Jazz Guitarists - Hollow Body vs Solid Body Guitars

**coolvinny** · 05-17-2012, 12:17 PM

Sustain can be controlled by easing off pressure from the fretting fingers.

**Jazz_175** · 05-17-2012, 12:37 PM

I voted for the hollow body, where I actually meant a semi-hollow.
(You should have included a third option of a semi-hollow in your poll).

**jorgemg1984** · 05-17-2012, 05:48 PM

Then you should update for Jazz_335

**PTChristopher** · 05-17-2012, 09:09 PM

[Hexatonics] >>> id put money on my archtop sounding 'better' than your Tele for 'most jazz' applications.

Wow, something in the water I suppose is contributing to the vibe?.

I suggest listening to some of Keira's playing.

I'd put money on her Tele sounding better than,...

Chris

**Retroman1969** · 05-18-2012, 08:42 AM

True, someone like Keira (love the vids, by the way) could play a cement block with vermicelli strings and get a sound I could only ever dream of getting. But I have to agree that archtops have a quality of sound that is distinctive and can't be replicated by any solid-body with any setup. Even Joe Pass, on his Synanon album (which I have, and love his performance nonetheless) I can tell that he's playing a solid-body instrument, and personally prefer his sound with the 175.

I also agree that one big problem is way too much sustain in solids. Sure, I use both my right palm and left fingers to dampen the strings, but it's not as much of an issue with the hollows and sometimes I like that natural decay of the notes as they blend. It's musical.

**Keira Witherkay** · 05-18-2012, 09:07 AM

Hey before this goes any further please re read my post , i simply said my tele with gibson 57 classic in neck and 12 flat wounds sounds better than MY archtop NOT ALL ARCHTOPS

and i was making the statement i still use my archtop at gigs cos of how it looks and adds to the vibe and it sounds pretty good until i compare it to my modded tele 8-) oneday i too hope to own a "killer" archtop but till then my epi will have to do

**PTChristopher** · 05-18-2012, 10:51 AM

In my opinion your post was 100% clear about your Tele. My post regarded the seemingly obtuse comment regarding your point about your Tele.

[Retro'68] >>> way too much sustain in solids

Yeah, and hard to reduce this a great deal. I once made a solid body with a very scooped waist on the back as well as the sides to get the sustain down. It worked, but was uneven in response vs. frequency, plus the somewhat shortened sustain sounded odd with the still pretty "solid body" sound. Not a success - but it is possible that further refinement of the idea could work.

There is that German (I think) white guitar with the faintly "Hello Kitty" look that is a very thin solidbody - but I have never tried one. (Sorry, I forget the name of the guitar.

Chris

**eddy b.** · 05-18-2012, 10:52 AM

I play a Heritage H575 Custom hllow body when I am playing solo, dou or trio and playing nothing but jazz, I play a Gibson Es 137 semi hollow body when I play rock/fusion or reggae, I play a Fender Tele with a humbucker in the neck when I play blues rock/ classic rock, I play a Gitane D500 for my acoustic swing jazz brunch, and I play a rodriguez 1a cutaway for brazilian jazz and my classical repetoire. If my house was on fire and I could only pull one out it would be my Heritage it is just so beautiful and i have a sentimental attachment to her.

**Randooley** · 05-18-2012, 11:49 AM

For a distorted fusion sound I prefer a solidbody, but for the clean sound the hollow archtop is great.I hate running a hollow body thru a distortion pedal.If you have a nice warm tube amp that overdrives naturally,it's not so bad.IMO

**Jazzchief1** · 05-18-2012, 03:07 PM

I have a couple of hollow bodies, a semi hollow, a nylon string electric and a solid body (G & L Legacy Special that plays like a dream). Each one has a different voice that the others don't have and I like them all and would love to have more if space and finances permited. I once was quoted that the reason for having so many different guitars is that "you would never paint a painting with just one color". Now if I could just convince my wife.

**Frank67** · 05-18-2012, 03:38 PM

Originally Posted by Randooley

For a distorted fusion sound I prefer a solidbody, but for the clean sound the hollow archtop is great.I hate running a hollow body thru a distortion pedal.If you have a nice warm tube amp that overdrives naturally,it's not so bad.IMO

In general terms I agree with you - but have you tried a Gretsch with Filtertrons? A 6120 for example is fully hollow and yet can take a lot of distortion at high volumes without feeding back. The sound that one gets I find absolutely incredible.

**ruger9** · 05-19-2012, 08:18 AM

Originally Posted by Tom Karol

For straight ahead jazz, I prefer a hollow body. But I have a fully hollow, a semi-hollow, and a solid body. I use and love all three.

Hello all, first post...

I've been wondering about this... I'm looking for a guitar that can do jazzy stuff as well as stuff with a little grind to it. Not straight-up jazz, I'm talking western swing/honky tonk/rockabilly type stuff. For those of you who might know some of these artists: Wayne Hancock, JD Mcpherson, Asleep at the Wheel...

I already have a Gretsch Hot Rod, which does the Brian Setzer thing well of course, but those filtertrons don't really get...warm. Not a warm guitar. Not a spruce-topped Epi Zephyr or Broadway, for example. I also have a tele that actually does quite well for these styles, and the neck pup does a convincing warm jazz tone.

SO- I was thinking of splitting the difference... going with a thinline tele with charlie christian in the neck... just wondering how different from a solid body IS a thinline, and how similar IS a thinline to a hollowbody? Does a thinline tele really "split the difference"?

FWIW, I'm not really interested in the thinline semi-hollows like the 335, etc... If I'm getting a guitar that size, I'll just go full hollow.

**Jazz_175** · 05-19-2012, 11:59 AM

Originally Posted by jorgemg1984

Then you should update for Jazz_335

You are right. Even if I still keep the 175, and I like playing it, I own two semi-hollow and am going for a third one!

**Archtop 13** · 06-02-2012, 06:39 AM

Originally Posted by ruger9

Hello all, first post...

I've been wondering about this... I'm looking for a guitar that can do jazzy stuff as well as stuff with a little grind to it. Not straight-up jazz, I'm talking western swing/honky tonk/rockabilly type stuff. For those of you who might know some of these artists: Wayne Hancock, JD Mcpherson, Asleep at the Wheel...

I already have a Gretsch Hot Rod, which does the Brian Setzer thing well of course, but those filtertrons don't really get...warm. Not a warm guitar. Not a spruce-topped Epi Zephyr or Broadway, for example. I also have a tele that actually does quite well for these styles, and the neck pup does a convincing warm jazz tone.

SO- I was thinking of splitting the difference... going with a thinline tele with charlie christian in the neck... just wondering how different from a solid body IS a thinline, and how similar IS a thinline to a hollowbody? Does a thinline tele really "split the difference"?

FWIW, I'm not really interested in the thinline semi-hollows like the 335, etc... If I'm getting a guitar that size, I'll just go full hollow.

6120 will sound like a 6120 with just about any pickups. It's the finer details that the pickups will offer that make the difference. I love Tele's but my ear only really knows the traditional tele sound. Benedetto makes the Bambino, which is a LP/Jet ish type of body that is chambered with a spruce top(correct me if I'm wrong, going from memory). The Soft spruce top would give it a nice jazzy tone. A wood vaguely similar to Spruce is Soft Pine. So, If I wanted a Jazzier tone out of a Tele, I'd probably try building a Pine Bodied Tele & see if I could find a Mahogany or Rosewood neck to warm it up a bit. Charlie Christian should be a good PU.

**barrymclark** · 06-02-2012, 10:16 AM

I'll honestly play whatever but I like the feel of the hollowbody. Love that acoustic thump!

**.02$** · 06-11-2012, 09:14 AM

For me nothing is better than a traditional carved archtop for traditional jazz.
However there are three flavors starting with Charlie Christian. P90 and PAF when it comes to the SOUND rather than feel and vibe. While I do have a Tele with a Charlie Christian neck it sounds amazing through a tweed deluxe. This Tele does not feel anything like an archtop but can easly do Country, Blues, Rock, Swing or Jazz.

**.02$** · 06-11-2012, 01:41 PM

Sorry picture worth many words

**Klatu** · 06-11-2012, 01:58 PM

Originally Posted by ruger9

how different from a solid body IS a thinline, and how similar IS a thinline to a hollowbody? Does a thinline tele really "split the difference"?

FWIW, I'm not really interested in the thinline semi-hollows like the 335, etc... If I'm getting a guitar that size, I'll just go full hollow.

IMO opinion, semihollows don't really split the difference between solidbody and hollowbody guitars. They usually sound far more solid than hollow to me, and I think the reason for that is the pickups usually aren't sitting on top of a floating soundboad, rather, they are on a soundboard glued to a center block. The center block influences the sound tremendously by giving the guitar a great deal of sustain similar to a solidbody guitar.

The only way a solidbody can sound like a hollow is to ditch the center block like the ES 330, Epiphone casino, or the Eastman El Rey. IMO these guitars have much more of the hollowbody punch than their center block cousins.

**Retroman1969** · 06-11-2012, 05:20 PM

I've also found that to be true. It's one of the reasons I never could warm up to Semis.

**Chordchunker** · 06-17-2012, 03:33 PM

I like not only archtops, solidbodies, but also gypsy jazz guitars, Martin Dreds, Nylon strings,Baritones, etc..Hell I guess I just like playing jazz guitar on guitar..

I gig with a Martin D-18 and a stock epi es-175. Sold my Tele just recently *sniff* but a friend is building me one so It should be done in 10-20 years..

**jdaguitar2** · 06-17-2012, 11:30 PM

I cast my vote for the fully hollow archtop guitar. I play a 2010 ES-175 and compared to any other guitar it is above and beyond in jazz tone. I use D'Addario ecg26 (.013s) on that axe through a monster cable into the Fender Princeton Reverb. It sounds like Wes which is good enough for me.

**Norman931** · 06-19-2012, 11:16 AM

It seems odd to me that jazz players generally scorn the Les Paul, which is basically the ES-175 circuit on a solid body. I personally dislike the shape and weight of it, but you can easily get a good jazz tone with one.

**Russ Kapp** · 06-19-2012, 11:25 AM

+1 on the LP. I had for awhile the Gibson faded LP ( more budget than quality unfortunately ) with the 490 & 498 PUP's that could conjure up some jazz mojo tone. I guess the solid mahogany was also a considerable factor here.

**Ob Com** · 06-19-2012, 03:43 PM

Originally Posted by Norman931

It seems odd to me that jazz players generally scorn the Les Paul, which is basically the ES-175 circuit on a solid body. I personally dislike the shape and weight of it, but you can easily get a good jazz tone with one.

Agree

that Alnico V neck pick up is something else.

**Hammertone** · 06-23-2012, 06:23 PM

Originally Posted by PTChristopher

....[ ]...There is that German (I think) white guitar with the faintly "Hello Kitty" look that is a very thin solidbody - but I have never tried one. (Sorry, I forget the name of the guitar.
Chris

Jens Ritter.