I played the used prs at the guitar store again since they dropped the price. If you want to skip to the end to see the spoiler and cliffs you can save some time, but I'll list everything that was wrong with the guitar first. I played it for at least 20-30 minutes. The tech changed the high e string because I noticed this time that it seemed like a thicker gauge string. That helped fix some of the string jumping off the fretboard problem, but now it had the problem at the third fret instead of the fifth. It wasn't as bad so I kept playing. I really tried to like the guitar. I actually planned to buy it after he changed the string since it felt better, but the more I kept playing the more problems I found.
The low E string sounded extremely dead when tuned to drop D. I haven't had this problem on any guitar. I detuned the string and looked at the nut, but the nut and bridge saddle seemed fine. The only thing I could think of was that it was a weird string, like an elixir. The tech said it had clear coat strings on it. I haven't heard of it, but I said it sounded like some kind of elixir string.
The B string wouldn't stay in tune. It would randomly go flat after some bends and a minute or two of playing. The trem did not feel great. I spent about 20 minutes playing before starting to use it as I don't use trems. The pickups didn't sound that good to me. Not bad, but I didn't feel anything while playing.
What made me want to like the guitar was that the neck and balance of the guitar were amazing. I brought the guitar back to the tech to see if he would change the low E string, but before he did I was showing the guitar to my friend and explaining the differences between the S2's and the cores to him. I said the neck is made in the same place with a different process, but the trem is different on the S2s. I went to show him the trem block and it was not a brass trem block. Then I showed him how they do the serial numbers and I'm like oh #$%^ I think it says '14 s2xxxxxx'. I thought maybe the s could have been a 2 which seemed possible for the 2014s, but the tech was nice enough to pull the pickups out for me and they were the s2 pickups.
Everything started to make sense to me. There's just a lot of little things wrong with the guitar.
I still love that guitar's neck and the balance of it. I think the trem and tuning problems would keep me away. There was a semihollow s2 that I liked at the sister store, but I didn't like the balance and neck of the guitar as much. I think it means I really need to hold out until I can make it to experience prs because I might be pickier than I thought at the core price point. I am pretty happy I was able to tell something was wrong with it by playability alone. I'm pretty mad at myself since it's obvious to see it's an s2 in hindsight because of the lack of violin carve, inlays, serial, and trem block. Even the pickups while playing should have been an easier giveaway. I have to learn to trust myself more, but sometimes I feel like I set the bar unrealistically high as well.
I'm not confident they'll relabel the guitar as an s2 instead of a core. The price tag has said a higher price than what it says online. They've lowered the price online twice already, but the tag in store is the same. The tech said that the person who changes the tags has been sick for a week. The only thing is the price has been lowered for well over a week now. I also don't think they restrung the guitar because the older strings had an 11 gauge string on the high E (tech checked it) while the others felt like the normal gauges for 10s to me, and the low E string felt awful even though it didn't have debris on it like it had been played a lot. That one confused me since it looked new but felt extremely dead. Like it was soggy.
Cliffnotes: The guitar store here has a used s2 custom 22 listed as a custom 22. It's misleading even though it doesn't say core because the used price started at what a core would go for, and more than what a new s2 goes for. Is there anyone I should pm a link of the guitar to on here to keep tabs on it, or is it vague enough where it's not worth it?
It's unacceptable that a store tries to pass off an s2 as a core model, even if it's not technically illegal. It is very shady. It's hard enough to find a core in person to try, and I finally think I find one only to find out that it's an s2 that is being sold as a core imo.