Hollowbody, Semi-Hollowbody & Chambered Guitars: What's the Difference?

Between fully hollowbodies and today's more-common solidbody guitar, there's lots of space for variation. But what difference does the amount of hollowness really play in their tone and function? Luckily, Andy Martin's here to explain.

Instruments used:
Guitars: D'Angelico EXL-1 Throwback, Reverend Club King 290, Gray Guitars Grayling
Amp: Hamstead Artist 60 R+T
Pedals: DryBell The Engine
Recording Gear: Universal Audio Apollo 8 QUAD, OX Amp Top Box, Royer R-121
Cables: Sinasoid Sable
Strings: Stringjoy Signature 10-46

[joeyjo-joshabadu]

Andy been polishing his Jazz chops/Wes Montgomery licks during quarantine!

[austinledley]

Shoutout for playing Country Sad Ballad Man at 6:05. One of my favorite Blur songs.

[DeadWhiteButterflies]

"Semi Hollows are good for playing Blues and Rock".

And then there's me, playing down tuned Doom and Hardcore Riffs on my Epiphone Dot 😂🤣

[iiWNMii]

I knew the difference but clicked anyway to hear them sweet Andy riffs.

[JohnnyReading]

Reverends are just the coolest guitars right now.

[zacharykarras]

I would love to see Andy give a tutorial on his tremendous finger style skill. I would bet that many of us would love to know how he achieves that “pick-like” sound without one so effortlessly...

[c.g.curtis]

Thank you so much for answering and showing the differences between the types of guitars. It was exactly the kinds of things that I wanted to know. Very clear and to the point. Thank you again from someone who is NOT a musician.

[chriswareham]

I play an archtop with floating pickup, but rather than using it for jazz I play punk and new wave stuff. Never had an issue with feedback, but finding a suitable pedal to add dirt was a challenge. I now use a Fuzzrite clone which works really well with the single pickup, and at extreme settings I can get a controllable feedback if I want it.

[jacobgutierrez]

I know they are constructed and sound different, but all of these guitars are equally gorgeous . Also Country Sad Ballad Man! Andy’s taste in Blur songs is fantastic as always :)

[stevepethel]

Informative just what I needed. Thank you and may God continue to bless you...
Loved that technique and playing on that first chambered guitar.I have heard 1000s of great musicians and your style is unique. That is something I don't usually say but the way you played rhythm and bent the lead at the same time was unique. I enjoyed it and your educational production was perfect.

[chadt]

I'll probably take a beating for saying this, but plugged in, I'd say the pickups are still the biggest factor in the overall tone, even with these style guitars.

[ebmixif]

Intro is so good, love the West coast blues and guitar!

[thirdwavefinance]

thanks for the tip on the reverend club king. love the sound of spruce tops on electrics, but don’t see it very often. would like to see & hear more

[thomascrosson]

Gretsch Falcon, all the way. When I was a kid, I had no idea what Billy Duffy was playing in the Cult, I just knew it was what I wanted to play one day.

[maxmatson]

When I think of Hollow Bodies, I think of Gordie Walker of "Killing Joke". The "Lions Roar "tone he gets out of that thing, and feedback is incredible! nobody but him can make it.🎸🎧💫😵👌😎👍

[xXDarcatronXx]

Love that Country Sad Ballad Man cover Andy!

[UserUli]

I play my Malcolm Young Style Gretsch Electromatic for more 20 years now and I never knew it was chambered let alone what that meant. Thanks for enlighting me.

[cmore]

I clicked with the hope of hearing how a chambered guitar (ideally a Gretch “solid”) sounds unplugged. No such luck but still found it to be a good and useful video.

[pickinthatbanjo]

As an owner of a Gretsch hollowbody I can say they do indeed feedback, never really was an issue until I got into higher gain music.

[vw]

Re: "if you listen to it when you tap it (the top), it's definitely projecting some sound so that means ... just like my finger is tapping that sound, the strings are going to amplify it as well. and that's definitely going to translate into the pickups and to the overall tone of this guitar"
Let's be careful that we don't suggest breaking the laws of physics here. ;)
Yes, string vibrations can excite less rigid bridge mounting designs to transfer small amounts of string vibration energy to the top. So then there is LESS vibration energy in the strings to be seen by the pickups. But "the strings are going to amplify it as well" doesn't apply. Pickups are not microphones. Direct measurements of semi- and fully-hollow body electrics show the small string vibration losses at particular frequencies to the body, and also the consequent reduction in string vibrations, evident for example in reduced sustain at those frequencies (see ch7 of Zollner's Physics of the Electric Guitar").
So such guitars are indeed tonally different, for well-understood physics reasons.