View Poll Results: Jazz guitarists do you prefer sold body or hollow body?
- Voters
- 514. You may not vote on this poll
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I prefer solid body
81 15.76% -
I prefer hollow body
433 84.24%
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^^^^^
That's a nice photo Brian. Only bad thing about it is it instantly made me think of the little girl in the red coat in Schindlers List. Better luck to you!
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10-07-2013 05:57 AM
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The Prospect is a very cool guitar. I see on the Heritage forum that there are some with P90's, and they can be custom ordered. Mine is green with a master volume, two tone and all black hardware.
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I have a variety of strats, teles, an Eastman ES175 clone, a Heritage p90 Les Paul and a Gretsch Chet Atkins.
Almost all of them are strung with TI 12s and I trade off constantly.
It seems that the teles and strats are the easiest to pick up and bang around. The strat is probably the most ergo.
The Eastman is surprisingly easy to play -- even though it's a big boat compared to everything else (barring the Gretsch). It's definitely got the most legit looks for a jazz gig.
The Heritage sure seems the coolest on many levels, but I have a love/hate with the ergos. I always feel like I'm playing some funny ukulele -- but man, it sure works.
Candidly, I don't do much with the Gretsch.
If I had to play my technical best (speed/note clarity/etc), it'd be a tele or a strat. Mostly because I spend more time with the teles (and the strats are pretty much the same darn thing excepting appearance).
If I had to play up to a listen with your eye crowd, it'd be the Eastman.
If I was playing with a slightly less picky group and could enjoy myself a bit more, it'd be the Heritage.
I think if you switch around enough, the differences don't feel so intense from one setup to the other.
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I prefer semi-hollow body. I wished you'd put in a category for that. I can't play straight ahead jazz on a solid body. It's it's bent or semi-swing or semi distorted I can play on a solid body, but if it swings hard I have a hard time adjusting physically to it. Maybe psychological too.
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For old style jazz like Wes, archtop with 0.12 flat wounds. Better for chords.
For a mix of jazz styles and blues a semi hollow with 0.11 rounds.
A full body sounds good too. But that gets me more in a rock mood.
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I prefer a semi hollow for everything.
Originally Posted by Tom Karol
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Semi-hollow here: I'm 6' with long arms and legs and a solid body just feels (and looks) wrong. At the other extreme, full body archtops are equally awkward. So my main guitars over the last 31 years have been a Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gent, and recently a 335 and a Carvin SH550, with forays into Les Paul, SG and Strat.
The 335 was it until recently, when I found the Carvin. Our combo features me on bass, a percussionist, two sisters who sing, and a rock-n-roll rhythm guy playing who can make that SH550 really bark.
I had a Samick ES-5 clone, and I loved the sound, but playing it was like always having to dance with the fattest girl in the room...and I have friends who think the 335 is too skinny.
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For me, definitely solid bodies...
1. Strat w/rosewood fingerboard in SSS configuration utilizing single-coil sized humbuckers from SD
2. Strat w/rosewood fingerboard in SSS configuration utilizing Fender CS '54 pick ups
3. Strat w/rosewood fingerboard in HH configuration utilizing Lollar Imperials
4. Strat w/maple fingerboard in construction with 2 P90's
5. Strat w/rosewood fingerboard with a single Seymour Duncan PAF humbucker in bridge about to get a Bigsby
all my Strats except #5 have a decked trem with 5 springs...no divebombing here, just to have a Bigsby-esque shimmy
1. Tele w/rosewood fingerboard with Kent Armstrong Vintage pickups
2. Tele w/maple fingerboard in construction with Lollar Imperial in the neck and a single-coil sized humbucker in the bridge
1. Epiphone Les Paul with Lollar Imperials
2. Gibson Les Paul Studio with horrible factory pick ups, lol, being changed but not sure what yet
Apparently I am getting an Epiphone Wildkat for Christmas, so will have a semi-hollow in the house, but sold all of my hollowbodies. I might get one if I bond with it, but not until. I am not into the tone rolled completely off old school jazz sound...I will roll tone down a little, but not off.
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If I could afford the luxury of a third guitar, it would be a custom made 16" acoustic electric archtop made to fit me and it would never be used for a gig but only for my personal enjoyment in my home studio. It would also have 1 7/8" width at the nut and a 25" scale.
wiz
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I'm not so into a traditional full-sized box tone, which to me sounds more like an acoustic guitar than an electric.
I have an Ibanez 335 alike that certainly sounds a lot 'jazzier' than my solid body (a 70s Ibanez Artist). A lot of that is probably due to the semi inspiring jazzier playing in me; it's certainly not as bright as the solid body though. Lately I'm playing the semi most of the time. Very versatile. I do actually think the air moving inside it makes a different.Last edited by Loobs; 12-14-2013 at 09:36 AM.
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I prefer the sound of a solid body myself. I have a Sadowsky tele with HSH configuration and a Grosh electajet with two p-90's and a single in the middle. For my ears the sound is more focused and easier to control. Don't get me wrong I love hollow and semi hollows and have owned some nice ones and hope to own one again. I was a rock player before I was a jazz player and I seem to bond with the solid body guitars more.
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I have a cheap archtop d'Angelico Excel EXL-1 and it spends most of the time in the case. It is notoriously hard to amplify - it is too bright on the top and too boomy in bass. It feedbacks at even practice volume. I keep it because somehow one day I may discover a secret to get the right tone out of it.
For almost all playing I use custom solidbody headless Telecaster. But it needs fret job badly so now I am playing my Lonestar Strat. Even that is more "jazzy" than Excel...
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My Strat sat in the closet for years, so I sold it. All hollow bodies for me. For whatever reason, I never have the feedback problems others describe, at home or at the gig.
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I want to get a hollow at some point but I alway liked the solid body had the midrange response I like.
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I go back and forth, 17" carvetop about 75%, Tele most of the rest of the time and my GB10 on occasion. Basically I use the Tele particularly where I expect feedback issues but sometimes wanting the different tone. That usually happens when I have been listening to Ed Bickert CDs.
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Mostly hollow body archtops for me.
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I'm new to the world of semi-hollow/hollowbodies, so I'm afraid I don't have much insight to convey; I've never owned a full-hollow, and only bought my first semi- last year. I've played jazz on a Les Paul, SG, and 335 copy, though, and I find that knowing how to dial in my amp does wonders as well. I'm a big fan of a Gibson-style harness as well to aid that -- put the selector in the middle position and balance the pickups to emphasize this or that tone. Between that and working the amp's settings, you can find tones ranging from usable to sterling, I think.
My late jazz teacher often gigged a 63 butterscotch Tele, and boy, did it sound melty in your mouth. Sure did surprise the young, stereotyping me.
... and judicious use of vibrato as well ... Originally Posted by coolvinny
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The right tool for the right job. Both solid and hollowbodies can get fantastic sounds in the right hands, but I cannot practice for hours with an plugged in electric guitar. My ears get fatigued. I do however love gigging and practicing for hours on my Eastman archtop (acoustically). Articulate, clear, warm, percussive. This is not an Eastman plug; any decent archtop will get you the same. Archtops are not inherently easy to play though. It requires the right setup and a certain attack to drive the top and make it ring. Just like playing a violin, you've got to put the right energy into it (physically) or it sounds bad. I know when I was discovering jazz guitar I had difficulty liking archtops. It took a while to understand the mechanics of an archtop. Once you do, they are magical things.
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Archtop for quieter gigs (my fave!). Semi hollow for gigs where the bass player and drummer are playing at the level of a rock band. Solid body for music other than jazz. All are essential if you're a versatile player.
Last edited by jbucklin; 07-02-2016 at 08:21 PM.
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If I could only keep one of my guitars, it would be the Ibby (Semi-hollow), but I find that for playing situations where I'm actually leaving the house, I use the tele the most, mostly because I don't mind throwing it in the trunk of my car and leaving it there all day. What I like about solid bodies, and Teles in particular, is that they're relatively compact and easy to carry, and that they're nigh-indestructible. I mean seriously, I feel like if I did a Pete Townshend style guitar smash with my Tele, I'd be more worried about the floor than the guitar. They're also the easiest guitars in the world to repair, customize, or modify (Strats are a close second).
I'm not saying the Ibby is fragile. It's just such a beautiful specimen, that I want to keep it more-or-less pristine for as long as I can.
That said, I do get why most jazzers prefer archtops. It's a classic sound, and they do have a pretty satisfying 'thunk' behind the note. In the right hands, they're sublime. In my hands, not so much.
I don't really know why people are down on sustain. I like having the option of sustaining a note. Horn players can do it. Keyboard players can do it. Why not us?Last edited by Boston Joe; 07-05-2016 at 12:34 PM.
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Ah likes muh hollows and semi-hollows. I've played semi-hollows for decades, and hollow bodies since 2008, and I love their deep, throaty tones. They're also a lot more versatile than you think, when it comes to other music styles. That being said, there is something about a good Tele, and while a hollow body (or a semi-hollow, which I don't have at the present time) is my guitar of choice, I will admit that I often grab my 60s Baja Tele to play, regardless of what style of music it is. Teles sound killer for any kind of music (just ask guys like Bill Frisell, Ed Bickert, or Mike Stern). Still, I will admit that I have a soft spot for guitars with F-holes (or even the few round, and oval soundhole jazz boxes out there).
Last edited by EllenGtrGrl; 07-05-2016 at 12:54 PM.
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I go with semi hollows. I love my 93s korean Epi Sheraton. I also had hollow (Epi Broadwys), and solid body (Telecaster, Strat, etc.) guitars. I loved both kinda guitars.
A little off:
What I dont like is the les paul, and sg shaped guitars. DOnt know why, just dont like em.
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I'm with you. I've played 'em, and they're ok, but I've never quite ever bonded with solid-bodied Gibsons. Originally Posted by mrblues
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I was a LP player for many years, and have moved on to SGs for solid-body work in the last ten years. The Paul definitely has a more complex tone with more air in it, and could approach jazztone pretty closely; the SG, a more straightforward sound, but with a little massaging will get you into electric jazz territory.
Neither will give a jazz tone as good as the neck pickup on a Tele, much less a decent archtop, to my ears.
I like the ergonomics of the two (especially the SG, as I grow older). I was surprised at how heavy my semi-hollow Ibanez was when I got it.
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