thumb|right|A [[Gibson ES-150 a hollow-body guitar with a pair of F-holes visible]]
A semi-acoustic guitar, also known as a hollow-body electric guitar, is a type of electric guitar designed to be played with a guitar amplifier featuring a fully or partly hollow body and at least one electromagnetic pickup. First created in the 1930s, they became popular in jazz and blues, where they remain widely used, and the early period of rock & roll, though they were later largely supplanted by solid-body electric guitars in rock.
They differ from an acoustic-electric guitar, which is an acoustic guitar that has been fitted with some means of amplification to increase volume without changing the instrument's tone.
Types
Semi-acoustic guitars may have a fully hollow body, making them essentially archtop acoustics with the pickups permanently mounted into the sound board, such as the Gibson ES-175. Some models feature bodies the full width of acoustics, allowing them to be played fully acoustically, while others, such as the Epiphone Casino, have "thinline" bodies where the hollow body serves purely to alter the tone, not increase the acoustic volume.
Other semi-acoustic guitars have a solid center block running the length and depth of the body, called a semi-hollow body. Examples include models that feature sound holes, like the Gibson ES-335, and ones with no sound holes but hollow interior chambers, like the Gretsch Duo-Jet. In these, the bridge is fixed to a solid block of wood rather than to a sound board, and the belly vibration is minimized much as in a solid body instrument. The addition of the central block helps to manage feedback and allows the guitar to be played normally at higher gain and higher volume.
Other guitars are borderline between semi-acoustic and solid body. Known as a chambered body guitar, they start from a solid body blank that has been routed out to include a sound hole in an otherwise solid body. Examples include the Fender Telecaster Thinline.
History
In the 1930s, guitar manufacturers aimed at increasing the sound level produced by the instrument, to compete with louder instruments such as the drums. Companies such as Gibson, Rickenbacker, and Gretsch focused on amplifying a guitar through a loudspeaker. In 1936, Gibson introduced their first manufactured semi-acoustic guitar, the ES-150s (Electric Spanish Series).
Gibson based them on a standard production archtop, with F-holes on the face of the guitar's soundbox. This model resembled traditional jazz guitars that were popular at the time. The soundbox on the guitar let limited sound emit from the hollow body of the guitar. The ES-150s could be electrically amplified via a Charlie Christian pickup, a magnetic single-coil pickup that converted the energy of the vibrating strings into an electrical signal.
In 1949 Gibson released two new models: the ES-175 and ES-5. The ES-175 and ES-5 models were the first to come with built-in electric pickups and are widely considered the first fully electric semi-acoustic guitars. Several models, including the ES-350T by Gibson, were made in the 1950s to accommodate a demand for a comfortable and modern version of the original archtop model.
In addition to the main model variants of the guitar, Gibson made several small changes to the guitar, including a laminated top for the ES-175 model and mounted top pickups for general use on all their models. Rickenbacker was also a prominent maker of the semi-hollow body guitar. Gibson, Gretsch, Rickenbacker, and other companies still make semi-acoustic and semi-hollow body guitars.
Usage
The semi-acoustic and semi-hollow body guitars were used widely by jazz musicians in the 1930s.
Semi-hollow guitars share some of the tonal characteristics of hollow guitars, such as their praised warmth and clean tone, but with less risk of undesirable feedback. Their sound is particularly popular with jazz, blues, rockabilly and psychobilly guitarists.
Today, semi-acoustic and semi-hollow body guitars are still popular among many artists across various genres. Examples include Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, renowned jazz guitarist George Benson, John Scofield, multi-instrumentalist Paul McCartney, former Guns N' Roses member Izzy Stradlin, John Lennon of the Beatles, and B.B. King, and rock musician Ted Nugent. Semi-acoustic guitars have also been valued as practice guitars because, when played "unplugged," they are quieter than full acoustic guitars, but more audible than solid-body electric guitars because of their open cavity. They are also popular because the cavities reduce the weight of the guitar.
Gallery
<gallery>
Image:John Lennon's guitar, Imagine room replica of the Beatles Story museum.jpg|Epiphone Casino, a thinline hollow-body
Image:Gibson ES-335 sunburst.jpg|Gibson ES-335, a semi-hollow-body with sound holes
Image:Fender Starcaster noBG.png|Fender Starcaster
Image:E Gitarre Hollow-Body vs Solid-Body.jpg|Comparison of the design and size of a hollow body versus a solid body.
</gallery>
See also
- Hybrid guitar