acoustic v electric.

I don't claim to be much more than an average guitarist, but I certainly notice that an electric can be far more forgiving of a guitarists technique flaws than an acoustic will be. The string gauge observation makes a lot of sense, and the sustain of an electric vs. acoustic also makes a huge difference. Then there's the HUGE matter of sustain and how that affects playing style. "Dazed & Confused" sounds incredible on an electric, but empty on an acoustic ... because of the sustain & the bending ability.

As a further example, on the acoustic playing open / traditional style chords sounds much nicer, and offers a lot of flat-picking interplay within the chords. The guitarist doesn't need to think much about dampening, as the sustain isn't enough to garble the overall sound. On the electric, barre chords seem to sound much better, and the guitarist must constantly be dampening the string(s) to avoid the cacophony.

I'm not saying that one instrument requires a different skill level than the other, but they both require an adjustment in playing style. An acoustic can function quite nicely as a solo instrument, whereas an electric lends itself better to an ensemble. Apart from the fundamentals, they're almost two different instruments.

The electrics cover up alot of my mistakes,alot more if I have my amp. distorted a little. I play my acoustic about 90% of the time.

Hi Phill
Got to be acoustic for me now. Sold my Strat a few years back because I didn't use it much. My electro acoustic suits my recording needs and playing with FX can make it sound much like a solid body in a recording (well to me).
My acoustic sits in it's stand within easy reach and gets played most days without any hassel of an amp etc. Horses for courses I guess.
ark

They do seem easier on an electric. I think it is due to the thinner neck and lighter gauge strings. Of course that is on a well set up guitar. if the set up is wrong any chord is hard.

I have two 'Strat' style electric guitars, and 3 electro-acoustics; 6 string, 12er and classical (the Samick classical is unusual as it has a neck that is the same width as the electric guitars). I have no difficulty playing chords, barred or open, on any of them however I do find that I can play lead riffs easier on the electric guitars.

Roger

As an aside, I have set up all my guitars so that the action is similar on all of them.

thanks you guys for putting forward your thoughts, it's a nice discussion and says a lot about everyone's preferences and style.

i bought some new PA speakers a few weeks ago and i'm really annoyed with the sound i'm getting from them, as i play (or played) guitar as well as vocal and backing tracks through them. i eventually got the vocals sounding OK-ish and the backing tracks sounding OK too. but the guitar sounded awful. so i started taking my peavy amp with me again, and i love the sound i'm getting!

till last night. i knew it was a small venue so i left the peavy at home. boy do i regret that decision! i kept twiddling knobs all night trying to get an acceptable sound, and failed. the amp comes regardless in future, as i get a great sound at any volume.

PS i only play electric at gigs. i used to play my acoustic before i started recording my own backing, so solo's weren't a concern, just a nice rhythm.

I prefers to use Electric as compared with Acoustic. Electric Guitar is more easy and simple to play but Acoustic is not for me. I play free on Electric.