Geo408
Not a new member.
I have only owned one se, and it was a Santana model made by their other company, World Music. I have played a lot of SE’s, and I just can’t bond with them. The Santana that I owned, I upgraded the heck out of: Duncan Seth Lover pickups, hipshot locking tuners, all new pots, wiring and switches, and a complete refret and core nut. I had all the parts, so outside of my time and labor, it didn’t really cost me anything.
The point is, even after all that time and energy I kept the guitar for about a year before selling it off. It sounded okay, played okay and stayed in tune…but it had no mojo. It just lacked the “feel”. Having said that, I just modded a Zack Myers se for a good friend, (the one who bought my se Santana) and it felt pretty good and sounded nice, after putting in a set of 59/09’s. But, they’re just not for me…I’m definitely not putting them down, they’re light years away from the guitars I grew up with in the 70’s! Much better playing, for sure.
I have played a lot of S2’s, too. I own a Vela with a pattern regular neck, and it’s a great guitar. It sounds great, and has its own thing going on. I built a 2nd pick guard for it with a Gibson mid-60’s mini humbucker in the neck, and a TV Jones in the bridge. I originally thought that would sound better than the stock pickups, but it really doesn’t.. it sounds great, but it’s just a different kind of great, if you know what I mean. So, whats great is I can change it out, if I get bored..lol!
I think SE’s are an excellent value for the money. S2’s are too. I own several core models and for me, they just work. I still play live gigs, and do studio work so they’re great tools…that also look awesome and play fantastically. I also own a few Fenders, and Gibson..because you need different tools for different jobs, and Variety is the spice of life. Ymmv..
The point is, even after all that time and energy I kept the guitar for about a year before selling it off. It sounded okay, played okay and stayed in tune…but it had no mojo. It just lacked the “feel”. Having said that, I just modded a Zack Myers se for a good friend, (the one who bought my se Santana) and it felt pretty good and sounded nice, after putting in a set of 59/09’s. But, they’re just not for me…I’m definitely not putting them down, they’re light years away from the guitars I grew up with in the 70’s! Much better playing, for sure.
I have played a lot of S2’s, too. I own a Vela with a pattern regular neck, and it’s a great guitar. It sounds great, and has its own thing going on. I built a 2nd pick guard for it with a Gibson mid-60’s mini humbucker in the neck, and a TV Jones in the bridge. I originally thought that would sound better than the stock pickups, but it really doesn’t.. it sounds great, but it’s just a different kind of great, if you know what I mean. So, whats great is I can change it out, if I get bored..lol!
I think SE’s are an excellent value for the money. S2’s are too. I own several core models and for me, they just work. I still play live gigs, and do studio work so they’re great tools…that also look awesome and play fantastically. I also own a few Fenders, and Gibson..because you need different tools for different jobs, and Variety is the spice of life. Ymmv..
