Pics/semi review of comps between S2/SE/Core

[0defects13]

The pic is just the preview from my site. You'll need to go to the link and click on the photographs to display the full size.

Here's a link to it http://www.roblynn.org/prs-se-s2-and-core-comps/

Let me know if there's anything you want to know- I'll be glad to add/change/edit as needed.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Killer guitars! Man, do I love the looks of that Navarro.

I think you need to reevaluate your opinion on the SE trem though.
The main reason I picked up my first PRS in 1993 was because I was sick of double locking trems and allen wrenches, and I'm a whammy bar addicted knucklehead that can't keep his hand off the bar (I'm working on it.).

I own a limited edition John Mann 1980 spec, an original MilCom, an Excel made two-piece, and the SE trem. It's not a bad unit. You just need to look at it with those same eyes that lead you to believe the SE guitars are a good value... with a little modification. I don't feel that it's as much of a tonal or functional step down, but more of a quality of material kind of step down.

You can put a core arm in an SE. I already did it. The little bushing that holds the arm is too small, which is a good thing 'cause that leaves you with material to ream it out and jam a core arm down in there. You could use a drill or you could be like me and sit there with a cigarette lighter lit on the end of the bar and massage that hot beauty into the bushing, melting it. Didn't take much either.

My biggest beef with the SE trem, and the reason for the whole "playing with fire" episode is because the bar is a little too long, with a conical shape on the end that makes it sit up higher in the block. You can always shave that down a bit too.

Saddles are easy enough to change, and those can also be a preference thing as well. The only guitar I have the stock saddles on is one of my SE models and that may change soon, I have a spare set of core saddles laying around that I might give a whirl...

There are a ton of things about the S2 construction and cost saving measures that we'll never know. But as I mentioned to you in a different thread about you not feeling the SE trem was a good enough on your $**** guitar, there is a $225 price difference of the units.

 

[wardog]

I have to say I am really impressed with my s2 30th anniversary cu24. The se term is not an issue. I upgraded the controls to match a core with 5way and vb/hfs. I have to say it has elevated the guitars tone. Not saying the s2 vb/hfs was lacking. I had planned to upgrade to core pickups as part of my decision to purchase. But I can't say I feel the same about the trem. Funny part is as I write this post I have the s2 in my hands watching Fifa. The neck is the winner on this construction for sure. Have to say I like the pattern neck on this better than my core 24 with pattern thin.

I saw saw where john Mann guitar vaults sells an upgrade kit for the s2 trem, but again, I have no issue with the trem.

 

[sleary]

I never had a problem with the s2 or se bridge. Rock solid imo...

 

[0defects13]

Wow! Great responses guys!

I apologize if I was a bit ambiguous. It isn't that the bridge isn't functional, it just seems crazy to me that there's enough of a savings to substantiate using the SE trem on the S2 guitar. It takes just a little away from it for me. With that said, I'd say it's a higher quality trem than a Fender USA strat trem, and I own a few of those.

Thanks for the positive constructive feedback. I'll be sure to add to/edit my post in my blog.

One thing I miss is that CE24...and this seems stupid, but the ebony buttons were hot!

 

[andy474x]

Nice comparison! You hit on some very key areas, especially on the S2's. I also wish the inlays were more textured! I can't believe that some kind of pearloid looking material would cost that much more... it's all plastic, right? Maybe I'm missing something, maybe Paul chose the plain white material because it's harder and wouldn't suck up vibration as much? Who knows. I wouldn't mind more bling in my inlays though, that's for sure. I can also respect your point about the cases. While I personally do prefer the gig bags, I can see why one would want the hard case as well. The bag makes it easier for me to carry my gear in less trips at gigs, etc., but on the other hand, the security of a hard case for a $1400 guitar is legit. Just a preference thing. The trem... from a sales point of view, I do think PRS made the right call putting the SE trem on the S2's if the nicer unit would add $150-ish to the price. Certainly would like more when paying twice as much, but when I play my S2, it sounds and works great, so I can't complain. Don't have a core to compare to, so ignorance is bliss, eh?

Anyways, thanks for the nice run down!

 

[garrettb]

Insightful. And thanks for sharing the opinions on the things you didn't like in a reasonable way (here and in other threads).

 

[dogrocketp]

I understand your reasoning on both the trem and gig bag issues. I only replaced the screws on the SE trem, and I definitely am a gig bag person unless there`s hard travel involved. I think that your conclusion speaks more than anything else. The quality on every level leads me to PRS. I want a quality instrument, and I have it at every price level with PRS. That`s what I play, and my ears tell me that`s the right decision.

 

[IRG]

I liked the blog as well, and great pics - and nice choices in guitars! I've been eyeing a Core Custom 24 in white lately myself (not a Dave Navarro), and while it's nice, at $3k new, I keep looking at the S2 version in white for less than half depending on the deal you get I guess).

IMO the S2 Standards are a really nice combination of quality/features/price. A little cheaper than the S2 non standards, especially with dots - my S2 Standard 22 was $1037 all included. Not quite double the price of my SE Clint Lowery. The SE line is a great value for sure. Never been a fan of the pickups in previous ones I've owned, but for the downtuned stuff I've been doing lately, I actually prefer the Lowery over my S2. But for other stuff, the #7 pickups in the S2 sound very nice. Curious about getting an S2 Custom 24 with the more aggressive pickups in it. Guess it's time to sell my strat!

 

[0defects13]

I liked the blog as well, and great pics - and nice choices in guitars! I've been eyeing a Core Custom 24 in white lately myself (not a Dave Navarro), and while it's nice, at $3k new, I keep looking at the S2 version in white for less than half depending on the deal you get I guess).

IMO the S2 Standards are a really nice combination of quality/features/price. A little cheaper than the S2 non standards, especially with dots - my S2 Standard 22 was $1037 all included. Not quite double the price of my SE Clint Lowery. The SE line is a great value for sure. Never been a fan of the pickups in previous ones I've owned, but for the downtuned stuff I've been doing lately, I actually prefer the Lowery over my S2. But for other stuff, the #7 pickups in the S2 sound very nice. Curious about getting an S2 Custom 24 with the more aggressive pickups in it. Guess it's time to sell my strat!

The S2 series is a fantastic line- and my complaints aside, it's still great. The S2 pickups are great and I think they are a true HFS and VB, even if wound overseas. The SE 7 allegedly has HFS and VB in it, but they are too bright. I played it through my triple rec yesterday and they are very, very bright. I could EQ it out, but not in a set where I'd be changing out a few guitars. I'd screw up my EQ lol!

I've actually been considering one of those S2 standards. They are sharp looking guitars and I think they are different enough that they are a beast all of their own.

I think that the SE line is just great. You know going into it what cost saving measures took place. I know that I'm not buying a cheap import with CTS pots, top quality switch, Tone-Pros or another high quality bridge, I know I'm not getting locking tuners...and you know what? I'm okay with that. The cost of entry is so low (comparatively speaking, I'm NOT trying to say that an SE is cheap or that people should just poop out 500+ dollars whilly nilly) that I know that I'm going to lose some items. I know my way around guitar tech work, so eventually swapping out pickups, pots, et cetera is something that I greatly enjoy.

The thing I liked about the S2 the moment that I picked it up was that it just worked. Notes rang true throughout the fret board. I had little need of a setup for it. Even if I prefer a wide/thin, the neck being pattern regular was super cozy. Two of my PRS have pattern regular and I have no problem using either. When I fight bought it, I didn't know it was regular! I just played it and liked it.

The only thing I'll suggest to you about selling your strat is this- if you can afford not to, don't. I've come close to selling either of mine several times, but unless you got them used/cheap, or can afford to take a loss, don't do it. I'd rather keep my two strats than to sell them for what used strats go for.

 

[andy474x]

I find my SE 24 (6 string) to also be quite bright. I think it's the maple neck, I switched pickups and it persisted. Nifty trick I tried and works very nicely is to connect the two active lugs of the tone pot (one with wire coming from the volume pot, other going to ground) with a .001uf capacitor. Kills those super bright highs, have now done it on my 24 and a Mira X with fantastic results!

 

[IRG]

The S2 series is a fantastic line- and my complaints aside, it's still great. The S2 pickups are great and I think they are a true HFS and VB, even if wound overseas. The SE 7 allegedly has HFS and VB in it, but they are too bright. I played it through my triple rec yesterday and they are very, very bright. I could EQ it out, but not in a set where I'd be changing out a few guitars. I'd screw up my EQ lol!

I've actually been considering one of those S2 standards. They are sharp looking guitars and I think they are different enough that they are a beast all of their own.

I think that the SE line is just great. You know going into it what cost saving measures took place. I know that I'm not buying a cheap import with CTS pots, top quality switch, Tone-Pros or another high quality bridge, I know I'm not getting locking tuners...and you know what? I'm okay with that. The cost of entry is so low (comparatively speaking, I'm NOT trying to say that an SE is cheap or that people should just poop out 500+ dollars whilly nilly) that I know that I'm going to lose some items. I know my way around guitar tech work, so eventually swapping out pickups, pots, et cetera is something that I greatly enjoy.

The thing I liked about the S2 the moment that I picked it up was that it just worked. Notes rang true throughout the fret board. I had little need of a setup for it. Even if I prefer a wide/thin, the neck being pattern regular was super cozy. Two of my PRS have pattern regular and I have no problem using either. When I fight bought it, I didn't know it was regular! I just played it and liked it.

The only thing I'll suggest to you about selling your strat is this- if you can afford not to, don't. I've come close to selling either of mine several times, but unless you got them used/cheap, or can afford to take a loss, don't do it. I'd rather keep my two strats than to sell them for what used strats go for.

Yeah I've been on the fence with selling my strat. I'm not a huge strat player anyway, but I've liked this one, it's a MIM Classic Players strat '50's. Nice CS components on it; pickups, bridge, and neck is soft V neck, very comfy. The other guitar I thought about selling is an Epi LP 1960 V3, very nice LP overall. I prefer humbuckers over single coils most of the time. Would prefer to sell neither to fund the S2 Custom24, not sure I can though.

 

[drdoom8793]

The S2 series is a fantastic line- and my complaints aside, it's still great. The S2 pickups are great and I think they are a true HFS and VB, even if wound overseas. The SE 7 allegedly has HFS and VB in it, but they are too bright. I played it through my triple rec yesterday and they are very, very bright. I could EQ it out, but not in a set where I'd be changing out a few guitars. I'd screw up my EQ lol!

I find my SE 24 (6 string) to also be quite bright. I think it's the maple neck, I switched pickups and it persisted. Nifty trick I tried and works very nicely is to connect the two active lugs of the tone pot (one with wire coming from the volume pot, other going to ground) with a .001uf capacitor. Kills those super bright highs, have now done it on my 24 and a Mira X with fantastic results!

Yeah, I definitely agree with Andy. The SE 24s (both 6 and 7 string) have a maple neck where the S2 24 has a Mahogany neck. Not saying the pickups aren't the issue but I would suspect the neck wood certainly isn't helping make it any darker.

 

[JTroska]

I have an SE, S2, and a Core.

I think the S2 is basically a way for them to build and sell guitars out of wood that doesn't quite make the grade to be a Core.

But I think a gig bag with a $1500 S2 is possibly a mistake for PRS as it cheapens the experience. Not what a company wants to do if they're trying to instill brand loyalty in hopes the customer will later upgrade to a Core.

I can't comment on the trem as all my guitars have fixed bridges. The think the fixed S2 bridge is the same USA bridge as the Core. Whatever it is, it works.

I wonder if the over-seas S2 pickups are the same as the USA pickups of the same name. When I play my S2 #7s alone in my room, I often think they sound too bright. But when I play them loud with the band, they sound perfect. I have no plans to swap the pickups. I think they work great in a band context.

Really feel the S2 is the best American guitar one can get in it's price range. I gave the SE to my brother to learn on. My Core has been completely reliable for years. But my semi hollow s2 is the new toy that gets all the attention now. I really enjoy the semi-hollow thing.