hollow bodies?

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LI_Slim

LI_Slim

voice in the wilderness
No, I'm not talking about people with no souls.

I have been invited to join a rock band as a rhythm guitarist. I have been playing out and recording as a solo acoustic guy with my Martin classical 00016C.

I am thinking of getting a hollow body electric. The idea is to use it in the rock band and also be able to use it to play certain solo numbers, probably fingerstyle, for which I would hope to have some of the fullness of an acoustic guitar.

Can you suggest a nice hollow body or some other animal that will satisfy my needs? My budget is not unlimited, but we can skip pricing for now.
 
Real hollow bodies, commonly known as jazz guitars, are real good for fingerstyle, but conversely, often have major feedback issues at the volumes popular with rock bands. Semi hollow bodies represent a compromize, and can be lovely for jazz/rock, but won't thrill you too much whwn not plugged in. Some semi hollow bodies have a center block, a piece of solid wood running down the middle of the body, which reduces feedback, but also brings the sound closer and closer to that of a solid body. In such a guitar, the f-holes are mostly for show, and are sometimes eliminated completely, as in the Gibson B.B. King "Lucille" signature guitar. My vote for best compromise- Gibson ES335, but a model with no center block. I would also have a (relatively) less expensive solid body available as an option if volume levels make feedback an issue. A tip here for fingerstyle- try one of the rare guitar string sets for electric with a wound G, such as D'Addario EXL115W. Good luck- Richie
PS- For a real jazz hollowbody, try Gibson ES 175 and prepare to re-mortgage your house.
 
excellent points, Mr. Monroe... One of my fave jazz fingerstyle players, Tuck Andress, uses a hollow body, but stuffs it with some sort of filling to help with feedback.
 
Other possibilities are an electric/acoustic hybrid -- there are many on the market -- or something like a Parker Fly or another solid-body guitar with a bridge pickup that gets a decent acoustic-type sound. The latter gives you the ability to switch between more standard rock electric sounds and pretty good acoustic sounds. Finally, something like some of the Godin models might be ideal, e.g., the Godin Jazz -- acoustic sound via a piezo bridge pickup, good straight jazz sounds via a humbucker, and a Roland-compatible synth pickup so you could use it for a MIDI controller too (if you also had a Roland GR-33).
 
Yo - Good news!

I'll second what Richard Monroe says about hollow body or archtop instruments. We can talk about them a little if you want while we're at the Jamfest. But if you want a decent workhorse guitar that can handle a few different situations, take a look at the Epiphone Emperor Joe Pass model. The guitar itself is pretty nice (well, it's not a carved instrument, but laminations aren't all that bad). The weakness is the entry level circuitry, which you can tweak any time you have a mind to. Be sure to test drive it.

I have a friend who picked up an Epiphone, swapped the pickups for a pair of DiMarzios and built an ebony tailpiece (Benedetto style) and reports that the guitar screams - for under a thousand bucks. If / when I get an entry jazzbox, that's pretty much top of my list, unless I have a little more scratch to work with - and then it would be the (oops, I'm getting drool on my keyboard) Heritage Guitars Sweet Sixteen. :cool:
 
I saw the most awsome rock/blues group recently, they are really pro and surprise, the rhythm guitarist actually used an acoustic, I think it was a Yamaha, I was surprised, we all know about acoustic rhythm in the studio but on stage? but no howling feedback either, anyway it worked very well. For songs where he had to augument the lead player he went to a strat.
 
Thanks guys for some very helpful information. Think I'll amble over to 48th Street and play a few.
 
I haven't tried any of these yet, but...

Does anyone have knowledge of the following:


-Ovation super shallow acoustic acoustic electric (or other comparable Ovations)

-Chet Atkins Studio "solid body acoustic", either by Gibson or Epiphone

-Fender "Stratacoustic"

-Martin Alternative X Acoustic (aluminum top)
 
I don't personally care for Ovations, as the backs are made of plastic and are rounded off, which makes them difficult to play sitting down.

I dig that Chet Atkins solidbody acoustic thing though. Especially the nylon string version. The finish quality on the Epi version was a little disappointing to me though.

The fender is kind of a weird animal, with a bolt on neck and super slim body. It's not to my taste, but some people like 'em.
 
I played the Martin recently on a factory tour. Didn't plug in, but was surprised by the acoustic sound. It's a real guitar.




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I think.:D
 
Lame Thrower said:
I don't personally care for Ovations, as the backs are made of plastic and are rounded off, which makes them difficult to play sitting down.

hard to play sitting down? Ovations are near impossible to play standing unless you have absolutely no stomach at all. That plus they always sound miserably tinny, no matter how good the sound guy might be....

I play a Epiphone Casino at ridiculously high levels for a hollowbody and, with some careful right hand muting between playing, have very little noise issues. If I ever have call to do some crazy Wes Montgomery stuff, I'll throw some flat wounds on it and it's smooth like parkay.

milesmaxwell
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hard to play sitting down? Ovations are near impossible to play standing unless you have absolutely no stomach at all. That plus they always sound miserably tinny, no matter how good the sound guy might be....

Well, what I meant to say is that they are utter crap unless you spend $3000+ on one and even then you could do a lot better. That was a typo. :)

Oh, and I'm 5'11", 145lbs., so I really have no idea what you mean about the stomach issue.

I play a Epiphone Casino at ridiculously high levels for a hollowbody and, with some careful right hand muting between playing, have very little noise issues. If I ever have call to do some crazy Wes Montgomery stuff, I'll throw some flat wounds on it and it's smooth like parkay.

I'll second that. I've got an Ibanez AS80, which is basically the same guitar. Probably made in the same Korean Samick factory actually. I've never had any feedback probs, and with flatwound 11s, it plays like a $1000 guitar.
 
For an oddball reccomendation, how about a semihollow body Silvertone? I have an old amp in case model that sounds very very good unplugged, and comes alive when electric. Reverend guitars are a modern improvement on them. The semihollow gives very nice resonance but no sound holes keep it from feedback too much. In some ways I prefer it to my early 60's gretsch.
 
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