Getting close to VELA Semi Purchase

[aamefford]

I have the d-style in the neck and middle position on my S2 Studio. Cool pickup for sure. I don’t think high gain is playing to its strengths. That said, I don’t recall atrocious hum. Would a noise gate be a viable option? (Serious question - I’m a pretty new player, I honestly don’t know if it would solve any 60 hz noise).

 

[slyfox]

I have the d-style in the neck and middle position on my S2 Studio. Cool pickup for sure. I don’t think high gain is playing to its strengths. That said, I don’t recall atrocious hum. Would a noise gate be a viable option? (Serious question - I’m a pretty new player, I honestly don’t know if it would solve any 60 hz noise).

Anytime I've tried the noise gate I've always thought they castrated the tone. Mind you, I've mostly tried pedals like ISP or MXR. I am a simple pedalboard type player, I really just want an overdrive, boost and/or distortion...maybe a wah. With pick-ups that can handle gain and the right amp settings the feedback and noise should be controllable without the use of a noise gate. I'm happy to use a volume pedal or roll off the volume on the guitar between songs or speaking with bandmates.

I had an issue sourcing availability of the Vela and honestly the 60s cycle hum is a deal breaker for me. If it was a regular sized single coil, I know there are lots of noiseless options out there and I wouldn't hesitate. This D type size is rather obscure and I didn't want to have to monkey about trying to modify a pick guard.

I noticed that PRS 2024 models are starting to populate on a few retailer websites, and the S2 Standard 24 in AW Satin just increased approximately 15% so I optioned to purchase a new in-stock 2023 model while there was some remaining inventory.

I actually had the S2 Standard 24 about 2 years ago in Cherry Satin and I remember being really pleased with it. I ended up selling it to fund an ES345 which I was a good guitar too, but the PRS played better although maybe not as pretty.

Happy to be back in the PRS club nonetheless.

 

[Aahzz]

I think the fly in the ointment is the obscure sized neck pick-up. I intend to use a lot of gain and saturation for a singing lead tone...and while playing I'm sure it won't be a big deal but otherwise as soon as you stop it's got that 60s cycle hum.

I browsed some DeArmound style pick-ups that would be a direct fit replacement but non specifically say they are noiseless or hum cancelling.

There is the mini humbucker option that would be a direct fit and I believe hum cancelling in all cases although there's not a lot of attractive options compared to noiseless single coil, humbuckers, and humbucker sized P90s. The PG13 from Dimarzio might do the trick but according to its specs it's a ceramic and I was ideally looking for a warmer Alnico 2, maybe Alnico 5 option.

Of course there's a chance I'll like the stock single coil enough to play the guitar and enjoy it for a while before I really want to get into changing something. I like everything else about it.

I strongly encourage you to try the stock pickups for a while - they sound great, from clean to very gainy. There is, as has been mentioned, a wee bit of hum from the neck with high gain, but it's really not obtrusive or unmanageable.

 

[direwolf08]

I strongly encourage you to try the stock pickups for a while - they sound great, from clean to very gainy. There is, as has been mentioned, a wee bit of hum from the neck with high gain, but it's really not obtrusive or unmanageable.

I just grabbed a used Vela S/H Satin that I am super-excited to receive (NGD thread coming soon)! I know @Aahzz is the resident Vela aficionado/expert, so I will take this advice to heart!

That said, I have this hare-brained idea to turn it into a 3 pickup guitar, S-S-H or H-S-H. I know it would require a body rout and a new pickguard, so I am not planning on doing this right away; I definitely want to spend some time to get to know it. Wondering if anyone has any thoughts on doing this (even if it is "don't do it!") ...

 

[lucas79]

I own one of these PRS guitars; it’s a solid body from the first batch that comes with a Type-D neck and a DS-01 bridge pickup. Does anyone know what gives it such a clear and crisp sound, even with high gain? This has never happened to me with any other guitar. I’ve played and still play with a Gibson Studio with Gibson 57 pickups, a Fender Telecaster Troublemaker Limited Edition, and even a PRS Custom 22, and none of them have the note clarity, even when playing open chords with high gain. I’d love for the other guitars I mentioned to have that clarity. Compared to the others, this one has the strings set a little higher, similar to how I set them on my Telecaster. Does that affect it? Although, the Telecaster still doesn’t reach the clarity of the Vela. What I have noticed is that its tone is somewhat more midrange-heavy than the other guitars I mentioned, because when I engage my Ibanez TS9, the mids are much more pronounced compared to the other guitars. One thing that doesn’t quite sit right with me is that on the neck pickup, when adding gain and trying to do string bends while playing another string, the definition is lost, and it sounds very fuzzy, which doesn’t happen with a typical single-coil like a Stratocaster pickup.

 

[Russ73]

I own one of these PRS guitars; it’s a solid body from the first batch that comes with a Type-D neck and a DS-01 bridge pickup. Does anyone know what gives it such a clear and crisp sound, even with high gain? This has never happened to me with any other guitar. I’ve played and still play with a Gibson Studio with Gibson 57 pickups, a Fender Telecaster Troublemaker Limited Edition, and even a PRS Custom 22, and none of them have the note clarity, even when playing open chords with high gain. I’d love for the other guitars I mentioned to have that clarity. Compared to the others, this one has the strings set a little higher, similar to how I set them on my Telecaster. Does that affect it? Although, the Telecaster still doesn’t reach the clarity of the Vela. What I have noticed is that its tone is somewhat more midrange-heavy than the other guitars I mentioned, because when I engage my Ibanez TS9, the mids are much more pronounced compared to the other guitars. One thing that doesn’t quite sit right with me is that on the neck pickup, when adding gain and trying to do string bends while playing another string, the definition is lost, and it sounds very fuzzy, which doesn’t happen with a typical single-coil like a Stratocaster pickup.

I have a satin solidbody and feel the same way about the bridge pup...so clear with gain...theyre great guitars! Gonna rip on mine now for a bit lol

 

[d^rren]

FYI, if you're thinking of buying one new instead of used, one of the changes for 2024 was they changed the D-Type neck pickup to a PRS Narrowfield, which is hum-cancelling. And they added birds, which were only on the original reclaimed run and the Vernon Reid signature Vela.

 

[dogrocketp]

I just grabbed a used Vela S/H Satin that I am super-excited to receive (NGD thread coming soon)! I know @Aahzz is the resident Vela aficionado/expert, so I will take this advice to heart!

That said, I have this hare-brained idea to turn it into a 3 pickup guitar, S-S-H or H-S-H. I know it would require a body rout and a new pickguard, so I am not planning on doing this right away; I definitely want to spend some time to get to know it. Wondering if anyone has any thoughts on doing this (even if it is "don't do it!") ...

They called it the S2 studio. It’s a grossly underrated guitar……

 

[direwolf08]

They called it the S2 studio. It’s a grossly underrated guitar……

The S2 Studio is an amazing guitar! My buddy has one. He put Lollars (2 Firebirds and an El Rayo) in it and it sounds fantastic. I dig the offset look of the Vela, so when I posted that l, I was basically going for that S2 Studio pickup config in the Vela body style. I’ve cooled on that project though, I like the stock pickup configuration too much to mess with it! I’m building a thinline Jazzmaster instead.