One thing about the S2's...

Y’all know that with the exception of a small run of Artist guitars (maybe it was II or III?) in the 90’s PRS tuners have all been “foreign” tuners, right?

They’ve also never said where or who is/are making the bridges and trems now. MilCom/John Mann did at first, then it was Excel, and now the only thing they’ve disclosed is that they have them manufactured for them from “vendors” (plural).

So this whole thing about “USA parts” vs. “foreign parts” is kind of a fantasy that people other than the company have created, and/or assumptions based on the past.

Got burst everyone’s bubble and agree.
 
Couple things.

1. @pauloqs : Recessing the back plate is not such an upgrade that it would affect the entire pricing characteristic of the guitar. Probably more influential is American vs. import pickups and parts, which is why the S2 Custom is more than the S2 Standard, and the CE with all American parts is more than the S2 Custom. Above that most of what you get are mainly aesthetics such as deeper body carve and prettier finishes, perhaps some premium woods for the connoisseurs out there. After all, the core guitars at a $1500 extra premium have the same pickups among other things as the CE level.
2. Recessing the backplate is such a tiny inconsequential detail. Is it something you ever see or notice when playing? For me, I could care less if my S2 Standard has a recessed back plate or not. It doesn't make any difference to how the guitar plays or sounds.

-k


There are things that affect price directly through cost, and yes cost contributes to price (price is a function of marginal cost in every economics text book). For instance, a solid neck with glued in headstock and heel, like CEs and S2s, is cheaper to produce than a one pierce neck like the Core, because it generates less material waste. The S2 and CE production process allows for more necks from less wood compared to the Core. Therefore it is cost cutting and some would argue that is inconsequential regarding the performance of the instrument.

As for the pickups, it is just cheaper to produce them in Asia. Labor cost is lower. Pickups are cost cutting measures.

Hardware, same thing. I just like to point out two things, just because people get confused all the time. 1) The tuners are not SE tuners. They are similar to the phase II locking tuners (not the same, but very similar). 2) Only the guitars with tem bridge share the bridge with SEs. The ones with fixed bridges share the same bridge as Core fix bridges.

There are things that are on S2s and CEs that, I agree, are inconsequential. For instance, why not use the SE pretend pearl birds? Instead they use a opaque plastic for the bird inlays. Why not use the CNC carved top similar to the SEs? Recessing the back plates could be done on a CNC without affecting the marginal cost (cost per unit), at least significantly. Why not do so? Because it affects the perception of the product.

If you spend enough time with an S2 or a CE, you could reach the conclusion that in terms of feel and comfort, the upgrade to a Core is fairly small. Not because Core aren’t worth it, but because S2’s and CEs are that good. They need to cause an immediate impression the they are not at the level of Core guitars without affecting the playability of the guitar. One was to do this is through things that are inconsequential. Like, for instance, the recess of a back plate.

The OP is not the 1st person that I’ve seen mentioning the non-recess back plates. I’ve seen a few gear reviewers mentioning it. Some even suggesting PRS to recess it because it felt cheap (reviewer’s word not mine). I think that’s the point. It emphasizes that Core are top of the line luxury guitars. If you can afford one, you should get one (those are my words). And you need to reach that conclusion in the first few minutes you try one for the first time. These small inconsequential things add up and they do matter.
 
Y’all know that with the exception of a small run of Artist guitars (maybe it was II or III?) in the 90’s PRS tuners have all been “foreign” tuners, right?

They’ve also never said where or who is/are making the bridges and trems now. MilCom/John Mann did at first, then it was Excel, and now the only thing they’ve disclosed is that they have them manufactured for them from “vendors” (plural).

So this whole thing about “USA parts” vs. “foreign parts” is kind of a fantasy that people other than the company have created, and/or assumptions based on the past.

TBH I can’t tell much difference between the S2 phase II tuners and the “core” tuners on my Mira 25th. I think as far as materials and construction, they’re extremely similar, both have brass shafts, metal lock screw, no nylon bushings, etc. And, in fact, I just got my 2 sets of the SE locking tuners in the mail yesterday, and those also appear almost identical to the other versions. I think it’s mostly the spec on washer sizes (metric vs US) , presence and/or location of a screw on the back that differentiates them... and that ain’t much. So those S2/SE phase II’s are good stuff. Heck, even the SE “import” trem is quite good compared to what comes on other import guitars, many of those have cheap, hollow pot metal blocks and other nasty stuff.

I thought it was a little odd when I got my first S2 that the back plates weren’t recessed, but it hasn’t had any effect on my experience with the guitar. Still love it.
 
Ask your wife for a power tool for xmas, and DIY ?

See from around 20min in this video. He's not a competitor, its an interesting build / relaxing watch for the geekery

 
And another thing... I own some USA made PRS branded tuners, and you know what? They suck. :p

So be glad that Schaller and Gotoh and whoever else’s “foreign” tuners are on your guitar. They’re way better.

Well i guess what I really meant was the tuners and hardware that comes on the Core series guitars is of higher quality, I agree it doesn't matter where they are made, but the quality matters. I've only had tuning issues on the one S2 satin i had and some (not all) SEs I've owned. Come to think about it the trem models on the S2s and SEs were not up to snuff for me. However I'm doing a lot of studio work most of the time...so i guess it may affect me more.
 
Why not use the CNC carved top similar to the SEs? Recessing the back plates could be done on a CNC without affecting the marginal cost (cost per unit), at least significantly. Why not do so? Because it affects the perception of the product.

But it also affects the cost. I don't know what it costs to change a CNC program - I'm sure it's probably not insignificant as a line item, but spread out over the course of 2-3 years, it's probably somewhat minimal per guitar. So let's agree that changing the program to do the carved top and recess the plates is not an issue. The problem is people seem to like their guitars to be smooth. What comes out of the CNC machine is not a finished product. The sanding of a carved top is not insignificant time-wise. It's been a while since I toured the S2 area, but the big cost savings there comes in the reduction of man-hours it takes to produce the guitars. Flat tops are easier to sand. Non-recessed plates are easier to sand. It also reduces opportunities for error - you're not going to sand away a chunk of the carve, or sand the area around the plate ledge too low. Every thing that you change that requires the workflow to change has a cost. What seems insignificant to us may have a much larger impact behind the scenes.
 
Recessed plates do have an effect on cost, due to differences in tolerance following the lacquer stage and the need for “fettling” when fitting.

Times this by the number of trem plates and there you have it.
 
But it also affects the cost. I don't know what it costs to change a CNC program - I'm sure it's probably not insignificant as a line item, but spread out over the course of 2-3 years, it's probably somewhat minimal per guitar. So let's agree that changing the program to do the carved top and recess the plates is not an issue. The problem is people seem to like their guitars to be smooth. What comes out of the CNC machine is not a finished product. The sanding of a carved top is not insignificant time-wise. It's been a while since I toured the S2 area, but the big cost savings there comes in the reduction of man-hours it takes to produce the guitars. Flat tops are easier to sand. Non-recessed plates are easier to sand. It also reduces opportunities for error - you're not going to sand away a chunk of the carve, or sand the area around the plate ledge too low. Every thing that you change that requires the workflow to change has a cost. What seems insignificant to us may have a much larger impact behind the scenes.

A fixed cost has no bearing on price. It is the price per unit that drives prices. So if it take 1h or a month to write the CAD program to add a recess for back plates is not relevant for explaining prices. At least from an economics point of view. So you’re right, not significant.

I'm not convinced that recessing the back plate covers would change the manual labor requirements for sanding. Every single guitar with recessed back plates that I can remember had rough sanded recessed area. I mean, just in 2017 the LP faded, which had CNC‘d carved top, recessed back plates, American electronics and hardware was being sold for $700 ($699 US).

Yes I understand that PRS are leaders in QC standards and final product perfectionism. However, we’re already paying for that. I’ve seen some really good Faded and bad ones. Some criticism regarding those guitars that you see online were warranted and others were just feeding the hive, but I’ve never heard anyone complain about rough sanded recess areas.
 
A fixed cost has no bearing on price. It is the price per unit that drives prices. So if it take 1h or a month to write the CAD program to add a recess for back plates is not relevant for explaining prices. At least from an economics point of view. So you’re right, not significant.

I'm not convinced that recessing the back plate covers would change the manual labor requirements for sanding. Every single guitar with recessed back plates that I can remember had rough sanded recessed area. I mean, just in 2017 the LP faded, which had CNC‘d carved top, recessed back plates, American electronics and hardware was being sold for $700 ($699 US).

Yes I understand that PRS are leaders in QC standards and final product perfectionism. However, we’re already paying for that. I’ve seen some really good Faded and bad ones. Some criticism regarding those guitars that you see online were warranted and others were just feeding the hive, but I’ve never heard anyone complain about rough sanded recess areas.
The recess on my 91 isn't even sanded, much less rough sanded. The indent for the backplate must have been sanded tho.

Is it possible, due to the thinner body, that there's not enough space for the springs if you recess the backplate?
 
Back
Top