These semi-hollow guitar bodies in the making are a major part of the Thunder Child custom guitar.
For this design, we experienced with different types of wood. The red cedar won our heart for playability (it’s so lightweight that we refer to it as our unique air guitar) and since we wanted to create real acoustic tone, we designed a thin cedar top. There is an ongoing debate about tonewoods in the electric guitar realm.
There are endless videos of comparisons between different types of wood, usually with a headline that goes something like
“can you hear the difference”. The problem is that these are always solid body guitars which were originally designed in the late 30’s -40’s to prevent acoustic tones to- prevent feedback from the new amplified guitar.
Another problem with these demos is the fact that most of the time the guitar tone is distorted, so the original tone is almost
unnoticeable.
The aged red cedar top gives these sonic wonders a sweet acoustic sound.
We don’t use heavy finishes; just the ancient Shou Sugi ban technique (Japanese Charred Cedar) and an oil coat and that’s it.
