Played a New SE CU22 Semi Hollow Today...

[CantankerousCarl]

...DIDN'T BUY IT though. Surprise, surprise, surprise.

It was really nice. The newer SEs look and feel even better to me than the ones I had just a few years ago.

This one was really bright, even on the neck pickup. Would be interesting to see how it would sound cranked up in a full-band situation.

I honestly probably would have picked it up, but apparently my hands have changed. It's been a long time since I had an SE wide thin neck in my left hand. It felt like an Ibby Wizard neck. I have wide thins on my older CEs, and this felt thinner. And the pattern thin on my newer CE24 feels almost like a pattern regular compared to this.

Really nice, but I just couldn't gel with the thin-ness anymore. But I sincerely recommend anyone interested in such a guitar to give it a try. I think if they had stuck to the wide fat I would have bought it.

 

[andy474x]

I agree with you on the neck. Played one a few months ago, and it just felt a tad "off" for my preference. Somehow flatter on the back than the W/T on my 25th SECU24.

Maybe the profile choice is intended to differentiate it from the ZM in feel? While I do have a soft spot for Custom 22's, I think I would go for the ZM anyways if I were shopping semis in the SE range. It just has so much going for it.

Most of all, though, I'm glad I got my hands in an S2 CU22 Semi. The Pattern Regular neck profile is pure ecstasy for someone with small hands like myself. It's more manageable than W/F, but still retains that comfy curvature, which the W/T doesn't match. Necks aside, I doubt I could l enjoy the SE as much tonally as I do the S2. The S2 is perfectly tuned for frequency response (after switching to nickel/steel strings), and I never have to "search" much with the controls for the right tone. And, as much as I thought I wanted a stoptail, having the trem to add some wobble to sustained notes and chords, along with the resonance and depth of the semi-hollow body, is very addicting.

 

[CantankerousCarl]

I think I would go for the ZM anyways if I were shopping semis in the SE range. It just has so much going for it.

I had a ZM Semi when the new ones first came out. Got it from John Mann; he put a USA nut on it and set it up with .10s for me. Loved the satin neck. Sustained like a mother******! But like all singlecuts I've ever owned, it gathered dust...and went off to fund another PRS. If I still had it, it would be a great candidate for my 58/15s!!!

I really dig the S2 Pattern Regular neck profile - it's the perfect in-between everything.

 

[CoreyT]

You have probably heard me rave before, but that is the guitar I got my son for Christmas this year.
Best playing SE I have ever played, and I own quite a few.
The neck on it did not feel quite as thin as my 2012 SE Tremonti Custom though.

But I agree with Andy, the new S2 Custom 22 Semi-Hollow is a fantastic player.
I play it more than my 408 with the Pattern Thin, very glad it beckoned to me when I dropped off my ZM for a fresh setup.