Breaking silence: Some S2 models...Too much pick guard!

[aristotle]

To me, it depends on the guitar. SGs with the full body pickguard have never looked as nice to me as SGs with just the lower guard. On the other hand, I think that the large guard on the Vela is a piece of art when taken as a whole with the entire body. The Mira and Starla both look fine with their pick guards also, but not as outstanding to me. All a matter of personal taste. Seems that the OP said as much.

Me personally? Regarding narrowfield pickups, I love their look. Particularly on a McCarty body. Oddly though, I'm not a fan of the looks of the pickups on 513s, though who cares when a guitar is that good. I'm the odd man out in both of those preferences though.

 

[garrett]

None of us on this board gets to determine what is a failure for PRS. That's for Paul and the other corporate leadership to decide.

We don't have insight into the financials or what the goals of the products are/were. All we can offer is speculation.

Anyway, to revisit the rebuttal to the OP, there are pickguard-free options out there to serve those who don't want one. I'm sure PRS will continue to serve the best interests of the majority of their players and their business.

 

[swede71]

I think the S2 looks better with that pickguard.Especially when Simon Mcbride plays it

 

[markintime]

I didn't like the guards at first...but they grew on me.

S2s are very much function-first designs. I respect immensely what the company did with these and how they did it.

I agree with Carl here. I poo-pooed them at first myself. But as I think about it, my Vela and S2 Standard 22 Satin both have mahogany bodies with not a lot of fancy wood grain, so the pick guards, to me, serve a kind of cosmetic function. More so because I come out of an acoustic finger-picking background of over 45 years and when I did use a pick it never touched the surface of the guitar's top. Even though my acoustics all had pick-guards, they never got scratched. Now, my Paul's has a mahogany body, but nicely figured and it would look just wrong with one. I wouldn't have bought it if it had. And about those narrow field 408's, I wish there were SE or S2 versions of them!

Heh, like I could afford them after this year's buying spree.

And, swede71 is right on, too.

 

[László]

I like that vid you posted, Swede! Thumbs up!

 

[G-Man]

"Epic Fails" are also part of product evolution. Typical rule of thumb is eight to ten new concepts for one winner so I think it is great that Paul had the balls to put out a few things that were different enough to solicit a response good or bad. Will they appeal to everyone but they will lead to future design changes and most of them make some sense to me. As far as I'm concerned, PRS is way ahead of the curve.

Think of the competition. Robot tuners? How about making a damn guitar that just stays in tune for once. Discontinuing the Strat plus? Probably the best start ever made besides the Clapton signature model.

 

[RGM]

Got to test drive a satin S2 Standard 22 today. First satin I've held in my hands. That thing was bad to the bone!! (In a good way!) It just dripped rock 'n' roll. And the gloss black pick guard against the tobacco burst was K-I-L-L-E-R!!!
(FWIW)

 

[andy474x]

Got to test drive a satin S2 Standard 22 today. First satin I've held in my hands. That thing was bad to the bone!! (In a good way!) It just dripped rock 'n' roll. And the gloss black pick guard against the tobacco burst was K-I-L-L-E-R!!!
(FWIW)

They're b*tchin guitars. And that price is INSANE.

 

[markintime]

They're b*tchin guitars. And that price is INSANE.

Hey Andy, have you noticed that the lower bout on your satin has a noticeably larger bevel scoop out than any of your other PRSi? Mine is even larger than my S2 Vela, which is about the same as the SE's. No biggee, but curious to me.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

The S2's haven't set off my sexy alarm yet. I'm sure they eventually will, but not as of now.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

I was referring to and this is straight from Paul when I met him in Salt Lake City and at Stevensville. He said getting the shape of the guitar just right was a disaster early on, neck shape problems and dealing with Carlos was very difficult in the beginning. But recent blunders I think are the Narrow field pups, Mira X, Strat copy guitars (now discontinued), V12 finish (the jury is still out), I like the old finish process better IMO. Over abundance of SE Artist guitars (fixed). The best success was the court decision about the Singlecut versus the Gibson Les Paul. the judge saying "you'd have to be a complete idiot to mistake a Singlecut and Les Paul at 20 feet." That was such a victory. That law suit about broke Paul. Paul's relentless drive to perfection put him and the company back on track. I just hope that the Indonesia guitar thing doesn't backfire.

The narrow field pickups are a blunder???? OMG!!! Sorry, not being a jerk, but that borders on a troll post. My NF3 is an phenomenal guitar, and the pickups are incredible. Those pickups, and a good two channel amp probably cover more ground than any other guitar you could own. Most other respected guitar makes have never had their best work sound as good as this "blunder" of Pauls.

The rest of the post, edited to avoid conflict.

 

[andy474x]

Hey Andy, have you noticed that the lower bout on your satin has a noticeably larger bevel scoop out than any of your other PRSi? Mine is even larger than my S2 Vela, which is about the same as the SE's. No biggee, but curious to me.

I haven't noticed, I'll have to look. Deeper front to back?

 

[drdoom8793]

Hey Andy, have you noticed that the lower bout on your satin has a noticeably larger bevel scoop out than any of your other PRSi? Mine is even larger than my S2 Vela, which is about the same as the SE's. No biggee, but curious to me.

I can't speak for any core models (poor kid here) but my S2 Cu24 definitely has a significantly larger bevel on both the top and bottom bouts than my SE Zach Myers or any other SE that I've seen. Pretty sure that's by design but maybe not?

 

[garrett]

Some thoughts...

I suppose it's about branding the S2 so that they do not cannibalize the Core line, yet is elevated above the SE.

You can't put a carved top and outrageous flame or you'd obviously cannibalize the Cores.

So you use bevelled edges and plain tops.

But that makes them too plain. That's a problem as they should be more attractive than the SE.

So you put in pickguards in an elegant vintage manner. If the pickguards were purely only to protect against picks, they'd be nowhere near as large, would they? They're clearly for aesthetics.

I think it works out pretty well.

The differences between the S2 and SE become apparent when you get hands-on. As already mentioned the S2 is very function driven. It is the functional details that make them superior to the SE in my opinion. I think their key demographic is guys like me who want a USA PRS, but don't want to spend out for the glamour of a core guitar.

If you prefer a bit more flash and beauty, the SE is a good guitar which can be made great with a handful of mods and still comes out a bargain.

Or you can of course save for a variety of used or new core models.

Options are great, huh?

 

[jklotz]

I love my vela. Imho, it's a really nice, fun guitar that has a unique look and sound. I payed the going rate, and feel that I got good value for the price I payed.

Sometimes I wonder if folks won't be happy unless they get a private stock top and appointments for $300.

 

[markintime]

I haven't noticed, I'll have to look. Deeper front to back?

It's this area here:

I kind of like it for no particular reason. It's just that it caught my eye and made me look at the rest of the harem, er, collection. Just wondering if mine is an exception, or if others notice it on theirs. Got me thinking because it was completed 11/16/2015 and I had it just 8 days later from my dealer.

This is a very warm sounding and pleasure to play guitar. And the only one of mine without birds. Sure glad that didn't stop me from giving in to it!

 

[Shoman]

None of us on this board gets to determine what is a failure for PRS. That's for Paul and the other corporate leadership to decide.

We don't have insight into the financials or what the goals of the products are/were. All we can offer is speculation.

Anyway, to revisit the rebuttal to the OP, there are pickguard-free options out there to serve those who don't want one. I'm sure PRS will continue to serve the best interests of the majority of their players and their business.

Actually it's the exact opposite. We all absolutely determine what is a success and what is a failure. If it doesn't sell, they won't make it.

Speaking of Floyd Rose I've got two Fender Jap Srats, Contemporary, with the Fender System One that I absolutely love. Great guitars

 

[Michael_DK]

Man, those S2 Satins look awesome!!

 

[garrett]

Actually it's the exact opposite. We all absolutely determine what is a success and what is a failure. If it doesn't sell, they won't make it.

True we play a role, but the measure of success depends on what the company's goals are for a product. I think the goal for the S2 is clearly to sell a ton of them. Other products are made to fill a small niche and though they may come and go quickly, they may well have met the expectations of PRS and therefore are not failures. We don't know the expected product life cycle, sales projections, return on investment, etc.

 

[andy474x]

The quality is there in the "hidden" details too. I chipped a very small piece of finish on my S2 Semi, and it's an ultra thin finish. Truly about the thickness of a human hair, as the company states. Versus the SE finish, which is considerably thicker - I repaired a finish chip in one of my SE's once and I can tell you, the thickness of the finishes aren't even in the same league. Although that was an '06 or so SE, so the SE finish could have improved since, but I doubt to the point of being equal to the S2. The rock hard USA fretwire was also a big selling point for me, since I'm heavy on the left hand. I would like to try an S2 Custom 24 side by side with its SE sibling to compare the pickups - I can't say what the difference is there, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if the S2 had more vibe there. I love the covered 7's, but have no basis for comparison.

This is the part that gets me most - the setup. Oh, that setup. Both of my S2's have been totally free buzz free, and the intonation even on the upper frets is a bullseye every time. That's exactly the kind of thing other companies don't pay attention to. You can sell a brand name, pretty up a spec sheet with woods and pickups, but it doesn't make a great instrument if your builders don't take the time to perfect the little details. When I compare my S2 Satin to the Gibson faded and Melody Makers I've tried, it's like comparing, well, a PRS and a piece of rough lumber with strings.