New '18 S2 Studio models.......ship date?

[lowaction]

Try raising the pickup height closer to the strings. I thought the same when I first got my Vela. Raising it up made it the bomb.

Yea, I raised the neck pickup and it definitely helped....

 

[lowaction]

I just realized that the S2 is shipped with 10 string gauge....that might have a little bit to do with my tone issue...I'm comparing it to my other guitars that are all strung with 11's. Might also be a part of me rolling the high E off the neck.....

 

[IOI]

I got mine on Friday.....the black version. I have to admit that I'm slightly disappointed.

Positive side:
1. It looks great, weighs and feels great.
2. the bridge humbucker has a nice sound....tight and not too harsh
3. the coil split sounds are very nice and don't sound wimpy
4. Neck, intonation all perfect as expected with PRS

My issues are:

1. the E string slot in the nut is cut too close to the neck edge. This is causing me to roll the E string off of the neck in some cases....I've never had this issue before and was quite surprised to see this...
2. I'm not that excited about the neck pickup sound....its kind of generic....sounds great in middle position with the bridge humbucker, but very blah by itself....maybe ok for a strat sounding neck solo, but has no character.
3. The tremolo has much less action than my other PRS's....it seems very springy; I have to really jam it down to get close to a dive bomb which I can do more easily on other same style tremolos.

For comparison, I have an original PRS 1989 Studio HSS and a SE 2010 Custom 22...(I didn't like the pickups in them either and have swapped them out many times too).

I still love the guitar.....just wondering if I will get the nut replaced and maybe put a mini-humbucker in the bridge at some point....

Thanks for the write up, I'm a bit worried about the tremolo though, maybe you got a stiff one (ooh er!)?
Let us know if things change with 11's.

 

[lowaction]

Thanks for the write up, I'm a bit worried about the tremolo though, maybe you got a stiff one (ooh er!)?
Let us know if things change with 11's.

maybe its the stiffness of the bar itself, but I end up with a more surf/bigsby sounding tremolo vs what I get with my other PRS's and my strat. Thats fine since I'm not a shredder and its more subtle/forgiving for what I'm playing (contemporary worship)

 

[lowaction]

I just listened to recordings of it from a practice on Tuesday and it sounds great.....I am warming up to the pickup sounds....its low-output, so I've got to change my pre-amp settings and crank it up vs my hot guitars.....

 

[lowaction]

Thanks for the write up, I'm a bit worried about the tremolo though, maybe you got a stiff one (ooh er!)?
Let us know if things change with 11's.

I compared the tremolo with my 1988 PRS and realized that it is just shorter so there is less lever arm....If I put the old, longer arm in there, it behaves the same.

I haven't bothered to put 11's on it since I've gotten used to how it works with my setup and am very happy with the sounds I'm getting.... the tone and the volume knobs are way more useful than any of my other guitars.....

 

[IOI]

I compared the tremolo with my 1988 PRS and realized that it is just shorter so there is less lever arm....If I put the old, longer arm in there, it behaves the same.

I haven't bothered to put 11's on it since I've gotten used to how it works with my setup and am very happy with the sounds I'm getting.... the tone and the volume knobs are way more useful than any of my other guitars.....

Thanks for the update Lowaction, it's sounds great, I'm still waiting for mine though..

 

[stratos75]

I compared the tremolo with my 1988 PRS and realized that it is just shorter so there is less lever arm....If I put the old, longer arm in there, it behaves the same.

I haven't bothered to put 11's on it since I've gotten used to how it works with my setup and am very happy with the sounds I'm getting.... the tone and the volume knobs are way more useful than any of my other guitars.....

Thanks from me as well. I get mine this Friday. My first PRS.

 

[Tim S]

I get mine this Friday. My first PRS.

Well... It's Friday! HNGD?

 

[Tim S]

Looks like there are two Frost Blues available at Sweetwater right now.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/S2StudioFB--prs-s2-studio-frost-blue-metallic

 

[stratos75]

Well... It's Friday! HNGD?

Just played 4 hours straight, didn't want to put it down. The ideas just pour out. It has a better "Strat" sound with the neck pickup than my American Roadhouse Fender. As far as cons, it is a bit noisy and the nobs feel a bit week. The gig bag vs. hard case choice is slightly obnoxious. But man is it nice. I have wanted a PRS for many years.

 

[Tim S]

Just played 4 hours straight, didn't want to put it down. The ideas just pour out. It has a better "Strat" sound with the neck pickup than my American Roadhouse Fender. As far as cons, it is a bit noisy and the nobs feel a bit week. The gig bag vs. hard case choice is slightly obnoxious. But man is it nice. I have wanted a PRS for many years.

Congrats! A Limited run for your first PRS? You've got style.

The Asian pots have no resistance when you turn them, but I can live with that. The sweep of the tone pot on my S2 Studio (like my S2 Custom) acts more like an on/off switch at around 3... but I've seen others mention that here before. There's got to be some way to tame that "hump" electronically. (cap or resistor?)

I was expecting to be overwhelmed by the D-type pickups but ended up being surprised by how great that Starla bridge pickup is! It blends perfectly with the D-types, but it is dramatically louder than the D-types when you switch from D-type to bridge... not great for rhythm, but great for solos,

 

[IOI]

Congrats to both of you, I'm getting very jealous!

In the meantime: I'm curious if we'll ever know how many of these will have been made? Is that sort of information ever divulged by PRS?

 

[pac90]

I'd try it for a month or so, i was crtitical of my S2 pots at first but now i got used to the different torque needed between tones and volumes, and I love the sweep....wouldnt change it now

 

[pac90]

Nice model by the way, love it