Would you buy an electro acoustic if you only played at home?

BillDL

munckee said:

I occasionally plug mine in to have reverb, chorus, compressor etc. I think for recording it's useful

As far as the reverb and chorus are concerned, exactly.  For recording I would most likely now use a mix of piezo and condenser mic, but I haven't recorded anything for years and my playing has been restricted to home for years or (more recently after Covid restrictions loosened up) informal jamming with a friend in his garden bothy or in is secluded garden.  Much as I would love a Yamaha Transacoustic I couldn't justify the expenditure and car repairs and other looming projects would have to wait.  It is nice to have added ambience to acoustic playing sometimes, hence having electro-acoustic guitars.

I find that when I play an acoustic guitar I am not really hearing what I am playing.  I can feel what I am playing and I sometimes put my ear down to the guitar, but it's impossible from a playing position to get your ear down in front of, and several feet away from, the soundhole, so you aren't hearing what is being projected - other than what @sev112 spoke about earlier with regard to reflected sounds.  I have found that an acoustic amp on the other side of my livingroom, set to a fairly low volume and EQ'd to give as accurate a representation of the guitar's own sound as is possible, makes all the difference.  To this end I just bought a Laney LA30D 30 watt acoustic amp last week.  I only saw the classified ad by @Keefy after I had bought mine, which is a pity, but the one he is selling is higher wattage than I needed or wanted.  The one I bought is much better than the wee practice acoustic amp I had for the house.

The alternative way of hearing more of what you are playing is to buy a guitar that has a vertical-facing sound port in the side of the upper bout, as some luthiers are incorporating into builds these days.  I have a cheap old 12-string electro-acoustic that I converted to a 6 string with hefty strings and tuned down rather than tossing it out.  I left the hole where the piezo preamp was fitted and it is amazing how much more I can ear my own playing.

TheBigDipper

Wiz's for Tannin and BillDL. Nice posts.

I've never gone shopping for an electro-acoustic, but if I stumbled over one that I liked and could afford, that wouldn't stop me buying it - even if it was only for home use. A nice guitar is a nice guitar. But... I do seem to have only chosen guitars without pickups. I've only got two (out of 5 acoustic) guitars with pickups fitted. Passive K&K Pure Minis that I either plug into a K&K preamp or a FlyRig Acoustic before feeding a desk. I'm with ICBM regarding using external electronics.

Tannin

BillDL said:

I find that when I play an acoustic guitar I am not really hearing what I am playing.  .....

The alternative way of hearing more of what you are playing is to buy a guitar that has a vertical-facing sound port in the side of the upper bout, as some luthiers are incorporating into builds these days. 

Sound port, yep. Great idea. None of my lot have one, but it would be nice if they all did. Mind you, starting as of about yesterday, it seems that Gibson invented the sound port years ago. (!)

I like your use for the amp. Like you, I only play at home (well, mostly at home) for my own pleasure these days. I nearly always sit in one of three places: in front of the big double-glazed sliding outside kitchen door (where the sound hits the glass and washes back over me wonderfully); or in front of the big double-glazed living room window (ditto); or else outside on the deck (where I don't get the reflected sound fix but it's outdoors and on a nice day being outside in it beats sitting inside looking at it every time.

Open_G

Bought a pure acoustic for home use. 

Ended up spending a further load of cash to install a pick up a few years later for gig use. 

I’d always keep that option open given my time again