Single F hole vs two

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With a PRS guitars I have seen some with one F hole and others with two. Has anyone compared the two and is the guitar with twoF holes lighter as it is more chambered?
 
Hollowbody vs Semi Hollow. Plus the HB is usually 2x as thick body wise. They are both fantastic in their own right.

HB is a little lighter than Semi Hollow due to the fact of all the material removed.
 
Do the hollowbodys have a solid center block a la 335? I get confused over the two as well. When people say they are fully hollow I get the impression of an archtop type guitar, but then I see the normal bridge mounted on the top surface rather that a trapeze type arrangement and I think that can't be.

Is the difference between a semi and hollowbody that one is just a chambered normal guitar, and the other a 335 type guitar with a center block and top and bottom skins?
 
Do the hollowbodys have a solid center block a la 335? I get confused over the two as well. When people say they are fully hollow I get the impression of an archtop type guitar, but then I see the normal bridge mounted on the top surface rather that a trapeze type arrangement and I think that can't be.

Is the difference between a semi and hollowbody that one is just a chambered normal guitar, and the other a 335 type guitar with a center block and top and bottom skins?

The HB have a block where the bridge is located, and that's it. Full hollow, other than that. There's a thread here with some pics of one under construction that shows it.

Here it is. See post #12

https://forums.prsguitars.com/threads/prs-hollowbody-bridge-mounting.39381/#post-493281
 
So are we saying the two F hole PRS is a hollowbody and the one F hole is Semi?

Generally hollowbody has more of an acoustic sound and semi provides a nice in between sound with less feedback issues. I believe on the Carvin/Keisel 550 and 575 they removed wood to get the chambered interior but it still has the center block for the advantages it brings.
 
So are we saying the two F hole PRS is a hollowbody and the one F hole is Semi?

.

That is correct. Looking inside of my Cu22 SSH Ltd, it is hollow from the side of the body to the block where the pickups mount. The hollow area goes all the way to the top horn. Looking toward the bottom of the guitar, it stays hollow around the back of the trem. Can't see how far that goes though.
 
So are we saying the two F hole PRS is a hollowbody and the one F hole is Semi?

Generally hollowbody has more of an acoustic sound and semi provides a nice in between sound with less feedback issues. I believe on the Carvin/Keisel 550 and 575 they removed wood to get the chambered interior but it still has the center block for the advantages it brings.

PRS guitars with 1 F-hole are semi-hollow whilst those with 2 are Hollowbody guitars. The Hollowbody guitars do have a block under the bridge but that is for the bridge to be fitted into. With the 594 Hollowbody, I believe the block is a bit bigger because it has a two piece tune-o-matic type bridge. It makes sense to have something a bit more substantial to screw into and must help with the transfer of tone into the body rather than just the top. Its also less likely to have any problems with the tension on the bridge by the strings as its fixed into the block and not just the 'thin' top.

If you have ever seen the way a bridge is fitted into a solid body, you will know that the post and post mountings are quite long and go quite deep into the body - much longer and deeper than the thickness of the top. It doesn't have a block under the pick-ups at least no more than the neck joint occupies. the rest though is hollow.

The Semi-Hollow is still quite hollow. the 'hollow' occupies the majority of the top part of the guitar and, I believe, the body behind the bridge. It still has the centre block for the bridge and PU's and of course there is a cavity for the electrics too.

What you also need to remember though is that the Semi-hollow is cut into the Mahogany but the Mahogany is also the back of the guitar too where as the hollowbody guitars carve out all of the mahogany completely (apart from the bridge block of course so its basically just the side wall of the guitar and has a maple front and back. The Hollowbody doesn't have back plates either where as the semi hollow does.

The semi-hollow is more like a solid guitar that has weight relief but instead of a lot of small chambers, it has a large chamber at the top and an F-Hole. The Hollowbody is much more like a traditional hollowbody. It doesn't have a centre block as such but it does have a block to mount the bridges and all the wiring is done through the pick-up and F-Holes like a hollowbody should.

I haven't had the opportunity to compare a solid, a semi hollow and hollow version of the same guitar. It is now possible with the 594 as there is a DC version of each. I do have a Solid 594, a Hollowbody ii (both with the same PU's) and a Special 22 Semi-hollow but there is enough variations between all 3 of these that trying to ascertain what, if any, differences there are between all 3 types of body. I also wouldn't trust youtube for demo's of all 3 because all I will be hearing is the compressed audio played through my laptop speakers - not the guitar amp itself - assuming all 3 were in one video (but I don't believe there has been one done yet), you may hear some difference but still won't be like being in the room yourself.

From what I have heard, I think the semi-hollow sounds close enough to the solid version that it may as well be considered more as weight relief. Its like comparing a Solid body Les Paul to the weight relieved Les Paul which, if you don't know which was which, you wouldn't tell on sound alone. However I will say that I have never heard both the semi and solid body 594's played through the same set-up and only ever heard the semi via youtube which, as I said before, is not good enough audio quality to be considered as an accurate representation. So until I have someone who has both, test both with exactly the same set-up and give me an account of their 'in the room' observations.

I can only go on what I have observed and to me, the Semi-hollow doesn't seem to add (or subtract) anything from the sound and seems to be more like a more fancy weight relief with the F-Hole. It makes more difference unplugged of course, more resonant which you can feel playing but as far as the tone coming out of the speaker, the electric recorded sound, I don't hear a difference. Youtube compressed audio may lose any subtle nuances you hear in the room so there could be a more noticeable difference in the room.

The Hollowbody does make more difference to the electric sound coming out of the speaker. Obviously unplugged its the loudest and most resonant of the 3 - its loud enough that you don't need an amp if you are playing at home. It does sound different though which I attribute to the hollow area around the Pick ups and the Maple back. The solid and semi hollow are basically identical between the bridge and the nut, the part of a guitar that the strings are over and around the pick-ups. Both guitars have the same amount of maple and mahogany that the pick-ups are mounted in, the necks are the same, bridge too is mounted to the same build which is why I think the sound is so similar with the 'semi-hollow' and more resonance when played unplugged and that you can feel more when playing - maybe hear a bit more of the acoustic sounds over the amps sound too but in a recording from just the amp (no room mic to pick up any acoustic sound from the guitar), I would have a hard job telling the Solid and Semi apart but the hollow I think would be much easier to detect.

Anyway, that's my thoughts and I hope there is someone here who can provide a bit more evidence of the audible differences between a solid and semi-hollow version. I must admit, I do like the more resonance of a semi-hollow that I can feel against my body but I don't know that it adds a lot to the tone.
 
Everyone covered very well. All I can say is that I have this...





...and the way PRS cut the hollowness has made this one of the most killer guitars I have ever played. It's nice like a 335 - crisper overall - but compact and easy to play. It really is a favorite. I wonder how it would sound with 57/08's, lol.....
 
Everyone covered very well. All I can say is that I have this...





...and the way PRS cut the hollowness has made this one of the most killer guitars I have ever played. It's nice like a 335 - crisper overall - but compact and easy to play. It really is a favorite. I wonder how it would sound with 57/08's, lol.....

The answer you seek is "Fantastic"
 
The Semi Hollows definitely have a different feel, or "air" to them ;) than Solid bodies.

The weight relief is nice, but they tend to have a bit more openness to them especially when chording.

Agreed. the example I had also seemed to have more sustain relative to a typical solid body prs. I was stupid to sell it and am specing one out again ;)
 
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Well I have this Semi Hollow...

MNZdo85.jpg


This, as if people didn't know is the PRS Special 22 Semi-Hollow Limited Edition in Charcoal Cherry Burst. An absolutely stunning instrument and not just in the looks department. Its called a Special for a very good reason as this is a 'special' guitar.

I also have a Hollowbody too...

8kDrftA.jpg


This is my Hollowbody ii with Piezo and 1 piece Maple top and back.

Obviously its clear in both of these images that the inside of the F holes show the wood of the back of the guitar. It may not be quite so obvious that the wood you see in the Special is Mahogany (although you can see its more orange in colour) and the Hollowbody is showing the underside of the Maple back.

This is the back of the Semi-hollow...
dbelatZ.jpg


... Which doesn't look particularly different from any other back - its still a nice bit of Mahogany though - inc the neck

but compared to the Hollowbody...

AC70NoU.jpg


The difference is much more apparent. The back of the HB is a carved (not flat) and flamed maple. Also notice that there are no back-plates either. Because of this, my hollowbody has the double faux binding too...

1Q2v5kW.jpg


If you look at the picture above, you can also see the block that the bridge is fixed into through the F Hole. The double binding looks absolutely stunning and, whilst I know the Pics of the HB aren't the best - especially the full back pic, I think this pic shows how much more depth and more flamed the top is which also applies to the back as well.

The difference between a Semi-Hollow and Hollowbody is far more than just the extra F-Hole. I hope these pictures help to show how much different they are which is most evident when you start to look around the sides and even more obvious when you see the carved flame maple back.
 
I have a couple of Hollowbody 2s and a custom 24-08 semi-hollow private stock (single f-hole). Two different animals. Honestly, I find them both pretty interchangeable and I play some pretty high gain heavy alternative stuff. You just have to watch out for your feedback on the true Hollowbodies (Hollowbody 2).

That being said, most of the semi hollow options from PRS give you the option to get some single coil tones...
the Hollowbody 2 does not, but the Hollowbody 594 does. That, for me, is huge. I love the ability to go single coil at certain points of songs, and flip into full humbucker to beef things up. Overall, I would tell you to not be too terrified of either...both extremely versatile and you can achieve a wealth of tones. At the end of the day, figure out who YOU are as a player and pick an instrument that identifies with that.
 
Yes, there’s a lovely resonant peak. Solos are a bit different in tone as well.

I was nuts to sell my CU22 SH.

Again an example of why you need to test the Semi-Hollow with the exact same model but solid in the room with the same amp. My only real experience with a PRS Semi-hollow is my own Special 22 which has no solid equivalent. Even if I owned a Custom 22, I couldn't be certain that the semi-hollow build had any impact because of the other differences.

I haven't looked at a semi-hollow 594 mostly because I have a Solid 594. I do think there is a bigger difference though between a semi-hollow and hollow than there is between a solid and semi-hollow. If I could trade 'like for like' with a semi-hollow double cut 594, I think I would like to hear both through the same rig before I would commit but as that hasn't been an option, I have only heard comparisons on youtube (I know the issues with that as I have said elsewhere) but I have struggled to hear much difference - certainly not enough difference that I could easily attribute to the difference in build rather than the small variations you get from 2 of the same solid guitars made of the same natural materials. The comparisons do seem to sound very much alike and within the same margins as comparing a solid vs weight relieved LP - the difference being that the PRS has a bigger single chamber with an F-hole compared to lots of chambers without any holes.

With my SSH, and playing solely at home at 'low' volume (not rehearsal or gigging volumes), I do feel a bit more of the guitars resonance and the acoustics of the string noise is louder - not as loud as my HBii unsurprisingly - so I hear more of the acoustic sound which rings out a bit more over the speaker sound than my solid guitars.

Unless I could conduct my own test - which isn't looking likely in the immediate future, the biggest difference to me is the acoustic difference - its a bit louder and more resonant than a solid when unplugged. That being said, I will also take your word for it as you are more experienced and no doubt have tested both a Solid and Semi-hollow to know the difference can be heard through an amp. I do have a solid 594 and my HBii both with 58/15 LT's so I can compare to a degree what difference a hollowbody makes - the difference of scale length and bridge having some influence which means its not a perfect comparison but as close as I can get right now. I would love to add the 594 HBii to my collection and with very limited space, unless I can trade my solid for a semi-hollow DC 594, I doubt that I will own one - I think its too close to what I have and would rather add something that expands my tonal palette and tool box.
 
I've definitely played my CU24 in the same room both unplugged and plugged in vs my friend's CU24 Semi Hollow and his Wood Library CU24 Semi Hollow. Each one was very different from the other.
 
So are we saying the two F hole PRS is a hollowbody and the one F hole is Semi?

Generally hollowbody has more of an acoustic sound and semi provides a nice in between sound with less feedback issues. I believe on the Carvin/Keisel 550 and 575 they removed wood to get the chambered interior but it still has the center block for the advantages it brings.

I have an Epiphone Blueshawk. That has two f-holes and the chambers were also carved out of a solid block.
 
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