Hollowbody History

[Bowtiefanatc]

Love me some spruce top HBs! Those look great

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Love me some spruce top HBs! Those look great

Getting one was on my list for like, twenty years or so. The HBII’s have a slight edge in the looks department but the sound...

 

[garrett]

Hmm, interesting.

My HB was built in 2000, purchased new in 2001, has a McCarty TS cover, hang tag lists it as HBII, has Archtop 2 pups, and has a mahogany back. Seems like it straddles the specs on the PRS website list and what WA Paul mentioned.

Somebody goofed on the hang tag then.

 

[Huggy Love]

Somebody goofed on the hang tag then.

I'm not so sure, still researching.

.......... but if they did goof up, I'm gonna straighten them out.

 

[garrett]

I'm not so sure, still researching.

.......... but if they did goof up, I'm gonna straighten them out.

Hang tag is definitely wrong.

A Hollowbody II has always been a mahogany rim with maple top and maple back.

What you describe was originally just called the McCarty Hollowbody. It had a hollowed out mahogany back and you could get it with either a spruce or maple top. After a couple years, they updated the names to Hollowbody Spruce and Hollowbody I, respectively.

All of the Hollowbody and Archtop models in the beginning had the "McCarty" truss rod cover as well as McCarty Archtop pickups, so that matches up.

 

[Huggy Love]

Hang tag is definitely wrong.

A Hollowbody II has always been a mahogany rim with maple top and maple back.

What you describe was originally just called the McCarty Hollowbody. It had a hollowed out mahogany back and you could get it with either a spruce or maple top. After a couple years, they updated the names to Hollowbody Spruce and Hollowbody I, respectively.

All of the Hollowbody and Archtop models in the beginning had the "McCarty" truss rod cover as well as McCarty Archtop pickups, so that matches up.

Hmm, hard for me to believe 2 different PRS employees(assembler & checker) made the same booboo. I think I read somewhere that there was some looseness on HB specs during periods of changeover on those models. Can't recall where I read it but do remember something to that effect.

Still researching.

 

[Huggy Love]

Well, after a bit of research (some with the help of Shawn) it will remain a mystery that plays & sounds great. Due to the hang tag stating HB2 and archtop 2(?) pickups also on the tag and I can't find any record of such pups, maybe they had an office party at PRS and got whacky with the nomenclature after too much spiked punch.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Well, after a bit of research (some with the help of Shawn) it will remain a mystery that plays & sounds great. Due to the hang tag stating HB2 and archtop 2(?) pickups also on the tag and I can't find any record of such pups, maybe they had an office party at PRS and got whacky with the nomenclature after too much spiked punch.

I read those as question marks.

 

[bodia]

Well, after a bit of research (some with the help of Shawn) it will remain a mystery that plays & sounds great. Due to the hang tag stating HB2 and archtop 2(?) pickups also on the tag and I can't find any record of such pups, maybe they had an office party at PRS and got whacky with the nomenclature after too much spiked punch.

I read those as question marks.

I was thinking squared. Ya know, first set of squabbin Archtops

 

[veinbuster]

Interesting. I'd be playing in a higher gain scenario (think Foo Fighters) so a newer might be better to avoid feedback.

Hmm...if I get an empty house for a bit this weekend I might try to craft an experiment. I had no trouble getting feedback from my newer one, but it was also easy to stop - I just moved a couple feet out of the line of theMDT 4x10.

So...I got around to doing a semi scientific feedback test with my Hollowbodies. All through Channel 3 of my Mark V (behind the guitars in the photo). No settings changed between guitars. Guitar volume to max on all. Tone on guitars 7ish. Here is a summary of what I observed.

The guitars with the top fully carved (neck to bridge block) would show feedback while playing notes; i.e. it crept into what I was playing. The 25th anniversary, which does not have the centre of the top carved out did exhibit feedback, but I needed a bit of space between articulated notes to really feel it. I also noticed that, for the most part, on the 25th anniversary, I could mitigate the feedback by covering the upper f hole with my forearm. There was no shutting the feedback on the others without a bit of palm on the strings.

Maybe it is the thicker centre portion of the top. Other differences in the guitars:
blonde - 59/09 made in 2010, piezo, ebony board, 10s
red - archtops, made in 1996, no piezo, rosewood board, 10s
blue - 57/08 made in 2009, piezo, rosewood board, 11s

Other things I noticed: dropping guitar volume from 10, 8 pretty much eliminated feedback. Running the amp as I normally use that channel gave no feedback, I engaged the solo boost (about 1/3) to hit the feedback limit.