Question for guitarists

Post Reply New Topic

I am thinking of taking up a musical instrument again, and I'm leaning towards guitar just because it is fairly versatile and portable. What is holding me back the most though, is that I live in an apartment complex with relatively thin walls. Is there any way I can practice quietly, so that it won't disturb them?

if you get an electric and don't amplify it, you can practice quietly. it won't sound great to you, though. an acoustic with nylon strings played gently might be a better fit.

An electric would be great and just hook headphones up to the amp or effects pedal. The nylon stringed classical acoustic is also a very good suggestion

If I get one it definitely won't be an electric. Acoustic all the way!

acoustic is quiet enough. I live in a trailer and don't wake my parents up when I play.

Use lighter gauge strings if you don't want nylon, learn to finger pick? You should be fine though as long as you don't strum really really hard.

I'm not a guitarist, but my husband is. Acoustic guitar is really not that loud, and it is generally not an annoying sound, even if your neighbors heard you.

I think you'd be fine with a regular acoustic if you wanted. Keep in mind that acoustic and classical guitars are quite different. The classical guitars have wider necks, which makes playing chords more difficult. The purpose of each is different, so the sound will be quite different, too.

I've never heard of putting nylon strings on an acoustic, but then again my husband hasn't had any need to. He has at least one of each (electric, acoustic, classical.)

My specialization would be in electric, so I don't know so much about steel/bronze string acoustic guitars other than I find them painfully loud in an enclosed space... They are meant for playing loud enough to improvise being heard without amplification in a crowd within a small venue as I'm certain everybody knows. It does not improve a player's technique to play in a reserved manner to reduce complaint like a true bedroom warrior either, so in my way of practicing with live dynamics for the aim of not running into unexpected tone territory during live performance, a full body dreadnaught would be far too loud for thin walled apartment practice.

Perhaps if you were to be comfortable with their neo-lute shape, Ovation makes a lot of acoustic electric guitars with shallow bowl backs. I used to have one, and it wasn't too loud unplugged. If that felt too loud, you could try a sound hole cover, though, they aren't really made for muting the sound much(some reviews on amazon report a slightly dampened noise level, and they're typically inexpensive)... just made to reduce feedback during amplification. Or maybe even try dampening with a strong hair tie over the first fret when wanting to be extra careful of the strings' sustain building up too much until you feel in control of such with your technique... I've never tried doing so, but I've heard of it being done.

As far as classical guitars, I'd avoid them if you don't intend on playing primarily classical music. They have a 2 inch nut, thick necks, no fret inlays, nor neck markers. In addition, they don't have a cutaway for reaching the higher notes like some acoustic guitars do, and typically end at 19 frets with a blunt heel at about the 10/11th fret, and the body meeting fretboard at the 12th. The bulk round shape of the body as well is designed to be held in classical form. So unless you intend to play sitting and having to use a foot stool and hold the guitar in your lap at about a 40 degree skyward angle, it's probably not going to be practical for anything outside of solo classical/inspired music. Also, the primary way to play them is through fretting barre chords and playing fingerstyle... I can't imagine a pick sounding all that refined/defined sliding past nylon. Ah, and they're rather delicate... unless you go with a Cordoba, they typically don't even have truss rods to fine-tune/repair the action, and all should be stored in their case with a humidifier to prevent ware and distortion to the wood from changes in humidity when not in use. I mean, even an electric should not be kept outside of it's home case for too long, but since acoustic and classical are primarily thin pieces/sheets of wood held together by glue, it's especially important to keep them safe from too much exposure to hot, cold, dry, or overly humid air.

hollow body electric like a gretsch is the best of both worlds, unplugged it is a quiet acoustic, plug in to access a wider range of sounds. Electric also are easier to play, more comfortable neck and lower string tension