Diego
New member
Since I'm on vacations, I decided to try one of my favorite activities: Trying guitars out.
Went to a shop, as empty as it should be on a Monday, and took three guitars to the test:
PRS SE 245 ($450.000 Chilean pesos):
The lovely PRS S2 Standard I drooled about in my most recent thread here ($1.250.000 CLP):
And a stunning 2008 PRS Hollowbody II just for the sake of it, and because the store owner liked my idea ($3.500.000 CLP)
I tested them extensively and tried to find everything wrong with them. Basically getting to know what's what.
The PRS SE 245 was exactly the way I expected it to be. Still with the impressions from the S2 fresh in my head, I went into it and quickly found some minor faults. The fretwork isn't as smooth and somehow the frets felt tiny in comparison, despite being the same fret size as the S2. I think the S2 has a better crowning job. The tuners are a step below the locking tuners in the S2, and definitely the pickups are a bit more blah. The setup from factory was rather poor, surprisingly, with a too-high nut and some rough fret edges.
With that said, it plays, sounds and sustains well, it's comfortable to play, the weight balance felt excellent, it felt as dependable as it should be, and overall I think it's a top-class instrument on the budget bracket it belongs to. It decimates every Epiphones I've ever tried, and it's not far in quality from a Studio series Gibson. Sadly, it's flaws bring the results down, but I'm guessing it brings the price tag down as well.
Plugging the PRS S2 Standard afterwards felt like re-watching the same movie, except in HD this time. The pickups are better, the fretwork is simply exquisite and well-rounded, all the hardware feels chunkier and more reliable, and the tones and feel were a step up in every aspect. Coil splits are a nice addition.
While the factory setup was way better than the SE, I still feel it fell a bit short of the mark. But would I throw fresh strings into it and jump into any stage I got called into? Yes, without a doubt. In my opinion, this S2 kills every single Les Paul and SG I've ever tried, including a Traditional way over the S2's price tag.
Not saying it replaces a Les Paul. Nothing really does. But I don't have to have one, which is why I'd take this home instead.
Then it was time to test the most expensive guitar I've ever laid my hands on.
I knew that this PRS Hollowbody II had been sitting in the store for at least a couple of years, and you could notice. Dust everywhere, a strangely botched setup with strings so high it made no sense. But surprisingly the piezo battery still worked, which led me to try the blended piezo/standard clean tones and the balance of all the possibilities. The clean tones were simply unreal. Notes jumped out of the instrument, almost like it had a bit of compression going on by itself. Chords sounded beautifully complex and, for the lack of a better word, alive. It really floored me how good the sounds were.
I have to say that, while undoubtedly the best feeling guitar I've played by a huge margin, I would rather bring the S2 home. If anything, the Hollowbody felt too refined, sweet and delicate for my style of playing. I started playing differently because of it, and I just felt like going to a wedding ceremony with jeans and cowboy boots. But I can see where the extra money has gone to, and it's impressive. The lacquer finish made the S2 look like a Squier, and cosmetically it's only matched by a Framus I saw at a nearby store, and nothing else I've ever seen. It's incredible.
However... The fretwork and hardware felt no better than the S2, and I'm guessing a S2 Hollowbody would bring 90% of the results for less than half the price.
Would I buy a PRS SE 245? Frankly, no.
I think there's too many things to fix, and while definitely a step-up from my #1 guitar, I don't think the leap goes far enough. I'd definitely buy one used if the previous owner had put some money ironing the details out, but my heart's with the S2 Standard.
Sadly there wasn't a PRS SC 245 to try out, since it would have definitely blown my socks off:
So that's it, my friends! Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed testing these sweet guitars. I guess I might try a Gibson shootout next time?
Went to a shop, as empty as it should be on a Monday, and took three guitars to the test:
PRS SE 245 ($450.000 Chilean pesos):
The lovely PRS S2 Standard I drooled about in my most recent thread here ($1.250.000 CLP):
And a stunning 2008 PRS Hollowbody II just for the sake of it, and because the store owner liked my idea ($3.500.000 CLP)
I tested them extensively and tried to find everything wrong with them. Basically getting to know what's what.
The PRS SE 245 was exactly the way I expected it to be. Still with the impressions from the S2 fresh in my head, I went into it and quickly found some minor faults. The fretwork isn't as smooth and somehow the frets felt tiny in comparison, despite being the same fret size as the S2. I think the S2 has a better crowning job. The tuners are a step below the locking tuners in the S2, and definitely the pickups are a bit more blah. The setup from factory was rather poor, surprisingly, with a too-high nut and some rough fret edges.
With that said, it plays, sounds and sustains well, it's comfortable to play, the weight balance felt excellent, it felt as dependable as it should be, and overall I think it's a top-class instrument on the budget bracket it belongs to. It decimates every Epiphones I've ever tried, and it's not far in quality from a Studio series Gibson. Sadly, it's flaws bring the results down, but I'm guessing it brings the price tag down as well.
Plugging the PRS S2 Standard afterwards felt like re-watching the same movie, except in HD this time. The pickups are better, the fretwork is simply exquisite and well-rounded, all the hardware feels chunkier and more reliable, and the tones and feel were a step up in every aspect. Coil splits are a nice addition.
While the factory setup was way better than the SE, I still feel it fell a bit short of the mark. But would I throw fresh strings into it and jump into any stage I got called into? Yes, without a doubt. In my opinion, this S2 kills every single Les Paul and SG I've ever tried, including a Traditional way over the S2's price tag.
Not saying it replaces a Les Paul. Nothing really does. But I don't have to have one, which is why I'd take this home instead.
Then it was time to test the most expensive guitar I've ever laid my hands on.
I knew that this PRS Hollowbody II had been sitting in the store for at least a couple of years, and you could notice. Dust everywhere, a strangely botched setup with strings so high it made no sense. But surprisingly the piezo battery still worked, which led me to try the blended piezo/standard clean tones and the balance of all the possibilities. The clean tones were simply unreal. Notes jumped out of the instrument, almost like it had a bit of compression going on by itself. Chords sounded beautifully complex and, for the lack of a better word, alive. It really floored me how good the sounds were.
I have to say that, while undoubtedly the best feeling guitar I've played by a huge margin, I would rather bring the S2 home. If anything, the Hollowbody felt too refined, sweet and delicate for my style of playing. I started playing differently because of it, and I just felt like going to a wedding ceremony with jeans and cowboy boots. But I can see where the extra money has gone to, and it's impressive. The lacquer finish made the S2 look like a Squier, and cosmetically it's only matched by a Framus I saw at a nearby store, and nothing else I've ever seen. It's incredible.
However... The fretwork and hardware felt no better than the S2, and I'm guessing a S2 Hollowbody would bring 90% of the results for less than half the price.
Would I buy a PRS SE 245? Frankly, no.
I think there's too many things to fix, and while definitely a step-up from my #1 guitar, I don't think the leap goes far enough. I'd definitely buy one used if the previous owner had put some money ironing the details out, but my heart's with the S2 Standard.
Sadly there wasn't a PRS SC 245 to try out, since it would have definitely blown my socks off:
So that's it, my friends! Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed testing these sweet guitars. I guess I might try a Gibson shootout next time?
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