Semi-Hollow vs Solid? or Semi-Hollow + Solid?

[Basauri]

Watching photos of the GOTM April, suddenly a question came to my head: is a semi-hollow a "proper" electric guitar or is it one type of them?
I mean, historically, after the acoustics came the electric acoustics but having feedback issues with them, they had to figure out how to solve it, and that´s how solid electrics born; and semihollows stayed in an acoustic-clear tones-jazzy flavour place, while solids took the rock-hard rock-metal world.
But today, with noise gates, equalizers, best pickups, etc... maybe a solid guitar is not so "necessary". Of course a solid and a semiholllow have their unique tonal qualities, same as if I compare one solid to another, but they are more resonant and lighter; so, could I play any kind of music with a semihollow without the feeling of missing something, or each guitar has its place?

 

[goat-n-gitter]

All of the above!
My fully hollow Gretsch sure gets entertaining when I kick in the lead channel of my Mesa MKV at anything above a whisper volume! The feedback is much more controllable with my CU24.

Tom

 

[Huggy Love]

If you're wanting to go heavy saturated metal distortion I would say no, but keep in mind Ted Nugent played a hollow body throughout his early career before he went PRS. You can rock out but within limitations.
I think the biggest difference is overall tone, where the hollow body and semi have a thicker richer sound and solid bodies have a brighter high end and low end with a lot less mids. This (to me) plays a huge role in lead or rhythm playing as it defines my place in live or recording mixes.

You *CAN* rock with hollow & semi, and you can play jazz on a solid body, so the lines can be crossed but your last statement holds true....."each guitar has it's place".

 

[garrettb]

The only thing I wouldn't find a hollow or semi-hollow suitable for is metal. And it's not so much because of feedback, but more due to the faster attack of the solid body. But yes, every guitar has its place. I like the chunk of my Singlecut, but I also love the roundness of my Hollowbody.

And ol' Uncle Ted has kept right on using his hollow Gibson and mainly pulls out the PRS for whammy bar work.

 

[László]

Here you go. Incubus' guitar player used to be a PRS genre-buster playing an HB on heavy stuff...there are no rules. It's all a matter of what's in your head and hands.

There are carloads of examples of this kind of thing. Don't be fooled into pigeonholing a type of guitar into a genre, you'll do your own sound quest a possible injustice.

 

[Maertl513]

Several guitarists use Hollowbodys for high gain/distortion playing: Wes Borland, Neil Schon, Dave Grohl...
Do I hear any differences in sound changing from solid to hollow? Unplugged: Yes, indeed, the hollowbody is far louder because of the resonance room. Plugged? Better attack? More transparency?
More question marks than exclamation marks!

 

[kingsleyd]

The other thing is, in the modern age, there's a whole continuum. It's not like there are three separate & distinct categories.

For instance: hollow guitars nowadays quite often have some sort of post/trestle type of arrangement, typically under the bridge to anchor it. This goes back to the '59 Gretsch 6120, and PRS uses a not-dissimilar strategy in their full-depth Archtop model. (and, for that matter, in their Hollowbody model, which is more or less the same, construction-wise, except for a thinner body depth)

Then, within semi-hollow guitars, there are all sorts of variations on the way the body and top are connected. A block running through the body, like a 3x5 Gibson. The back of the guitar routed out for a couple of big chambers. (looks similar but the block was originally part of the whole back and the only glue is to connect the top to the back) Or, chambers of various sizes. F-hole, F-holes, different holes, no holes.
And then, of course, you have chambered solidbodies. The amount and effect of chambering can vary greatly.

Which is all great -- I love options -- but it means we all have to figure out what works for us, with our rigs, with the particular music we choose to play. The "rules" don't apply so easily any more because there's so much within-category variation. To say nothing of how many different amplification strategies are available to us nowadays...

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Geordie Walker of Killing Joke plays an ES-295 (hollowbody), but it yields a very unique sound, and is a challenge for the live sound guy.

 

[goof1073]

You can totally play metal...very HEAVY metal / hardcore stuff with a hollowbody; just ask Emil Werstler

 

[Stephen Rudnick]

No specific genre of music is intended to be played on a specific type of guitar. Yes, some guitars do lend themselves better to a specific type of music, but that was more from the player(s) choosing to use that guitar, or a time in the history of guitars when a guitar we have as common place today was not even thought of at that earlier time, then a guitar being made for use in a specific type of music.

As an example, Les Paul designed his guitar so as not to feed back in an era when jazz was popular, yet the guitar really took off for rock era players.

Leo developed the Tele because he wanted an inexpensive guitar that sounded like a Hawaiian guitar, but the Tele is popular in all styles of music.

It's the individual player(s) that may cause a guitar to become famous in a given genre of music.

Let your personal taste in guitar types and music type lead you to choose the guitar you enjoy playing the most.
The rest will work itself out.

 

[Mixstar]

Incubus' guitar player used to be a PRS genre-buster playing an HB on heavy stuff...there are no rules

Exactly, my semi-hollow is sweet and, with today's tech, any deficiencies, if you think there are any, can be dialled in or out. I personally think mine should be left alone, it has personality.

 

[Basauri]

Of course I can play whatever I want with whatever I want. How will it sound is another story.

My thoughts are more about the tonalities and the reason that made solid bodies appear that no longer applies; thanks to technologies we can solve the problems that solids solved. But, for example, do a semi hollow McCarty covers all that a McCarty does adding resonance and lightweight, or "discovering" solid bodies brought something new?

 

[drdoom8793]

No specific genre of music is intended to be played on a specific type of guitar. Yes, some guitars do lend themselves better to a specific type of music, but that was more from the player(s) choosing to use that guitar, or a time in the history of guitars when a guitar we have as common place today was not even thought of at that earlier time, then a guitar being made for use in a specific type of music.

As an example, Les Paul designed his guitar so as not to feed back in an era when jazz was popular, yet the guitar really took off for rock era players.

Leo developed the Tele because he wanted an inexpensive guitar that sounded like a Hawaiian guitar, but the Tele is popular in all styles of music.

It's the individual player(s) that may cause a guitar to become famous in a given genre of music.

Let your personal taste in guitar types and music type lead you to choose the guitar you enjoy playing the most.
The rest will work itself out.

Funny you mention Teles. I saw the band Norma Jean (a very heavy, sludgy kind of metal band) a few day ago, and both guitarist used normal SS configured Teles. Just goes to show, you don't have to have a certain guitar to play a specific genre.

 

[Mixstar]

. . . with today's tech, any deficiencies, if you think there are any, can be dialled in or out

There really are no limits.

 

[bodia]

There really are no limits.

The only limits are those we place on ourselves. Open your mind and great things will follow.

 

[László]

To say nothing of how many different amplification strategies are available to us nowadays...

I agree with your entire post, but I love the term, "amplification strategies."

Has a nice ring to it!

 

[ViperDoc]

There's the construction, and then there's the trees giving the wood, how that wood was cut, what is left, and what do you then do with it in your hands. Generally, I find my own semi-hollow PRS guitars to have a rounder attack than, say, my P24 or especially my Holcomb. A slab of wood's resonant frequency is far higher than its hollow brother of the same tree, especially when plugged into an amp. Crossover is all good. In the end, you have to pick one up and judge for yourself. Have fun!

 

[Stephen Rudnick]

Due to having such light gauged strings (.007-.032), I have to set up my amp very hot, even if I am playing clean, in order to get the strings to sound fatter then they are, and more like 10's. As a result, I had recently purchased an ES 339, I had owned several of these prior to 2008 before having nerve problems, and they were great. However, with the new one I recent bought, I could not get it to stop howling due to the way I had the amp set, and had to get rid of it.
The only semi hollow body guitars that do not howl for me are the XOX Audio Tools Handles.

 

[rugerpc]

I wouldn't call that a hollow or semi-hollow guitar since the exclusions are not resonant chambers....

 

[Stephen Rudnick]

The guitar does have hollow chambers where there is material, however, right up to the end of the peghead, and everywhere but where the pickups go. The excluded areas are where a computer program determined that extra weight could be removed without affecting the tone of the guitar. This guitar was developed on a CAD program.