what is semi acoustic guitar used for

hi all i wanna ask for what reason the semi acoustic guitar is used for and can we sound it like electric one or can we connect distortion to that one?

 

semi acoustic guitars are hollow bodied guitars while electrics are full bodied guitars..
the sound which an acoustic produces is bcoz of its hollow body...
different kinds off wood will resonate different kind of tones......
ie if the hollow body of the acoustic is filled ..it will produce only a very faint sound...
the tone that the electric produces is mainly bcoz of its electronics ..ie the pickups...and the wiring..the wood with which it is made is also important ....though maybe not so imp as in the case of the acoustic...but it is still...different pedals are made strictly for semi-acoustic i think
now in case of a semi acoustic ...
pick ups are used to amplify the sound..which the acoustic hollow body makes...
though u can connect distortion ...it will sound really ugly ...as the electronics used is not optimised for such playing...and most semi acoustics have only a single magnetic pickup
the case will be different for semi hollow bodied electric..i think gretesch one of the members has one....pm him if u have any thing to ask and he ll tell u ...

i hope this will help u a bit
just my 2 bucks worth of input..
cheers and enjoy the site..lots and lots of info available..
DIMEBAG

 

Yeah Dimebag, you're pretty much correct on that. Couple of corrections though, most hollow-body electrics have 2 pickups, although some do have one (these are few and far between though).

As for distortion and other pedals, I've always used my shitty Zoom with it and had no complaints (from the guitar that is; as for the how shit multi-effect pedals are is an entirely different matter). However, with distortion, overdrive and similar effects, you start getting feedback at lower volumes. It still sounds great but if you want to put heaps of distortion on it (such as playing metal), they're not that great. You can go loading up hollow-bodies for hard(er) rock (and by this I mean middle of the road Foo Fighters stuff such as Monkey Wrench) with no real dramas. As I said before though, if you're playing metal, stick to a solid body.

In terms of sound, there is a much warmer tone from a hollow-boy electric so its best suited for a clean sound. If that's what you're after, then it's a hands-down win to hollow-body guitars. They are also sound great with a flanger.

 

The above statements are my own personal opinoins for uses of a hollow-body electric; it's how I use mine. But then again, like everything with playing a guitar, it's a comfort thing on how you like it feel/sound.

 

Couldnt have put it better, Gretsch.
@mani, what type of music do you play anyways?

 

cool...im actually a gear idiot..dont know much ..just some things here and there...
but i try to help on whatever things i know...
just hope i remember the stuff u posted..

 

Dimebag, for a self-proclaimed "gear idiot", you do know a fair bit

 

can any one sujjest Gud acoustic guitars in range 350 $$ ?

 

actually i am just a beginer i went to the shop and i liked electric one but that was slightly out of my range i had more money then that was needed for acoustic guitar i think shop keeper spotted that and told me that this semi acoustic guitar can sound like electric one and i fell for it

 

and now i am wondering why i did that but now nothing can be done now although i am feeling prety comfortable with my semi but i just feel i could save 3000 ruppees

 

Mani, I am really confused as to what guitar you have. From the sounds of it, it sounds like you have an acoustic guitar with a pickup (techinically that's a semi-acoustic guitar but I consider that to be an acoustic. What I consider as being a semi-electric guitar is a hollow-body electric guitar.

Have a look at the second guitar I have posted up on the "Post Your Guitar Picture Here" thread (the Epiphone Casino on page 14 of that thread). Does yours look somewhat similar to that (it may not be exactly the shame shape but pay attention to the 2 f-holes it has).

Alternatively, can you put a photo of your guitar up on theis site? That would be easier.

If you have an acoustic with a pickup, then there is not much you can do with that except plug it into an amp and enjoy that. However, if you do have a hollow-body electic, then it is the same as having an electric guitar, the only differece is tone. You can plug all the effects you want in it and it will do the exact same job as a solid-body electric except the tone will be different.

 

Ravishing, what are you after in an acoustic guitar? Do you want it to have a pickup? A cut away? A 12-string acoustic? Give us some specs of what you are after and then we can suggest.

 

You Mean Electro Acoustic as the same suggests.

 

Hollow body and electric-acoustic are not the same thing.
A hollow body simply has a hollow body, and is an elec guitar in all other respects.
An electric-acoustic guitar is an acoustic guitar that can be used as an acoustic guitar, but has built in pickups (and sometimes amps) that can be plugged into an amp/speaker for amplification.

 

Well said anath, I couldn't have put it better myself

 

well mine is quite diffrent i will post pics as soo as i can
it has a hollow hole like an acoustic guitar but in the hole that steel thing is present with six screws on and it has two knobs one for volume and one for i dont know what
and obviously one out put jack

 

what make is the guitar..i m guessing its a givson-venus rose with a pickup..
they make those with one volume and tone knob..which is useless
cause they dont even work well ...

 

That steel thing with screws on it is a pickup, th other knob is a tone knob. From your description it could still be either guitar. If it looks exactly the same as an acoustic guitar then it is an acoustic guitar with a pick up. I'll just wait for the pictures then i can tell you.

 

take a look i think it is a simple acoustic with a pick up pretty useless i think
also can u explain for what reason the tone knob is used for

 

Mani, that is an acoustic guitar with a pickup. Aside from plugging it into an amp and playing it clean, there's nothing else really you can really do with it (in terms of effects). You can technically use effects pedals on that guitar but it sounds like absolute shit - on a good day. Before you go buying pedals though, I have to warn you - It will sound nothing at all like a solid or hollow-body electric guitar. I've plugged in my acoustic into some effects pedals for fun - I wanted to see how bad it would sound; needless to say, it sucked.

The tone knob adjusts the tone. I know that's probably going to confuse you even more though. It, like the volume knob, can only be used when plugged in into an amp. Do you have and amp? Plug it in if you do and you'll see what the tone knob does.