https://guitarnoise.forum/bass-players-discussion/semi-hollows/ Guitar Noise Discussion Board en-US Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:51:25 +0000 wpForo 60 https://guitarnoise.forum/bass-players-discussion/semi-hollows/#post-95540 Sun, 27 Mar 2005 09:54:39 +0000 Bass Players Discussion R3d https://guitarnoise.forum/bass-players-discussion/semi-hollows/#post-95540 https://guitarnoise.forum/bass-players-discussion/semi-hollows/#post-95526 Sun, 27 Mar 2005 07:20:50 +0000
The whole idea of the solid body is to have as little as possible of the resonant or dead spots and have every note pretty much evened out. You still get it, but not as much with a solidbody instrument, and you get it even less with neck-throughs and set-in neck instruments, though again sometimes you can't really notice it.

The hollows and semi-hollows on yet another hand, even if they're made of good solid pieces of wood, have chambers - or 'are' a chamber in fact - that have the potential for resonating with a greater array of notes, thereby feeding back that much sooner at volume.

Like for instance, say I was invited to play with the Rolling Stones one night: I'd take the Turser because it's my favorite, but I'd also take the Squier, knowing I'd most likely wind up using it - just because it's solid body and more stable at high volumes. And I don't mean garageband type over the top volume just to be loud - I mean a good stage volume on a big stage where you can hear yourself AND hear everybody else. So it would depend on the where you're playing, how big of a place, etc. I mean, I've never played the Turser live and loud, but I assume there's going to be certain notes that will just go "WoooooooooooooFFF! if I let them.

So in those cases, the solidbody would be the thing.

My opinion is to have a solid body as your main instrument (or two, one with roundwounds, one with flats), and then get a hollow or semi-hollow to fool around with. And if you're not set against it as some bass guys are, get a short-scale - they're just waay fun.

By the way, one of the most unresonant basses I ever had the chance to own and play (don't have it any more) was an Ampeg Dan Armstrong Lucy Lucite. The neck was still wood (24 frets by the way, and that was way back in 1973!) but the body had absolutely no deadspots or woof tones. Sustained forever, AND it was short scale. Great recording bass too because the sound was just steady and even with nothing, no notes jumping out at you causing the meters to peg.

Nice bass - and Bill Wyman played one for awhile; one of my heroes.

Anyhow, I just thought I'd add this in because depending on how loud you play, feedback is a factor.

Best regards.]]> Bass Players Discussion DemoEtc https://guitarnoise.forum/bass-players-discussion/semi-hollows/#post-95526 https://guitarnoise.forum/bass-players-discussion/semi-hollows/#post-95516 Sun, 27 Mar 2005 05:28:25 +0000
Anyhow, the way I look at it, you 'can' do any style of music with any bass. It's what you prefer, but to a certain extent. Solids just have more sustain to them but the difference sometimes isn't that noticeable, especially when playing lots of notes. Same thing with the set-neck vs neck-thru vs bolt-on neck ideas with guitars. Most times, in the real world, the difference is negligable.

Where you do find a lot of difference, and why you can get a bass that's say for metal, and make it work in a different genre, is all the other things - the type of strings (round wound vs flat wound), whether you use a pick or use your fingers, the type of amp settings, etc.

For the stuff I do, I have the short scale Turser, which has a bit less sustain than my Squier P-bass Special. But it's short scale, which feels different to play (softer feel), and sorta allows different sorts of lines to be comfortably played. It's got an upright sound almost. But it sounded quite a bit brighter when I played it with the round wound strings that orignally came on it.

On the other hand, the P-bass had Markley rounds on it and it was REALLY clanky and bright. The scale length is 34" (compared to 32 on the Turser) so the notes had more ring and more of a tense sound. But when I put flat wounds on it, it softened up quite a bit and got rounder sounding, while still maintaining its sustain.

Thing is, I could play just about any style of music on either of those instruments, but it's how they're setup and what strings, and whether I use pick or fingers.

That's the way I look at it anyhow. :)]]> Bass Players Discussion DemoEtc https://guitarnoise.forum/bass-players-discussion/semi-hollows/#post-95516 https://guitarnoise.forum/bass-players-discussion/semi-hollows/#post-95486 Sun, 27 Mar 2005 00:14:05 +0000
I really wish I could find something that would somehow list the basses typically used for certain styles of playing/genres.

These are the basses that prompted my question, though the ones you mentioned would apply, too:

In the reviews, someone mentions this one being good for slap style??


Beautiful bass, but that price tag is lookin kinda ugly at the moment. :oops:
]]> Bass Players Discussion R3d https://guitarnoise.forum/bass-players-discussion/semi-hollows/#post-95486 https://guitarnoise.forum/bass-players-discussion/semi-hollows/#post-95455 Sat, 26 Mar 2005 18:40:07 +0000
They're a bit thumpier (though again, that has to do with the string type as well) and can be a little darker sounding. The Turser Beatle I use 'floats' in the mix reall well though - a real round sort of stand out tone, that at the same time doesn't stand out too much.

The longer scale solid body basses tend to sound (at times) like a lower version of the electric guitars and blend in; lots of sustain, lots of 'clank.' The hollows and semi-hollows keep their own character in the mix.

So you're right, they have a warmer, mellower tone. I guess you could use them mostly in older style rock and folk - though the full-bodied acoustic basses (flat top like acoustic guitars) - would probably fit in better with folk styles, and maybe older style jazz.

Though, with the mix of styles these days they'd probably fit in with everything short of metal. Probably everything from the 40s through the early 80s, though some of the 70s-80s stuff could be said to get their tone from solid-body basses with flatwound strings.

Hope this helps :)]]> Bass Players Discussion DemoEtc https://guitarnoise.forum/bass-players-discussion/semi-hollows/#post-95455 https://guitarnoise.forum/bass-players-discussion/semi-hollows/#post-7922 Wed, 23 Mar 2005 16:39:12 +0000
Anyway, I haven't seen a whole lot of info on semi-hollow basses. I'm curious what sort of sound they'd have, or what type of music they would be suitable for? My guess would be a warmer, mellow tone. Are they recommended for different playing styles? Seemed like an odd concept to me at first since I've read so much on how basses benefit from a dense, solid wood body. With that in mind, I'm really wanting to hear a semi-hollow.
Thanks!]]> Bass Players Discussion R3d https://guitarnoise.forum/bass-players-discussion/semi-hollows/#post-7922