One of the first things I do when picking up a guitar is play it unplugged. Before I even think about plugging into an amp, I want to feel how the wood responds, hear how long a note rings out and sense whether the guitar has that certain spark, like it’s alive in my hands.
In my experience, natural sustain and resonance begins with the guitar itself, not the gear it’s plugged into. If a guitar doesn’t speak to me acoustically, I’ll probably move on to something else.
