First commercialized in the late 50s, semi-hollow guitars have been played by some of the greatest musicians of all time, including John Lennon, Johnny Marr, John Scofield, Freddie King, George Harrison, and Eric Clapton. The semi-hollow legacy has been continued by modern arena rockers such as Dave Grohl and Noel Gallagher. Not only do the best semi-hollow guitars offer a great acoustic response, but they also deliver great tones when plugged into a guitar amp, too.
As the name suggests, the semi-hollow guitar sits somewhere in between the hollow-body archtops and solid-body guitars. Able to deliver articulate and expressive tones across jazz, blues and rock, semi-hollow guitars offer a warmer, resonant alternative to solid-body guitars. Typically featuring a wooden center block that pickups are mounted to, this mass helps to reduce the risk of feedback that fully hollow-body guitars can be susceptible to – especially with gain and gig volumes.
With that, let’s take a look at two popular semi-hollow guitars, the Heritage H-535 and Gibson’s ES-335.
| Features: | Heritage Standard Collection H-535 | Gibson USA ES-335 |
|---|---|---|
| Price: | £2,999 | £3,299 |
| Neck: | Mahogany | Mahogany |
| Pickup: | Seymour Duncan ‘59 Humbucker | Calibrated T-Type |
| Frets: | 22 | 22 |
Heritage H-535
Since 1985, the Heritage brand has provided a very valid alternative to Gibson guitars – building their electric guitars from a purchased space of Gibson’s historic Kalamazoo factory, and, originally, along with using some key senior ex-Gibson employees.
Build
Heritage’s inspiration for the H-535 is obvious, and it features that Heritage headstock, which is 17mm and untapered, probably due to its smaller size, unlike the classic guitar it clones. The guitar is relatively light (3.51kg/7.72lb), something that can’t be said for many contemporary ES-335s that have been released in recent years.
The H-535 uses a three-ply figured maple-faced pressed laminate for the top and back, while the sides – as it has always been on this Heritage model – are solid-figured maple, bent into shape like a solid-sided acoustic, along with quite large mahogany kerfed linings. The centre block consists of maple with spruce ‘pads’, to match the curve of the top/ back to the block. The rise of the top and back is slightly flatter than similar models, with a fairly common rim depth of around 42mm, which actually appears smaller due to the deep (8mm) single-ply binding, coming with an overall depth of around 58mm. Along with a neck pitch, that means the tune-o-matic sits virtually flush with the body. There really is a lovely classic guitar vibe here that’s nicely done.
‘nicely done’ sums up the build of this guitar, not least the neck. As supplied with a string height of 1.2mm on the treble side and 1.5mm on the bass, and measured at the 12th fret, some users may find it a little too low, but the fretwork is immaculate with slight and well-shaped nibs to the fret ends, while the medium-gauge wire is around 2.6mm wide with a low, classic height of a shade over 1mm.
The deep, dark rosewood fingerboard has a radius quoted at 305mm (12 inches); the scale length of the H-535 comes in at around 624mm (24.6 inches), slightly shorter than the quoted 629mm (24.75 inches).
The H-535 uses a Grover tuner, a TonePros-style die-cast zinc locking stud tailpiece and an aluminium Nashville-style tune-o-matic with titanium saddle and slot-head post caps to lock it firmly in place and made.
Performance
You shouldn’t expect any surprises here, like the classic build the guitar emulates, it immediately hits the spot, from the crisp ring and vibrancy unplugged, to its neck that feels like many you’ve played before and enjoyed, and a huge sense of overall familiarity.
Once plugged in, you’ll notice its output jack is sensibly side-mounted (rather than being top-mounted), although, aside from that, it does ES-335 to a T, treading that middle ground of Solidbody and Hollowbody and creating a hugely unique voicing that balances snappy, percussive old-style electric blues with surprising meat and power.
The guitar’s setup is superb, not least the beautifully cut Corian nuts.
While some may prefer vintage wiring, not everyone constantly fiddles with their controls and that’s a quick fix with a soldering iron. The volume of the H-535, for example, mutes the highs a little too much as you pull back.
If you’re looking for a guitar that provides innovation and sonic diversity, then you won’t find it here. What you will get, however, is an example of a benchmark guitar that holds its own with the mighty G.
Gibson ES-335
Build
Although Gibson’s ES-335 has several old-school features, their latest version of the ES-335 production line is intended to be more ‘in the spirit of’ than a painstaking reissue. It’s essentially a very well-made modern interpretation of the classic version. The ES-335 illustrates that Gibson’s new management team is now very much on top of the issues that had been bugging customers for way too long. Not only is the finish quality noticeably better, but the binding is also back to being an attractive shade of off-white.
Gibson’s ES-335 body has ‘Micky Mouse’ ears that go with the early-style acrylic dot inlays and keystone tuner buttons. The binding on the rosewood fretboard is a little bit thicker than the vintage version, and that thickness is more noticeable because there’s no rollover.
Its impressive Vintage Burst finish follows from Gibson’s classic teardrop shape. The outer layer of maple on the top is plain in appearance, although on the back there’s a subtle flame.
Gibson has added a wireless ABR-1 bridge and aluminium stopbar tailpiece along with hand-wired controls and a set of Gibson’s Calibrated T-Type humbucking pickups.
Performance
Conclusion
So, which guitar is better? While both the Heritage 535 and Gibson 335 are great guitars, they’re somewhat different. Gibson’s 335 is much more “open”, and three-dimensional sounding, while also being brighter and more articulate. The Heritage 535 is darker and more midrange based. Gibson’s 335 excels on the neck pickup, while the Heritage 535 is better on the bridge.