If you’re looking for a guitar & tone that is all your own, absolutely one of a kind, then it’s likely you’ll need a semi hollow body electric guitar. Besides being lighter than their solid body counterparts, semi hollow bodied guitars are also better at producing feedback and sustain for those shredding solos, and they’re efficient at breathing life into your rhythm parts too.
Semi hollow body guitars are perfect for anyone who is looking to add a unique flavor to their guitar collection. If you’ve never tried one before, then your best place to start is probably in the under $500 range, that way if you’re not satisfied with the creamy semi hollow body tone you can just trade it in for a solid body.
These semi hollow body guitars are perfect for a percussive and rhythmic based style, so that’s essentially most blues and jazz players. If you’re into metal, and 80’s style shredding, well then likely these are not the guitars for you, but that’s not to say it’s impossible to shred on a semi hollow body. Hell, it might sound really cool who knows.
With that brief introduction out of the way, let’s take a look at the 5 best semi hollow body guitars for under $500.
Epiphone WILDKAT Royale Semi-Hollowbody Electric Guitar with Bigsby Tremelo, Pearl White
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The Epiphone Wildkat is a beautiful guitar with gold features and a classic look about it. This guitar has enough style to complement your abilities at any gig. For $500 this semi hollow body guitar will last you a lifetime. The high price tag means the components are durable, and the bigsby style tremolo is a huge plus in our opinion.
With over 90+ positive user reviews, it’s plain to see why the Epiphone is so high on our list of 5 best semi hollow body guitars, because if you have $500 to spend, this is your best option. Epiphone is also known for their quality of instruments, it’s probably one of the best brands on our list for under $500. Users have called this guitar a great deal, and gorgeous all around. The body is made from mahogany for maximum sustain, and the fingerboard is made with the widely used rosewood.
Gretsch G2420 Streamliner Hollowbody – Aged Brooklyn Burst
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Next up is the Gretsch G2420 Streamliner, in a classic tobacco sunburst finish style finish. The Gretsch unlike the Epiphone doesn’t have a vibrato tail piece but the price is cheaper, and you’re getting a much differently crafted guitar so it’s all about personal taste. The body is made from maple wood and the fingerboard is made from rosewood.
At $450 you’ll save some money compared to the Epiphone if you don’t need a vibrato tailpiece. Users have called this guitar great value, and have noted the Gretsch’s tremendous play-ability. If you’re willing to spend a little more than $450 there are a couple of higher end Gretsch options to check out, but the Gretsch G2420 will hands down be enough to get your semi hollow body guitar fix filled.
Dean COLT CBK Semi-Hollow-Body Electric Guitar
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Dean is well known for their lineup of heavy rock and roll stye guitars, with very heavy metal looking stylized body types, but few people know about their semi hollow body offerings. The Dean Colt CBK is a diamond in the rough. It’s got a wholly unique style in its approach to the semi hollow body guitar, and its gorgeous. The matte black finish will match any style of guitar you can play on it. The maple body and ebony fingerboard make for great sustain and gives serious power and low end to your chord playing.
For only $399 this is one of the most affordable high quality semi hollow body guitars out there, and it’s extremely light weight coming in at only 8 pounds. The black hardware throughout makes this a very tough looking instrument, so if you’re trying to play some ‘mean’ music, this is your best place to look. Users have said that this guitar looks and plays awesomely, you won’t regret your purchase. All of your guitar buddies will surely be jealous of you once you have one of these.
Ibanez AS53TF Electric Guitar, Trans Finish
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The Ibanez AS53TF is a great value compared to some of the guitars on this list. If you’re looking for one of the cheapest options of semi hollow body out there for only $299, but still want a big brand name guitar, then the Ibanez AS53TF is the way to go. The “ACH” pickups provide a moderate output for a warm tone with quick pick response.
The neck is slimmer than most semi hollow body guitars and the wood is high quality. The Ibanez AS53TF features a mahogany neck and sapele wood body. At 9 pounds, this is also an extremely light guitar despite its large size. With over 16 very positive reviews, it’s simple to see why so many people have picked up this unique and affordable guitar. User’s have called it a very high quality guitar at a decent price.
Oscar Schmidt OE30 Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar – Black
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At only $224.99 this is by far the cheapest guitar on our list, so if you’re looking to just try out a semi hollow body guitar but don’t want to fully commit to a large price tag, then this is your hollow body guitar. The Oscar Schmidt OE30 is made of rosewood and weighs only 10 pounds despite its large size.
The all black pickups, neck board, and body finish make this guitar look seriously tough. With over 30+ positive customer reviews it’s obvious why so many users have chosen this particular semi hollow body guitar. Users have said that this semi hollow electric guitar is a phenomenal value, and a great guitar for the money. If all black is your style, and you have a tight budget, then this is absolutely your new semi hollow guitar.
Takeaways
All 5 of our choices for best semi hollow body electric guitar are a great value which can make it hard to choose just one. But, no matter which guitar you select, just know that you’re definitely going to get your moneys worth. So whether you make your decision based on wood type, style, price, or overall tone and sustain, you can do so with confidence.
I started Music Store Central with one simple goal, to help answer all the questions that I know other musicians have. I wanted to make buying new instruments and gear for your passion completely effortless.