Singlecut hollowbody II or P22

[steve mac]

Hi, I live in Turkey and am in the market for a single guitar to take the place of a solid body electric (Burns Marque) & an electro acoustic (Ovation Custom Elite) for performing solo gigs, playing bars/restaurants. I do a couple of instrumentals to backing tracks but my bread and butter is playing pop classics and singing sometimes adding in a harmonica.
To this end I am going to treat myself to my "dream" guitar a PRS and was going to go over to the US to buy one and somehow get it back. However as the exchange rate has swung dramatically it is now not such a viable option.
There are two options I am looking at one is a singlecut hollowbody II and the other a P22. Both of these are available in this country but not so that I can easily go and try them myself.
Any and all advice gratefully received on which way to go.

 

[thieves&foxes]

Hi Steve

I hear you problem, I live at the bottom end of Africa, if feel your pain!

I own both the P22 and a Singlecut Hollowbody II. Both are fantastic guitars, however I have been absolultely blown away by the SCHBII, to my ears the Piezo sounds better than on the P22 (and the P22 piezo sounds good) and the electric tones are amazing, it's lightweight and has tone in spades! The P22 is to my ears and personal opinion is literally almost as good as the SCHBII, but not as good.

All down to opinion I guess.

 

[Egads]

+1 on everything thieves&foxes said! I have both and love both, but the SC HB II definitely takes the cake.

 

[steve mac]

Thanks so much, it's that first hand knowledge I need. There is a fire red P22 available and a slate black ScHB Ii I will have to travell a couple of days to get either so I am draw on your recomendation to the HB plus as my leanings are to a country feel I think it will probably look better as well.
Again many thanks Steve

 

[HighGain510]

I think it depends on what you want out of the electric tones personally. The two sound VERY different plugged in on that side. I had two of them (one was a PS to boot) at the same time as my P22 and honestly the piezo in the P22 sounds just as good (perhaps even a tiny bit better?) as the SCHB. If you prefer solid body tones or the split tones of the PRS rotary 5 way switch, the P22 is a better buy IMO. If you need semi-hollow tone for the electric side and that's more your focus, grab the SCHB. They're both fantastic guitars and I'd love another SCHB one day, but with 3 P-series guitars in the stable and no SCHB's left, I'm still happy with my choice to go with the P-series.

 

[Egads]

I think it depends on what you want out of the electric tones personally. The two sound VERY different plugged in on that side. I had two of them (one was a PS to boot) at the same time as my P22 and honestly the piezo in the P22 sounds just as good (perhaps even a tiny bit better?) as the SCHB. If you prefer solid body tones or the split tones of the PRS rotary 5 way switch, the P22 is a better buy IMO. If you need semi-hollow tone for the electric side and that's more your focus, grab the SCHB. They're both fantastic guitars and I'd love another SCHB one day, but with 3 P-series guitars in the stable and no SCHB's left, I'm still happy with my choice to go with the P-series.

Interesting that you like the piezo on the P22 better. We're the SC HBs older than the P-series guitars you've had? While I liked the older piezo, the newer one is definitely a step up. And to my ear, it sounds better in the HB than the Solidbody. I totally agree with your point on what you need from the electric side as a driving force. For me, it means the SC HB ends up in my hands way more often that the P22 (though I will be dropping in tapped 57/08s to help cover some additional sounds).

 

[markie]

P22

 

[11top]

I'm not crazy about the skinny neck on the production P22, so I'd choose the SCHB II all else being equal.

 

[aduayer]

I am from Brazil and I have the same kind of problem you do Steve and thieves&foxes. Me and most of the people I know here, travel to US to get a high end guitar. Anyway, I do have a SCHB and I just love it. I was always a solid body kind of guy, but I needed a piezo guitar for my set. PRS only had the piezo on those HB guitars so I bought it and felt in love with it. Can't tell exactly why, but the guitar sounds and plays perfect for what I need. I compared it latter with a P22 but I wouldn't change the guitars. I sent it back to PTC and up graded the piezo system to the new one (it's the same that comes stocks in the P22 and the new HB) and had a new set of pick ups (5909 neck & DGT bridge). Now it's my main guitar. It's light, versatile and I can really rock with it.

 

[steve mac]

Again thanks for the input. If I may ask another rather naive question, as I am getting on in years, I suffer a bit with tendinitis in my fretting hand and after an hour or so of playing, full bar chords simply make my hand ache so I play around them. Obviously playing a solid body guitar requires a lot less strain than my acoustic. But having never played a semi acoustic, does it have the same bar chord playability as a solid body, the same as an acoustic or somewhere in between. Sad but it may be the deciding factor. Old age is a high price to pay for cheap car insurance

 

[Egads]

With string gauges and neck shapes being equal, it will feel the same as a Solidbody. P22s ship with 10s and SC HB IIs ship with 11s. There are a couple threads here about tone and string gauge, with no real consensus!

 

[HighGain510]

Interesting that you like the piezo on the P22 better. We're the SC HBs older than the P-series guitars you've had? While I liked the older piezo, the newer one is definitely a step up. And to my ear, it sounds better in the HB than the Solidbody. I totally agree with your point on what you need from the electric side as a driving force. For me, it means the SC HB ends up in my hands way more often that the P22 (though I will be dropping in tapped 57/08s to help cover some additional sounds).

The Private Stock SCHB was built in 2010 and the non-PS one was a 2009 model. The P22 and P24 models I own all have the latest version of the PRS/LR Baggs piezo preamp (which I know was updated for those models), so unless they changed the piezo on the SCHB post-2010 as well, the preamp they currently use in the P22/24 models definitely sounded better to my ear, FWIW. If they've changed the preamp in the newer SCHB models to the exact same thing as the P-series, then it's back to what I said about it being a toss-up between the solidbody and semihollow electric tones.

I'm not crazy about the skinny neck on the production P22, so I'd choose the SCHB II all else being equal.

Skinny? The P22/24 models have the Pattern Regular neck, which unless I've had a bunch of under-sanded carves, is not anywhere close to a wide thin/pattern thin carve at all! It might not be as chunky as a wide fat, but as someone who runs into hand-cramping/joint issues with skinny necks, I don't find the Pattern Regular carve to be what I would consider a "skinny" neck by any means, again IMHO, YMMV and all that. :redface:

 

[dsenoj]

I remember Shawn posting that after the P22 was introduced, they started using the piezo system from the P22 in the hollowbodies since it sounded better. I'd expect the piezo in current hollowbodies to sound as good as the P22/P24.

 

[aduayer]

I remember Shawn posting that after the P22 was introduced, they started using the piezo system from the P22 in the hollowbodies since it sounded better. I'd expect the piezo in current hollowbodies to sound as good as the P22/P24.

yes, all the piezo equipped PRS has the same system now.

 

[steve mac]

Can you tell by the serial number how old a guitar is and therefore if it has the latest piezzo installed?

 

[thieves&foxes]

Yes the serial or the MODCAT should indicate when it was built

 

[steve mac]

Sorry I don't know what the MODCAT is. Do you have to take the number and look it up or is there a system to say the year of manufacture.
Again really appreciate the help

 

[shinksma]

Sorry I don't know what the MODCAT is. Do you have to take the number and look it up or is there a system to say the year of manufacture.
Again really appreciate the help

Serial number translates into year via the first one or two digits:

http://www.prsguitars.com/csc/year.html

The MODCAT is the Model Catalog (is that right or did I backronym it?), a code found in the pick-up holes, that gives you exact info about the guitar as it was made in the factory, including the paint color.

http://prsguitars.com/forum/showthread.php?6650-2013-MODCAT-Decoders

 

[steve mac]

Thanks so much, I am glad I asked

 

[steve mac]

Dived in and bought a ScHB II today, should be delivered by the end of the week. Hopefully photos to follow, thanks for the great advice.
Cheers Steve