It has an arched top and back (pressed laminates, not hand-carved from solid wood) and separate sides joined, like a traditional acoustic, with small linings. Gibson’s ES-335 is still the industry standard in the contemporary semi-hollow arena with its hollow wings and solid centre-block.
The result was a traditional-looking guitar that, crucially, proved more stable and resistant to feedback in the brave new electric world. After all, attaching pickups to an archtop was how this whole Electric Spanish escapade - that’s non-Hawaiian electric guitars to you and me - kicked off in the first place.Īs the 1950s rolled around solid guitars were the new innovation, but by 1958, and with traditionalist players still wanting a taste of the old, Gibson came up with the design that would define the electric-meets-acoustic guitar until this day: the ES-335. From L-R: Ibanez Artcore AS93, Vintage Advance AV3H, ESP Xtone Paramount PS2 and PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow 4 great-value semi-hollow electric guitarsĪn electric guitar with air in it is by no means a new concept.
