Semi-hollows

[Convert]

Do you think 335 style semi-hollows sound unique from solid-bodies?

[almightycrunch]

ummmmm, yeah, is this supposed to be a trick question?

[D Carroll]

Yes. You can play with the feedback that you don't get from the solid bodies.

[ZeppelinPie792]

They do to me.

 

Well, my 335 style is technically a full hollow body...but still

[docjeffrey]

My ES335 was so stiff and rigid when I bought it that it sounded like a Les Paul for about three years. I had never owned an electric guitar with air in it, so I was pretty naive when I bought it. It sounds great now that the glue joints and neck have loosened up a bit and the tone has mellowed.

 

Interestingly, my ES339 sounded very semi-ish right from the start, but MF shipped me a NOS that was two years old that they never sold because the case had a silk-screening problem. I got it at a scratch and dent price for $1200 [nice]. The lacquer had hardened nicely--no sticky neck.

 

I think that good guitars that are made from decent woods with nitro finishes and mahogany necks take some breaking in before they start to find their voices. Maple necks don't seem to require the same seasoning.

 

Cheaper semis with thicker plywood bodies, maple necks, and thick poly finishes sometimes are indistinguishable from solid body guitars. Some of it has to do with the pickups. If they are too muddy or powerful, they tend to hide the natural timbre of the hollow body.

 

Other semis have such heavy, dense necks and maple blocks inside the body that the hollow wings make no difference in tone. They are just there for looks.

[Convert]

They do to me. Well, my 335 style is technically a full hollow body...but still

 

 

Full hollow is clearly a different animal.

[docjeffrey]

I just want to add one more thing. Vintage voiced pickups like Filtetrons (4.5 K output), Rickenbacker scatterwound toasters (around 7 K), and PAF style humbuckers (8 K) tend to do a good job at bringing out the "hollow" in semis. Even my heavily chambered Gretsch Duo Jet with TV Jones Classics has a very airy/open sound even though it looks like a solid body.

[Elias Graves]

. The lacquer had hardened nicely--no sticky neck. I think that good guitars that are made from decent woods with nitro finishes and mahogany necks take some breaking in before they start to find their voices. Maple necks don't seem to require the same seasoning. Cheaper semis with thicker plywood bodies, maple necks, and thick poly finishes sometimes are indistinguishable from solid body guitars. Some of it has to do with the pickups. If they are too muddy or powerful, they tend to hide the natural timbre of the hollow body. Other semis have such heavy, dense necks and maple blocks inside the body that the hollow wings make no difference in tone. They are just there for looks.

 

 

This. Well, except I don't have doc's 335 or 339, but still.

 

EG

[prolog]

To me, the biggest difference is when listening to a semi with P90s versus a solidbody with the same. They're both great tones, but very, very different.

[docjeffrey]

To me, the biggest difference is when listening to a semi with P90s versus a solidbody with the same. They're both great tones, but very, very different.

 

 

Ever played a really good Les Paul Goldtop with P90's? The tone is fantastic, very open, transparent, and ballsy--in my opinion even better than PAF's. As for the hum, it's not nearly as much of an issue as it must have been in the 1950's. Most of the time, my R4 is nearly dead quiet, and if it's not, I can usually find a place to stand or sit where the hum is minimized.

 

I don't have a semi or full hollow with P90's, but I plan on rectifying that situation sometime soon. I'm just waiting for a nice Epi Elitist that has a Bigsby and P90's to emerge.