Electric Guitars Guitar Talk: PRS SE Hollowbody II Piezo

MarkDyson

MarkDyson

Blues Hound Wannabe
MikeS said:
Is it US vs Asia? How do they compare?

When do you get yours?
I'm eager to hear it.
Congrats!
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Yes, that's exactly it. The US model has a hand carved solid archtop and back while the Asian one is formed laminate, and the US model has 58/15 mag pickups while the Asian has 58/15 "S" models. This is only the third model year PRS has offered the HB II in the SE (their budget line).

I haven't heard any head-to-head comparisons, but I have heard lots of people goggling at the build quality and tone of the SE, enough to convince me it was worth it. They come in at the top end of the SE line cost-wise, and about the same price as a used S2 (made in US but with Asian components). That last is based on what I paid for my S2 Singlecut used from Reverb.

Mine is supposed to arrive by Friday. I got the tracking number this morning but given it's a holiday I don't expect to see any real movement before tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to getting a lot of mileage out of it, and once I get into sharing recordings here you'll definitely hear it (if not sooner live at some BGU event). :Beer:
 
JPsuff

JPsuff

Blackstar Artist
MarkDyson said:
Okay, so I know it's no surprise to anyone that I pulled the trigger last night. I've been wanting this particular guitar for a long time (since they first came out in 2020), just never was able to justify the expense to myself. I've been squirreling away a little of each payday into a slush fund for frivolous purchases and last night SWMBO gave the green light for me to spend it on an early retirement gift to myself. Here are a couple of the images Sweetwater emailed to me this morning. It should arrive by the end of the week.

View attachment 16724View attachment 16725
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Wow, that looks just like mine!
(Great minds, right?)

I can't speak for the piezo, but I think you'll love the feel and playability of the guitar overall.

Enjoy the hell out of it! :Beer:
 
Elio

Elio

Student Of The Blues
If it sounds as good as It looks (and I fully expect that it will) you should be a very happy camper!
 
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JPsuff

JPsuff

Blackstar Artist
MarkDyson said:
I haven't heard any head-to-head comparisons, but I have heard lots of people goggling at the build quality and tone of the SE, enough to convince me it was worth it. :Beer:
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Just a FYI on tone.
Even though it's a hollowbody, don't expect a notable unplugged acoustic sound. It sounds OK and it's still a pretty good unplugged noodler, but it's somewhat thin and unimpressive.
In fact, my Epi 335 has a better unplugged tone.

But once you plug in to an amp, the HB II really comes alive and THAT'S when the real tone kicks in.
I don't play mine nearly as much as I should but the other night I was noodling with it on my couch and I decided to plug it in (at really low volume) to my Blues Junior and my first thought was "Holy shit, that sounds great!"

You're gonna love it! (y)
 
BraylonJennings

BraylonJennings

It's all blues
JPsuff said:
Just a FYI on tone.
Even though it's a hollowbody, don't expect a notable unplugged acoustic sound. It sounds OK and it's still a pretty good unplugged noodler, but it's somewhat thin and unimpressive.
In fact, my Epi 335 has a better unplugged tone.

But once you plug in to an amp, the HB II really comes alive and THAT'S when the real tone kicks in.
I don't play mine nearly as much as I should but the other night I was noodling with it on my couch and I decided to plug it in (at really low volume) to my Blues Junior and my first thought was "Holy shit, that sounds great!"

You're gonna love it! (y)
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I've got the se hollowbody II, and had a similar experience plugging into a loud amp and being startled by how good those pickups sounded. I like the fat neck, and tobacco sunbursts are always sharp.
 
JPsuff

JPsuff

Blackstar Artist
BraylonJennings said:
I've got the se hollowbody II, and had a similar experience plugging into a loud amp and being startled by how good those pickups sounded. I like the fat neck, and tobacco sunbursts are always sharp.
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The "Wide Fat" neck is my favorite.
I have it on my SE Paul's Guitar as well as the HB II and it is the most comfortable neck I've ever played.

Agree on the Tobacco burst but PRS has a HB II in "Peacock Blue" which is gorgeous!
 
MarkDyson

MarkDyson

Blues Hound Wannabe
Looks like FedEx is scheduled to bring it on Thursday. I’m considering doing an open mic on Sunday. Hmm….
 
BraylonJennings

BraylonJennings

It's all blues
Not sure about the piezo, but it's great fun to stand near a loud amp and try to control it. Not the standard usage perhaps, but that's just me. Wake up the neighbors Friday.
 
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