Are Solid Body Guitars a must have???

[Back in Black]

Hello everyone, got a bit of a weird question.
Is a solid body guitar even needed in a guitar collection??
Let me explain....
I'm constantly reaching for my hollowbody gretsch guitars, they do everything i want them to.
From playing acoustic (my acoustic guitar is barely used) up to super intense high gain Sounds.
In fact i even gigged my 5420 in a Hardcore Band in the Past with my mesa Dual rectifier.
I know that lots of hollowbodys struggle with distortion, but not the gretsch hollowbodys... they take it like a Champion.
So that kinda raises the question for me, is a solid body guitar even necessary if i can get all the tones i need from a gretsch hollowbody?

I've got an electromatic double jet which Sounds great but i barely Grab it, feels a bit too small due to the double cutaway... i'm thinking about selling it.
Then i have an epiphone wildkat which i essentially never play and the rest of my guitars is just gretsch hollowbodys and one barely played acoustic.

Let me know your thoughts, is a solid body guitar a must have??

Hey Marv,

In your case, I think you've answered your own question.

''We're all different''

Best,

BIB.

 

[Randy99CL]

Personal freedom is what counts. You can do anything you want, no one is checking or keeping score.

Look at the long list of players who use one guitar all their careers like Chuck Berry or BB King or Brian or the thousands of others. They found their sound and stick with it.

But I want the whole guitar experience and can't imagine limiting myself to my Gretsch (my only semi and hollowbody) guitars.

My LP, SG. Strat, Tele and the others all sound different and make me play differently.
Could I give up the Strat quack, the Tele bite, the LP and SG power and sustain? Nope, don't want to.

I own four solidbody guitars for every semi-hollow, hollow or acoustic.

Also the reason why I own modeling amps.

 

[Pete66]

I have a Tele in a sea of hollowbodies and archtops, just waiting to be used for Tele stuff. I'm sure that will happen one day! I've only had it for 5 years and I still haven't even so much as plugged it in! Just waiting for that 'it needs a Tele' moment!
All my hollows are not sleepy!

 

[JohnnyLaw]

No. But they sure can be lots of fun.

 

[Synchro]

I would never say it is a must, but solid bodies sure have their place.

Of course, it’s not ever that simple. I have a couple of trestle braced Gretsch, and while they don’t sound exactly like a solid body, they are capable of sounding much different than what you would expect from the typical hollow body. If you find something that works for you, enjoy it.

 

[Emergence]

I don’t know. Are solid body guitars a necessity? How about hollow bodies? PAF Humbuckers? Single coils? Filter’Trons? I have three Fenders and an SG. I have a 6118T Annie. Of them all, the Annie and the SG are necessities for me, but only since I modified them into something much closer to my personal ideal, the Annie with Ray Butts pickups and a Compton chambered titanium bridge, and the SG with TVJ Classic and Classic Plus pickups. Other guitars would be necessities to someone else and barely be played by me. What’s a real necessity? A case!!!

 

[Stingray70]

I used to think so ( that solid bodies were a must have).. While I like variety I don't think its a must any longer. The longer I play guitar the less I believe in a lot of hard and fast rules many of us used to take for granted. These days I think there are lots of different kinds of music that you can play on lots of different kinds of guitars. Of course I'm just an amature guitar player, if I was a pro playing to large crowds I might think differently. Lately I've been drawn more to my hollow and semi hollow guitars than anything else....

 

[BuddyHollywood]

I'll hear a great guitar sound on a recording and then imagine how much better it would sound with a Gretsch hollow body or Jet. Does anyone else do this? At least 85% of the time I conclude that a Gretsch would sound better. For chords and rhythm guitar I love the Gretsch sound the best except when it's not. Examples of this that I can think of are mainly funky and bluesy Stratocaster sounds where that guitar is definitely the right guitar sound for the song. Some songs sound great with a Gibson humbucker vibe too, especially metal songs. I was listening to Metallica recently and tried to imagine what Gretsch guitars would sound like with them and it just doesn't work. The hard rock guitar sound combination I like best is AC/DC combining a Gretsch Jet with a Gibson SG.

For lead guitars I realized it all depends what you're going for and what you can pull off. I sound better playing solid body guitars for solos because I'm not anywhere close to being able to even shine Brian Setzer's shoes. I have a Strat with a Power'Tron bridge humbucker that is my go to lead guitar. It has a great Strat tone in all positions and the perfect amount of sustain for me to play my simple melodic solos.

So, you don't need a solid body guitar unless you do.

 

[dmunson]

Isn't variety the spice of life? I have some great sounding hollow, semi-hollow, and solid body guitars. They all have their own personalities.

 

[cielski]

Still, there's a lot to be said about single coils on a slab---Teles, LP, Juniors and others.
Gretsch has the Special Jet and really needs a few others.
Leo got it right the first time.

 

[senojnad]

IMO The choice is up to the individual player, Over 7+ decades of playing I've played and owned several solid body guitars. Today I have only hollow bodies with no plans to change.....

 

[LongJohn]

Tele Nashville, a Jazzmaster and a Firebird 3 (non-reverse). They all sound different and play well with my 6120de and a looper.

 

[Emergence]

The hard rock guitar sound combination I like best is AC/DC combining a Gretsch Jet with a Gibson SG.

I don’t play hard rock but I’m very interested in what a Gretsch Jet with a Gibson SG sounds like. I was so interested that I made one.



TV Jones makes Classic and Classic Plus pickups in drop in humbucker mounts. They’re perfect with the Gibson treble bleed control set.

 

[Bertotti]

I don’t play hard rock but I’m very interest in what a Gretsch Jet with a Gibson SG sounds like. I was so interested that I made one.

View attachment 200678

TV Jones makes Classic and Classic Plus pickups in drop in humbucker mounts. They’re perfect with the Gibson treble bleed control set.

I have an old SG Sears copy. Neck is shot pups are shot all tue electronics are shot but I have some hilos and could build a neck. Maybe I should salvage it at some point.

 

[MotorCentaur]

Nothing is necessary except air, water, food, and making out.

Shelter and sleep go a long ways too.

 

[toastkid]

Shelter and sleep go a long ways too.

Is this Maslow's Hierarchy of Guitars?

I like Gretsch solids (Special Jet etc) and chambered (G5220, 5222 etc) but I also have a G2655 which covers my (semi)hollow cravings with ease. Didn't cost a ton and fills that gap nicely.

 

[Highroller]

I beleive they are easier to swing when attacked, they take up less air resistance , and can swing faster in a pinch

Theres a video of keith richards hitting a fan with guitar. Had it been a larger hollow body he may have gotten hurt.

Ha! You know, if I had to clobber somebody with a guitar, I'd sure rather use my Tele than my Nashville! Not that "defensive weapon" is the right reason to buy a guitar ...

 

[ChloeDogsDad]

Ha! You know, if I had to clobber somebody with a guitar, I'd sure rather use my Tele than my Nashville! Not that "defensive weapon" is the right reason to buy a guitar ...

I have a Tele with a dent from a beer bottle, and a strat with several dings from quarters (I'd be happy to go the entire remainder of my life without playing "heres a quarter call someone who cares" in a bar full of drunks), and I used to have an LP Jr with a bullet hole. Some of the country bars in town back in the 90's were not great places to be.

Personally, I love having solid bodies, acoustics, hollow bodies and everything else. I just like having options, each one feels different, and seems to want different songs played on them. My current strat wants to play buddy holly songs, my thinline telecaster wants to play buck owens and waylon jennings, my double jet wants to play beatles and queen, my rancher jr seems to like elvis and johnny cash, and so on.

That being said, I don't strictly need to have a solid body guitar. I have a semi-hollow with P-90's that can cover everything I play, and do it well. I know a couple guys who have one guitar, and that's it. I think if you are happy with what you have, and that doesn't include a certain type of guitar, then go with it. Nobody will be calling the cops on you, ( "Officer! This man doesn't own a solidbody guitar!!!" "Sir, is this true? You're aware of the international guitar code, section 52, lines 4 and 5? Yes? then you're going to have to come with me to guitar center or I'm going to have to make you listen to K-pop and hippo farts for the next two hours." )

 

[charlie chitlins]

-Doc, it hurts when I do THIS.
-Then don't do it.

 

[LesB3]

... and I used to have an LP Jr with a bullet hole. Some of the country bars in town back in the 90's were not great places to be.

"Dear Gibson Custom Shop,

I would like my "aged" guitar to be as authentic as possible, therefore, along with the usual Murphy Lab Treatment, please have one of your techs shoot a hole in the body, .38 caliber or higher is preferred...."