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So... the Jesus and Mary Chain fanboy in me has grown to the point where i'm seriously considering my next guitar be a Hollow or Semi-hollow body. I haven't seen too many in the local shops, and i was wondering if anyone had any experience with them to drive me to a good decision, in the less-than-$500 range.

In the order of most curious to least:

1. Epiphone Casino
2. Ibanez Artcore AS103
3. Epiphone Dot
4. Ibanez Artcore AF105
5. Eastwood Classic 6
6. Douglas WNO 630
7. Agile AS-820
8. ???


Any experience input would be awesome!!

I'm in a similar situation, different music style but I'm also coveting a hollowbody/semihollow. I've lusted after these for a while, but they're just tooo expensive:


Airline Tuxedo: over $800!

Any interest in taking an ebay vintage gamble? You could probably do pretty well for yourself on an old Ibanez or something. That was the route I was considering.

first choice Pelham Blue Casino




or if you like buttrock red better..

Casinos are $600 new. If you want to stay under $500, you'll probably have to take the used route.

I dig the way mine sounds, but not sure if it's a good fit for me.

Peavey JF1's are like 300 bucks new and pretty cool

Mmmm, i like that Peavey a lot. I'm a HUGE fan of Peavey basses, but i haven't tried much in the way of their guitars (aside from a few of the T series).


The Casino, i'd consider spending that extra $ on if it's really worth it. My dream guitar is a Gibson ES-330, and i guess the Casino is as close to that as i'll get without spending over $2k for.

I am not sure if this is what you had in mind, but I think the Squier classic vibe Thinline telecaster is a great semihollow guitar. I would totally get one and they are affordable.

Peavey and Ibanez would be worth a look, also some of the older yamaha stuff crops up on ebay and is lovely. If your aren't bothered about the condition look for some Eastman guitars, they might be cheap enough if theyre beat up enough.

Best bit of advice though, go and try them out.

Also when you get a hollow body string it up with 13 gauge flatwounds - its worth it trust me.

Edit:

At the moment I'm really lusting after a Peavey Rockingham Bigsby - super nice guitars and good value.

I'm a semi hollow guy. But I went with a Schecter Corsair .

If you wanna stay at your price point a used one is a good way . But you can go new . For new I think Ibanez has the best for under $500 . I loved the AM 73 and the AMF73 . A ton of semi hollowness for around $400 .

Not sure if ya wanna consider but Epi Wildkats play well. You can get them used super cheap. Smaller body than say a Casino or Riv but play well. I think they are straight hollow though . Can't remember .

Michael Kelly makes a good semi hollow . Not sure what they are new though but used you can get one well under $500 .

AXL makes a REALLY nice distressed one for under $350. I tried one in a local store and thought it played way better than an Epi DOT. Played really nice for a cheap Chinese semi .

A Hagstrom Viking II is a nice one too but you'll eventually wanna change the pickups . Great guitar but the pickups were kinda blah however well built .

And a great recommendation also lastly is a used Teisco ,Univox or Aria Semi. However those you'll have to hunt down and play . Easily find one for under $350 and they're pretty unique IMHO. Plus a DeArmond X-155 or Starfire . Now those gems are fucking nice to play . Just have fun finding one that's not beat to piss.

I spent almost 2 years playing everything under the sun before I bought mine . You shoot the name I prolly tried it .

I have an Ibanez AFS7T that plays like buttah, I just need to find the right pickups for it. Also, one thing to be aware of is that some of these guitars have a bridge that simply sits on the guitar and is held down by string pressure, if you play hard it will move and knock you out of tune and destroy intonation.

Din of Win wrote:Mmmm, i like that Peavey a lot. I'm a HUGE fan of Peavey basses, but i haven't tried much in the way of their guitars (aside from a few of the T series).


The Casino, i'd consider spending that extra $ on if it's really worth it. My dream guitar is a Gibson ES-330, and i guess the Casino is as close to that as i'll get without spending over $2k for.

Where are you located? You should be able to try out a Casino at any nearby Guitar Center, as well as that Squier CV Thinline Tele.

Thanks for the advice everyone!! Internet searches a-go-go!

plaidbeer wrote:

Din of Win wrote:Mmmm, i like that Peavey a lot. I'm a HUGE fan of Peavey basses, but i haven't tried much in the way of their guitars (aside from a few of the T series).


The Casino, i'd consider spending that extra $ on if it's really worth it. My dream guitar is a Gibson ES-330, and i guess the Casino is as close to that as i'll get without spending over $2k for.

Where are you located? You should be able to try out a Casino at any nearby Guitar Center, as well as that Squier CV Thinline Tele.

I'm in the DC metro area in Maryland. I sware, last time i was at the closest GC the only thing they had was a terribly setup Epi DOT... they do probably have the Thinline Teles though... I was actually there checking ss stuff... they didn't even have the CV Duo Sonics, VM Jaguar, or Jagmaster... just an also badly setup Blacktop Jag.

I gotta go to the one in Baltimore. That one's more legit anywho.

Din of Win wrote:So... the Jesus and Mary Chain fanboy in me has grown to the point where i'm seriously considering my next guitar be a Hollow or Semi-hollow body. I haven't seen too many in the local shops, and i was wondering if anyone had any experience with them to drive me to a good decision, in the less-than-$500 range.

In the order of most curious to least:

1. Epiphone Casino

3. Epiphone Dot



Any experience input would be awesome!!

MR Reid was playing an epiphone Sheraton ii the last time I seen them, so that would suggest the dot however I also saw him playing a Gibson 330? The one that looks like the casino. So I'd go for one of those two. I'm a big fan of the epiphone semi acoustics and for my Marychain moments I rely on a 1994 Riviera. Hope this helps...

339 is my first choice
spendy though

I'd go Casino first and foremost, or any sort of 335 clone if not - I wouldn't bother with a thinline tele for this though; they have neither the feel or the sound of what you're looking for.

Haven't played these reissues before but they look nice and are in your budget:

Nick wrote:Haven't played these reissues before but they look nice and are in your budget:

Those are nice played one a fee weeks ago

I've seen some real nice Peerless guitars.
This looks smashing:

Peerless guitars are amazing too, but a bit higher in price range?

They make some seriously nice jazz boxes but theyre £1K+ for the lovely ones.

mrperson wrote:Peerless guitars are amazing too, but a bit higher in price range?

They make some seriously nice jazz boxes but theyre £1K+ for the lovely ones.

My Riviera was made in the peerless factory back in the day before they scaled down there output