The Bassist and Guitarist thread

[CanucksTraveller]

I had never given much thought to it, but seeing that guitar now makes me wonder...

How 'acoustic' is a semi-acoustic, and how 'electric'? What do you get from a semi-acoustic that you don't get from an electric? (Obviously, I can see what you get from a semi-acoustic that you don't get from an acoustic!)

Semi acoustic is a bit of a catch all phrase, so in that bracket you've got fully hollow body guitars, some of which have really quite a deep body and can be getting somewhat close to an acoustic in terms of unplugged volume. Epiphone's Emperor for example. Then at the other end there are a lot of slim bodied "semi acoustic" guitars that have quite a big solid block running through the middle of the body and aren't really that much more "acoustic" than a solid body electric. Play those unplugged and they sound pretty similar to an unplugged electric.

The real polint of hollow body / semi acoustics though is that they do have a different resonance to a solid electric due to the hollow spaces, and when plugged in they can start to feed back quite readily. Some players value that for a particular sound, they can naturally produce quite a bluesy, vintage rock sound that you might need an effects pedal to replicate on a solid body electric.

Here's quite a good little video which explains why the Beatles used the Casino to get that sound, it illustrates the characteristics of a semi acoustic well.

View: https://youtu.be/-_FF834WJ58

 

[DCBassman]

there's a great YT video about a guy who made a concrete Strat. It was exactly the same as his usual Strat, apart from being concrete and weighed an absolute ton. All the way through the build he was looking forward to hearing it... would it sound heavier? would sound terrible? ...no. It sounded exactly the same as his usual Strat which told him an awful lot about so-called 'tone woods'... not that that video's going to stop any arguments on the guitar forums

I briefly had a plexiglass Precision Bass. Sounded exactly as it should. But 14lbs! I'll post up the pics later. I played one one-hour live set with it, but soooo heavy, it hurt.

 

[MontyVeda]

That's even heavier than my walnut chopping board!

 

[DRM]

I had never given much thought to it, but seeing that guitar now makes me wonder...

How 'acoustic' is a semi-acoustic, and how 'electric'? What do you get from a semi-acoustic that you don't get from an electric? (Obviously, I can see what you get from a semi-acoustic that you don't get from an acoustic!)

It's a full hollow body, you could play without the amp, but it's not at all like an acoustic, it seems it's more to do with the tone through the amp, and that if you overdrive it (think that's the correct term) for a "rock" sound it's able to totally overdo it and feed back a lot more than a typical solid electric will

 

[MontyVeda]

It's a full hollow body, you could play without the amp, but it's not at all like an acoustic ...

a 'full hollow body' semi acoustic will sound the same as an acoustic guitar with the same 'full hollow body'.

Unplugged, the guitar on the left will sound the same as the one on the right.

 

[ColinJ]

a 'full hollow body' semi acoustic will sound the same as an acoustic guitar with the same 'full hollow body'.

View attachment 629851

Unplugged, the guitar on the left will sound the same as the one on the right.

I have a Tanglewood like that. I have only plugged it in once to check that the pickup and preamp worked, but the option is there to use the pickup in the future.

I am going to have to sit down and plan how I am going to learn guitar and bass. I have spent 55 years NOT learning so I am rapidly running out of time (and hearing!)... I just don't seem to be one of those people who gets stuck in spontaneously.

Face to face lessons would probably cost me all the spare money I have so that is not going to happen. I have seen some very good free/cheapish lessons on YouTube. Maybe I should go that route.

 

[MontyVeda]

I tend to find a tune I'd like to play (eg, Blackbird), find the TAB or a YT tutorial... fail to play it properly even after many hours of practice, but I like some of the chord shapes and use those in a different (easier) order to play something i can call my own.

The shapes from Blackbird are simple and versatile.

forget the intro and that big slide from 2 to 10, forget trying to swap from 3/4 to 4/4 to 2/4, forget playing the shapes in the right order... focus on what you can play rather than the bits you can't and eventually you might find a ditty.

I also couldn't do the fifth bar... that switch in finger shapes was too hard for me, but big hands allowed me to stretch and play the same notes on the 2nd string instead of the 1st like this...

The way i see it is... no one wants to hear me play Blackbird badly, but playing something they don't recognise, using the easier chord shapes repurposed from Blackbird is lot more palatable n their ears, and slightly impressive when they ask what you're playing and you say "i've not given it a title yet"

Not that i play the guitar in front of anyone, ever!


Same with Basslines. I can play the bass intro from (eg) Jethro Tull's Living in the Past, but what's the point? I'm not going to join a JT tribute band. But play the same notes in a different order and you got your own bass line to play

 

[DRM]

a 'full hollow body' semi acoustic will sound the same as an acoustic guitar with the same 'full hollow body'.

View attachment 629851

Unplugged, the guitar on the left will sound the same as the one on the right.

But it’s not an acoustic, it’s similar in design to a Gretsch, and is primarily an electric guitar, it‘s louder than a solid electric (eg Les Paul, Strat etc) when not plugged in, but no where near as loud as an acoustic

 

[DCBassman]

'Yer tiz...

 

[DRM]

I have a Tanglewood like that. I have only plugged it in once to check that the pickup and preamp worked, but the option is there to use the pickup in the future.

I am going to have to sit down and plan how I am going to learn guitar and bass. I have spent 55 years NOT learning so I am rapidly running out of time (and hearing!)... I just don't seem to be one of those people who gets stuck in spontaneously.

Face to face lessons would probably cost me all the spare money I have so that is not going to happen. I have seen some very good free/cheapish lessons on YouTube. Maybe I should go that route.

https://www.justinguitar.com/
Have a go with the above website, from the beginner module 1, it’s what I did the lessons are very good and easily followed and best of all it’s free, with tools to help you sort out practice sessions, the only cost so far was for the beginner song book,I didn’t have a clue what to do with my sons acoustic and now I’ve learned 5 chords and having a go at learning some songs, they sound shocking at the moment but the improvement is definitely there.

 

[delb0y]

Here's a great video in which the marvellous player Jim Gill investigate where the sound actually comes from in a full electric - remarkable conclusion, although probably not unexpected.


View: https://youtu.be/n02tImce3AE

 

[MontyVeda]

But it’s not an acoustic, it’s similar in design to a Gretsch, and is primarily an electric guitar, it‘s louder than a solid electric (eg Les Paul, Strat etc) when not plugged in, but no where near as loud as an acoustic

I think we're at cross purposes here. the question was about semi-acoustic guitars in general, not a specific model.

'Yer tiz...

View attachment 629916

Didn't Bernie Edwards use one of those in a Chic video to match Nile's transparent Strat?

 

[DCBassman]

a 'full hollow body' semi acoustic will sound the same as an acoustic guitar with the same 'full hollow body'.

View attachment 629851

Unplugged, the guitar on the left will sound the same as the one on the right.

Neither of these is a 'semi-acousic; one has a pickup, the other does not. A semi is totally different to a flat-top.
An example of a true "semi-acoustic" a Gibson ES175. And examples of what should be better called a hollowbody - Gibson ES335, with solid centre block, or Epiphone Casino, without.

 

[DCBassman]

I think we're at cross purposes here. the question was about semi-acoustic guitars in general, not a specific model.



Didn't Bernie Edwards use one of those in a Chic video to match Nile's transparent Strat?

Honestly, no idea, but quite possible for certain things. Otherwise Nile used the Hitmaker and Bernard his Stingray.

 

[DRM]

I think we're at cross purposes here. the question was about semi-acoustic guitars in general, not a specific model.



Didn't Bernie Edwards use one of those in a Chic video to match Nile's transparent Strat?

I think @ColinJ had seen the link I added to my late Xmas pressie, perhaps it’s the terminology, mine is similar to a Gretsch with F holes and has 2x humbuckers, I was practicing with it and when playing an E chord it’s got a lovely growl tone when played clean, not an expensive thing, was in a starter pack from Gear4Music with an amp, gig bag, tuner, truss rod Allen key a couple of picks and spare strings