Semihollowbody guitars

I've had a Gibson ES-335 Studio (the "cheap" ES-335) for a few years now and I keep going back and forth on whether I want to keep it or sell it and get something else. I really like the pickups ('57 Classic and '57 Super Classic), somewhat like the way it plays (seems a little fickle at times with tuning stability), and I've had a few minor QC issues (jack fell into the guitar once).

I've been considering maybe either an Eastman T386 or a Guild Starfire instead. Tell me about these. What would be the key differences between them and between them and my guitar?

hell of a revive lol.

I can’t speak to those guitars in particular, but I can say Epiphone’s China production has come a long way. The new Riviera (finally!) improved on the Korean version and punches way above its weight.

have you considered Gretsch? their low/mid stuff is really great

The T386 and Starfire wouldn't be much different than the ES-335, they're loaded with similar humbuckers. Old Starfires had Guild's mini-humbucker style pickups that sound great.

Gretsch and their Filtertrons would be a good call if you're looking for something different. There was a recent model pearlescent white Gretsch at the local Guitar Center that looked/sounded great, but wider acoustic/semi-hollow/hollow bodies kill my elbow.

there are a couple of narrower bodies in the electromatic line. at least one hollow and one semi, if you don’t mind the “rat rod” cosmetics

I should confess the electromatics were a gateway drug for me. it took a few years but I ended up taking the plunge on the Player’s Edition annie (pinned bridge, narrow body)

https://media.sweetwater.com/api/i/q-82__ha-4b8ad0f185654633__hmac-1fed00d96028ecf0eefd35149fd7618732df8ab8/images/closeup/750-G6118TLIVRY_angle.jpg

I have an electromatic. love the way it plays but i'm constantly having issues with the components. the bridge was constantly buzzing so I replaced it with one of the Tru-arc bridges and that helped. I do love it overall but it's made me want a more well made version

I am a Bigsby hata because my old bandmate's Washburn - a lovely guitar in most respects - never returned to tuning after using it. Like, never. Anything requiring the Bigsby had to go last in the set.

Coulda been faulty setup or whatever. And I know some people use them to good effect. But that bad experience put me off Bigsbys.

I had an Epiphone 339 that I liked a lot, but it was not really for me. Sold it to a friend, so I get to see it from time to time.

If I go that direction again, I will likely go fully hollow. Hofner Jazzica, like Paul Carrack uses, is a distant dream

man alive ----> this is a one day deal

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/stupid?source=3GOA5A9A&fbclid=IwAR1ApR7dQHMs-ie2VHgSCSN5CARA-KSZ17zQxqn12ut1cqlBRZr4ufobKuo

Ah man, what was it? Missed it.

I tried some lower end new gretsches a while back and wasn't thrilled with them.

it was this guy marked down to like $479: https://dangelicoguitars.com/guitars/premier-series/premier-dc/premier-dc-boardwalk/#DAPDCTCHCSCBEX

yeah it's worth stopping by musician's friend once a day, their "stupid deal of the day" can be really good

This thing is so cool looking. It's actually a full hollow, but I just wanted to post it somewhere

https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--pbRIThWq--/f_auto,t_large/v1616441697/kxcoegqalpnkmjyqqnto.jpg

(Yamaha SA-15 from the late 60s)

beautiful

Yamaha is a very underrated guitar company

love the shape of that

I want it even though I have no idea what it plays/sounds like. It's art.

In seriousness, I tracked down some video demos, and I don't think it's exactly what I would look for soundwise. I wish there was an actual semihollow version of the same thing with higher output pickups.

I do also wonder if the positioning of the tremolo arm vs volume and tone knobs would be annoying, and I read that the pickguard is very fragile. Still though, man.