play it. It takes a lot of conditioning to play acoustic; stronger left hand, stronger right, harder callouses. Also with acoustic you get the added bonus of the percussive sound of the pick on the strings, almost like a tambourine. I play acoustic almost exclusively at home.

Because nearly anyone can play electric guitar. Maybe not well, but play it. It takes a lot of conditioning to play acoustic; stronger left hand, stronger right, harder callouses. Also with acoustic you get the added bonus of the percussive sound of the pick on the strings, almost like a tambourine. I play acoustic almost exclusively at home.

Yeah, that about sums it up . . . .

booooooooo.. hissss..

But every electric guitar is playable to get a reasonable sound (ok almost every electric guitar).

But you can't say the same about acoustic guitars.

Some are good and many are awful.
The good ones start at 1k, if you find the right deal.

Else it's just dime store junk.
Mostly beat right from the start.

I never knew an electric that wasn't about 75% right from the start.
Plenty of acoustic guitars are plain junk at the onset.

Maybe that's just my experience, maybe not..

Scott

Agree all the way. I find a significant percentage of acoustics to be darn near unplayable. Like you, I'd be hard pressed to find an electric that was hard to play. And even cheesy pickups give you a lot of sound options.

The sound of a good acoustic is very nice though. I just played a church gig with the pastor on a very nice acoustic - rang like a bell.

With my electrics I can do that too. Maybe a shade less true on the clean sounds one gets from an electric but pretty close, plus all the many others.

I don't like having to work hard at it. Sounds shallow but I'm more concerned with putting music together and don't want to invest the time in that area. Already play electric plus bass - too many fret boards to remember (muscle memory).

That said two guitars (incl a p-bass) and I probably will get an acoustic.

Talbot

I would not say you need to spend $1000 for a decent sounding acoustic, the fact that you say that just shows 'electric snobbery'. Go to a music store and play some of the guitars there. There are some fine sounding Seagulls and other brands at half that. By buying used, one can get even better deals.
Not everyone wants to blast their music at 100+ dB every night.
Yes, everyone can make 'noise' with an electric, doesn't mean they can make good sounding music!

Someone once told me "it's like painting a picture".

With an electric, you get more and different color paints to paint your picture.

With an acoustic, it's less paints, less colors and less canvas.

Although some might say it's the other way round.

"to each their own".

I always likened Acoustic to that of the charcoal sketches, of which some can have elaborate shading and light contrasts, and may even invoke the idea of some color... But that's jis me

Gmike

Of course it is, at least in part, electric snobbery. I played in an acoustic band (except for me on electric bass) and loved it. But there was always an impatient part of me that wanted to up the ante.

i like to play bass to all kinds of different styles.

But when I pick up a guitar, I want that authortative sound of an electric. And the implication of menace and semi-civilized joy inherent in the sort of hum you get when hit a chord just right on an electric at just the right volume.

The bottom line is, I'm no slouch on guitar but I'm not Satriani either. So i reckon the fact that I can play much faster and cleaner on an electric, plus I can get all those different sounds if I want them, means go electric.

At this point in my life, playability is everything. I've a written a bunch of new tunes and I'm still learning how to play them. Several I have ready are a year old because it took me that long to learn to play well enough to do the tunes as envisioned. I hope you understand my dilema.

Doesn't mean I look down on acoustic players at all. You can choose: acoustifc, electric or both. For now, I play electric. Ultimately i plan to play both but not now.

Talbot

No doubt that an electric guitar can be easier to play and ultimately, one can be faster on it. Speed isn't everything!
You can do some great things on an acoustic too, including using FX.
Go listen to Carbon Leaf's (Virginia band, www.carbonleaf.com) lead guitarist Carter Gravis. Live he may use electrics, acoustics (including an incredibly old beat up model with a cheap pickup installed on the soundhole, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki, violin, guit-cello (you have to see that one), etc. And he may use fx on any of them too. He did a great 5 minute Looper solo with an acoustic at one of the shows I saw last year. You need not be stuck with the 'same old acoustic' sound at all.
I've got a bunch of videos of them on my alternate youtube site: http://www.youtube.com/fflbrgst

I would not say you need to spend $1000 for a decent sounding acoustic, the fact that you say that just shows 'electric snobbery'. Go to a music store and play some of the guitars there. There are some fine sounding Seagulls and other brands at half that.

+1 On Seagull guitars (the working mans Martin). I have been gigging twice a month for 10 years on my Seagull S6+ and people still come up during break and say "Wow your guitar sounds great!". Thanks, just my magic fingers. Sweet acoustic guitars made in Canada.

My main instrument right now is probably my Telecaster but the Seagull is great for intimate acoustic shows or filling out a 7 piece band with different woody textures you can't get on an electric. A strong acoustic guitarist in the band is golden:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL683aq4 ... re=related :r

And here is a little acoustic shred:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvVmqnNB ... re=related

i don't need examples to know that acoustic players can do remarkable things. I grew up on john Fahey and Doc Watson.

My point is, I can't do remarkable things on them. And they don't have enough neck for the kind of music i play.

Talbot

It's a staple to me. Just about every band I grew up listening to used acoustics, even if it's just a filler sound at times. But I dig just about any music rooted in Blues, Country or even Bluegrass. There are so many great players, songs and a variety of approaches with acoustics. But most importantly sometimes my ears just want to hear more natural sounds, like a mandolin or violin or acoustic guitar. You can get some nice new Martin's or a variety of quality used acoustics for under a grand

I don't play acoustic at all.

And frankly with all the projects I have running right now ... don't need to.

My new axe is a semi-hollow. It has beautiful tones at the lower volumes and without my usual crunch.

If a project comes along the requires me to be mellow.
It will still be my go to guitar.