Any advantages to solid wood top on semi-hollow?

[Dr. P]

Are there any advantages to a solid top on a semi-hollow like a 335? I understand Gibson use maple ply on their normal models, is that right? I could get a guit with a solid top.

 

Views much appreciated.

[guitarcapo]

I had a cheap Chinese Hamer Echotone that actually used solid pressed maple for the top, back and sides.

 

It was otherwise cheaply made though. For one thing there was no internal "kerfing" lining the joints between the sides and the top or back. Cheap tuners, cheap hardware, cheap "Duncan Designed" humbuckers. Poly finish.

 

But I bought it because I was intrigued about a solid wood ES 335 style guitar. It really didn't seem to make any difference in tone over other cheap ES335 guitars I've owned. It was a tad bright and tinny played acoustically but that was probably just more to do with all the maple in the neck and cdenter block and cheap hardware.

The pickups were muddy though.

 

I really don't think it makes much difference in sound at all and opens up a can of worms in terms of expense and cracks/humidity issues.

An ES 335, like most electrics, gets most of it's tone from the neck construction, hardware, and pickups. Subtle issues like whether the wood is solid or lam probably don't have much tone significance until you are dealing with a true hollow body...and even then it's not much.

 

Personally I prefer laminate unless we are talking acoustic flattops and even then I sometimes wonder if it matters much for the back and sides.

[mrbrown49]

I could be wrong, but I thought solid tops were more likely to develop stress cracks.

[Dr. P]

Thanks for this response. Humidity really isn't much of a problem where I live! Freezing your bollocks off could be an issue, but possibly not for the guit.

 

Any more for any more?

[mrbrown49]

 

Thanks for this response. Humidity really isn't much of a problem where I live! Freezing your bollocks off could be an issue, but possibly not for the guit. Any more for any more?

 

 

If it's cold though the dry air could be a problem. When the wood gets really dry and contracts that's usually when things start to crack.

[sxyryan]

 

I could be wrong, but I thought solid tops were more likely to develop stress cracks.

 

 

Makes sense to me, I've handled plenty of older semi and full hollow body guitars, and never seen a stress crack on anything that wasn't carved.

[guitarcapo]

Plywood doesn't expand and contract as much as solid wood. The expansion and contraction can accelerate finish checking (maybe not so much if the finish is poly) and can stress glue joints over time a little more. Given that there's no huge expansive areas where the wood is without reinforcement on an ES335, I doubt it's much of an issue...but I guess my final verdict would be that it's insignificant in terms of sound, might make the guitar slightly less stable structurally, and adds expense, so I would offer that there doesn't seem to be any advantage.

[Jim_Soloway]

 

I could be wrong, but I thought solid tops were more likely to develop stress cracks.

 

 

Possibly but that's not nearly as much of an issue as feedback. Laminates are much more feedback resistant but solid tops have a more complex tone (at least in theory).

[mrbrown49]

Possibly but that's not nearly as much of an issue as feedback. Laminates are much more feedback resistant but solid tops have a more complex tone (at least in theory).

 

Interesting, I never thought of that. Thank Jim.

[Elias Graves]

Jim's right. For acoustics, a solid top makes a huuuuuge difference but because they are so light, they vibrate very freely and feed back like crazy.

Some jazz players prefer the solid top...it probably does sound a little better...but they aren't playing with any gain or volume.

But with a dedicated electric, most of your sound is from your pickups and just the fact that it is hollow so the top material isn't as critical.

And solid tops, like on any acoustic, are much more delicate. You won't be too happy when you accidentally smash the top with a minor accident.

 

EG

[guitarcapo]

I think on an acoustic, a solid top ages better and the tone improves as the wood dries out. A plywood guitar, while being more stable, really doesn't change tone as much. It sounds the same over time.

Plywood tops have a more uniform, even tone response over all the frequencies that the guitar is playing and the "wolf notes" (louder feedback- prone notes) in certain places on the fretboard are less of an issue with the more even frequency response all over the fretboard...especially when playing amplified.

[Elias Graves]

Yeah, my Alleykat has a very heavy maple laminate top. Still sounds like an archtop but you have to work a bit to get it to feed back and even when it does, its very controllable.

Solid maple tops are a little more resistant, but spruce or other softwoods can howl easily.

 

EG

[Wyatt]

Interesting, I never thought of that. Thank Jim.

 

Feedback it is.

 

That's why Gibson spec'ed laminate tops, if not all lam construction, on their dedicated electric semi-hollow/hollowbodied ES series. It is also why pre-Gibson Epiphone also used solid woods for their acoustic jazzboxes and laminates for the exact same models with factory electronics (the "Zephyr" models).

[C-4]

I have owned 3X5's and also the ES-339 and the solid wood 356 and 336 Gibsons.

They do sound slightly different.

The solid wood 336/356's have a more mellow sound then the lammed ES-339/359 and similar, but obviously not exactly as a deep archtop full body jazz guitar that is lammed sounds different from a solid wood archtop.

[3shiftgtr]

Solid vs laminate is a sliding scale. Look at an acoustic. Solids sound better. Simple acoustic properties. And they become more sonorus with playing and time.

 

Hollows benefit from this as well, as much of the acoustic properties of the wood color the way the string vibrates and therefore how the pickup transfers that vibration.

 

Semihollows benefit as well, just not as much.

[JoeJazz2000]

I'm a long-time 335 player. For a long while it was my absolute go-to guitar. However I was dazzled by the sound of the Eastman semi hollows in the Thinline series, all solid wood guitars. Eastman doesn't use laminates because it has no laminating or pressing capacity. Everything made there is carved solid wood. I didn't buy one because the 335 covers my bases there, and I wanted one of their full-depth archtops. However if you want to hear the difference between a lam and a solid wood semi, check one out.

 

http://www.eastmanguitars.com/products.php

[Dr. P]

So far there seem to be more disadvantages...

 

I'm asking because I could get an Edwards with a solid top (335 style), or I could spend an extra