semi-hollow in modern sound vs solid body?

[andy3]

Hello guys.
Assuming you have a solid body H/H and a semi hollow H/H with same woods. Now (let's put away blues, country, jazz and rock and roll for a while) when do you go for one than the other one through your recording session and arrangement?

Do you have any songs-examples (links) where the rhythmic distorted "modern" patterns come from a semihollow? (not casinò models).

Thank you!

[Robcamp]

Here's a link to the Woods Bros doing Shoofly Pie with a distorted semihollow. I think it sounds very cool. Very dry and in your face....

[Early21]

Got an old SG and a newish ES-335, and I go in cycles between them. Right now I'm in the SG cycle; when playing distorted guitar, they both work, but the SG is a little brighter. To anyone else in the band, they really couldn't give a crap which one I use!

[biggator6]

see: Grohl, Dave

He uses a Gibson Trini Lopez all over the place..

[mds]

I tour with a long running rock band and use my 335 75% of the time. I use it a lot in the studio too. I just feel like it has a better balanced tone vs. my Les Paul (beefier, thicker, less mid heavy) and of course its way thicker sounding than my Teles, Strats, etc.

[Early21]

Yeah, in truth, when I went into the showroom, I had intended to buy a Les Paul, but I played the ES-335 side by side with the Les Paul, and liked the ES-335 a lot better. Of course, there are lots of different Les Paul models. But the ones I was playing seemed to be sort of exaggerated SG's.

[andy3]

Originally Posted by Robcamp

Here's a link to the Woods Bros doing Shoofly Pie with a distorted semihollow. I think it sounds very cool. Very dry and in your face....

T.y.

Originally Posted by biggator6

see: Grohl, Dave

He uses a Gibson Trini Lopez all over the place..

Are you so sure that he plays his semihollow during recording session also?
I am not so sure about the musicans you see with semi-hollow will record using a semihollow as well. Are you?

@ALL: Thx

[Dean Roddey]

One thing I find interesting is that, though I'm pretty heavily a Strat guy, and I just find my Strat through my Vox or Vibrochamp is just pretty heavenly tone, there's something that just feels good about picking up the 335 style guitar. I don't know what it is, but it just feels really nice to hold and play. The shape is some of it I guess, and that nice expanse of shiny wood, and the light weight.

To me, tone-wise, a humbucker-based 335 style guitar is pretty much about as complementary to a Strat as you can find in an electric I guess, so it's a good flavor to be able to mix with the Strat tone for variety.

[andy3]

Originally Posted by Dean Roddey

Othere's something that just feels good about picking up the 335 style guitar.

Yes mate. We are together. But I "smell tricks"(over the ability of the players and engeneers). I am not pretty sure the great musicans you see (lives, megazines, etc) with an e335 will playing a semi-hollow during the session as well(concerning modern distorted patterns).
:x

[Dean Roddey]

It's not completely modern, but of course all of the early Rush albums were recorded with a 335, I guess up to and beyond 2112 at least.

[biggator6]

Originally Posted by andy3

T.y.



Are you so sure that he plays his semihollow during recording session also?
I am not so sure about the musicans you see with semi-hollow will record using a semihollow as well. Are you?

@ALL: Thx

Pics from the "Wasting Light" session..

[Daniel Antix]

grohl said he used that guitar (that model he has a few) on EVERY foo fighters record.

[biggator6]

Originally Posted by Daniel Antix

grohl said he used that guitar (that model he has a few) on EVERY foo fighters record.

My understanding is - It's basically a 335 with different cosmetics.. f-hole shape, inlay and headstock.

[ButchP]

I have a Yamaha SA2200 .That and a Tele compliment each other very well for grind(or anything really) without getting mushy.The SA2200 has just enough top end and mid girth without being tubby and sound good for heavier stuff even without the Tele .
it may be psychological but to me it sounds like I can hear the guitar more than with a solidbody HB.I'm a bigger fan of SC but the SA2200 with a HB still has that "character" I'd Love to have a Casino or maybe even a Yahmaha
Troy Van Leeuwen with 3 P-90's!!!

[andy3]

nice shoot guys! I love you slutties! More than you can figure it out!

:D

[Daniel Antix]

yep it's a triny lopez 335... I know he's had the red one (pictured) since he was in nirvana... he's also got at least another 2 blues ones.

[Fu Schnickens]

The dudes in Rancid (Tim? Lars?) play a hollwbody pretty extensively for studio and live -heavy punk rock/ska. Izzy played one frequently for Guns n Roses. I use a hollowbod for studio and live, paying pretty heavy rock sounds. I love it. Gotta watch the feedback, though. Aesthetically and sonically it gets way more compliments than solidbodies.

I like to use it for contrast against, say, a tele or thin strat when layering or "counterpointing" guitars. The contrast can help to enhance the perception of more stereo.

[stefanrun]

I recently purchased a Gibson DG-335. The Dave Grohl guitar (Essentially a Pelham Blue Trini Lopez). Thing kicks ass. Mimics the Foo sound real nicely. Through an AC30, it is very Wasting Light/There is Nothing Left To lose.... Plus they're going for $6,000+ on eBay. If you find one cheaper than that. BUY IT. Less than 300 we're made. Some black, some blue.

[Kiwi]

I have an Epiphone DOT from the 1990's - about the time that Noel Gallagher was endorsing them. Check out Oasis, and any of the bands that were obviously influenced by the Beatles.

My take on the semi vs solid thing: if you want maximum sustain for solos, get a solid body. Anything that maximises the conduction of the string energy to the body will help sustain - through necks and through-body strings and heavy bridges etc. Strong wood with no imperfections helps - graphite & aluminium guitars work even better. Little of the energy in the strings gets wasted, so the string can vibrate longer.

But for rythmn, strumming and chord stuff, sometimes maximum sustain just sounds wrong. You want the envelope of the sound to be shorter, and more like an acoustic guitar, to maximise the attack. That's where the type of wood, and the design of the wood, especially cavities and hollow bodies etc become more important. To my way of thinking, by maximising the acoustic output of the guitar, you are actually robbing energy from the string, and making it decay faster.

Because the acoustic properites of a semi are more prominent, they are more prone to feedback and acoustic resonance problems - especially with cheaper woods.

Just depends on the sound you want - they complement each other well.