Hello guys, I just want to ask if it is possible to "tap" on an acoustic guitar unplugged, I play the guitar for 3 years now just focused playing on the legato technique, and Im learning to tap. The problem is I dont seem to hear the notes Im playing on an acoustic guitar, I can hear the hammer ons and pull offs but the tapped notes seems to be dead. I tried it on electric it works but not on acoustic. Does tapping only works on electric distortion?, Im new to this technique so I dont have any idea, I really need expert advice especially from those who are experienced on tapping. Thanx. :)

Yeah, you can tap on an acoustic, but instead of tapping straight up and down, you'll need to tap an an angle to sort of "pick" the note to get volume.

Check out Van Halen's Spanish Fly. He's tapping an acoustic on that....

Yeah, I find it harder on an acoustic though due to the fact that the action is alot higher.

well dude, if you tried it and it didnt work...clearly it doesnt work nicely...you can do it I guess, but you will have to mess with your techinque and adjust it untill you get the sound you want...definately easier with a lt of gain on electrics.

there is also taping at the end of Extreme´s More than Words ....
..maybe you need to change your strings and use a movement of the whole hand to get more power on your middle finger(this is bigger than the index).

Originally Posted by: JFRICKYeah, you can tap on an acoustic, but instead of tapping straight up and down, you'll need to tap an an angle to sort of "pick" the note to get volume.

yeah thats the best way to do it.
tapping is largely an electric technic. if you work your fingers off, you can pull off tapping unplugged but its hard to get much volume.

Originally Posted by: JFRICKYeah, you can tap on an acoustic, but instead of tapping straight up and down, you'll need to tap an an angle to sort of "pick" the note to get volume.

I've found the easiest way to achieve this is to work the tap almost as if the string is a piano key, kinda tap sideways and slide off the string to exaggerate the pull-off...

Just in case it helps anyone visualise...

I've tapped on electric, acoustic, classical, and bass. All are possible.

Check out Kaki King, Michael Hedges,Preston Reed,Don Ross; all of em' tap on Flattops.
Ian

Yeah, Kaki King amazes me. Definately check her out.....

Here's a link to a video of her playing......it's a .ram file.

http://www.sonymusic.com/artists/KakiKing/video/KakiKing_ConanVidFull.ram

Thanks to all who posted, epecially to JFRICK, Andrew SA, Zreynolds, Rockon91,VHLO, Ian for your advice and examples, It really works!, I can now tap, although it requires a lot of force from your fingers to sound good and loud, and you have to hit it from an angle......Thanks alot.

By the way, Khaki King is amazing, She's like a slow version Michael Angelo, tapping on acoustic..without a lot of effort, Maybe because of the pickups....but still amazing girl not to mention beautiful face.

Originally Posted by: Fretfire By the way, Khaki King is amazing, She's like a slow version Michael Angelo, tapping on acoustic..without a lot of effort, Maybe because of the pickups....but still amazing girl not to mention beautiful face.

dang tell me about it. i was watching that like, mesmerized. that was pretty cool.

yeah, i find it way easier to tap on accoustic if the action is set lower as well.