semi solid electric guitar?

BAKER95

looking into semi solid guitars for a different tone and came across this http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/godin-5th-avenue-kingpin-archtop-hollowbody-electric-guitar-with-p-90-pickup/500320000673000
anyone know of a guitar not overly expensive or high end that looks simerlar to this available in Ireland/Dublin , I mainly play blues and experimental high gain sort of stuff if I could call it that :rolleyes: any questions I could answer to make this easier then ask away
thanks in advance,

Ravelleman

The term you´re looking for is ´semi-hollowbody´.

The Godin, however, is a full hollowbody, which makes a big difference.

They´re €739 on Musicstore, which really seems a bit expensive for what they are.

I´m not sure how well a fully hollow guitar with a single p-90 in the neck position would work for your experimental high gain stuff. For blues it would be perfect.

Alanstrainor

Just be sure to try any hollowbody guitar through your typical blues/high gain setup before taking the plunge. Hollow body guitars don't take kindly to high gain, you'll just get endless unusable feedback from the guitar.

That's my experience, and I'm a blue player, who would only use something along the lines of a TS9 for my gain.

BAKER95

thanks im not all knowledgable when it comes to specifics , @alanstrainor whats a ts9?

Alanstrainor

BAKER95 wrote: »

thanks im not all knowledgable when it comes to specifics , @alanstrainor whats a ts9?

Sorry, just an over drive pedal. Ibanez tubescreamer TS9.

Which wouldn't push it all that much. Just worth keeping in mind.

BAKER95

ah ok , I use fuzz anyway , whats the best place to start looking in Dublin do you think? im just looking for a unique type and Im sick of my strat at this stage haha

Alanstrainor

BAKER95 wrote: »

ah ok , I use fuzz anyway , whats the best place to start looking in Dublin do you think? im just looking for a unique type and Im sick of my strat at this stage haha

I know the feeling. It's just that a hollow body guitar wont take kindly to high gain fuzz pedals. Just by their very nature. Plenty of interesting guitars out there, outside the usual strat and les paul.

I do like my strats tho :cool:

BAKER95

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I know the feeling. It's just that a hollow body guitar wont take kindly to high gain fuzz pedals. Just by their very nature. Plenty of interesting guitars out there, outside the usual strat and les paul.

I do like my strats tho :cool:

don't get me wrong I love the strat more than most other sounds but it would be nice to be able to divert to different guitars/pickups/sounds etc if you get what I mean

Havermeyer

Tubescreamers and hollow bodies go great together.

Boss' Blues Driver is another pedal that goes nicely with hollow bodies.

For the guitars themselves, I'd try Goodwin's on Capel St or either Walton's music shops in the city centre. Usually have decent selections.

hidinginthebush

You could look at sticking a spilttable humbucker in the bridge, somr strats in recent years have actually been routed with that in mind, despite only having single coils in them. I've been toying with getting a semi hollow body myself lately, I think they look the business! But as said above, I've heard they'll feedback like crazy, so I'm not sure how well it will suit high gain playing.

Ravelleman

Hollowbodies do feedback even at low gain but this is manageable.

Semi-hollowbodies have a block through the centre which reduces the level feedback greatly.

My hollowbody Gretsch Annie sounds great with my Pharaoh Fuzz, so I wouldn´t discount the possibility of getting that kind of sound. My only concern was with the Godin, which only has on pickup - a p90 at the neck.

You might struggle to find a hollowbody with coil-splitters. For whatever reason, it´s fairly rare to find them with standard single coil pickups, meaning that most manufacturers don´t seem to bother with splitting humbuckers.

martingibson

Don't know what price-range you're looking at, but I was trying a vox ac4 valve amp last week, and one of the guitars I plugged into it was a 'Richwood' hollow body. Looked like a Gibson 335, only cost about 400 bills, and sounded very nice indeed. That was in Music Minds in Liffey street. Probably very similar to an Epiphone dot, maybe. Nicer finish than some I've seen for that money though.
Would you not consider a Les Paul if you want to go 'high gain'?

BAKER95

martingibson wrote: »

Don't know what price-range you're looking at, but I was trying a vox ac4 valve amp last week, and one of the guitars I plugged into it was a 'Richwood' hollow body. Looked like a Gibson 335, only cost about 400 bills, and sounded very nice indeed. That was in Music Minds in Liffey street. Probably very similar to an Epiphone dot, maybe. Nicer finish than some I've seen for that money though.
Would you not consider a Les Paul if you want to go 'high gain'?

thanks il check out there then when i get a chance , i had a les paul a while back and i just sold it , i just didnt like it but noot sure why , maybe the body or the feel of it just wasnt right but i do like humbuckers

BAKER95

came across this earlier http://www.gear4music.ie/Guitar-and-Bass/Hofner-HCT-Jazz-Electric-Guitar-Single-Pickup-Non-Cutaway-Sunburst/J6B
does anyone know if i could be able to play one before taking the plunge and without committing to buying one , like would a retailer consider getting some in or is there somewhere anyone knows of that deals with hofner? i like the look very much and they seem to play well from what ive seen on youtube