Can anyone actually explain why?

[gemyneye]

Ok, so I love my S2 594 thin lines and the S2 Vela. But, when I pick up one of my cores, I can still tell the difference between the core and the s2 (the difference is even more between the SE and the core), and I don't know why. Is it the quality of the wood? The fret wire? The inlays? Why does it feel so different? Does anyone really know?

 

[alantig]

One thing is definitely the level of craftsmanship. To compare them in a very crude way, the folks making SEs are turning out tools, the folks making S2s are making high end tools, and the folks on the core line are making pieces of art. (I did say it was a crude comparison.)

The finishes on the SEs are thicker than the S2s, which are thicker than the cores. The core bodies have more intricate carves than the S2s and SEs, which require a finer touch to get right. And the amount of time that is spent fine-tuning the guitars and getting those last details like fret finishing and such just right is much higher on the cores than the other lines - that was one of the selling points of creating the S2 line, that the cost savings had to come from somewhere, and one of those somewheres was man-hours on the build, thus the original flat (no carves, no bevels) bodies.

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

Feel, weight, ergonomics, natural resonance

 

[gemyneye]

I can definitely understand that part but why does the neck feel so different? I’m not saying the neck on my S2s are bad, but I can feel the difference. My Suhr is definitely in line with the cores. I guess I just don’t know enough about guitar making to be able to tell the difference, or maybe it really is impossible to get one of my S2 thin lines to “feel“ like a core, even if I took it to a luthier?

 

[Geo408]

Like Epiphone and Gibson…Like Squire, and Fender. They look good, feel different, sound different and cost way less. like the man said: “tools, better tools, art”…I’m paraphrasing, but you get the idea. if you do a little research, you’ll find most of the big manufacturers have done it, or still are doing it. Check out the acoustic guitar world, and other makers of fine instruments, including amps,pianos and recording gear, etc…
I don’t find fault with it, rather I see them filling a void that would otherwise be there. They are growing their brands, and enticing younger enthusiasts into becoming musicians. As we all improved on our instruments, we all moved up into higher quality instruments…it’s a good thing.

 

[László]

Ok, so I love my S2 594 thin lines and the S2 Vela. But, when I pick up one of my cores, I can still tell the difference between the core and the s2 (the difference is even more between the SE and the core), and I don't know why. Is it the quality of the wood? The fret wire? The inlays? Why does it feel so different? Does anyone really know?

There's still a lot of hand work done on the instruments in all three lines; sure, the blanks are cut with CNCs, but so much else is done by hand.

That's pretty time consuming to do on a certain level, and I think that's why the Cores feel just that much nicer. There's also the matter of the electronics and hardware. PRS allocates more time to the craftsmanship of the Cores.

The PS models feel and respond better still.

The S2s are well made. But PRS was looking for the least time consuming way to make a US guitar with that line. They simply fuss over the Cores more, and lavish them with more attention. The end result is the feel.

I can definitely understand that part but why does the neck feel so different?

Hand sanded with more fuss and care, or at least, more time and attention to detail.

 

[gemyneye]

Yes, I totally understand that they are less expensive versions and have no issue with that at all. I was just wondering what, if possible, could be the explanation of exactly why they feel different. Thanks, Les, I think that probably makes more sense in regards to the neck.

 

[11top]

Magic

 

[Broseph]

S2’s and SE necks are made from more pieces of wood? So likely you feel and hear the resonance difference. Every guitar is different and this is a crude assessment. One of my zach myers rang just as well as my 594 did.

 

[Lewguitar]

I think it's the wood.

My '95 Custom 22 is a better guitar than my '02 Custom 22.

The '95 just rings in a very special, inspiring way.

The '02 doesn't. It's a beautiful guitar with a 10 top but it doesn't resonate like my '95.

Sometimes a guitar just comes together. The wood in the neck, the wood in the body, the wood in the fingerboard...

PRS tries to match woods in the Core models so that "magic" is more likely to happen, and it's why the guitars made in the USA usually resonate more and feel more impressive than the SE's.

But sometimes an SE will come together too and be a really special guitar!

When I find one of those I put great pickups in it.

Unless it's a SE Silver Sky, Those are just 100% great guitars as is.

 

[shinksma]

why does the neck feel so different?

Are you comparing the "same" neck carves? And what years? PRS has tweaked stuff over the years. Plus, as noted, hand-sanding can make two necks made back-to-back feel very different.

The body carves, especially for the top "violin" vs bevel carve, will also play into it.

 

[The Bird]

after pondering the same thing a thousand times, trying out hundreds of guitars, and owning dozens of them, I have come to a definitive conclusion: that I have absolutely no idea. But the fact is, and this goes for all brands, 99% of the time the expensive models are much better. But I have no idea why. Maybe it’s just the finish.

 

[Lewguitar]

after pondering the same thing a thousand times, trying out hundreds of guitars, and owning dozens of them, I have come to a definitive conclusion: that I have absolutely no idea. But the fact is, and this goes for all brands, 99% of the time the expensive models are much better. But I have no idea why. Maybe it’s just the finish.

It's a lot of things. I think the pickups is the #1 thing when it comes to electric tone.

I'm a pickup swapper and tinkerer and swap magnets to personalize my tone as well the pickups, pots and tone capacitors.

After that it's wood selection, nut material (plastic, bone, Tusq, Graph Tech, etc.), bridge and tailpiece materials and construction, tuners...even what the frets are made of.

I think of all guitars as being acoustic instruments, even solid body electrics.

Everything the strings touch and are connected to contribute to the overall tone.

Some people claim that the nut only affects the tone of the open strings but I disagree. If it's made out of sponge, it's going to affect the tone!

My experience has been that "magic" guitars, even solid body electric guitars, sound great unplugged as well as plugged in.

 

[gemyneye]

Well it isn’t the carve or the tone. It’s the feel in my hands. The fretboard under my fingers. Not listening but just feeling the neck and fretboard FEELS. Different. I think I’m on the same page as @The Bird and @11top

 

[Alnus Rubra]

The difference between these two is subtlety.



The Santana is just a more subtle instrument.

That’s not to say the SE245 isn’t a great instrument, but there’s just something about the Core.

 

[Russ73]

I have a core standard 22 from early 2000s and a few s2s...not much difference to me as far as playability ...ive had SEs that felt a little less to me and ill also say the Korean SEs feel better to me than the newer indo ones...call me crazy lol

 

[SinSir]

All guitars aren't created equal regardless of product lines. Some guitars have "it" and others don't.. so, yes Magic!

My Vela, for example, even with the dodgey stock electronics and open pore finish feels fantastic and gives my cores a run. My 30th SE feels better than any other se I've owned. So much so that I modified everything I could chasing core..it got close, but still short. My core Cu24, is papa smurf around my house. It feels, rings, and sounds better than about anything I've ever played. Even a tap test rings better than anything I own.

 

[ScottR]

Magic

Yeah that.

 

[Lewguitar]

I have a core standard 22 from early 2000s and a few s2s...not much difference to me as far as playability ...ive had SEs that felt a little less to me and ill also say the Korean SEs feel better to me than the newer indo ones...call me crazy lol

The only Indo SE's I have are my SE Silver Skys. They're first rate guitars although i did put Chubtone '61 pickups in one. Great pickups, BTW.

It didn't need new pickups, the SE's were terrific. I just wanted some variety.

I've owned five Korean SE Singlecuts and they're first rate too, except for the pickups. I have Gibson P90's in my Soapbar Singlecut and Duncans in the rest.

I gave one to a friend who needed a guitar with humbuckers and kept four, all with different Duncan pickups.

They're great guitars to customize because the build is solid and very well done. At least on mine.

I think I did touch up the fret work and of course the intonation and action.

But they play well and are professional guitars after the pickup swap.

 

[László]

It's a lot of things. I think the pickups is the #1 thing when it comes to electric tone.

I'm a pickup swapper and tinkerer and swap magnets to personalize my tone as well the pickups, pots and tone capacitors.

After that it's wood selection, nut material (plastic, bone, Tusq, Graph Tech, etc.), bridge and tailpiece materials and construction, tuners...even what the frets are made of.

I think of all guitars as being acoustic instruments, even solid body electrics.

Everything the strings touch and are connected to contribute to the overall tone.

Some people claim that the nut only affects the tone of the open strings but I disagree. If it's made out of sponge, it's going to affect the tone!

My experience has been that "magic" guitars, even solid body electric guitars, sound great unplugged as well as plugged in.

I agree, except I might put the pickups second, because even though they affect the tone a lot, the guitar still tends to sound like itself with different pickups - a little different, but still the same guitar. The body and hardware modulate the string's oscillations, and we hear it,

Here's the long-winded explanation:

The string is plucked, oscillates and this is picked up by the magnetic pickups. But the oscillation doesn't happen in a vacuum. What's equally important, is the modulation of the string's oscillation by what the rest of the guitar is doing as it vibrates. And pickups are also microphonic. So there's an audio component besides the magnetic one, though it's much smaller. Still one has to take that into account.

The pickups have a coloration/frequency response, and output a certain amplitude, but they can only pick up what the strings are doing when they oscillate - they're transducers.

We know the body and hardware vibrations modulate the oscillation of the strings after the pluck of the note, predominantly during the decay, sustain and release parts of the wave's progress through the ADSR envelope, because we can clearly hear it.

A PAF on a 335 sounds different from the same PAF in a Les Paul, and different from the same PAF in an SG, for example. It's all due to how the string is modulated by the body and hardware's vibrations as it passes through the ADSR. All of these types of guitar modulate the oscillating string differently.

Change the type of pickups on the same guitars, and the guitars are still going to sound like a 335, and LP and an SG, the differences will be more subtle, more micro than macro.

Modulate a waveform, and it's going to alter the sound. It's just as true with guitars as it is with synths (I've got 40 years with synths so I tend to think in waveform terms - frequency modulation of a waveform is different from amplitude modulation is different from modulating with filters, resonators, choruses, etc, and they can all be combined).

I figure this modulation from the guitar itself is probably more important to the tone than the pickups, though obviously the pickups are very important as well.