When do you play a barre chord rather than an open chord? (Page 2 of 2)

crevs.1972 wrote:

I've spent another few hours this morning practising and one thing I've noticed is that you can give the barre versions more "wwmmph"..if you know what I mean?

The sound also goes a bit "tinny" the further up I go on the acoustic but it's fine on the electic so I guess thats down to me and the acoustic not being as forgiving as the strat?

You're right that you can give the barre chords more "wwmmph". Of course, they also return to you more wwmmph because now you are utilizing six strings instead of say just four (compare the sound of F barred vs. F played open for example). So you can easily see then why the barre chords are going to have a place in your kit bag of techniques.
As for the Strat vs. acoustic there are a couple of things. First, yes, generally speaking the electric is going to be much easier to barre than the acoustic. But particularly with the acoustic it is important that it is set up properly - that your action is where it should be. Also using lighter strings can be quite helpful on the acoustic when you're practicing the barre chords. Some buddies have recommended Elixor strings to me and I haven't tried them on my own guitars yet, although I did try them on my buddy's Taylor and found them to be very smooth feeling which is good for a guy like me who doesn't play as much as I used to since I no longer perform (decided I needed a job to be able to eat and buy beers - lol). I suspect they might be a good choice for learning the barre chords as well.