Epiphone semi or hollow body electric

[Anonymous]

Looking for experience and opinions on the different models of Epiphone semi and hollow body guitars available. Playing mostly blues and rockabilly. Thanks Doug Wright

[TENNTOM]

Doug,
I’ve had an Epiphone ES339 Pro for two years now and I couldn’t be happier. It’s a semi-hollow body. Bought it from Sweetwater at a great price with free shipping and free extended warranty. It has two split coil humbuckers with volume and tone controls for each.
Tom

[Dave B]

I have a 2008 Epiphone Dot that I bought used in 2013. Excellent condition, and I got for $200. I love the way it plays. Recently, I swapped the pickups for Seymour Duncan. The sound was pretty good before, but the new pickups made a big difference. This is my primary, go-to guitar. I don’t have any experience with their other models to compare it to. I’ve read that the Sheraton is basically the same as the Dot, in feel, playability, etc. My guess is there would be a little difference between a hollow body and a semi-hollow body. Not so much difference between the different sizes. Go to a few stores and spend some time playing each one. One of them will speak to you. “Take me home…..”

[BluGenes]

I have an Epi Wildkat and love it. I would like to add a string butler to it some time, tho. It has that inherent tuning problem that a 3×3 head has. It isn’t that bad, but, it can get annoying. Other than that, nothing wrong with that guitar. I may end up making that my go slide guitar too..

Don't practice till you get it right, practice till you can't get it wrong.

[Tim Lee]

I echo what Dave B says. I also have an Epi Dot ( 2009 ) with original pickups and love it. I’d go to the music store and try some out and see what may fit for you.
All the best,
Tim

[Dave B]

BluGenes – what’s the inherent tuning problem a 3-3 head has? I never had any issue. Or maybe I do have an issue and don’t realize it. Educate me!

[San Luis Rey]

Hey Doug,
I have an older Epi Dot that I love for the neck it has, a ES 335 Pro that has a bit wider neck and great sustain and a Epi Masterbuilt acoustic electric that sounds incredible plugged in. I used to own a Wildkat that had a gorgeous flame blonde laminate top and a set of P-90’s that rocked! (Traded that for the Dot). I have played my cousin’s Casino and that is a sweet sounding guitar that plays great also. That’s what is considered the John Lennon guitar. The semi hollow bodies are what I use for the styles of BB and Freddie King. The Wildkat can do that and rock also. The hollow body Casino is a sweet rhythm player. Like everybody says, you need to get them in your hands and you’ll know quickly which is a keeper.

Mike

[Aussie Rick]

Yeah Doug, I have both a semi-hollow body (a 2014 Epiphone Dot and an 2015 Epiphone ES335 PRO), and a hollow body – a 2001 Korean Epiphone Casino. I’ve found all three are excellent guitars in terms of sound, playability and workmanship. (I’ve also got a 1996 Korean Epiphone Sorrento that’s a full hollow body of similar body dimensions with single single cutaway.)

The Dot and the ES335 PRO have different humbucker pickups and neck profiles – Alnico Classics and fatter ’50s D profile neck in the Dot, and Alnico Classic PROs with coil tap and the slimmer ’60s D profile neck in the ES335. I used to much prefer the slimmer necks but now also enjoy playing the fatter neck just as well, as my playing has progressed. I’ve only played the Sheraton 11 a couple of times at guitar shops; its got the same easy playability of the others, has ProBucker pickups with coil-tap, a slim 60s neck that’s laminated, and has cosmetic changes like the vintage headstock etc.

The Casino has P-90 pickups and the slimmer ’60s neck. And the neck joins the body at the 16th fret, or 17th fret in some Casinos, rather than at the 19th fret as in the semi-hollow bodied versions (Dot, 335Pro, Sheraton and Riviera) – so you have a little less access to the high registers on the Casino. Because there’s no centre-block, the Casino is lighter and more resonant than the semis, and is reasonably loud when played unplugged – so you don’t have to plug in to have a worthwhile practice session. Despite absence of a centre-block, sustain is comparable to the semis, and feedback is not a problem – at least when playing clean or over-driven without distortion at lower volumes. The P-90s perhaps have a bit more bite than the humbuckers when played with harder attack.

So my experience has been that both the Epiphone hollow bodies and semi-hollow bodies are great guitars.They both have that warm resonant tone associated with hollow bodies and look bloody great. It’s probably best if you can, to spend some time playing each and make a decision on which you feels and sounds best for you. Happy guitar hunting Doug.

Rick

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