Plugged In
Too long since I’ve done this.
I set up my electric rig the other night for the first time in months, just to mess around with the different tone combinations I could get out of the amp and the few pedals I use. I’ve been playing my Gibson acoustic almost exclusively for the past year, and I didn’t realize how much I missed playing electric guitar until I flipped the switch on my amp and rolled the volume knob between my fingers.
I have a Fender Telecaster, and though I’ve owned other electrics I’ve never found an instrument that could match the Tele’s playability. My fingers feel a bit more nimble on the maple fretboard, and the ash slab body gives the Tele the feel of an industrial-age tool that could build entire cities from raw sonic material.
What I like most about the Tele is its versatility. The guitar lets me spend time with it, helps me explore the strings and the amp settings until I find a sound that inspires me. I can try pushing a riff through different pickups, winding back over itself and seeing how it comes out on the other end. And maybe I’ll hear something reminiscent of another idea I once had, and I’ll marry the two together for something completely new.
That versatility and expansiveness can also be paralyzing - all those options give me fewer guardrails, and I get lost in possibility & feel like I can’t close the deal on a song. So I’ve got all these snippets floating around in my head, or these tiny thirty-second recordings on my phone, and nothing to hold onto, to make a complete whole. It’s like doing a puzzle, except all the pieces are from different sets, and you’ve never seen any of the images they’re meant to create.
Maybe that’s why I’ve avoided songwriting - it’s felt too hard, too much of a fool’s errand. There’s already so much great music out there. Even with all the inspiration and the cool sounds I’m creating, I’d have to work to really define the sound I want and the things I’m trying to say.
But I keep at it, because working on new songs on the electric will help my acoustic playing. Even if I’m learning other people’s material, the Tele can give me the room to explore, or to try new positioning. If it translates to my live shows on my acoustic, great. If not, I’ll save it for the next band I form, or the next project I undertake, years from now, when the Tele and I have finally put the pieces together.
