Silver Sky Surfer
Have you seen my baseball?
Other than the binding, inlays and obviously the piezo are there any other differences between these two guitars? I can’t find any in the specs.
SE HB II vs. SE HB II Piezo
- Thread starter Silver Sky Surfer
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CandidPicker
Tone Matters. Use It Well.
IIRC, only the under-saddle piezo, the blend knob, battery compartment, and 2x input jacks, one for humbuckers, the other for piezo.
Silver Sky Surfer
Have you seen my baseball?
Website says both come with hard shell case.
Nice F Holes
New Member
The color selection seems ‘upgraded’ on the Piezo guitars. But yes the differences are only the Piezo and the aesthetic.
CandidPicker
Tone Matters. Use It Well.
Piezo has black/gold and peacock blue color.
HBII has charcoal grey and tricolor burst color finishes.
HBII has charcoal grey and tricolor burst color finishes.
Nice F Holes
New Member
Maybe I’m biased, lol. Both of the Piezo colors look a little special to me, or more like I’d expect on a USA guitar. But maybe I just don’t like the charcoal or tricolor.
I’d likely have bought non-Piezo if it came in either the Peacock or black/gold. Although the maple binding is a nice touch, and fairly well executed...
I’ve played the HB Standard, HB II, and HB II Piezo and they’re all the same in terms of shape, playability, magnetic pickups, etc. They vary as much as any other guitar where no two play the same off the shelf. The standard has the mahogany top and is wonderfully woody and resonant. Again I’d have bought if I liked the color more. The HBII and HB Piezo are also resonant but just a little less woody IMO. But they play and feel the same as each other.
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CandidPicker
Tone Matters. Use It Well.
That was my feeling as well. It wasn't that easy choosing colors (though I think black/gold has more appeal than the other options), and it made sense to invest in a higher quality instrument, simply because the piece would have a higher resale value if ever sold again. Most adults make an informed choice when they do this. It was my informed choice to opt for the piezo rather than the one without.
Kind of like asking, did you want the cappuccino, or latte? Regards gear, the latte. Regards coffee, regular, with 3 Sweet 'n Low, and a splash of half 'n half, thanks.
Nice F Holes
New Member
Oh, for what it’s worth - regarding maintenance/upgrades:
All pots can be changed out in all models (none are PCB mounted.) The Piezo has a circuit board under the tone pot so a push-pull won’t fit there - there happens to be a capacitor directly under the pot, otherwise it could possibly work. The Piezo jacks are mounted to the PCB, so no chance for Switchcraft or anything like that. Pickups are wired to the switch and should be an easy change. The switch and knobs would be an easy change.
There is no tone bleed capacitor on any of these guitars.
I’m not saying any of this needs to or should be done, there’s just not much info about how these Piezo guitars are wired so I thought I’d share what I learned.
All pots can be changed out in all models (none are PCB mounted.) The Piezo has a circuit board under the tone pot so a push-pull won’t fit there - there happens to be a capacitor directly under the pot, otherwise it could possibly work. The Piezo jacks are mounted to the PCB, so no chance for Switchcraft or anything like that. Pickups are wired to the switch and should be an easy change. The switch and knobs would be an easy change.
There is no tone bleed capacitor on any of these guitars.
I’m not saying any of this needs to or should be done, there’s just not much info about how these Piezo guitars are wired so I thought I’d share what I learned.
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Silver Sky Surfer
Have you seen my baseball?
Thanks for the info. I had played a black and gold piezo back in 2020 sometime but didn’t realize what it was. Played and sounded great. I cannot find one in that color in stock anywhere but played the charcoal grey non piezo the other day and it was awesome so I wasn’t sure if they were the same except piezo and finish.
There are about a dozen black/golds on reverb right now and probably 6 or 7 in blue.
CrimesAgainstMusic
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They are all pretty. But PRS "knowing" we are slaves to "pretty", gave the more pricey Piezo the coolest binding and prettiest birds ... I have also noticed, that the Charcoal HB 2's tend to be made with more flame in the tops than my Standard fav, the Tri Color Burst ... (maybe to give it an edge ) ?
My own "Private Stock SE HB " , would be a 2, with a crazy-flamed veneer in the cool Dark Cherry Burst they do the S2 Mc Carty's in ... the cool maple binding, and SE Lockers so I wouldn't have to add them aftermarket. The P/U's are cool. I like them in my S2 Thinline ... besides its gotta cost less than the Piezo ... Oh ... forgot the Push/Pull coil split, possible in a non-piezo due to internal space allocations ...
My own "Private Stock SE HB " , would be a 2, with a crazy-flamed veneer in the cool Dark Cherry Burst they do the S2 Mc Carty's in ... the cool maple binding, and SE Lockers so I wouldn't have to add them aftermarket. The P/U's are cool. I like them in my S2 Thinline ... besides its gotta cost less than the Piezo ... Oh ... forgot the Push/Pull coil split, possible in a non-piezo due to internal space allocations ...
I loved the colors of the Piezo version in person. Didn't enjoy it as much in store though, the regular non piezo played/sounded better (def could be individual instrument/strings/etc) but they seem to tone down the veneer somewhat on the non piezos I've seen that aren't online review models. Like barely flamed/not lined up to the point it was kind of distracting. If they made a blue/purple version of the all hog version I'd be all over that as that's the one I preferred most in play testing...too bad it gets the short end of the stick in colors.
dogrocketp
I drank the PRS kool aid, and it was tasty!
If they had done all hog in blue, I would have kept the Standard.
CrimesAgainstMusic
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Y'Know, I have noticed some of the same things you have noted here...
PRS "understands" us customers , which is a large part as to why they are so successful. From looking at the
You Tube videos (which in the marketing biz, are done by "influencers" ) the emphasis is clearly on the Piezo, as aside from being a cool guitar, is the most expensive of the trio by a margin
Your notice of the veneer on the non-piezos is what I have also seen, The HB STD although pretty in the red, (I have not seen it in Tobacco yet ) I think purposely does not have the pizazz of the Piezo, the cooler binding and Abalone birds ? ... I mean, how much more would they cost ? But as sluts for pretty ... We bite for the fancier trim on the premium priced model only.
And from looking / listening ... I get the impression that the influencer guys, actually have more fun playing the Standard , getting Jazzy and Hard Rocky tones out of them.... Like in your own play-testing ... The Piezo may in fact do the same tones, but with them, they feature the "acoustic" or blend tones to show the piezo pickup.
Me , I going to go for a "2", as I want the flamey/ stripey top, and I think I found a better way to simulate acoustic sounds (not to mention save $400.00)
BUT I'll be "birddogging" them for the rare flamey Tri Color Burst that might be available when I have the $$$.
Seems the Charcoal flavors, are deliberately done using the better flamed veneer... maybe to "help" sales ?
The Tobacco here in Thailand was....underwhelming. Though it was the best player out the five I tried. It's the one I wanted to like most apart from the hog tops...
The charcoal here is also disappointing veneer. Very unmatched and not flamey.
The blue piezo was a treat to the eye. I didn't think I'd enjoy the maple binding, sparkly birds and all that, but it did look sharp and make the others feel a bit underwhelming afterwards (probably why the shop owner was so insistent to get it into my hands LOL).
But I don't know if I could enjoy that bowling ball finish. I know some love a hearty finish that'll last. But something in my brain associates that with cheap Asian pac rim guitars. These are quality sounding instruments for sure, they just have a feeling that I personally associate with cheaper. As someone who has lived in Asia for 15 years I have no qualms about the fact that they're made here (actually it's a plus to me since that gets a lot of makers around crazy duty prices)...but the ones I've handled in store all photograph well but underwhelm a bit to the regular eye. I don't know. Maybe if I see one of these influencer specials that make it onto youtube in the wild it might move me more...but the ones over here were somehow lacking in the hand. I do really enjoy the chunky neck profile though.
I'd LOVE a matte/satin version though...really let the woods breathe. I bet would make it an even better couch strummer...That I could get behind...
The charcoal here is also disappointing veneer. Very unmatched and not flamey.
The blue piezo was a treat to the eye. I didn't think I'd enjoy the maple binding, sparkly birds and all that, but it did look sharp and make the others feel a bit underwhelming afterwards (probably why the shop owner was so insistent to get it into my hands LOL).
But I don't know if I could enjoy that bowling ball finish. I know some love a hearty finish that'll last. But something in my brain associates that with cheap Asian pac rim guitars. These are quality sounding instruments for sure, they just have a feeling that I personally associate with cheaper. As someone who has lived in Asia for 15 years I have no qualms about the fact that they're made here (actually it's a plus to me since that gets a lot of makers around crazy duty prices)...but the ones I've handled in store all photograph well but underwhelm a bit to the regular eye. I don't know. Maybe if I see one of these influencer specials that make it onto youtube in the wild it might move me more...but the ones over here were somehow lacking in the hand. I do really enjoy the chunky neck profile though.
I'd LOVE a matte/satin version though...really let the woods breathe. I bet would make it an even better couch strummer...That I could get behind...
Nice F Holes
New Member
I think an active Baggs Piezo system would cost $400 (including Ctrl-X) and figured wood binding takes more time, skill, and money to do, so the price difference for the Piezo model doesn’t seem unreasonable to me.
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Oh it's 100% worth it, if you want the Piezo. I personally didn't like the sound as much in person as I did in online demos, but I can see folks wanting that. It's a premium instrument full stop and no one should feel like it's lesser value because Chinese hands were on it instead of American.
A weird anecdote I remember from my mandolin days. I remember someone did a factory tour video of a now famous Chinese manufacturer when that brand first came out. Everyone wanted to see worker conditions and quality of work going on. So someone went over and they opened the factory up for a tour. He saw them tap tuning wood tops and she noticed the first person holding the instruments as a lefty. Then they noticed everyone was holding instruments and tools as if they were lefties. They asked how a factory full of people could all be lefty, and apparently the guy who was brought in to teach them was left handed and they were so focused on getting every detail right they even copied the handedness of the demonstration LOL. There's certainly still junk coming out of the region, but properly sourced (which I'm 100% sure PRS does) the quality of work will be every bit anything found domestically (in some cases I've found it to surpass the American version).
A weird anecdote I remember from my mandolin days. I remember someone did a factory tour video of a now famous Chinese manufacturer when that brand first came out. Everyone wanted to see worker conditions and quality of work going on. So someone went over and they opened the factory up for a tour. He saw them tap tuning wood tops and she noticed the first person holding the instruments as a lefty. Then they noticed everyone was holding instruments and tools as if they were lefties. They asked how a factory full of people could all be lefty, and apparently the guy who was brought in to teach them was left handed and they were so focused on getting every detail right they even copied the handedness of the demonstration LOL. There's certainly still junk coming out of the region, but properly sourced (which I'm 100% sure PRS does) the quality of work will be every bit anything found domestically (in some cases I've found it to surpass the American version).
