S2 Satin questions

[rushrocker]

Hi All,

First post here!

I recently bought an S2 Standard Singlecut online in McCarty burst. It's seriously one of the prettiest guitars I've ever seen. However yesterday I fell in love with an S2 Standard 24 Satin at a Guitar Center of all places.

The Satin:
-Felt lighter weight
-Neck felt slightly thinner
-I enjoyed the body shape in my lap more than the Singlecut
-One volume One tone and the pickup switch in a nice place (which I am far better with)
-Was basically perfect for me

I am thinking about sending the Singlecut back even though she's beautiful and picking up this Satin. However I wanted to verify some things in case I am just crazy.

How much do the Satin guitars weigh? Or better yet, how much does yours weigh? I can't seem to find any sites listing a weight that I trust. My Singlecut is 7.4lbs but the satin felt like it must have weighed like 5lbs!

The PRS lists the necks on both guitars as pattern regular but the satin neck seemed slimmer to my hands. Is this common with these guitars due to the finish perhaps?

Thanks everyone!

 

[veinbuster]

I doubt if the satin is that light. My two satin finish guitars aren’t noticeably lighter than a glossed guitar. The 24 will be lighter than the SC.

I don’t think (but don’t know) the satin neck is any smaller, but it does have a very different feel, which I like.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[grausch]

Those are both two great guitars...

Regarding the weight, both are very light indeed. I have an older 2005 Satin Standard 24 (similar to the current S2s) that weighs in at 7.2 lbs and it is my lightest guitar. I have read reports of some Velas weighing about 6 pounds, and based on just how much lighter my Standard feels in comparison to my Bernie, I was surprised that it was 7.2 lbs - I expected it to be no more that 7 lbs or even 6.5 lbs.

Regarding your observation on the neck, PRS uses the Pattern Regular neck profile across their entire S2 range. Not sure how much variance there will be between different necks, but I assume there will be small variances. Could be that the finish makes the regular S2 neck feel thicker, could be that there is a variance between the pre-finished neck shapes, or could be both factors at play.

In any event, you are looking at this entire thing completely the wrong way - you absolutely NEED to keep both.

 

[andy474x]

Choices!

You aren't wrong to love the feel of the Satin 24. As far as weight goes, just like all guitars, the weight will vary depending on the individual pieces of wood it's made from. The singlecuts, in general, will probably be heavier because they have more wood. I looked at a handful of Satin 22's at Sweetwater when I got mine, at that time most of them were in the high 6's and low 7's, the one I bought was heavier than average in the upper 7's IIRC. Something in the 5's would be remarkably light, but not impossible.

Neck feel - don't know how much thickness the gloss adds vs the satin, but that could be part of it. Or, maybe the neck being much longer on the 24 causes a tactile illusion of it being thinner?

I would say send the singlecut back if you liked the satin. Without exception, every time that I go to a shop that has a satin S2, I play it side by side with a similar S2 that has a gloss finish, and can hear a huge difference in the satin guitar being more resonant. Not that the gloss guitars are bad, but I would take a satin S2 over a gloss standard every time. Plus, you'll save a wad of cash. The only possible downside is that the satin finish is thin, and will wear much more and faster than the gloss. Expect the neck to wear back to a gloss like feel in a few months as your hands run over it, the body will show pick scratches, buckle rash, etc. I think they'll look awesome as they start to get a natural relic going, but you may not feel the same.

 

[Russ73]

OP my S2 satin 22 is my favorite of the bunch...if it spoke to you send back the SC and grab the Satin, I agree theyre awesome feeling and sounding guitars....

 

[rushrocker]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think you might be right about the weight, it might not be that much less. Perhaps the weight on a standard Satin is more balanced than the singlecut, which feels more body-heavy and maybe why it feels heavier to hold. I played the Satin again today, and am hoping to decide soon if I want to grab it. Really a tremendous guitar.

I think the neck on this particular Satin is definitely slightly thinner than my singlecut. I don't prefer fatter or thinner necks, unless it's really thin or really fat. I think that the PRS pattern regular and wide-fat are practically perfect. But it's amazing what the human hand can perceive as far as neck thinness, string spacing, nut width, etc.

 

[rushrocker]

I'm also curious, as I failed to mention something completely obvious about the differences in the necks...

My Singlecut is a 2015, and on the back of the neck, it's not the same gloss finish as the body, or headstock, or even the back of the headstock. There's a line right behind the nut, and below it towards the body the neck changes to this kind of sanded/satin finish version of the gloss. It's absolutely amazing and feels super high quality.

However I have not seen this on any PRS S2 standard, only the Single cut, and only in 2015 I think? Am I right about this?

Also, a concern I have with the S2 Satin model is that since the finish is so prone to dings, that the back of the neck will get tons of dings in it and end up being lumpy and weird. Has anyone had this happen to them?

 

[grausch]

I own a 2005 Satin Standard which I bought used a year ago. Most of the guitar is glossed up which I assume came from playing. The guitar was probably played mostly in the bedroom as I only found one ding on the headstock and I really needed to look for it. Couple of months later I discovered another small ding on the back of the body. Not sure if it was there from when I bought it, or if I was responsible for it.

On that satin finish, the guitar will get small dents, but they are tough to spot as the finish doesn't discolour and the dent still feels smooth. My Sig Ltd with the V12 finish was bought with 2 tiny chips in the finish and I spotted them first time I turned over the guitar. They can also be felt much more easily that the dents in the satin. If the neck on the satin would have small dents, I doubt if I would feel it. Larger dents will probably be felt, but the V12 finish will also be chipped by that kind of impact.

Those being my comments, I would look forward to someone posting who has had 1 of the S2 Satins and really put it through its paces by now.

 

[andy474x]

I'm also curious, as I failed to mention something completely obvious about the differences in the necks...

My Singlecut is a 2015, and on the back of the neck, it's not the same gloss finish as the body, or headstock, or even the back of the headstock. There's a line right behind the nut, and below it towards the body the neck changes to this kind of sanded/satin finish version of the gloss. It's absolutely amazing and feels super high quality.

However I have not seen this on any PRS S2 standard, only the Single cut, and only in 2015 I think? Am I right about this?

Also, a concern I have with the S2 Satin model is that since the finish is so prone to dings, that the back of the neck will get tons of dings in it and end up being lumpy and weird. Has anyone had this happen to them?

I've never seen a gloss S2 with a satin neck, was it pre-owned? Sometimes people will tape off the neck and rub it down with steel wool, etc. But I don't know of any coming that way from the factory.

I'll grab some pictures of my guitar in a bit, I've had it a while now and you'll be able to see how it has worn in. I wouldn't worry about dings on the neck unless you tend to be rough on your guitars. Yes, it will get an indent if you whack it on something hard enough, the wood is less protected than a gloss finish, but it's not soft enough that every little thing will dent it.

 

[rushrocker]

Yes it was pre-owned. And now that I look more closely, the lines aren't perfect at all. It does appear to have been done by someone rather than a machine which I had originally guessed. It feels super great though!

 

[Plastic Bleach]

If you put the goods finish and the satin finish over the same neck, the gloss one would be thicker. The satin finish is a tenth as thick as the gloss. Although it's still a very small difference, the human hand in this application would notice such small differences.

 

[pac90]

Its a necro thread, but Ive had 2 S2s and although they have the same profile, one is heftier than the other. Ironically its the satin. Both ace though. Just a manufacturing variance, maybe tooling wear?

 

[Boogie]

Welcome!

Rule #1 of Guitar Club...BUY IT!

The satin on an S2 is resilient to some pretty tough abuse. And the neck feels so damned good. Can’t recommend it enough. If you want to buy a guitar, buy one that makes you pick it up. It sounds like you might be here, so here’s my push...

 

[littlebadboy]

Here's my push too!

I love my S2 Standard 22 too! Bere was demo in its stock form. Jus made a mistake on thebpickup description. It has #7s, not 85/15 S.

I did not take its weight in orig stock form. It has been modified, everything has been changed except for the stock tuners. So, it's current weight will not be a good reference. I'm not done working on it yet, but it always amazes me when I trial play it in its phases. Got it used, it has the usual wear with dings. But, I always like guitars with a story.

I'll post a thread about it when I'm done working on it and in its final form.




Good luck on your deciding! Welcome to the fold!