Jazz Guitarists - Hollow Body vs Solid Body Guitars

**bluejaybill** · 02-28-2023, 06:03 PM

Originally Posted by Jonathan0996

They're all guitars, man. There is no wrong answer.
Play a bunch of 'em and get the one that keeps you up at night.

Good advice for choosing a mate as well, I'd say!

**whiskey02** · 02-28-2023, 06:04 PM

As a lover of guitar based music, I would hate to see either one, solid or hollow, "win" the debate and become the only way to go.

**bluejaybill** · 02-28-2023, 06:05 PM

Originally Posted by ruger9

Sometimes it's not about the back, it's about the shoulder.

Me, I can't play an archtop very well standing up, but I know most people here don't even try that LOL

I get that, if I want a sore shoulder I just play my Les Paul for a half an hour! I really don't know how I did 4 hour gigs on those things!

**entresz** · 02-28-2023, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by bluejaybill

I get that, if I want a sore shoulder I just play my Les Paul for a half an hour! I really don't know how I did 4 hour gigs on those things!

I did a two hour gig with my 70s Les Paul Recording last week and had a very sore shoulder.... four hours would be too much for me!

**ccroft** · 02-28-2023, 09:55 PM

Originally Posted by bluejaybill

I get that, if I want a sore shoulder I just play my Les Paul for a half an hour! I really don't know how I did 4 hour gigs on those things!

Well, if you're like me those LP gigs were 4 or 5 decades ago. There's a whole lot of things I could do for 4 hours back then that I can only do for a half hour today.

**Hammertone** · 02-28-2023, 11:49 PM

Originally Posted by bluejaybill

I get that, if I want a sore shoulder I just play my Les Paul for a half an hour! I really don't know how I did 4 hour gigs on those things!

Originally Posted by entresz

I did a two hour gig with my 70s Les Paul Recording last week and had a very sore shoulder.... four hours would be too much for me!

Originally Posted by ccroft

Well, if you're like me those LP gigs were 4 or 5 decades ago. There's a whole lot of things I could do for 4 hours back then that I can only do for a half hour today.

Just get a 7 1/2 pound Les Paul. No shortage of them, and lighter than many full-sized jazz guitars.

**whiskey02** · 03-01-2023, 10:47 AM

I can understand how some prefer a lightweight guitar but I have had entrapment surgery and maintain a very small tear in my rotator cuff and often play my LP for 4,5,6 hours without issue. Always with a guitar strap, I find the weight to be beneath noticing while the much slimmer body depth is a great benefit. I am mostly using a tall stool with some time standing. Maybe standing up for that much time would be a factor that I don't understand. At any rate, there's no reason to play any instrument that causes discomfort or pain.

**pdfiddler** · 03-08-2023, 04:22 AM

Originally Posted by oldane

If you scroll up to post #52, you'll see a picture of Jim Hall with a Les Paul on which he had mounted a Van Eps String Damper (the device on the headstock reaching across the strings at the 1st fret). He used it on his 175 too. Herb Ellis also used one on his 175 for some years. And of course George van Eps himself used it.

The idea was to dampen the vibrations of the string length between the nut and the fretted note. For my part I have never seen the idea of it in amplified instruments, since the feedback is not much dependent of that length of string. It could be of more relvance on an acoustic guitar if the sympathetic ringing of the that length of string is getting on your nerves. But then I would not use a Van Eps Damper, where it's necessary to drill holes in the headstock til fit it. Anything sqeezed in between the strings and the fretboard at the first fret close to the nut will work just the same way. The original Van Eps damper has been discontinued for decades, but from time to time dampers working the same way has popped up - usually at a high price. They also have disappeared without a trace after some time - likely because you really don't have to pay anything, let alone a high price, or drill holes in your guitar to get the effect. Anything - a rolled piece of kitchen tissue, a short length of shoe string, a small strip of velcro - whatever - put between the strings and the fretboard will do the trick.

A lot of the bass players are using them now. A hair tie for a ponytail is what I see. Victor Wooton is who I noticed first, now I see them everywhere.

**pdfiddler** · 03-08-2023, 04:26 AM

Originally Posted by entresz

I did a two hour gig with my 70s Les Paul Recording last week and had a very sore shoulder.... four hours would be too much for me!

Those are over 10 lbs more like 12.
Not the weight of a normal LP

**Lionelsax** · 07-26-2023, 03:26 PM

Both sound good, there is just a little difference, solid bodies can play with a beautiful sustain, the archtop is more comfortable for very traditional comping à la Freddie Green and maybe for the neck.
Except this it's the same thing even if I prefer solid body guitars because they can have the sound you want with a little bit of understanding of how things work.

**pingu** · 07-26-2023, 05:13 PM

I would have said Hollow but I just got my
First Telecaster
and I'm really digging it !

So I didn't vote in the poll !

**frabarmus** · 07-27-2023, 05:11 AM

I much prefer the sound and feel of a hollowbody, but I've used just a solid body for 6 years (playing Jazz with it) and it was ok and as jazzy as I could get it to sound (but never the same as a hollow). Nowdays I play hollowbody + I'm having a small, travel, short-scale, headless solidbody being built that I can always bring with me anywhere I want to.

**GuyBoden** · 07-27-2023, 09:44 AM

Personally, some guitar shapes are easier for me to use sitting for long periods of time, whilst practicing, without too much fatigue. In my case, this means an ergonomic solid Strandberg type body design, although, I have many excellent archtop guitars and prefer how a good archtop guitar sounds.

**pingu** · 07-27-2023, 06:53 PM

ok i just did a band rehearsal
with my new tele ….

I prefer my hollowbody ….
i can vote in the poll now !

**Doug B** · 11-29-2023, 10:07 PM

Originally Posted by JamesAP

I'm new to jazz guitar. I prefer solid body electric guitars. I'm curious about how many jazz guitarists prefer solid body to hollow body.

Why do we have to choose one or the other? I use solid, semi and hollow bodies. So do many.

**rpjazzguitar** · 12-03-2023, 05:36 PM

I like full size archtops when other players play them.

When I play them I don't like dealing with feedback, they feel too big and they may not sustain enough on high notes.

I find it easier to get my sound from a semi with a block or a solid, which don't always sound all that different to me.

**pdfiddler** · 12-08-2023, 02:55 AM

Using 335 now, does a great job

**Greywolf** · 12-08-2023, 05:43 AM

While I have a wide array of solid, semi hollow and hollowbody instruments , I feel traditional Jazz is best suited to hollowbodies with flatwounds. For the modern , fusionesque adventures solids have there place.