IMO, two guitars of the same make and model -and even year and maker- often sound very different; it is not just the pups; it is the whole of it being an instrument, physical and electrical, and the filtering and the resonances and every other variable which goes into being a good instrument, or an average or not-so-good one. I do not think that my HB II with its hollow body and 57/08TM pups or my CE with its Dragon IIs would sound anything like the S models... but I have not heard them A/Bed through the same gear, so I could not say for sure. Those with more experience than I have in this area have told me that the S line sounds "thinner" than the Core models, and similar comments, but this could be a willing placebo type reaction from people who have Core Line models. I have heard the S line, but only on other people's amps, which of course will sound at the very least somewhat different from mine. -Even if the amps are of the same year and make.