THIS is It? What is the Point of Semi-Hollow Guitars?

Use the code JNC40 for a 40% discount off all courses, or JNC100 for $100 off all access membership!

Keith from @fivewattworld asked me to film an intro with a Thinline Telecaster, so I grabbed this one in the intro from @JakeLoosemore . Watching Keith's video, I was surprised to learn that the main thrust of this semi-hollow guitar was literally a weight relieving exercise....But...Are there tonal disadvantages? If not, why don't we all play semi-hollows?

only if you wanted, you could buy me a coffee!

only if you wanted, you could buy me a coffee!

[johnnathancordy]

So - after trying the Semi-Hollow Tele, I was thinking...Sounds like a Tele.
But then I think...Well..If it sounds like a Tele, but isn't as heavy - that's ideal?

And then I think...But my Teles aren't heavy anyway....So I dunno.

But - I've also just tried a Les Paul and Sire Es335 type into a Mesa at just above bedroom volumes - you can push the ES335 to octave above harmonics WAY easier than the Les Paul - so that would potentially be the sort of thing that could either be REALLY handy live - or....Not so handy?

[martoneill]

Love it. Best advice I ever got was to ask a non-guitarist if they hear a difference.

[entropyembrace]

i have a semi hollow PRS Se and this according o me is the point:
if you dont have the guitar volume at 10, but instead keep it half wah or lower and increase the volume on your amp, the acoustic qualities become pronounced and the point of the semi hollow guitar becomes quite apparent.

[grindhouseglitch]

Pickups are definitely the most important factor. Currently I only have two electric 6 strings - a Les Paul and an ES-335 (both Gibson Custom Shop models) - and they sound very similar when recorded (when using the same gauge strings; currently I use 9.5s on the LP and 10s on the 335 and the LP is slightly brighter with less low end than the 335). With the same gauge strings, I don't think anyone would be able to pick them apart in a blind test, except through sheer luck. Both have stock Custombuckers in them.

[MichaelRasco]

It honestly depends! There's always going to be some small difference tonally but not enough in some cases. But in reality whatever feels best in your hands is what works! My workhorse guitar was an offset with humbuckers, to me that was THE sound. I picked up an ES-335 since it's been my dream guitar since childhood but noticed it sounded different even after swapping to the same pickups I run on the offset. That could be because of the different scale length and some other contributing factors, but what I noticed was that the semi-hollow body has a really rounded sound.

[GraniteSoundtrack]

I want to say this in the politest way possible, but I think when you use a very compressed high gain lead tone, you can’t tell which guitars which anyways. So best would be to try them against each other, clean without a bunch of processing.

[brianthrom]

I enjoy a nice semi hollow especially for quiet practicing without an amp.
I feel like they give a bit more headspace to the overtones in relationship to the size of the resonance chamber. A lot of what it gives can be exceeded with reverb and other pedal effects in your signal chain.

[mortonwilson]

I've played solid bodies and steel string and nylon string acoustics for 40 years but recently bought a Casino and put some Lollar P90s in, and also a Duesenberg Starplayer, which has a nice P90 Neck & Mini Humbucker Bridge and enjoying both - a new experience and they tend to nudge me in a new direction for writing. Never too late to try something a bit different, eh? Enjoyed the playing, as usual! 😀

[rofflestomp]

I have a full hollow body electric and a semi hollow body with a 2x4 inside or whatever as well. I love them both and I am okay with that. My two pence.

[ianbarnes]

The sound from that thinline tele at the 1:50 mark when you kick in the overdrive is probably the best sound I've heard you play, and you play some great sounds!

[pastorkev]

It always comes down to how it's constructed. I have ES-335 style guitars that don't sound much different than les Paul's, but I also have had and do have those that are entirely different. Vintage correct 335 has a unique midrange quality and brightness. Shape can play a part in sound, but not enough to make someone want one guitar over another typically.

[picksalot]

My Strat has a swimming pool route due to my pickup placement experiments, so it is sort of semi-hollow.

Pickup mounting on the pickguard vs to the body makes them sound a little brighter and thicker. But, with all the tone shaping and tone matching tools we now have now, weight relief is more important.

[acousticaacousticduo]

I think your tone sounds absolutely gorgeous here. It always sounds pretty outstanding. There is just something in this tone that is special to my ears.

[ozlion]

I have owned both and I completely agree. I don't think thinline changes the tonality but it does feel slightly different due to acoustic sound and resonating body.
Tonal difference to my opinion is probably because it is designed to sound that way. There're too many elements that will affect the tone of an electric guitar to a subtle degrees and thinline is only one of them. It does not drive the tone.

[RobbenBanks]

Totally. Same thing with the Strandberg Sälen NX Jazz i had for a while… any tonal difference comes from its specific pickups

[cmonsterz]

What I’ve generally found is that the semi-hollow guitars sound slightly warmer and don’t have quite the high end that their solid body siblings do.

[Crazyytrible]

The weight would be the only thing that i see logically would be the difference with a semi hollow electric guitar. The regular guitar pickups are pretty much magnets with a field that changes if the string vibrates. You could probably get the same magnetic signal if u played your electric guitar in vacuum (for science?) Maybe if the body of the guitar is more solid you could get a longer lasting vibration from your strings and therefor more sustain in your tone? But probably not tonal difference eh? Thanks for the video.

[ludvanlazarz]

Great video! I do play the EJ thinline and having owned and played both versions I do think the thinline has a smidge more warmth especially with gain and it does feedback in certain frequencies a little bit easier. Cheers!

[AndrewReynolds]

I think that's my favourite intro that you've done so far. Really beautiful and melodic. I'm not really in to the
legato shredding type stuff but probably would be if I could do it 😂.

[evalonious]

Despite the cloud shimmer reverb, it's clearly evident that the thinline sounds quite different and unique. Try test again without effects.