Hollow Body electric guitars, also known as semi-acoustic, are designed with big, deep hollow bodies and come with electric pickups and a sound box. They can often be played without the need for amplification as they can project the same volume that acoustic guitars can. These models are ideal for intimate and “unplugged’ performances due to their clean, warm tones. Hollow body guitars originally became popular with jazz musicians in the 1930’s and the instruments soon became known as “jazzboxes.” These guitars are well known for their rich, warm tones and are also quite popular with folk, pop, blues, rockabilly and country musicians including George Benson, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and B.B. King. Ibanez, Gretsch, Epiphone and Fender are some of the most famous manufacturers of hollow body guitars with Gibson being the first to produce them with the Electric Spanish series. Gibson also came up with the first full-electric models in the late 1940’s.

Seven and 8 string guitars by manufacturers such as Ibanez, Jackson and Schecter are quite popular these days due to their lowered tunings and sonic possibilities. Several alternative rock bands, jazz musicians and and metal outfits, such as Meshuggah, Animals as Leaders, Fear Factory, and Deftones, prefer these models because of their non-standard tunings and greater tonal range. The first line of mass-produced seven and eight-string guitars came courtesy of Japanese manufacturer Ibanez.