I have an S2 studio that was built in ‘21, kind of a unicorn, along with it’s 3 or 4 siblings. It’s all black with a black pick guard rather than the tortoise. I’m a pretty new player, so my description of the tones is pretty rudimentary. Here goes:
The bridge pickup is pretty bright, but responds well to the tone control. It splits well to my ears, as compared to a ‘21 SE Custom 22 humbucker that I owned previously. That one just did not split well to my ears.
The “D style” pickups are definitely single coil. They do not sound like a strat. They seem fuller, less bright and a bit hotter. I don’t think they sound like a P90 to me either. I’m not really sure what the Gretch version sounds like. The D styles balance nicely with the bridge humbucker. There’s lots of tones available for sure.
Again, beginner ears and playing, so add a few grains of salt. The S2 itself plays very nicely, better than my SE, and right in line with my Santana III. (Yes, I have a couple of guitars that exceed my skill. Because I’m old and I can.)
I have no experience with the core version. It’s pretty different from the S2 based on specs, components, wood, etc. It gets high praise. I *think*
@László might have one?
