Hollowbody guitars and solidbody guitars only sound different in the room or if mic'd. The electric signal portion of the signal is generally identically other than the solidbodies usually having better sustain due to less energy loss from the body vibrating. Of course we are talking if there are two hypothetically identical guitars only differentiated by the hollowness of the body (please dont come at me with anecdotal experiences that differ because you played one particular hollowbody guitar and it sounded different from one solidbody guitar...). I think hollowbodies are great for room players, where you get to experience the resonance. If you're recording through the pickups or playing on stage they sound mostly the same *to my ears* (will add this part to try and avoid the complete forum meltdown LOL).
People come away from lots of sensory experiences with different conclusions. I respect your musical voice - heard your track in the other part of the forum - and you of course must decide these things for yourself. It's your music, you do a nice job. It doesn't matter to the music itself whether we agree about certain audio things.
We're gonna do what we do. Music is something we share. All to the good! In the end, what matters is the music, not whether guitar A sounds different from guitar B due to its wood and construction and blah blah blah. Do what works for you, and keep up the good work!
So admittedly, this is an academic discussion except as it applies to what I do for a living in the music business, where I need my ear-brain-hands to do certain things in order to get paid.
I'll give a little background as to how I've reached my opinions.
None of what follows makes me right, but it does reflect the a decent amount of professional experience and why I'm confident about interpreting sound.
As you probably know from other posts, I'm lucky enough to get paid to compose, play, produce and mix music for national TV ads, indie films, and documentaries. I also often do the audio postproduction final mix of Voiceover or dialog, sound effects, and music.
Over the years I've created tracks for a few projects that won some nice awards.
Sometimes my work takes me to new, interesting places unrelated to Ad-Land or TV Documentary-Land.
I produced, co-wrote, and recorded the music for the video that opened every show of a Carrie Underwood tour a few years back. I've done music for Epcot Center. One documentary I did is part of an exhibit at the Detroit Historical Museum, but it was done for TV and earned an Emmy. I've been lucky to have had these wonderful opportunities.
I'm also a synthesist, sound designer and classical musician. I've done foley recording in the field. If it's audio...chances are I've been involved in it.
At some point a few years back, PRS did a website article about how I use their products in my work. Gave me a swelled head for a minute or two!
I've been recording myself and others in this business for 33 years. That includes hundreds and hundreds of guitars, amps, etc. I've written for, conducted, recorded and mixed symphony players in sessions, too. Hey, some ads and films need orchestras (and in that context I've got kind of an amusing story about the first time I conducted symphony players for a Budweiser ad that ran in the Olympics that I'll tell some time).
In the context of our discussion, I've had to learn to listen deep into the details of a track, a mix, an audio post session. That's the first step one takes making the move from 'decent mixer' to getting the bigger projects - if one is lucky.
I've guest lectured about this stuff many times - at Audio Engineering Society meetings, the University of Michigan School of Music, etc. They ask me, I go. I love to share what I've learned about music and audio over the years.
Before I got into the music world, long ago, I practiced law (yes I realize that this makes me an even
worse know-it-all).
So I'm also asked to guest lecture or participate in round tables about music production and music rights in law schools' entertainment law classes. Lawyers generally have no idea how music is produced and recorded, how sessions are handled, etc. They should have this info in order to handle their eventual work. They also need to know when and how musicians divvy up the rights to a piece of music.
Sometimes ad clients want me to arrange licenses for pop songs for their ads. So I do that, too, and deal with major label folks and publishers. I'd rather do music, but I love the folks I work with, and if that's what they need, I know how to do it and say 'sure'.
I'm that weird guy who can say I've composed music for Fortune 500 and professional sports teams' ads, and also negotiated song licenses for these same clients' ad projects.
I've done my thing in my own studio, and the audio post studios here in Michigan, but also in the famous studios in NYC, LA, Chicago, and in cities in Europe. I've gotten to work with the most wonderful people in the world - great musicians.
In doing all this stuff, I've recorded hundreds and
hundreds of guitars, amps, and other instruments. I hear the difference in a recording between various guitars, hollow or solid builds, woods, bolt-on or glued necks, etc, and that's the source of my TOO MANY opinions!
That does not make me any better at hearing
acuity than you - that's a different topic. You can have the information enter your ears, but the brain still has to process and interpret it, and experience day after day after day is the thing that teaches your brain what to concentrate its attention on,
Here's an analogy: When you hear a song you want to learn, perhaps you can concentrate on the guitar parts and push the other instruments and vocals to the back of your mind. Many of us do this.
In a similar way, after many years in the studio, a person can learn to concentrate on one particular frequency band of an instrument, the amplitude of its resonant frequencies, etc, etc. It's a matter of experience and concentration, thus interpreting what your senses are bringing you as well as merely hearing.
Now, you might say, "But can't your brain also fool you?" I'd say yes. It can. But I get paid to not be fooled.
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
