Limited vs new Core Special Semi-hollowbody models

The MT’s are amazing in the SSH. They really nailed it with pairing them with NF. I’m sure the LT’s will be excellent as well but I wouldn’t want to change the MT’s in my SSH for anything. IMO the split sounds are the absolutely best humbucker split (or tapped) sounds ever, very convincing. To me, they are much better than the TCI pickups (Pauls guitar, MEV) when split/tapped. The TCI’s however sound great in humbucking mode.

I have both a Special Semi-Hollow and a Paul's Guitar with TCI pickups. In my experience the 58/15MTs in tapped mode sound very close to the TCI pickups in full humbucker mode. The TCI's when split sound very thin and anemic to me, whereas the 58/15MT's sound fantastic in tapped mode. Flipping the 58/15MT's to full humbucker mode takes a great sounding pickup and just drives the amp that much harder, more like a boost than a single coil vs humbucker difference.
 
In the true spirit of this forum, you should buy both guitars.

Lol, trust me, I want to.. If Jack would give me a BOGO on those, I'd be happy to.. or if he has an underground kidney removal service in the back, that could work too
 
I’ve never tried out LTs but the MTs on mine are really really nice. I leave the rhythm on tapped mode most of the time.

Gratuitous picture:

9OhkP91.jpg

9OhkP91
 
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Thanks! Bit of a mystery actually. The consensus from the forum is that it could be “honey”.
 
Thanks! Bit of a mystery actually. The consensus from the forum is that it could be “honey”.
Is that a Satin finish? Looks a little like my SH 594. Mine has a satin finish and his Faded McCarty Burst. This pic used flash, so it looks shinier in the picture. In person it looks a lot like yours.


Ju1Q5aP.jpg
 
That is beautiful!! I'm typically not a quilt guy, but the natural-ish color here really is beautiful
 
Guys... I want to thank everyone here and your guidance, this was a revelatory discussion for me. I went out to Northeast Music Center and I can't say enough amazing things about Jack Gretz and everyone there! SO accommodating and genuine and nice.. I tried out a Special 22 with the 58/15MT's and the one with the 85/15MT's side by side. The 58/15's were sweeter and a bit milder, but ultimately the sparkle and clarity of the 85/15's really won me over. Both are amazing, but SO incredibly happy to have picked this up!

https://ibb.co/Fxdjx1F

HTML:
<img src="https://i.ibb.co/2npfnrT/Special22-Faded-Whale-Blue.jpg" alt="Special22-Faded-Whale-Blue" border="0">
 
Guys... I want to thank everyone here and your guidance, this was a revelatory discussion for me. I went out to Northeast Music Center and I can't say enough amazing things about Jack Gretz and everyone there! SO accommodating and genuine and nice.. I tried out a Special 22 with the 58/15MT's and the one with the 85/15MT's side by side. The 58/15's were sweeter and a bit milder, but ultimately the sparkle and clarity of the 85/15's really won me over. Both are amazing, but SO incredibly happy to have picked this up!

https://ibb.co/Fxdjx1F

HTML:
<img src="https://i.ibb.co/2npfnrT/Special22-Faded-Whale-Blue.jpg" alt="Special22-Faded-Whale-Blue" border="0">
Dude, hot guitar! Congrats. First SSH I’ve seen with uncovered pickups.
 
Thanks guys! if you go back a page or so you can see where I came into this thread, I asked about these uncovered pickups too, I was confused!! These aren't actually the standard 58/15MT's that usually come on the SSH, they're 85/15MT's.. I've seen conflicting accounts around the internet as to whether these are just the same as the 58/15's just uncovered or not. Jack told me that the factory reached out to him directly to ask if he wanted to pick it up for his inventory and said yes, the guitar came like this direct from the factory. I've sent an email to PRS asking for as much info as they can give me on the guitar, seems like it was maybe a cancelled special order? Or maybe a factory experiment as they were gearing up for the Core release? No idea! But feel very fortunate to have found such an amazing instrument that is also seemingly pretty unique!

And yeah.. every single tone on this thing is unbelievable, of which there are many! The split modes and middle positions are just the best things I've ever heard.. I'd planned on this guitar doing everything that my strat can't do but I A/B'd them as soon as I got home and I really don't know if I'll be picking up the strat again anytime soon.. This guitar can do everything from the strat position 2 "quack" to high gain rhythm/lead, it's truly amazing!
 
I've seen conflicting accounts around the internet as to whether these are just the same as the 58/15's just uncovered or not.

Shawn has said that the 58/15s are not just uncovered 85/15s - there's something else that goes on, but it's not public info.
 
Shawn has said that the 58/15s are not just uncovered 85/15s - there's something else that goes on, but it's not public info.

Thank you, this is what I would assume.. I'm not informed near enough to know the difference in sound between a covered and uncovered version of the exact same pickup, but that didn't seem to account for the slight differences I was hearing in comparing the two. I referred to this guide before I went to check them out in the store and I think this is accurate. The 58/15's have more mids and hi-mids and have more of bell-like tone whereas the 85/15's have more clarity and brightness. Both sound great and have nothing close to "muddiness" or "brittleness" that some of those descriptions might conjure.

https://forums.prsguitars.com/threads/58-15-and-85-15-pickups.23155/
 
This chat was extremely helpful. For whatever reason I got obsessed with this guitar and then went totally down the gear rabbit hole trying to decide between going the 2018-2019 limited vs. the new 2021 core SSH. Of all the pros/cons for me it was all about the MT vs LT pickups. The finish differences and the TCI process were distant considerations. Even before seeing this thread there was some instinct about that I wouldn't be happy with the LTs but didn't know where it was coming from until I found this and read through it and became even more convinced I would be happier with the MTs. And then divine manifestation... Found a mint/used limited for solid deal (Limited 10-top Orange Tiger that originally sold at Music Zoo in NY - you can see more pictures there if you search for PRS limited special semi-hollow music zoo NY orange tiger - I'm not allowed to post links yet being noob on the forum). Arrives in 2 days... Appreciate the discussion above - super helpful.
 
This chat was extremely helpful. For whatever reason I got obsessed with this guitar and then went totally down the gear rabbit hole trying to decide between going the 2018-2019 limited vs. the new 2021 core SSH. Of all the pros/cons for me it was all about the MT vs LT pickups. The finish differences and the TCI process were distant considerations. Even before seeing this thread there was some instinct about that I wouldn't be happy with the LTs but didn't know where it was coming from until I found this and read through it and became even more convinced I would be happier with the MTs. And then divine manifestation... Found a mint/used limited for solid deal (Limited 10-top Orange Tiger that originally sold at Music Zoo in NY - you can see more pictures there if you search for PRS limited special semi-hollow music zoo NY orange tiger - I'm not allowed to post links yet being noob on the forum). Arrives in 2 days... Appreciate the discussion above - super helpful.
Congrats on your SSH! Welcome to the forum
 
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