jerome_travis Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Hello good people, can anyone recommend me an adequately versatile semi-hollow? I play mainly blues, blues rock, occassional jazz tedencies and sometimes heavier stuff like Muse and RATM.. I tried and liked a chinese casino, however there's alot of talk that it is not gig-friendly because of its full hollowbody..I was considering the epi p93 and gretsch 5122 but seems to have no reviews on them yet.. like to hear your esteemed opinions please (: i have a budget of around 700 USD.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AS90 Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Get a Sheraton or a Dot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midiman56 Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 $700 will do ya the Epiphone Sheriton or the BB King Lucille also from Epi. Both are outstanding guitars with a lot of similarities and a few differences. One big one is while the Lucille, like the Sheriton is a semi hollow-body, it has a solid top (no f holes), this cuts way down on the feedback a guitar of this sort can produce at high volumes. The Lucille also has a six position Vari-tone switch that will give you a variety of tones not available on the Sheriton. To be honest with you, I stay in pos 1 and 2 about 90% of the time ... but it's there if you need it. On the other hand, the Sheriton, by all accounts, has a slimmer neck and gives you a couple of color choices. The Lucille only comes in black. Like I said, you will hear preferences for for both guitars, but I really don't think anyone is going to tell you one or the other would be a mistake. If your looking to save a few bucks there's the Dot as well. I'm not as familiar with that one do I'll leave it to someone else to tell you about it. Good luck! Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe2Grind123 Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerome_travis Posted April 21, 2009 Author Share Posted April 21, 2009 thank you! (: Ive tried a Lucille, and it felt kinda horrible! maybe its one of the minesweeper moments! I didn't really like the slightly fatter neck as I have small hands! I was initially gunning for a joan jett signature, however it kinda wont do well for my jazz moments.. so I'm kinda rethinking my policy here haha.. has anyone tried a Riviera? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluelake07 Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Hello good people' date=' I tried and liked a chinese casino, however there's alot of talk that it is not gig-friendly because of its full hollowbody[/quote'] There was a band called The Beatles. When they toured in 1966, both guitarists played Casinos. Here they are playing the Budokan arena in Tokyo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLukvId3r4U Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkuss Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 To be honest, for the range of stuff you want to do (muse = no chance with a casino) I would recommend any of the other semis. I'd just go with whatever one like the look of best. But if you got a dot over a sheraton or others you could have a Bigsby installed to give you another option on the guitar. The varitone is also pretty cool on the lucille. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Flick Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Hello good people' date=' can anyone recommend me an adequately versatile semi-hollow? I play mainly blues, blues rock, occassional jazz tedencies and sometimes heavier stuff like Muse and RATM.. I tried and liked a chinese casino, however there's alot of talk that it is not gig-friendly because of its full hollowbody..I was considering the epi p93 and gretsch 5122 but seems to have no reviews on them yet.. like to hear your esteemed opinions please (: i have a budget of around 700 USD..[/quote'] The Gretsch is a full hollow body like the Casino. I haven't played the Riviera P93, but if it's anything like the standard Riviera, it will do the job for you. As far as neck profiles, you're going to have do some test driving. Dots generally have beefy necks, but I've noticed that some recent Sherrys have thicker necks than the older ones. I get the feeling that the QingDao made Epis have standardized the neck profile, you might have to look for one of the Korean made ones if you want the thinner neck profile. Bottom line, try out as many as you can, and when you find one that feels right, take her home. It really doesn't matter if it's a Dot, Sherry, Lucille or Riviera, any of them will get the job done. BTW, my 1999 Lucille has a very thin neck, like the older Sherrys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerome_travis Posted April 21, 2009 Author Share Posted April 21, 2009 thanks for the inputs everyone! (: someone has offered to trade a korean riviera for my fender before and im sort of kicking myself for letting that chance slip! I guess I'll have to go around testing! by the way has anyone tried the less obscure models, namely the Xaviere 910 and the Vintage guitars by JHS in the UK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwalin Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Goldmans Pawn shop in Evansville, IN had a RED Gibson Lucille in there last time I was there. I think they had it at about $1700. Looked original, but I did not know they made them in RED??? jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerome_travis Posted April 21, 2009 Author Share Posted April 21, 2009 perhaps it was a custom made? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Riviera (standard with mini-humbuckers, if you can find one), Rivier P-93LE, or Sheraton. All have less "chunky" necks, than a "Dot," or "Lucille!" Washburn HB-35 is another nice one, in that price range. Might try out a Epi "WildKat" or "AlleyKat," too. Slightly large than a Les Paul but semi-hollow bodied. People that have them, love 'em! WildKat has P-90's, AlleyKat has 1 (neck position) Mini-humbucker, and 1 (bridge position) Standard "'57" Humbucker. So, lots of good choices! I'd say..play as many of them, as you can, and see which one "sings" to you. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Goldmans Pawn shop in Evansville' date=' IN had a RED Gibson Lucille in there last time I was there. I think they had it at about $1700. Looked original, but I did not know they made them in RED???jeff[/quote'] Yeah, Black or Red! I have a black one, but would love to get a Red one, too! :>) Ahhh....someday! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Flick Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Goldmans Pawn shop in Evansville' date=' IN had a RED Gibson Lucille in there last time I was there. I think they had it at about $1700. Looked original, but I did not know they made them in RED??? jeff[/quote'] perhaps it was a custom made? jeff They're available in cherry or ebony. Your choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerome_travis Posted April 22, 2009 Author Share Posted April 22, 2009 Riviera (standard with mini-humbuckers' date=' if you can find one), Rivier P-93LE, or Sheraton. All have less "chunky" necks, than a "Dot," or "Lucille!" Washburn HB-35 is another nice one, in that price range. Might try out a Epi "WildKat" or "AlleyKat," too. Slightly large than a Les Paul but semi-hollow bodied. People that have them, love 'em! WildKat has P-90's, AlleyKat has 1 (neck position) Mini-humbucker, and 1 (bridge position) Standard "'57" Humbucker. So, lots of good choices! I'd say..play as many of them, as you can, and see which one "sings" to you. CB[/quote'] Thanks charliebrown! I'd have to say the best one i tried around was the casino with bigsby..(there was an alleykat that couldn't bend past the fifth fret, Dregan Dot that had dodgy selector switch, and horrifically expensive riviera) it plays so smoothly that I almost instantly decided for it! the only thing that's holding me back is the fact that it feedbacks easily and the upper registers are harder to reach, that's why most people over here sold off their casinos! I was really surprised at the tone despite the prejudice I had over epiphones.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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