Considering PRS semi-hollow: CE Satin or Vela?

[sumitagarwal]

I'm thinking about getting my first PRS semi-hollow and I have a strong preference towards PRS's ultra-thin satin nitro finishes (seems to sound better, and I like that it feels more like touching wood than touching plastic).

Anyways, both the CE Semi-Hollow Satin and the S2 Vela Semi-hollow Satin seem to trade at fairly close to the same price. I know they're quite different in materials and construction, but curious what folks' thoughts are especially around unplugged volume (for practicing technique in whatever room I happen to be in) and plugged-in tonal versatility.

 

[AP515]

Both are great. The Vela is a brighter sound and to my ears, not as pleasant as the CE.

 

[sumitagarwal]

Both are great. The Vela is a brighter sound and to my ears, not as pleasant as the CE.

Interesting, I would have expected the opposite given the bolt-on construction of the CE and possibly the maple neck (although I don't necessarily hear maple as brighter than mahogany the way some people do)

 

[AP515]

It's the Vela bridge pickup. It's more like a Gretsch Filtertron to my ears.

 

[markd21]

Of ALL the PRS guitars I have owned, the one that felt the most lively in my hands was the CE24 Semi-Hollow. Sadly, I sold the two I had in order to help fund an MEV. In the end, I liked those CEs better than the MEV.

I never tried the Vela SH, though I would like to. I LOVE the regular Vela, so, in my mind, the semi-hollow will be just as awesome - but more lively in the hands....

 

[sumitagarwal]

It's the Vela bridge pickup. It's more like a Gretsch Filtertron to my ears.

Yea. Honestly I wish they made it with the wraparound bridge instead (as I understand it the early prototypes used that). Also wish the neck pickup was a single-coil in a standard humbucker route for more customization options.

Of ALL the PRS guitars I have owned, the one that felt the most lively in my hands was the CE24 Semi-Hollow. Sadly, I sold the two I had in order to help fund an MEV. In the end, I liked those CEs better than the MEV.

I never tried the Vela SH, though I would like to. I LOVE the regular Vela, so, in my mind, the semi-hollow will be just as awesome - but more lively in the hands....

This is super useful feedback! Just how many PRSi have you had?

I dis-prefer trem guitars so that's a negative in my mind, and I would probably deck the trem with 5 springs.

 

[markd21]

Hmmmm....

98 CUSTOM 22
90 EG3
90 CE24
01 CUSTOM 22 SEMI-HOLLOW
07 SC245 57/08
08 SC250 ARTIST PACKAGE
97 CE22
?? SANTANA III
18 CUSTOM 22 WOOD LIBRARY
13 PAUL'S GUITAR TREM (VINTAGE YELLOW)
13 PAUL'S GUITAR TREM (HONEY)
?? P22 TREM
?? S2 STANDARD 22 (BURST)
?? S2 STANDARD 22 (BLACK)
?? S2 STANDARD 22 (FROST BLUE)
18 S2 STUDIO
08? DC245 TED MCCARTY
16 MCCARTY 594
11? MC58
20 ME-V
?? CE24 SH (TRAMPAS GREEN)
?? CE24 SH (ERIZA VERDE)
?? S2 VELA (WHITE)
?? S2 VELA (TOBACCO BURST)
?? S2 SINGLECUT STANDARD (FROST BLUE)
?? S2 SINGLECUT STANDARD (AQUA)
?? BRENT MASON SGNATURE
18? DUSTIE WARING CE24 FLOYD LTD

These are the USA guitars I remember of the top of my head. Here are the SEs....

CU24 FLOYD
CU24 (times 3)
SINGLECUT
SE 245
SE 594
SE DGT
SE SEMI HOLLOW PIEZO

 

[sumitagarwal]

Hmmmm....

98 CUSTOM 22
90 EG3
90 CE24
01 CUSTOM 22 SEMI-HOLLOW
07 SC245 57/08
08 SC250 ARTIST PACKAGE
97 CE22
?? SANTANA III
18 CUSTOM 22 WOOD LIBRARY
13 PAUL'S GUITAR TREM (VINTAGE YELLOW)
13 PAUL'S GUITAR TREM (HONEY)
?? P22 TREM
?? S2 STANDARD 22 (BURST)
?? S2 STANDARD 22 (BLACK)
?? S2 STANDARD 22 (FROST BLUE)
18 S2 STUDIO
08? DC245 TED MCCARTY
16 MCCARTY 594
11? MC58
20 ME-V
?? CE24 SH (TRAMPAS GREEN)
?? CE24 SH (ERIZA VERDE)
?? S2 VELA (WHITE)
?? S2 VELA (TOBACCO BURST)
?? S2 SINGLECUT STANDARD (FROST BLUE)
?? S2 SINGLECUT STANDARD (AQUA)
?? BRENT MASON SGNATURE
18? DUSTIE WARING CE24 FLOYD LTD

These are the USA guitars I remember of the top of my head. Here are the SEs....

CU24 FLOYD
CU24 (times 3)
SINGLECUT
SE 245
SE 594
SE DGT
SE SEMI HOLLOW PIEZO

So... you're telling me that CE 24 semi you had had a very low bar to clear I'm quite jealous!

Right now my only PRS is an S2 Singlecut Standard in satin tobacco, and it is very loud!

You described the CE 24 Semi as the most lively PRS you've had, was it the loudest as well?

I see you also had the SE Piezo, but that would be fully hollow and not semi hollow, right? How did the CE 24 semi compare to that one?

Thanks for the guidance of your apparently immense experience!

 

[Aahzz]

Velas are magical. Always choose Vela.

That said, let's look at some of the objective differences.

The CE will have a Pattern Thin neck, the Vela has Pattern Regular.
The CE has 85/15 pickups, which are more on the hotter/modern side. The Velas Starla bridge pickup and Type D neck pickup give more of a vintage tone - it sits in a tonal intersection of Tele, SG, and Gretsch to my ears.
Vela - fixed bridge, CE - trem.
CE - 24 frets, Vela - 22.

Unplugged volume of the Vela Semi is enough to irritate Mrs Aahzz

I've owned both (CE was solid, though), and am a die-hard Vela enthusiast

 

[markd21]

So... you're telling me that CE 24 semi you had had a very low bar to clear I'm quite jealous!

Right now my only PRS is an S2 Singlecut Standard in satin tobacco, and it is very loud!

You described the CE 24 Semi as the most lively PRS you've had, was it the loudest as well?

I see you also had the SE Piezo, but that would be fully hollow and not semi hollow, right? How did the CE 24 semi compare to that one?

Thanks for the guidance of your apparently immense experience!

Hmmm, was the CE24 SH the loudest? Not really. It seemed to be equally "loud" but it was a different loud. The fundamental tone was richer. More girth in the notes. A resonance/vibration between the body and neck that I usually don't feel/hear as clearly with the set neck guitars. In fact, the ME-V felt DEAD and LIFELESS compared to the CE24 SH.

As far as the SE Piezo...I still have it!! I has a totally different feel than the CE. The CE has "snap". The SE Piezo is pretty much all FAT!! I mean that in a good way, but they are VERY different animals. And, yes, the SE Piezo is full hollow. The extra depth and that fully open body make the sound thicker in the low mids (to my ears anyway).

If I ever get another CE24 SH I'll mod thusly:

* Separate coil splits
* Add a volume control

My SE DGT has been modded to have the 2 coil splits, and the separate volumes allow for an amazing plethora of tones between the three knobs (gotta include the tone in there!)

 

[sumitagarwal]

Velas are magical. Always choose Vela.

That said, let's look at some of the objective differences.

The CE will have a Pattern Thin neck, the Vela has Pattern Regular.
The CE has 85/15 pickups, which are more on the hotter/modern side. The Velas Starla bridge pickup and Type D neck pickup give more of a vintage tone - it sits in a tonal intersection of Tele, SG, and Gretsch to my ears.
Vela - fixed bridge, CE - trem.
CE - 24 frets, Vela - 22.

Unplugged volume of the Vela Semi is enough to irritate Mrs Aahzz

I've owned both, and am a die-hard Vela enthusiast

Having owned both sounds like a charmed life!

I'm stupid about pickups and always end up changing them anyway. And sometimes putting back the originals since the designers know what they're doing!

Just on the basis of unplugged volume how would you compare the Vela Semi to the CE24 Semi?

 

[sumitagarwal]

Hmmm, was the CE24 SH the loudest? Not really. It seemed to be equally "loud" but it was a different loud. The fundamental tone was richer. More girth in the notes. A resonance/vibration between the body and neck that I usually don't feel/hear as clearly with the set neck guitars. In fact, the ME-V felt DEAD and LIFELESS compared to the CE24 SH.

As far as the SE Piezo...I still have it!! I has a totally different feel than the CE. The CE has "snap". The SE Piezo is pretty much all FAT!! I mean that in a good way, but they are VERY different animals. And, yes, the SE Piezo is full hollow. The extra depth and that fully open body make the sound thicker in the low mids (to my ears anyway).

If I ever get another CE24 SH I'll mod thusly:

* Separate coil splits
* Add a volume control

My SE DGT has been modded to have the 2 coil splits, and the separate volumes allow for an amazing plethora of tones between the three knobs (gotta include the tone in there!)

Definitely selling me pretty good on that CE24 Semi. As a long-time Les Paul guy I'm used to being able to set up my neck and bridge sounds independently, but I also like broad tonal versatility. On a either a CE24 or a Vela (with a mini hum in the neck) I'd be likely to wire two push-pulls so that one splits to the inner coils, the other splits to the outer coils, and both up puts the pickups into parallel.

 

[Aahzz]

Having owned both sounds like a charmed life!

I'm stupid about pickups and always end up changing them anyway. And sometimes putting back the originals since the designers know what they're doing!

Just on the basis of unplugged volume how would you compare the Vela Semi to the CE24 Semi?

I have to correct - the CE I owned was solid, not Semi. I added that to my earlier post . I continually try to like new CEs, they play and sound great, but the Pattern Thin neck always ends up irritating me.

 

[Zoot Allures]

Velas are magical. Always choose Vela.

That said, let's look at some of the objective differences.

The CE will have a Pattern Thin neck, the Vela has Pattern Regular.
The CE has 85/15 pickups, which are more on the hotter/modern side. The Velas Starla bridge pickup and Type D neck pickup give more of a vintage tone - it sits in a tonal intersection of Tele, SG, and Gretsch to my ears.
Vela - fixed bridge, CE - trem.
CE - 24 frets, Vela - 22.

Unplugged volume of the Vela Semi is enough to irritate Mrs Aahzz

I've owned both (CE was solid, though), and am a die-hard Vela enthusiast

What Aahzz said!!! Exactly my view on both….

 

[Steve Dombroski]

Get a vela semi hollow and replace the bridge pup with a 57/08 or 59/09. It will sound warm, full, and sweet. It is, IMO, arguably the best guitar you can buy for the money.

 

[Xtcclassic]

Yea. Honestly I wish they made it with the wraparound bridge instead (as I understand it the early prototypes used that). Also wish the neck pickup was a single-coil in a standard humbucker route for more customization options.

Having the wraparound bridge instead of the one it comes with would have been a tragedy and would have changed the sound of the guitar, and not for the better imho. The Vela bridge is its soul, it would be a very different guitar without it. I like wraparound bridges, mind you, but the Vela bridge is incredible and is a big reason why the Vela is so much different of a guitar to anything else in the lineup.

The neck pickup cavity is humbucker-sized, you just need to order a custom pickguard. Take a look at my Vela on the left.

 

[sumitagarwal]

Having the wraparound bridge instead of the one it comes with would have been a tragedy and would have changed the sound of the guitar, and not for the better imho. The Vela bridge is its soul, it would be a very different guitar without it. I like wraparound bridges, mind you, but the Vela bridge is incredible and is a big reason why the Vela is so much different of a guitar to anything else in the lineup.

The neck pickup cavity is humbucker-sized, you just need to order a custom pickguard. Take a look at my Vela on the left.

Oh hey, now this is interesting. You didn't need to route any wood for the mounting wars on the baseplate?

If you would describe the difference between the bridges how would you describe them? They're both brass where they touch the strings, and I guess the rest of the wraparound is aluminum versus steel and of course different number of components, etc.

I've had Teles and wraparound guitars, but not at the same time and regardless the rest of the construction has been wildly different too (bolt vs set, maple and alder vs mahogany)

 

[SinSir]

I'd go Vela for sure. I played mine tonight. It is its own unique flavor, and I really wouldn't want to be without it. The neck pickup is my favorite tone followed by the middle position with the bridge split. Personally, it wouldn't be my everyday guitar, but so worth it when I do grab it.

 

[21Hemispheres12]

I owned both a reclaimed CE24 and vela for awhile. I ended up selling the vela but now I wish I had hung on to it. The CE24 is more versatile but the Vela had its own cool unique thing going on, it sounded really good for low gain and clean tones. I probably would have replaced the bridge humbucker eventually though. If you can only get one I’d get the CE24 for the versatility, but if you don’t care about that it’s really just personal preference as they are both great guitars.

https://imgur.com/MXoVaAa

 

[sumitagarwal]

I owned both a reclaimed CE24 and vela for awhile. I ended up selling the vela but now I wish I had hung on to it. The CE24 is more versatile but the Vela had its own cool unique thing going on, it sounded really good for low gain and clean tones. I probably would have replaced the bridge humbucker eventually though. If you can only get one I’d get the CE24 for the versatility, but if you don’t care about that it’s really just personal preference as they are both great guitars.

https://imgur.com/MXoVaAa

That's such an awesome matched pair! Yea, if it were possible I would have kept those two together, almost like a korina Explorer and Flying V.

While I've usually preferred the sound of mahogany, lately I've been coming around to appreciating that maple necks move less in the wild temperature and humidity swings of NYC living.

Since I'm really looking for a superlative "around the house guitar", did you find a volume difference between the two?