In defense of "electronic" instruments: piano and guitar

I'll try for the short version [A sudden shout: "Yeah, right!" ] --  Take a gander at the mixed bag comments made about the Yamaha "EZ PLAY-- AG/EG" [Acoustic Guitar/Electric Guitar -- 2 models of the 'electronic' variety] at Amazon and you'll see everything from "I love it!" to "This is not a guitar! It's simply a glorified TOY!" to "nothing more than an electronic gadget!" to "Ohh, for the love of reality and music, people, stop fooling around with 'tekkie-contraptions' [sic] and buy yourself  a real guitar!" and assorted mixed bag comments.

Hey, in addition to my 'real McCoy' acoustic guitars,  I own one! The Yamaha EZ-AG [Acoustic] electronic guitar even though the only differences between the 'electric' version to the 'acoustic' is the physical looks of the thing because the "string" set-up [right hand] is identical in both models and they are not tensioned strings but rather 'rubbery' to say the least while plastic 'buttons' form the fret 'strings' which, those 1" in width plastic buttons, 'are' the fret 'strings' . The 'electric' version also having a tremelo and USB connection. Plus other electronic settings as does the "Acoustic" version. To me, and BTW I have no commercial interests whatsoever in buying or selling guitars of any nature and what I have to say is simply 'user' comment, that said, to me, the 'electronic' versions of the guitar [or the piano for that matter where I use Roland synthesizers [and most recently a GEM RP-X piano dedicated synth] with dedicated JV/SRX piano plug-in modules] can have an excellent ADJUNCT use to the real thing! Now I'll explain what I mean by that!

Catch a very recent post where a guitarist comments on why the old 'D' string always seems to break when no replacement string is available and Murphy's Law is duly brought up [and wisely and realistically so!] by another writer. True enough, to be sure, but note the original writer saying,  "... when the urge to play..."  arises. Ahhh! The "urge to play" which to various and sundry folks like myself who are also life-long "night owls" can often and does happen [the urge to play] during the wee hours. Hey, fine, IF one lives alone  or has that dedicated music room where the 'sounds' don't travel but when there are 'others ' in the household who may not appreciate the, shall we say, 'zeal' [read: volume and higher increments of same therein as you 'get into it']  of your playing when they are trying to sleep! In my case, while my wife [after 36 years of marriage] enjoys the sound of the piano or guitar well enough, well, that doesn't apply during the wee hours [after midnight] when 'I' want to play and she wants to sleep but those 'travelling' sounds of an acoustic/electric guitar or acoustic piano cause a problem! Hence, the synthesizer and 'electronic' 88 key piano for the wee hours and those 'headphones' which duly solves the problem in place of my acoustic piano/guitars  but not suited for wee hour playing. Ditto on the guitar with the Yamaha 'electronic' version. I can play away [volume and zeal inclusive] and all the sounds are channeled into the headphones! Yeah, sure, one can go the 'phones' route with a solid body electric via the amp 'mic' thing but you still have that traveling sound and no need to mention the soul who 'thought' that an "acoustic-electric" would suddenly [and magically] become fully muted [!?] when plugged into an amp and then the phones were popped in to the amp or box! So for wee hour playing with 'peace keeping' headphones, the electronic versions of the guitar and piano have their uses!

Ditto learning chords and/or 'whatever' but, as I say, as an adjunct to the real thing versus a replacement. On the other hand, folks who may have hand/finger disabilities [** in one case a diabetic who must 'test' some 6 times a day with the finger stick thing praised the electronic guitar as, to use his word,  a "God-send"] of  'whatever' nature but desire to play guitar for personal enjoyment reasons just may find the electronic version as a means to realize that goal minus the heavy finger-tip callous thing or barre chord 'pressure' work out on the index finger.  I don't view the electronic guitar as a "toy" at all but a viable adjunct to the real thing for virtually anyone or when instrument 'volume' becomes an issue. The MIDI aspect of these electronic versions also offering all sorts of additional attachment instrument or computer connected tinkerings or, indeed, electronic 'instruction' built-in to the electronic version instrument itself.  I'm also on record as saying publicly that nothing beats the real McCoy, in effect, the 'real' acoustic piano or 'real' acoustic guitar or 'real' electric guitar in which to really learn the instrument becomes a given 'must' ==but== neither do I arbitrarily write-off the electronic versions of these instruments as 'useless' or 'glorified toys' or 'gadgets' or 'questionable learning tools' because they 'do' have their adjunctive and helpful uses to the real McCoy stuff!  Comments?

Doc Tony