andy474x
Knows the Drill
I dig my S2 - there are some things I would change but overall I think I got what I paid for. As some others have mentioned, the neck profile is just a tad away from perfection - I have one W/F and one W/T neck, and the S2 neck feels just a little less "full" in the hand, it's slightly narrower at the nut and I think that's the thing. But it's by no means uncomfortable. The overall feel is indeed very close to an SE, but is that a bad thing? I certainly don't think so. I just saw someone say in another thread that the S2's felt good, just "less appointed" compared to a core instrument, which is a great way to put it. If you're into core stuff, and the SE/S2 feel just doesn't do it for you, I get that too, just depends on what you're used to. The value of my S2 is in the hardware and construction, and in the tone. The S2 already has locking tuners, USA nut, lampshade knobs, better pickups - all things that I would probably add on to an SE, so that's a lot of time and money saved right there. Plus the USA fretwire, as I have a heavy hand and I'm looking forward to a bit more life from these frets. And then there's the wood, one piece mahogany body, full maple top, that also doesn't come on SE's. Overall, my S2 sounds better stock than any of my SE's did, which seems to be a strangely ignored topic in this thread. It's one of the few guitars that I've owned that I liked the stock pickups on. I also have zero fret buzz, unlike my SE's, and the intonation up the neck is perfection, also unlike my SE's.
Of the 3 SE's I've owned, the only one that can match the S2 for tone is my Akesson, but I swear there's a little something extra inside the wood of that guitar, plus I put some 57/08's in, which certainly didn't hurt. I wasn't very interested in an S2 Custom 24 before, but after having another S2 in the house, I'm warming to them. I think I would like one a lot more than my SE CU24, the maple neck on that guitar makes it quite bright.
Of the 3 SE's I've owned, the only one that can match the S2 for tone is my Akesson, but I swear there's a little something extra inside the wood of that guitar, plus I put some 57/08's in, which certainly didn't hurt. I wasn't very interested in an S2 Custom 24 before, but after having another S2 in the house, I'm warming to them. I think I would like one a lot more than my SE CU24, the maple neck on that guitar makes it quite bright.