Hollow body Tone?

C

cemusic

Inspired
Hi all,

I am wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to re-create the tone of a hollowbody/archtop through a cranked amp (without a hollow guitar, that is). Ted Nugent got it sometimes with his Byrdland, but my favorite is Terry Haggerty from the Sons of Champlin, of 70’s SF Bay Area quasi fame. (Leader Bill Champlin later joined Chicago, yada, yada).

Terry usually played an L5 thru a cranked Twin, or later a Boogie Mk I, and got this amazing fat “thunk” on his attacks and an overall tone that sounds like thick molasses to me.
Here is a YouTube link—the best example starts about 16:40


Haggerty was my idol as a kid, so I started playing an archtop for loud R&B, and it did get a similar quality. I am aware (or at least pretty sure) that that sound characteristic is an interaction between the loud amp in the room and the hollow guitar, but that’s pretty far from a practical setup for me these days. Still, I would still love to be able to access that tone quality sometimes…

I was wondering about trying to shoot a loud IR of an L5 or whatever, then putting that block at the very front of the grid? Is that even possible? and does it make any sense? Or maybe someone else has already addressed the issue?

Thanks in advance for any relevant knowledge…



BTW, if you’re a R&B lover and somehow missed the Sons, you really need to check out this whole track!!
 
Checked out his website and some bio... Playing that L5 through THREE cranked twins! I'm surprised he can still hear. Love that tone but I think it's going to be hard to get that resonance/thump without a hollow body guitar. It will be fun to see if someone can do it with an IR. Thanks for putting that youtube up.
 
@cemusic thanks for that. I had missed them.

Great vibe! Had a tilt toward New Orleans, ala the Meters / Neville Brothers, that I really gravitate to.

Part of that tone is heavier strings and maybe even using flatwounds vs. roundwounds.
 
A big chunk of that sound is the resonance of the guitar body and the way it physically interacts with speakers at volume, so there's no tricks that are going to accurately recreate that. Ibanez makes some decent hollow body guitars for not much money. The import Gretsch's are good for the money too.
 
mr_fender said:
A big chunk of that sound is the resonance of the guitar body and the way it physically interacts with speakers at volume, so there's no tricks that are going to accurately recreate that. Ibanez makes some decent hollow body guitars for not much money. The import Gretsch's are good for the money too.
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Yes, I figured that. Just thought I would ask around and see if anyone had gotten crazy and tried the IR route or anything else. I have 2 archtops but they absolutely will not work for that type if gig (for me) plus I know Terry Haggarty jumped thru all kinds of hoops ( I tried it too back then)--stuffing the guitar, even installing posts bracing the top to the back to stiffen the top and cut howling. My jazz guitars are jazz guitars now, thank you lol!

Thanks for the response!
 
dsimms said:
Checked out his website and some bio... Playing that L5 through THREE cranked twins! I'm surprised he can still hear. Love that tone but I think it's going to be hard to get that resonance/thump without a hollow body guitar. It will be fun to see if someone can do it with an IR. Thanks for putting that youtube up.
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Amazing, isn't it! Great band tho and fabulous player!
I may get ambitious and try the IR route myself someday soon just for fun.
 
barhrecords said:
In my experience, a 335 is a good compromise between controlling feedback and getting hollowbody tone.
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Actually I have one and I used put 13 flatwounds on it, and if I got stuck playing a OD sound solo it sounded GREAT. Got a little of that, but I couldn't play loud enough to load up the guitar body enough to really do it like I'd like.
 
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