Sunday, May 9, 2010

Semi-what?

Someone's selling the above guitar (Ibanez AEL20E) in a local (online) ad space here. To quote the seller:


Wts Ibanez AEL20E semi acoustic 

A semi-acoustic guitar isn't one pictured above. This is an acoustic electric. A semi-acoustic guitar refers to a solid body instrument with hollowed out parts (usually the sides) so technically, it's a semi (meaning: part/ not entirely) acoustic as the rest of the instrument is of solid construction. The Ibanez AEL20E is an electric acoustic guitar; an acoustic model with the capability of being plugged into an amp.

Is this a big deal? It is, if in a sale transaction, a misrepresentation occurs. Say you are selling the above guitar with the above description & do not provide visual references, the buyer might be relying on the 'semi-acoustic' tag for the purchase. The deal is done & upon meeting, the guitar in question isn't a 'semi-acoustic'. That's the complication.

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9 comments:

zakers said...

how about semi hollow? won't that mean the same thing as semi acoustic then?

May 9, 2010 at 5:43 PM
subversion.sg said...

yes, it's equivalent.

May 9, 2010 at 9:42 PM
Anssi Sajama said...

What about electric jazz guitars ? Are they not fully hollow, or acoustic, just like electric acoustics?

May 10, 2010 at 3:09 PM
subversion.sg said...

jazz guitars are commonly referred to as 'jazz boxes', the term 'box' here implies its hollow nature. jazz guitars were built not to function unplugged, despite its acoustic properties. it's hollowed out to serve a purpose. these are primarily electric guitars, made to be plugged in, not otherwise. that's the reason these don't sound immaculate when played unplugged.

May 11, 2010 at 11:56 AM
Daryl said...

hey sub, i know this is pretty random but...
can you recommend a good semi-hollow around 600-800 bucks?
was thinking of getting an epi dot and upgrading what do you think? what pickups would be good for blues/rock?
thanks so much :)

May 27, 2011 at 12:48 AM
subversion.sg said...

the epi DOT to me, possesses nothing special despite the allusion to Gibson. if you are looking for a valeu-for-money semi, consider Hamer's Echotone, Rally's Neosound (recommended) & Ibanez AS73. the pickups for these guitars are love/hate affairs; we can't expect too much from in-house units :-)

May 27, 2011 at 6:54 AM
Busteraider said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
May 27, 2011 at 3:34 PM
Daryl said...

hmmm so what sets the 3 mentioned guitars apart from the dot? is it the build quality? and i don't think the ibanez is the one for me, i prefer a warmer tone...

May 27, 2011 at 3:35 PM
subversion.sg said...

the ibanez possesses the warmth, no doubt about that but what repels the traditionalists is those default pickups in there- they have more bite than necessary which masks that much desirable warmth. but i don't see this as a down side, it's just that the guitar is offering something different.

the Neosound is an absolute value-for-money instrument which needs some personal encounter to be appreciated :-)

May 27, 2011 at 7:46 PM

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