Best Semi-Hollow Body Guitar

One alternative to a regular acoustic or electric guitar is the semi-hollow-body guitar. This guide will help you pick out one of these superior guitars. They are excellent sounding instruments with plenty of benefits for the player.

A semi hollow-body guitar is essentially an electric guitar that has the main part of the guitar body hollowed out. The top of the instrument features f-holes or other soundholes, much like an acoustic guitar has. This gives the guitar both an acoustic as well as an electric feel.

These instruments are suitable for many different styles of music, including country, rock, blues, and jazz. They have a full sound to them, so both chords, as well as single-note lines, are going to ring out on the instrument. They are generally not as well suited to harder rock styles or heavy metal because of their hollow body and tend to produce too much feedback.

Semi-Hollow Body Guitar Buying Guide

Should I Buy a Semi-Hollow Guitar?

A semi-hollow guitar is a little bit different than a regular solid-body guitar. The semi-hollow allows you to play Rock, Blues, Country, Jazz, and similar styles. It gives you both an acoustic as well as an electric sound.

These instruments are larger when compared to other electric guitars, so they're not for everyone. It's also a little bit more difficult to solo quickly up and down the fretboard. This is not the best guitar if you want to play Fast heavy metal styles. These instruments May feed back a lot more when compared to other electric guitars, so they are not that suited for heavy distorted tones.

You do get a solid and dependable tone out of this type of instrument. They tend to be louder when compared to other electric guitars. This type of guitar is excellent if you want your chords to ring out on the instrument. You'll get a better bottom end overall and more volume.

What Amp Should I Use?

You can use any amplifier with the semi-hollow guitar. The best amp is probably one that produces good to clean tones as well as light distortion. It's probably not a good idea to use a heavy metal amplifier with this type of guitar because of the feedback.

If you do use an amplifier that has heavy distortion, make sure you dialed the distortion down a great deal, as this will bring better tones out of this instrument. An amplifier that has a chorus or a reverb setting is also preferable. You may also want to buy pedals to use with your new semi-hollow guitar.

Are There Any Advantages to The Semi-Hollow Guitar?

The main advantage of the semi-hollow guitar is that you can play it electrically or acoustically. It has a loud volume which is preferable when you were playing chords or you want single notes to ring out in a Solo. It's an excellent guitar, for example, to play bluesy-based bends or to do some jazz comping.

If you play a lot of chords, anyone, an instrument that has an excellent loud volume when strumming, then this is one of the guitars that are well suited for that purpose. If you play more fast heavy metal style guitar solos, this instrument probably won't be the best for that purpose.

The main advantage to the semi-hollow guitar comes with the tone. If you need a loud and robust tone, this is the type of instrument that you want to use. You can't get this type of tone out of a regular solid-body guitar. The semi-hollow will give you a better tone which is ideal for playing a wide range of different genres.

Are There Any Disadvantages to The Semi-Hollow Guitar Guitar?

The main disadvantage to the semi-hollow guitar is that it is kind of limited when it comes to soloing. It's not that you can't solo on the instrument, but a fast metal style solo will be a lot more difficult because the neck of the guitar isn't as fast as a guitar that is designed exclusively for playing heavy metal.

Some players may also find the instrument a bit cumbersome as it's larger than a regular solid body electric guitar. It can take some getting used to, and you may not find that the instrument limits your freedom of movement a little bit simply because of its size.

Another disadvantage to this type of instrument is that there are not many models that have single-coil pickups. If you prefer the single-coil sound, this is not the instrument for you. This guitar ships with two humbucking pickups for the most part. These give you a great tone, but I would go with a different instrument if you like the single-coil sound.

Should I Buy A Case?

Many semi-hollow guitars do ship with gig bags, and a few of them have cases, but a lot of them don't have a case that comes with the instrument. It's advisable that you get a case because you want to protect your investment. Make sure you buy a case that is designed for a semi-hollow guitar, as a regular electric guitar case won't fit this instrument because it's a lot larger.

Bridges

Most of these instruments will have a fixed-style bridge. This means that there is no tremolo system, so it's difficult to play some guitar styles where you might want this type of sound. The advantage to this is that strange changes are easy to do, and the guitar will stay in tune a lot longer.

There are, however, some models with the Bigsby tremolo system, which will allow you to have some tremolo effects when playing the guitar. The Bigsby is larger than other turmoil systems, so it does take a little bit of getting used to. You can expect to pay a little bit more for semi-hollow guitars that feature this type of tremolo system.

FAQs

How do you Fix Action on the Semi-Hollow Guitar?

The semi-hollow guitar has an adjustable bridge. This is where you can adjust the action on your instrument. You do this by moving screws up and down. You can also do this by adjusting is a truss rod a little bit.

It is advisable that if you don't know how to adjust the action on your instrument, that you take it to a qualified technician as they can do this for you as well as address other issues with your guitar. You want to have action on your instrument that is comfortable for the way you play your guitar.

My Semi-Hollow Guitar Doesn't Sound Right, What is Wrong?

If your semi-hollow guitar doesn't sound quite right, change the strings. Some of these instruments have been sitting in cases for a long time. They may also have sat in a guitar box and not moved for months, so the strings may be a bit corroded or rusty. You will get better sound improvement with a fresh set of strings.

You should also ensure that you're using a high-quality shielded guitar cable with it, as this will reduce feedback. Another thing is to make sure you're using a high-quality amplifier so you could get the best tone while playing guitar.

Another thing you can do to improve the tone of your instrument is to install a different set of pickup. Some of these instruments will come with pickups that are not all that great. Lower-cost models, we'll have pickups that don't have that high of an output. You can install pickups that have a better output, and this will improve the tone of your instrument.

How Do I Clean My Semi-Hollow Guitar?

The best way to clean your guitar is to take the strings off of it and then have a proper string change. Once you do this, you can address any dirt and debris on the fretboard and remove that. You can also remove the dust that has accumulated around the pickups and pickguard. Make sure you use a guitar polish and guitar cloth designed for use on instruments. If you use regular household cleaners, you may get marks on your finish. The best cleaner for a guitar is guitar polish, as this removes most dirt and debris.

Conclusion

This concludes our guide to the best semi-hollow-body guitar. These are excellent instruments that you can play both electrically as well as acoustic leave. They do tend to sound better when you plug them into a high-quality amplifier. Experiment with your tone a little bit until you find something that you like.

This guitar is capable of producing a wide range of different tones. It excels at blues, country, jazz, and light rock styles. It's not the ideal instrument for heavy metal because it's difficult to play fast on it. For other guitar styles, it's the ideal type of instrument, especially if you need a lot of volume.

Try to use an amplifier that has a medium distortion setting, reverb, chorus, and other effects, as this will give you the best tone. Use a fresh set of strings on your guitar, as this makes playing a lot easier. Take care of your instrument with periodic cleaning, and you will have a semi-hollow guitar that will last you a long time.

Enjoy your new semi-hollow guitar. This is a great instrument that you're going to enjoy playing for years to come.