Deciding between S2 Standard 22 and 24

Mammpo

New Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2018
Messages
4
Hey there PRS fans,

Im looking to buy my first PRS guitar (and indeed electric guitar), but due to major stock issues here in Australia (the Australian supplier has essentially nothing in stock for the whole country), its likely i'm buying one without actually playing one! There are NO S2 standards or singlecuts close to Sydney 'in stock', so i'll have to buy online. I also only have the choice of satin finish, in my preferred McCarty burst. Hopefully I can at least go play a Mira or something with the same "pattern regular" neck...

Anyway, just after some advice on the relative benefits of the S2 standard 22 vs the 24. My style of playing will be in the harder rock category, heading towards some low key metal. From reading the PRS website blurbs (and elsewhere) on these guitars, the pickups appear different, with the 22 appearing to head more in my direction, whereas the 24 seems maybe a little more directed at clean tone retro sounds. Does this sound right?

Also, any reason id want a 24 fret guitar vs 22? I do have big hands, and from what I can tell the necks are the same length (scale length 25" for both), so that means slightly smaller fret spaces on the 24? I don't feel the need for soloing up around the 23rd fret at this stage.

Any advice would be welcome.
 
I wouldn’t really agree with that. The biggest difference will be with the neck pickup tone. 24 fret neck pickup will not sound quite as bassy. That’s because the pickup is closer to bridge. So to me, it would matter what you wanna hear out of that neck pickup.
 
I wouldn’t really agree with that. The biggest difference will be with the neck pickup tone. 24 fret neck pickup will not sound quite as bassy. That’s because the pickup is closer to bridge. So to me, it would matter what you wanna hear out of that neck pickup.

Thanks for the reply.

Um, I have no real idea on what i want out of a neck pick up over another neck pick up. Im an acoustic player and have minimal experience with electric guitars, but whenever i've mucked around on electric guitars i've mostly used the bridge pick up for more riff type rock stuff.

I basically want a well made guitar, that sounds good in the rock to light metal categories, likely more rhythm than lead at first with my background in acoustic stuff. One that looks good also, to make we want to get it out and play it over my acoustic, but not too pretty like most PRS guitars above these models....
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the reply.

Um, I have no real idea on what i want out of a neck pick up over another neck pick up. Im an acoustic player and have minimal experience with electric guitars, but whenever i've mucked around on electric guitars i've mostly used the bridge pick up for more riff type rock stuff.

I basically want a well made guitar, that sounds good in the rock the light metal categories, likely more rhythm than lead at first with my background in acoustic stuff. One that looks good also, to make we want to get it out and play it over my acoustic, but not too pretty like most PRS guitars above these models....
Lots heavy rock/metal people feel this way. Given that’s the case, the 22 vs 24 would be the last thing I’d worry about if I were you. Concentrate on the details that are important and ignore those that aren’t.
 
Lots heavy rock/metal people feel this way. Given that’s the case, the 22 vs 24 would be the last thing I’d worry about if I were you. Concentrate on the details that are important and ignore those that aren’t.

Ok. Well, considering ill likely be buying one of these guitars without ever playing either one, I currently have no way of distinguishing them to see which one to buy. Ie cant feel them, or hear them. I could go try about 5000 different teles and strats around Sydney, but I don't care for either.

Does the amount of frets on what seems to be the same length neck mean bigger fret spacing down near the nut on the 22?

If anyone has directly compared the two, that would be a great help.
 
Ok. Well, considering ill likely be buying one of these guitars without ever playing either one, I currently have no way of distinguishing them to see which one to buy. Ie cant feel them, or hear them. I could go try about 5000 different teles and strats around Sydney, but I don't care for either.

Does the amount of frets on what seems to be the same length neck mean bigger fret spacing down near the nut on the 22?

If anyone has directly compared the two, that would be a great help.

No, the fret spacing isn’t bigger. Other than the differences in number of frets, a CU24 has what lots of players feel is a more concentrated midrange, and maybe a little tighter bass.

As I understand it, the S2 24 and S2 22 have the same pickups.

Either guitar will work for the type of music you’re interested in, of course. Pick the number of frets you want and go. You can’t blow this decision.
 
No, the fret spacing isn’t bigger. Other than the differences in number of frets, a CU24 has what lots of players feel is a more concentrated midrange, and maybe a little tighter bass.

As I understand it, the S2 24 and S2 22 have the same pickups.

Either guitar will work for the type of music you’re interested in, of course. Pick the number of frets you want and go. You can’t blow this decision.

Cool, thanks.

Now that i check the PRS website, it says both standard 22 and 24 have the same Treble Pickup 85/15 "S", and Bass Pickup 85/15 "S".

However, the store im looking at has the 22 with Treble Pickup PRS S2 #7 Treble, and Bass Pickup PRS S2 #7 Bass listed instead. Ill just ring them and see what the story is, but it seems like much of a muchness. Thanks!
 
Cool, thanks.

Now that i check the PRS website, it says both standard 22 and 24 have the same Treble Pickup 85/15 "S", and Bass Pickup 85/15 "S".

However, the store im looking at has the 22 with Treble Pickup PRS S2 #7 Treble, and Bass Pickup PRS S2 #7 Bass listed instead. Ill just ring them and see what the story is, but it seems like much of a muchness. Thanks!
That would likely be an older S2 Custom 22.
 
The S2 Standard 22 is my favorite!!!! Really, it comes down to this in my opinion:

If the 22 has the 85/15 pickups, and the 24 has the 85/15 pickups it doesn't really matter. Decide based on color or whatever. However, if the 22 has #7s (like both of mine) then consider this:

The #7 is more vintage sounding, and has a good bit of mids (to my ears). I prefer the #7 over the 85/15. The 22 with the #7s is really good for blues, hard rock, and "metal" up to Judas Priest/Iron Maiden (that's what I play).
 
Gday mate

I know you specified a standard, but it might be worth travelling somewhere like these guys: https://www.portmacguitars.com.au/electric-guitars/prs/s2-range/

They have S2 22s and 24s in stock. I'd suggest you should try them both out even though they aren't the specific model you are after. Yeah, they might be spec'd differently but as far as I know the neck profile is the same bar the finish type, and you will be able to get a feel for the difference in the neck positioning.

No, the frets are spaced the same because the scale length is the same. The neck sits in a slightly different spot because of the 2 less frets... essentially it feels like it is mounted a few cm further into the body. You can see in images there is more space between pickups, and the bridges on 22s are further into the body from the pocket.

I like the way 22s' neck pickups sound better. I find they can feel a little quirky in your lap for the first time, but they play just fine. The neck pickup is a big fat woody vintage style vibe. It sits right where the 24th fret harmonics are, I find the tone a lot richer than the 24s.

Go try both models out, at the very least you will get a feel for the neck placement and get the general vibe with the different neck and middle pickup tones
 
The fretboard is longer on a 24 fret, the extra length is the extra 2 frets, and I want to say the neck may be a little longer as well. The big tonal difference is that the extra 2 frets push the neck pickup further back toward the bridge - if you compare, you'll see the pickups on the 24 are closer together. That makes the neck pickup a little less "warm" sounding - not as bassy, more mids and high. I generally prefer a 22 fret guitar, but for heavier rock, the 24 is nice because the neck pickup is less woofy and more focused.

Also, for your style, I would recommend the 85/15 over the #7. I have the 7's, have played 85/15's. Both are great, but as mentioned above, the 7's are more vintage voiced.
 
I have an S2 cu24 and I love it. It's a very well rounded instrument imo and I can't imagine you'd be disappointed with it. That said I haven't actually played the 22 to give you any idea of what differences you can expect between the two. But I definitely endorse the cu24 heavily
 
Back
Top