You are currently viewing 20 Acoustic Guitars With F-Holes – Tone Changer?

Last Updated on March 5, 2024 by Teemu Suomala

F-hole is a really undervalued soundhole type nowadays. It’s surprisingly hard to find an acoustic with F-holes…

But in this post, I reveal 18 acoustic guitars with F-holes, plus I will share important info and comparisons related to F-Holes with you (seriously, check that part out too!).

Let’s get started!

Want something a bit more different than normal soundhole or F-holes…? Check acoustic guitars with offset soundhole and acoustic guitars with side sound ports out.

photo reveals owner of guitaristnextdoor.com

Author: Teemu Suomala

I first grabbed the guitar in 2009. I started this website in January 2020 because I couldn’t do window installation anymore due to my health problems. I love guitars and have played dozens and dozens of different guitars through different amps and pedals over the years, and also, building a website interested me, so I decided to just go for it! I got lucky and managed to get awesome people to help me with my website.

I also got lucky because I have you visiting my website right now. Thank you. I do all this for you guys. If you have any recommendations, tips, or feedback, just leave a comment, I would love to chat with you. I have also been fortunate to produce content for several large guitar websites, such as SongsterrMusicnotesGuitarGuitar, and Ultimate Guitar.

I spend my spare time exercising and hanging out with my wife and crazy dog (I guess that went the right way…).


20 Acoustic Guitars With F-Holes

Taylors T5z models are a mix of hollow-body and acoustic guitar. I decided to include a couple of T5z in this article.

I didn’t include Ovation guitars because shape of the soundholes is not F. You can learn more about ovation guitars from these articles of ours: 5 Best Ovation Guitars in 2022 & Ovation Guitars Price Guide.

Price symbol meaning:

$= 350-550 Dollars

$$= 551-1050 Dollars

$$$= 1051-2000 Dollars

$$$$= 2001-3000 Dollars

$$$$$= 3001- Dollars

ModelF-Hole TypeGuitar TypePrice RangeCheck The Latest Price (affiliate links)
Harley Benton Custom Line CLR-Chrome2 Half-CutResonator$Thomann
Dean CE Cutaway Acoustic-Electric Resonator1 1/2 Half CutResonator$Guitar Center
Gretsch G9200 Boxcar Round-neck2 Normal F-HolesResonator$Sweetwater
Gretsch G9210 Boxcar Square-Neck 2 Normal F-HolesResonator$Sweetwater
Dobro Hound Dog Round Neck2 Normal F-HolesResonator$SweetwaterThomann
Harley Benton Custom Line CLR-Reso2 Half-CutResonator$Thomann
Fender PR-180E Resonator Guitar2 Normal F-HolesResonator$Sweetwater
Gretsch G9240 Alligator Mahogany Round Neck2 Normal F-HolesResonator$Sweetwater
Gretsch G9241 Alligator Mahogany Round Neck 2 Normal F-HolesResonator$$Sweetwater
Gretsch G9220 Bobtail Round-neck Mahogany Body2 Normal F-HolesResonator$$Sweetwater
ESP LTD TL-61 ESP VersionAcoustic-Electric$$SweetwaterThomann
Gretsch G9230 Bobtail Square-neck Mahogany2 Normal F-HolesResonator$$SweetwaterThomann
Epiphone Dobro Hound Dog M-142 Normal F-HolesResonator$$Sweetwater
Gretsch G9221 Bobtail Roundneck Resonator2 Normal F-HolesResonator$$SweetwaterThomann
Recording King RM-997-VG Swamp Dog Metal2 Half-CutResonator$$Guitar CenterThomann
The Loar LH-600-VS Professional Archtop2 Normal F-HolesDeep Body Archtop Steel-string acoustic guitar$$$Sweetwater – Thomann
The Loar LH-700-VS Supreme Archtop2 Normal F-HolesDeep Body Archtop Steel-string acoustic guitar$$$Sweetwater – Thomann
Taylor T5z Classic – Find more great Taylor Guitars hereStylized F-HolesAcoustic-Electric$$$Guitar CenterSweetwater
Taylor T5z Standard Acoustic-Electric Stylized F-HolesAcoustic-Electric$$$$SweetwaterThomann
Taylor T5z Custom SassafrasStylized F-HolesAcoustic-Electric$$$$$Sweetwater

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What Kind of Acoustic Guitars Have F-Holes?

Over the years there has been an abundance of different acoustic guitars from Resonators, to Acoustic-Electrics, to Classical guitars featuring F-Holes. But at the time of writing (Feb 2022), my research revealed that there are only 2 different acoustic guitar types featuring F-Holes available from big brands. These are:

  • Resonator acoustic guitars
  • Acoustic-Electric guitars

And to me, this is weird. In a bit, I’m going to show you tone comparisons of different guitars with different sound holes. You will notice that the difference is noticeable. So it’s weird that more guitars with F-Holes aren’t produced, because they really bring something different to the table.

But about these 2 acoustic guitar types…

Resonator

image displays resonator acoustic guitar with metal body
Resonator acoustic guitar with a steel body.
image displays resonator acoustic guitar with wooden body
Resonator acoustic guitar with a wooden body.

In resonator acoustic guitars, the bridge is connected to the metal (steel) resonator instead of the wooden top of the guitar. This produces a different sound than regular acoustic guitars. There are resonator acoustic guitars with both metal(usually steel) and wooden bodies (the resonator part is metal of course).

Check a sound comparison of regular acoustic and resonator guitars:

Acoustics-Electric

An acoustic guitar that has some kind of pickup built in it so you can plug it in an amp. Simple. For example Taylor T5z you saw a photo about earlier is considered to be an acoustic-electric guitar.

What Does F-Holes On A Guitar Do?

The sound of an acoustic guitar can emanate from many places, such as top, back, sides, and soundhole. F-hole is a 1 type of soundhole where the tone can emanate from. The shape and size of the soundhole affect the sound it produces.

F-Hole VS Round Hole

This video gives you a head-to-head comparison:

F-hole produces a brighter and cleared tone, while the round hole gives you more bass. Leave your thoughts and opinions in the comment section of this article!

Some studies have found that violins with F-hole provide more powerful sound than violins with a round soundhole.

Are F-Hole Guitars Good?

For sure they are. F-hole guitars can produce a different tone and volume than guitars with a regular round soundhole. Neither of these is better or worse than the other, they are just different. Test different guitars out and choose which sounds and works best for you!

Conclusion

It was really fun to dive a bit deeper into the world of sound holes, resonators, etc. Clearly, F-holes help the guitar produce a totally different tone than round soundholes for example. I’m actually looking forward to adding acoustic with F-holes to my collection. Hopefully some new models are released this year because right now, none of these guitars fit my needs or budget.

I hope this article gave you helpful info and maybe you even decided to give a go to some guitars featured in this post. If you have any questions, just leave a comment. I wish you all the best and keep rocking!

Teemu

Teemu Suomala

I first grabbed the guitar in 2009. I started this website in January 2020 because I couldn’t do window installation anymore due to my health problems. I also noticed that most guitar websites don’t do a really good job, so I decided to just go for it! I got lucky and managed to get awesome people to help me with my website. I also got lucky because I have you visiting my website right now. Thank you. I do all this for you guys. If you have any recommendations, tips, or feedback, just leave a comment, I would love to chat with you. I have been fortunate to produce content for several large guitar websites, such as Songsterr, Musicnotes, GuitarGuitar, and Ultimate Guitar. I spend my spare time exercising and hanging out with my wife and crazy dog(I guess that went the right way…). Expertise: guitar learning techniques, electric guitars, and guitar amplifiers. You can connect with me on LinkedIn or just email me.
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