A really cool experience

**jamforchrist123** · 08-30-2010, 11:26 PM

I'm sure there are plenty of threads like this, but...

Today I had some free time. I was feeling rather melancholy so I decided to just grab my friends tele and plugged straight into my AC30, turned on some reverb and trem, then just played whatever came out of me through my fingers.

I ended up doing this for a bit over an hour without realizing how long I had played. It was then I realized that plugging straight into the amp seriously is a really cool thing. No effects to worry about, no tap dancing, no making sure I'm in time with my delay, no worrying about if my sound is a bit too saturated; I just played.

Now I'm nowhere near the best guitarist out there, heck I sometimes feel like I don't deserve the gear I have haha, but that was probably some of the best music I've ever made. I don't really remember a single thing I played, but I know for sure that at that time it was awesome.

Now of course I will never become one of those guys that refuses to do anything but plug straight into his amp as it's the most "natural" sound. I know that pedals surely have their place, and that you just can't play U2/Hillsong stuff without delay, Metallica without heavy overdrive, or 80's without a chorus pedal, but I did learn that plugging straight into the amp from time to time is a really good thing. Not to mention I'm just obsessed with effects/pedalboards/guitar gear in general, so that "straight in/natural sound guy" will never be me.

I know this is something most of you have known for years, but I just finally learned it for myself today so I just thought I'd share a bit about my experience

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**Rainer.** · 08-30-2010, 11:30 PM

Most of the time when I need to play some music, I just pick up an acoustic guitar and vibe.

jthomas1600 · 08-31-2010, 05:06 AM

I think any time you do something completely different it can be liberating and release the creative juices. For a straight into the amp guy it can be a cool experience to play around with a POD for an hour or so, or for a guy that plays electrics only it can be cool to just sit and groove on an acoustic for a while.

Almost Enough · 08-31-2010, 09:44 AM

That's actually how I write almost all my songs. My effects and tones are fluid, but the songs are not. It helps a lot when you can write basics first, then layer depending on what's available/what sounds good at the time.

AudioAUnderdog · 09-02-2010, 03:09 PM

I always thought that guitarists had to have pedals. I was really shocked when I got the chance to ask one of my favorite guitar players, Brad Noah of Disciple, about his effects and he told me he didn't use any. He still has one of my favorite guitar tones and back then it shocked me that all he did for it was plug directly into the amp.

As I've gotten more into blues I've come across more and more people who don't use effects. I think it's really cool, and I hope that one day I'll be a good enough guitarist to not have to rely on them. I like natural overdrive from the amp better than most pedals, but pedals are useful when you don't want to cause anyone to go deaf. And sometimes I like using a tremolo or a wah for something, or delay in praise and worship, so effects have their place. But it is really nice not to have to worry about them.

roscoestring · 09-02-2010, 03:28 PM

Yeah, I got one of those amps with all the effects in it. I played around with it for about a week and now it just sits there wondering what happened.

***BillSPrestonEsq*** · 09-02-2010, 03:58 PM

I use delay, and I do love my overdrive and boost pedals... But most of the times I play just guitar to amp.