Discontinued S2 Custom Semihollow & PRS #7 Pickup set?

[Dead Astronaut]

I've just gotten really, really enamored with an S2 Custom 22 Semihollow – I didn't know there was such a thing, and apparently there isn't anymore – for a number of reasons, but perhaps most of all because it doesn't sound like a chambered guitar to me. It sounds semihollow in the old sense of the word, like center block and hollow wings.

I've been looking for the right 335-style guitar for the proverbial minute now and have only run into absurd prices (Gibson, Collings), guitars I can't play before buying them (Eastman, Heritage), and Russian Roulette QC (Epiphone), so I'm pretty geeked at seeing a Youtube reviewer plug an affordable PRS straight into a Deluxe Reverb reissue and come out sounding shockingly like Larry Carlton on The Royal Scam.

Has anyone had one of these short-lived S2 Semihollows? Was their brief lifespan any sort of warning sign? And what's up with the #7 pickup set, which has never crossed my radar even once before?

Thank you kindly –

 

[chicagoslim]

I picked up a used 2017, S2 Singlecut Semi-hollow, with Seymour Duncan pickups. I've never seen another one, much less played one with #7 pickups. It was my first S2 guitar and it sold me on the S2 line (I now own 5). It's one of my favorite guitars and has replaced my ES335 and Heritage H535. It is more resonant, leaning more towards a full hollow body, as it is carved, not laminated. It can feedback pretty easily, if you aren't used to controlling a hollow body. It hasn't been an issue for me, as I've owned a few Gretsch, hollow bodies.

 

[andy474x]

I have one of the earlier ones with the #7 pickups (they were later offered with 85/15's I believe). In fact, it sounds like maybe you're referring to the Nstuff Music demo, and I purchased that guitar from the video.

The S2 semi hollows were actually offered for a decent while, maybe 5 years? I think the reason they were discontinued was simply because their sibling solid body models were also discontinued or evolved, not because they weren't good instruments. Wouldn't surprise me one bit to see more semi hollows return to S2 in the form of semi hollow 594's in the next year or two.

The guitar as a whole has some of the traditional semi hollow body flavor like a 335 or similar, but also has some of the PRS vibe mixed in, kind of that violin and oboe like timbre. The bass is extended deeper than a comparable solid body, and there's simultaneously a little more treble content on the bridge pickup (more on that later), overall I find it more tonally even sounding than a 335, which is more mid-forward. The note attack is softer than a solid body too, as you might expect to find in a semi hollow.

And, yes, mine has the #7 pickups. Individually, in the right application, I think they're fantastic pickups, but in a set they're kind of an odd match. I have the semi hollow as well as an all mahogany, solid body Satin Standard 22 that also came with the #7's. The bridge #7 is loaded with a healthy amount of treble and upper mid, which in the very full sounding semi hollow guitar is a wonderful match, in the end everything is nicely filled out and even sounding. The neck #7 is fatter sounding, and in the semi hollow was too fat in the bass for my liking. But, in contrast, the Satin 22 is a more mid focused guitar, definitely skinnier in the bass, and I found the bridge #7 in that guitar too twangy, and the neck #7 sounds superb. I switched out the neck #7 in the semi hollow for a Starla pickup, and the bridge pickup in the Satin 22 for a 59/09, and both guitars have an excellent balance between pickups now. I have no interest in replacing the remaining #7's in those guitars, but they're different pickups, go figure.

Overall, I very much like the S2 semi hollow as a very versatile instrument that sits at the intersection of semi hollow tone and PRS tone and design. I've played and recorded some great sounding music on it, I don't record a ton but I do some, and especially like the way it records for solo tones.

If you want something that sounds closer to a 335, I'd have a good look at the Zach Myers, another great instrument.

 

[Sybo]

Chicagoslim, what a BEAUTIFUL guitar!! I would be proud to own that no matter what pickups it had!. And the color…..WOW!!

 

[tyfu20]

I had a 2014 Singlecut Semi-hollow, and while I enjoyed it, I actually loved my SE Zach Myers more probably due to the scale length and ended up selling it. The #7 pickups were solid for my taste and don't think you'd be disappointed with them. Good luck.

 

[CrimesAgainstMusic]

Chicagoslim, what a BEAUTIFUL guitar!! I would be proud to own that no matter what pickups it had!. And the color…..WOW!!

2d That !

That is a beautiful S2 !

I am thinking (danger ! danger!) that maybe the then unannounced SE Hollowbody line was going to be seen as too much internal competition ,so they discoed it ... .

I am by no means an expert, but if the Gibson semi hollow tone is what the OP is looking for, one of the Hollowbodies might get you there ...

 

[Aahzz]

I picked up a used 2017, S2 Singlecut Semi-hollow, with Seymour Duncan pickups. I've never seen another one, much less played one with #7 pickups. It was my first S2 guitar and it sold me on the S2 line (I now own 5). It's one of my favorite guitars and has replaced my ES335 and Heritage H535. It is more resonant, leaning more towards a full hollow body, as it is carved, not laminated. It can feedback pretty easily, if you aren't used to controlling a hollow body. It hasn't been an issue for me, as I've owned a few Gretsch, hollow bodies.

That is a SERIOUS beauty right there.

 

[Eddie kim]

I picked up a used 2017, S2 Singlecut Semi-hollow, with Seymour Duncan pickups. I've never seen another one, much less played one with #7 pickups. It was my first S2 guitar and it sold me on the S2 line (I now own 5). It's one of my favorite guitars and has replaced my ES335 and Heritage H535. It is more resonant, leaning more towards a full hollow body, as it is carved, not laminated. It can feedback pretty easily, if you aren't used to controlling a hollow body. It hasn't been an issue for me, as I've owned a few Gretsch, hollow bodies.

Looks like a 10 top!

 

[chicagoslim]

Thanks for the kind words. The maple top is solid, not laminated. This may have have been why, they became too expensive to produce. They didn't use the prettiest maple. The flame pattern isn't even, but I find it interesting. I bought mine used, with the Seymour Duncan pickups. I considered it, the best deal that I've gotten, in the past 10 years. Prices are still fairly low on these guitars, if you can find them. I've liked it better than the more expensive Gibson and Heritage semi-hollows, that I have owned.

The picture shown in post 2, is the guitar store's high contrast photo. It looks more like this, under most lighting.