Semi hollow option??

Tag

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PRS hit on a total magical combination in the old artist 3s (Not sure if artist 2s had this option or not) when they added the thicker body, kept the trem, and made them semi hollow as an option. Since I stumbled on one by mistake from Ed Roman (he did not know the guitar was semi hollow as he did not have the spec sheet), but described it to me on the phone as the most resonant PRS he had ever played) he gave me a 24 hr approval, so I took him up on it, and after 3-4 notes, my jaw was on the floor. this guitar was NOT going back to Ed. He was right. Not only was it the most resonant PRS I had ever played, it was the most resonant electric guitar in general I had ever played! I was stunned, and could not understand how this guitar (which i thought to be a solid Artist 3 with trem) could vibrate that much, and be so alive. I thought it was just one of those "stars in alignment" guitars. I had to find out what, if anything, made the guitar so special, so I called PRS and gave them the serial # to get the exact build of that guitar. That is when I found out it was semi hollow, one of not that many made with a trem. I went on an all out mission to find another, and I ended up buying another exactly the same way, which was every bit as good, another lightweight one but a solid body with trem, and another semi hollow but with a stop tail. I had them all side by side for many months, and it was easy to both hear and feel how superior the simi hollow/trem, thicker body was. Amazingly, the semi hollow with stop tail did not have near the magic of the trem models. i believe its the additional routing as well as the tail piece itself, and I NEVER use a trem! Its just that for some reason or another, the combination is magical. Since that time, an Artist III semi hollow/trem has been my #1 electric guitar. I also have a teles and a Strat and 2 jazz guitars for those specific things, but the PRS has ben my #1 and go to guitar. A year or so back, i was made aware of the CU22 semi hollow trem LTD, and had to have one. Sure enough, another magical experience. IMO, these are among, if not the best sounding guitars PRS has made since the old Artist/artist type semi hollow trems. The one difference that makes the older models sound a bit better is the deeper body. The CU22 is the same depth as the solidbodys, while the older Artist bodys were around 1/2 inch thicker, and you can feel and hear it. I now have 2 PSs semi hollow/trem Artist 3s (1 Indian Rosewood and 1 brazilian Rosewood neck) and have an order in for a 3rd with a mahogany neck being buit right now. These guitars are the ONLY electric guitars I know that can do totally convincing big body jazz guitar tones on the neck pup clean, to over the top Sabbath heavy tones on the bridge pup with a heavy gain tone. They can also do all points in between with the splitting positions, and do them really well. being the official PRS forum, I figure this would be a good place to post this, and maybe it would filter up to management for consideration. I think making the semi hollow/trem/thicker body option available with the CU 22 artist packs, or releasing a guitar like that would be a great addition to their lineup. I am not aware of any model with that option at this time.
 
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Like you Tag, I'm a big fan of that certain timbre you get from nearly all HB/SHB/chambered guitars, and my collection has shifted in that direction as well. And yes, the depth of the cavity seems to be among the greatest determinants to the overall effect and have concluded that even small differences can be heard, so I'm all in favor of such tweaks in that direction. I've always held that well designed chambered or SHB guitars provide the best of all worlds with no significant sacrifices or shortcomings.
 
I met a fellow who plays his hollowbody 2 for ALL styles of music, including high gain metal. I personally play with a classic clean tone most of the time, and my PS semi-hollow 24 is worlds apart from my solid production custom 24 for this. In short, in my experience, the semi-hollow gives me tonal options the solid cannot, but also covers all the sounds the solid can very well. Therefore my vote from now on is in favor of the semi-hollow or even hollow body. For what its worth, i will never part with the solid custom 24 though. I also have piezo in both of my gtrs.
 
Tag, I have always been intrigued by your posts (and soundclips) about the Semi-Hollows, and especially your most recent posts about the Mahogany necked SH Cu22 you picked up.

In 2010 I played a SH Cu22 from that same run that was just incredible in tone. It was from John Mann as he was just getting started as a dealer, at an EPIC Tone Summit with John, Kevin/bostonguitar and Kingsley, these guys rolled into my house with a few hundred grand worth of gear (no joke!) and we had a heck of a day.

I played the Cu22 SH through Kingsley's Vintage Marshall head and Kevin's ratty 4x12, and everyone stopped talking, they were just like "what is that?" It sounded so great. I called the next day to buy it from John, but LOL, Kingsley's brother had already scooped it up, based on Kingsley's recommendation.

I have been haunted by that guitar ever since.

With my love of DC 245's, I think next on my list of PS's is a DC 245 Trem SH in McCarty thickness...
 
With my love of DC 245's, I think next on my list of PS's is a DC 245 Trem SH in McCarty thickness...


Hey Pete,
When I just sent in my last PS order last week, PRS called what I wanted (Artist 3 semi hollow trem with the deeper body) a McCarty thickness semihollow. I always thought it was just a deeper bodied CU22, because artist 2 and 3s are basically just fancier CU22s. In any case, if you get one, I am 99.99% sure you will be blown away. Unless you are a TOTAL metal head and play with boatloads of overdrive, IMO, the semi hollow with trems do everything better. As good as the CU22 LTD SHs are, and they are GREAT, the deeper body depth makes them even better. When you hold the guitar and strum a chord even without the Fhole, you just feel the entire thing resonate in your hand. For me, they do the hollow body thing better than the PRS hollowbodys. They are VERY hard to find, and I would bet many guys have them and are unaware they are simi hollow, just as I did not know. I look forward to your thoughts when you finally get your hands on one!
 
I met a fellow who plays his hollowbody 2 for ALL styles of music, including high gain metal. I personally play with a classic clean tone most of the time, and my PS semi-hollow 24 is worlds apart from my solid production custom 24 for this. In short, in my experience, the semi-hollow gives me tonal options the solid cannot, but also covers all the sounds the solid can very well. Therefore my vote from now on is in favor of the semi-hollow or even hollow body. For what its worth, i will never part with the solid custom 24 though. I also have piezo in both of my gtrs.

Like you Tag, I'm a big fan of that certain timbre you get from nearly all HB/SHB/chambered guitars, and my collection has shifted in that direction as well. And yes, the depth of the cavity seems to be among the greatest determinants to the overall effect and have concluded that even small differences can be heard, so I'm all in favor of such tweaks in that direction. I've always held that well designed chambered or SHB guitars provide the best of all worlds with no significant sacrifices or shortcomings.

Yep! I am with both of you guys! All three of my PRSs are semi hollow now, and EVERY time I play a solidbody of any kind, they always seem kind of dead and tinny sounding.
 
Hmmmm......a chambered or semi-hollow DGT anyone?? Something to think about!
 
Pete,
I too fell in love with the Semi 22's ! I ended up getting 6 or 7 from PRS. Kept one for myself, sold a few... still have a few left. They are great guitars!
 
Pete,
I too fell in love with the Semi 22's ! I ended up getting 6 or 7 from PRS. Kept one for myself, sold a few... still have a few left. They are great guitars!

Might have to see what's available. I want to try one.
 
Great thread,,,thanks guys!

It makes sense..and there is something resonant about a trem (I never use one either) combined with a thick body.
 
Like Tag, I'm not much of a trem player, but I like the way a trem seems to add resonance. Then again, I also like the stoptails, but for different reasons.

The CU22 SH Ltd was one of my favorite PRSes. I'm sure I had a decent reason for selling it, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was, though I can bet it was something to do with some piece of studio gear I needed in a hurry that I probably don't have any more.

Edit: Now I remember. The electronics in my JBL studio monitors stopped working right in the middle of a project, and I replaced them with Genelecs that I do still have. Whew! At least the guitar went for a good cause.

If only my life made sense.

I was pushing for a semi-hollow on that forum guitar that didn't quite make it, but I decided to go with a HBII to get that hollow thing going. I'd love to see PRS revisit the semi-hollow option.
 
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I think that a semi-hollow version of the new Piezo 22 trem woudl be a great guitar!!! It's on my PS radar..... one day!
 
I think that a semi-hollow version of the new Piezo 22 trem woudl be a great guitar!!! It's on my PS radar..... one day!

That is pretty close to one iteration of the proposed Forum Guitar. If it were my specs, it would be a semi-hollow Santana (DC22) body, with a 25" scale, piezo trem, and 408s.
 
My Artist II, which I no longer have, was a semi-hollow, slightly thicker body, with a fixed bridge. To answer your question, Tag, the semi-hollow option was available on the Artist II. I ordered it that way.
My SC245 has "sound" chambers. It was routed out to help reduce the weight, but it works magic on the tone and sustain.
 
OT: Hey Pete, my brother (Jon) who grabbed (and still owns) that Angry Larry CU22SH was featured in the July issue of Guitar Player magazine.
 
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