NGD Again.....Tough Love

[drawshot]

So....I'm weird.

After much consideration, I decided to trade two of my SE PRS guitars for an S2 Standard Satin 22. Of the toys I owned, I found those two sitting idle, while my SE CU24, Vela, and CE24 got all the love. Having fallen in love with the Vela, I knew another S2 was in my future...but I'm saving for a Core, too....so something had to give.

I picked up the S2 Standard in Satin Vintage Cherry (pictures coming soon-ish)...and here's where it gets weird:

I LOVE how it sounds, acoustically. It just resonates, and sounds beautiful. The satin neck feels SO nice.

Is it wrong to own an electric, but actually prefer it unplugged??? Seems to fly in the face of conventional wisdom, doesn't it? Especially considering it's a solid body instrument.

Regardless, another awesome NGD for me. I'm 'down' to four PRS rigs, now...and very jazzed.

To the credit of the SE line, my CU24 is here to stay. That thing feels like a Core, to me...and plays incredible!

Back to Core homework, I go!

 

[bodia]

Nice!

 

[toothace]

Sweet!

 

[László]

Enjoy it! I'd have done the same thing.

 

[Alan Manning]

Good On Ya!!

 

[Stephen Rudnick]

Congratulations on your new S2.
That is the only PRS guitar I ever had a chance to hold...for a couple of minutes.

 

[andy474x]

Congrats, great guitar!!!

 

[CantankerousCarl]

The S2 satins do feel awesome. A little more grainy under finger than the CE24 satin maple necks, and other satin core necks as well. They feel more "nekkid" somehow.

Congrats - amp or no amp its a great choice!

 

[sleary]

I see no pics

 

[xjbebop]

Congratulations on your new S2.
That is the only PRS guitar I ever had a chance to hold...for a couple of minutes.

110 posts.... this post confuses me...
You've only ever held a PRS for a few minutes?

 

[dogrocketp]

Doesn`t really matter how many posts. If you have the hunger, it will eventually get fed. The virus will overrule sanity and money.

 

[g.wizz]

Most excellent

Congrats

 

[prsrocker1988]

Nice.

 

[drawshot]

I'm hoping to get a pic or two up today...albeit they will be of lesser quality and poorer lighting than any one photo you could find on Google Images.

It's a simple, straightforward S2 Satin Standard 22 in Vintage Cherry...and I have to admit...I like it as-is (meaning I feel no need to swap pickups, tuners, or trem parts). I do plan to swap strings to my Elixr Nanoweb 10's, though. Or maybe the one set of NXLs I bought by accident.

I pulled each toy off the wall to noodle around, playing the same three basic songs...both unplugged and wired up. Beyond any shadow, the S2 stands out as the acoustic juggernaut of the bunch. This works out well for times when I want to bring a guitar upstairs to goof off. It's a family rule that I shalt not push 40 Watts of Fender through the living room, and scare the neighborhood children.

I absolutely love the S2 range, and all they offer for a relatively low entry fee to the amusement park. The Vela I have brings out the inner Kurt Cobain in me, and is SO comfortable to play. I can't see it on the wall, without needing to take it down and play.

I spent some time looking at the S2 SC last night...and the 2016 CU24. I've got some serious homework ahead of me...as I'm 'allowed' one more guitar by the end of the year. My head says S2 SC, but my heart screams 'Core Model.'

It's wonderful to have such First World problems....

 

[rugerpc]

Not at all!

The acoustic sound of an electric guitar is the identical twin of its plugged-in sound. A good pickup merely mimics the acoustic properties accurately. That characteristic tone of a les paul coming out of the amp, can be heard when you play it acoustically. It's not the pickup.

Think about weak amateurish singing. You just know it when you hear it. Does amplifying with a microphone make the voice sound better? Yes the volume increases on amplification, but the weakness thinness and wavering traits of the voice only becomes more obvious. No matter how loud you crank it, it sounds bad. Same deal here.

What you hear acoustically on an electric guitar, is the kingmaker, the be all end all. Thats where the magic is, and thats the hard part to accomplish for any guitar maker. Pickups are the easy irrelevant part.

I agree that a guitar (any guitar, acoustic or electric) that sounds alive, vibrant, full, loud, harmonic, (add your own tonal superlatives here) is a better guitar and platform for great tones and music than one that is quiet, dead..... (add your own tonal faux pas here).

But to say that electronic guitar pickups reproduce that sound as faithfully as a good quality microphone is horse hockey.

The two systems are so fundamentally different in how they produce a signal that they cannot be used in comparison. A quality microphone has a diaphragm of some type that actually moves in response to the sound pressure wave. The more accurate the induced movement, the more accurate the signal generated. The principal is so basic that a speaker can be use as a dynamic microphone. Not a very good one, but the exercise is useful in understanding how microphones work. In its most basic form you have a diaphragm, a magnet and a coil. Try it. Condenser mics use a diaphragm and an FET impedance converter (a capacitor) to generate the signal. Ribbon mics USA a thin aluminum strip (the diaphragm) between 2 magnets. All microphones use diaphragms, they are acoustic transducers.

Guitar pickups are NOT acoustic transducers. The signal is generated by movement of the strings within a magnetic field produce by the pups. The movement within the field induces a signal in the coil. And pups are NOT designed to be accurate transducers. They almost always are tweaked to produce a flavored subset of sting vibration that they see. Darker, harsher, cleaner, less defined, clearer, more articulate, more bass, midrange or treble... The list of tonal tweaks for pups is almost endless.

While the competition in microphone sales is for the most accurate, least nuanced reproduction of sound, pups are almost the opposite, striving for a particular nuance and rejecting others.

So, I agree that a guitar that is alive acoustically is a good thing, because you will be able to get almost any nuanced subset of that acoustic tone by selecting almost any pup you like.

The opposite end of the scale is a guitar that is dead acoustically, with, as an example, lousy bass. It doesn't matter what wonderful bass nuanced pups you put in there, it won't have the bass presence of a better instrument.

Playing an electric guitar acoustically is a valuable purchase decision test. The potential of a guitar lies in its ability to produce a pleasing, harmonic, sustaining sound.

But to say the pups don't matter is wrong. You had better plug that puppy in, preferably using the identical signal chain you normally use, to hear what the pups are doing to that wonderful acoustic baseline.

 

[rugerpc]

I approach discussions with the general reader in mind. Everyone brings a different knowledge base to the discussion. I also view this forum as an information source. We tend to have at least moderately experienced players here, but we also have players who are new to guitar and just starting out. What we write can have consequences for the inexperienced.

I took your post to equate entirely the acoustic sound of an electric guitar with its final plugged in, amplified sound.

The acoustic sound of an electric guitar is the identical twin of its plugged-in sound. A good pickup merely mimics the acoustic properties accurately. That characteristic tone of a les paul coming out of the amp, can be heard when you play it acoustically. It's not the pickup.

I don't believe that I misunderstood, arbitrarily extrapolated or misrepresented anything there. Did I miss something? I don't believe that I did.

You follow that with an example of a microphone and a singer.

I believe your statement about a "good pickup" to be wrong for reasons I stated above.
I also believe that your microphone analogy is irrelevant since pickups are so different from microphones as I outline above.

I mean no malice when I say something is horse hockey or wrong. The statements apply to what you are saying, not you as a person. My only intent is to present a differing opinion backed up by relevant principals. I'm puzzled by the notion that when we see something that is factually wrong, we are not supposed to actually say it is wrong.

My apologies if you see my post above as an attack. It was not meant to be.

 

[rugerpc]

I'm not sure that a truly neutral pickup exists. Response is all over the map, both in terms of tonal characteristics and output.

I'd be interested in seeing a list of pups that you feel are tonally neutral. I'd also invite members with experiences with pups you list to weigh in.

 

[Mixstar]

I'd be interested in seeing a list of pups that you feel are tonally neutral. I'd also invite members with experiences with pups you list to weigh in.

I agree, maybe a separate topic?

 

[drawshot]

As one of the 'Newbie Guys' to both this forum, and guitars on the whole, I am really enjoying the in-depth discussion. I understand that everyone has their own set of experiences and opinions...and I respect them, regardless of how much (or little) they make sense to me, or if I happen to agree or disagree with them.

I appreciate the inputs from ALL sides, as it helps me to learn things I didn't know that I didn't know.

Regardless of whether or not my pickups translate, precisely, to the acoustic characteristics of the strings on my S2, I love it.

Thank you all for the fascinating injects. I'm digging the direction this thread has taken.