Guitar for strumming

[jadams71]

hi everyone, I realize an acoustic guitar is going to be about your best bet for a full sound when it comes to strumming a guitar. However, i would be doing solo lead work as well so i thought about either a semi-hollow or full hollowbody would be the next best choice. What would you guys recommend? A semi-hollow or full hollow body guitar? While i am on the subject would it be a shallower style like a ES-335 or more of a jazzbox like an Epiphone Broadway? Thanks again.

 

[muzishun]

Any guitar is fine for strumming. If you are doing leads, choose one comfortable for that.

 

[Kmaz]

I like the Epiphone Casino's hollow body for this application.

 

[strawberries]

I really like the semihollow body guitars. The es335 is the one of the best electrics ever made, especially for rhythm work.

 

[jadams71]

Thanks the input. I am pretty sure i have seen people use Gretsch guitars for this and they tend to have a fuller body then a ES-335. How does a fuller body guitar work?

 

[Bossanova]

I'd choose one with single coil pickups, as the casino mentioned above, a rickenbacker, or an es-330.

A 335 makes for a substandard strummy rhythm guitar IME/IMO due to the pickup configuration.

 

[27sauce]

I like the thin ES-125, Sorrento style.

 

[edward]

1. I am a firm believer that there is no such thing as a "lead" guitar, let alone a "strumming" guitar. Find a guitar body shape and neck that feel good to you and go with that. Then get pups to "fit" your tone.
2. Hollow or semihollow? How about solid? The answer lies in what's your band's musical genre and how loud you all play. A full hollow may not even be feasible in a loud live setting, depending on lots of stuff. But like #1 above, you can make almost anything work with the right approach.
3. All IMHO, of course.

Edward

 

[dubdub]

If you plan to play loud, a full hollowbody is gonna feedback, even a semi hollow will feedback sometimes. I can tell you this from experience, if you insist on using one and it starts to feedback, the sound guy will hate you. I would go for a solid body and setup your amp and guitar for a nice thick tone if your just gonna be strumming. Also put 11 gauge strings on the guitar.

 

[BigDoug1053]

I have a Gretsch 6120 hollowbody and a Gibson Country Gentleman semisolid - both are Chet Atkins sig models. They both have a response to strumming that is notably different from my other electrics. You can strum on these guitars much more vigorously and yet play lead lines easily because of the low action. I can't account for why they feel this way - perhaps the elevated bridge? Or even the Bigsby? So I would suggest an electric with a higher bridge. The Gretsch Electromatic series has some semi-solid models that would likely not feed back as much. My Gibson does not feed back a lot.

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[rsm]

If I was looking for something like this and could justify the cost of one, I'd think a Gibson Byrdland (Florentine) would be a good option.

A Gretsch White or Black Falcon would be more reasonable, though very different.

IMO