I have core, Se, and S2 instruments. The back plates are all done differently. The core are flush with the back surface of the guitar, and the SE and S2 are surface mounted. I always end up edge beveling the SE back plates, I find that they catch on my shirt buttons, belt loops and belt. No big deal. The S2 back plates are very nicely edge beveled so they don’t catch on anything. There’s no magic to CNC machines and they don’t make everything free of charge, so let’s get past that in a hurry. They do mindless, repetitive tasks with amazing uniformity. The real value in the S2 line is the amazing wood, neck and fretwork that is done largely by hand. I love my mine and gig them regularly. It seems your assumption is that everything can be done cheaper and faster by machine, so that the S2’s should be made the same way as the core in the details. In order to bring the high quality mass manufactured S2’s to market at the right price point, every detail has to be thought out to save money on the little things that add up. The guitar must be made in a certain amount of time, because really, ”time is money“. You can’t touch the S2 bang for the buck, and I’ve played guitars that cost twice as much and offered half the quality. The fit and finish are amazing. If the back plates are a deal breaker for you, so be it. Just know that everyone in the factory is doing everything possible to bring a high quality instrument to market at roughly half the price of the core instruments we love. And screw the back plates if it means an extra 5 minutes of time on the neck. The necks are excellent.
