can you play electric acoustic guitar without an amp

Can You Play An Electric Acoustic Guitar Without An Amp? Solved!

Electric acoustic guitars can offer the best of both worlds. 

You can play out at a campfire, or shred some solos with your amp.

This brings us to the question at hand: 

Can you play an electric acoustic guitar without an amp?

Are there any special considerations I should know about with electric acoustic guitar amps?

An electric acoustic guitar can be used with an amplifier, but it does not require an amp to be played.

Therefore, An electric acoustic guitar does not need an amp, it’s just you may prefer to play with one.

Do electric acoustic guitars need amps?

No, an amp is not a requirement of playing electric acoustic guitar, you’ll just be playing acoustically.

There are a couple different types of electric acoustic guitars, and amps impact their tone differently

If you have an acoustic guitar, with electronic pickups, you’ll have no issues playing the guitar, and the tone will stay familiar.

This style of electric-acoustic guitar is basically just an acoustic guitar with pickups, so you won’t have to worry about an amp, unless you need more volume then normal.

Should you have a semi-hollow body guitar, another type of guitar often referred to as “electric acoustic”, then you might want to use an amp.

Semi-hollow bodies are typically electric style guitars, that have a semi-hollow or fully hollow body, that acts somewhat similarly to the first style mentioned.

The difference is that these semi-hollow bodies are designed with the intention of plugging it into an amp.

While you can play even an electric guitar without an amp, a semi-hollow body is going to be quieter, and you might not fully enjoy the instrument without an amplifier plugged in.

Do I need a special amp for an acoustic electric guitar?

Electric acoustic guitars can be used with any standard guitar amplifier. 

While some amps may produce a more desirable tone from your electric acoustic guitar, there is no requirement for a specialized amp, when playing electric acoustic guitar.

If looking for an amp for your electric acoustic guitar, consider what tones and style of guitar you enjoy playing.

Then work backwards to find an amplifier that matches your style. 

If in doubt, go with an affordable amp, that’s in the middle of the road in terms of balance and tone.

Playing Acoustic electric guitars with no Amplifier 

Playing electric acoustic guitar without an amp can be easily done.

However, there are a few instances where you might find an amp helpful.

For example, soloing, harmonics and ghost notes are all things that are usually easier when amplified.

With an amplifier, lower volume notes can be heard clearly, without an amp it may be a struggle to hear them.

You’ll still be able to hear them, your play style might need to emphasize them more than if you were amplified.

Other than that, there shouldn’t be many other notes you should consider when playing electric acoustic without an amp.

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