Semi-Hollow guitars. Does it enhance tone? Sustain? What all does it accomplish? Also, I heard somewhere that a semi-hollow is no good for heavy music (metal, hard rock, etc.). Why is that? I've seen guys use semi-hollow bass guitars for heavy music... I think Lemmy (Motorhead) had one... and Harley Flannagan from the Cro-Mags (pioneering NYC hardcore band from the early 1980s). So it's a different story with semi-hollow guitars?

Also, here's something I've been wondering for a while. Is it possible to modify a hollowbody to be good for... piercing/shrieking metal solos? I often consider getting a hollowbody and putting on super-nasty way-hot ultra-high-output humbuckers on it... and it would be earsplitting, really bizarre, and sound like it was a hostile noise from outer space. Or would it just sound like muffled slobber... a total waste? :confused: Also, what are hollowbodies well-suited for beyond jazz and blues? Every time I've ever played a hollowbody I just loved it (especially if it's got a Bigsby)... I really want one....

Hollow-body guitars represent one of the evolutionary steps along the way from acoustic guitars to solid-body electrics. They have a fairly distinct tone, but they also have problems with uncontrolled feedback in loud situations. Which is why they don't get used for screamin' metal.

And super-high output pickups aren't going to push an amp into distortion any better than a pedal would, while limiting your ability to play anything other than distortion-drenched rawk.