PRS SE Hollowbody II - Tri-Color Sunburst Review

PRS SE Hollowbody II: Much more than I expected

First let me say that I own a 1965 Gibson ES 335 which I love. But this guitar is really great. The workmanship is flawless, it is extremely light, easy to play, setup perfectly and sounds great. The pickups are fantastic. Just the right amount of bite but still round sound in all positions. And balanced as well. The body is resonant as well. And the price is very reasonable for… read more a guitar of this quality. Overall I am very pleased. And the service from Sweetwater was exceptional. As was my personal rep Anthony. Love being able to pick out the exact guitar and it shipped immediately arriving in a few days. A great shopping experience.

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The sound speaks for itself

I usually don't review gear but i was so pleasantly surprised by this guitar. It stays in tune perfectly and setup with low action. The guitar feels like a core Prs in terms of playability and sound. The only thing that feels cheap to be honest in the switch and the pots, also dislike the speed knobs but thats my preference. The finish on the guitar is not perfect like the core… read more models, maybe its just the one i received but around the F holes theres some blemishes they didn't look over. Ive had a core 594 with the 59/15 LT and i have to say these 58/15s pickups sound just as good as the core pickups and to be honest i like these in this guitar a tad bit more. The guitars rings and sustains like you would expect a Prs to do. Ive owned 3 Prs guitars before this one, all core models and ive never bonded with any of them as much as i am enjoying this one. Aesthetically it doesn't look as good as the core but if you closed your eyes and listened with your ears you could not tell its a cheap overseas guitar. All positions are articulate, full, and very balanced. The guitar is light mine 6 pounds. Sounds remind me of a good ole 335. Its fully hollow unlike 335 but under bridge there is a block that the posts are screwed to and also the set neck extends almost all the way to the bridge so its almost a center block. Only reason I didn't give this a 5 star is because of the finish flaws i found on mine but that doesn't take away from the most important thing which is the sound and playability of this guitar which is great. The wide far neck is very comfortable not very "fat" like their pattern vintage on the 594 but it's definitely not thin by any means. First SE ive owned and i was a little scared buying a overseas guitar sight unseen, however there was nothing to worry about the guitar sounds great, playability is great, and super inspiring to play. Cant speak for the other SE guitars but this one has something special about it. Thanks Mike for the great deal on the demo.

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A lot of guitar for the money.

i have the tri color. The maple top is beaitiful. Plays extremely well. Resanance that i have been missing Playing strats. Should cost more.

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Amazing price and beautiful tones for the PRS SE Hollowbody II Tri-Color

I didn't realize this came with a hardshell guitar case! Fits guitar like a tight glove. I was reticent to buy a PRS SE made in China. Salesman at Sweetwater assured me that the PRS people do expert training and I would not be disappointed. He was correct. I immediately installed PRS locking tuners and was off to the races. Beautiful Tri-color. 5-ply laminated maple front and back,… read more and the 58/15 humbuckers gives this Hollowbody beautiful tones. Even the bridge pickup is crystal clear without sounding thin. I usually prefer a thin or wide thin neck, but this wide fat neck with ebody finger board is very comforatble. In my desire for a PRS Hollowbody I didn't want to shell out 4 or 5 grand, but with the 30 day return policy, I had nothing to lose at this great price. 5 star guitar hands down. Congratulations to the PRS people.

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Another keeper but PRS needs to quit sending blems to Sweetwater

I was fortunate to get in on the ground floor so to speak on early pre-orders on this guitar. My budget having run dry on Dragons and Santanas and custom built PRS guitars I turned to the SE line and now have close to 25 in the studios. Some were more quality built than others - I typically liked the Korean built ones the best as far as craftsmanship and quality and bang for the… read more buck. I took a chance on this Chinese built Hollowbody II and put in my order early in August 2019. Mine finally showed on 18 January 2019 and arrived safely. I went through the 24 acclimation process. Guitar was very well made although there were a few scratches in the neck pickup - one of which was pretty deep. The finish was nicely applied with no buff marks or scratches or fisheye or runs or other such finish defects. The other issue was that the volume and tone pots sounded like they were dry although this had no effect when plugged in. I have a query in to PRS customer service about the pots (and the blems). Fret dressing was done well and passed the microfiber cloth test - no snags when passing the cloth along both sides of the fretboard. I experienced no buzzing on any frets. Neck relief was minimal and action was acceptable. There were no finish cracks, scratches, nicks or bings. I tried the guitar out through my Supro Dual Tone and got some nice woody tones and Nugent-like feedback sustain notes. My Line 6 rack also brought out some nice classic rocks tones ... definitely had that hollowbody tone vibe much like my Gibson ES339 and ES335. The body size is closer to an ES339. The case is quality built very similar to a Gibson TKL case although some of the tolex was starting to lift by the handle. Case front and back felt thinner than a TKL case. Guitar fit snugly in the case. Some vacuuming of the case was required as there were tiny wood chips in the case. As a side note … I am not a big fan of the black neck as with the 35th Anniversary that had the entire back of the guitar in black. I just view this as a way to hide wood quality. However, the guitar is a keeper.

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