Semi Hollow Guitar For Metal

Vovus

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May 7, 2008
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What do you think, if get one good semi hollow guitar, throw at it some good hot duncans and turn into the mesa dual rectifier ?

1 What will be the good or the bad side of this test ?

2 Will it be as good as solid body guitar and better for clean channel ?

Thanks beforehand :)
 
  • Softer attack
  • More feedback prone
  • Why would anyone want to do this?
  • Get an Ibanez PGM if you want the F-hole look (stickers)
  • Make some F-hole stickers
 
It really depends on whether you're talking about a real semi-hollow guitar, with alot of acoustic tone, or just something with a chambered body.

A semi hollow will usually have less attack and less sustain, but may have a fatter midrange or a certain kind of resonance that seems to make the notes sound "bigger" at times. The tone would usually be described as warmer or rounder.
A chambered body, something with no "F" holes, that is still relatively solid will yield a very subtle difference at most, but nothing like a true semi-hollow.

Either of them, with the gain set on "kill" thru some hot rod pickups will sound pretty much the same as a solid body.

There may be a feedback issue. A true semi hollow will be a little more prone to feedback, but a chambered body won't, really. Now, if you're talking about a big hollow jazz box or anything like that, it's a different story because the whole top resonates, but with a semi hollow the center of the top is still usually solid.
 
Either of them, with the gain set on "kill" thru some hot rod pickups will sound pretty much the same as a solid body.

That's not quite true... a few guys (like Bulb) have managed some amazing heavy stuff with them. When not being wielded by beings of pure shred, however, they quickly decide that they would rather imitate moose and become instantly useless at any reasonable volume.

Jeff
 
i do exactly this, I play a Yamaha AES 620hb with a duncan jb into a boss sd-1 into some other assorted gadgets like delay and shit into mesa dual 3 channel. Its not a true full on hollow body like a Gibson 335 or something, I think you would describe it as more chambered, but anyways, yeah, i think it sounds good, I probably wouldnt forget my backups if I were going into the studio tomorrow, just incase, but it is my main axe, I just like the way the guitar plays
 
Freaks. I will stick to my blocks of solid mahogany. :hotjump:

However, Steven Wilson gets some great tones out of semi-hollow PRS guitars with high gain... so it can be done. If you are teh w0rth33...
 
That's not quite true... a few guys (like Bulb) have managed some amazing heavy stuff with them. When not being wielded by beings of pure shred, however, they quickly decide that they would rather imitate moose and become instantly useless at any reasonable volume.

Jeff


You're right, I did mention the feedback issue.
 
Mark Morton of Lamb of God uses chambered bodies. not quite a semi-hollow, but definately adds some brightness and cut without the practically uncontrollable feedback problem.
 
Ok :) thanks :) It is not the axe, I wanted to go with, it is just interesting, and I haven't know anything about that :)

Metaltastic - can't find something very ugly or very nice, just standard semi hollow guitar in my opinion :)
 
the other guitarist in my band plays a thinline telecaster with humbuckers and that thing is a fucking monster....
 
I think Tom Maxwell (Nothingface, Hellyeah) likes to use semi-hollow guitars with high gain. He seems to get pretty good results.
 
My friend and former college roommate Tim Pagnotta of Sugarcult used to play a hollow body Epiphone at local live shows with high gain sounds, in the days before his band signed a deal. His trick to minimizing feedback was to put electrical tape over the F-holes. Punk rock!
 
Semi-Hollows are quite common in the hardcore/noise rock realm. Kurt Ballou played a Rickenbacker with an EMG 81 in it for years. Dude from The Mark of Cain still plays a Rick 330.