PRS SE Hollowbody ii

[Jx30510]

Wonder how the top bracing looks like. I suspect it must be like an ES330.

[Woody Sound]

^^^This.

I mentioned this in another thread not too long ago: I work with another guitarist who has a huge collection of PRS guitars, including three or four that on paper look like they oughtta make killer jazz guitars.. y'know, archtop, hollow body, f-holes, yadda-yadda...

Every
Single
One
sounds like a rock'n'roll axe. There is simply nothing "jazz"-like about the sound that comes out of any of those.

It would probably help to use heavier strings, but I don’t know.

[58flame]

How many have you tried?

I’ve played probably a hundred, as my friend was a dealer, and I’ve owned 3 - 91 CE Mapletop (the first pro guitar I ever bought at age 17), 92 Custom 10 top birds, and a 94 McCarty. The McCarty proved too dark and I wasn’t putting new pickups in it. The CE and Custom wouldn’t sustain a 12th fret G. I found this to be a very common problem on almost all early guitars, like I had. The McCarty sustained that note fine, but, at 22 frets and muddy pickups, it didn’t really have a PRS vibe to me ( I think it had a bigger neck heel too, but I don’t remember).

[kris]

To tell the truth, it takes a few months or maybe even years to check the guitar well.

[Oscar67]

1) Please please please don’t buy PRS. Please hate them vigorously. The more they’re hated the cheaper they get on the used market. Which suits me just fine.
2) Semi’s have a full-length center block, hollowbodies have nothing, the PRS falls somewhere in between, why squeeze it in a preconceived box which clearly it doesn’t fit into? And why does the label matter? Just play one and then love it or hate it as much as you like.
3) For years and years Ulf Wakenius played amazing jazz on a $150 LP copy. It was pretty much his main guitar throughout the Peterson years. Sounded great.

[kris]

1) Please please please don’t buy PRS. Please hate them vigorously. The more they’re hated the cheaper they get on the used market. Which suits me just fine.
2) Semi’s have a full-length center block, hollowbodies have nothing, the PRS falls somewhere in between, why squeeze it in a preconceived box which clearly it doesn’t fit into? And why does the label matter? Just play one and then love it or hate it as much as you like.
3) For years and years Ulf Wakenius played amazing jazz on a $150 LP copy. It was pretty much his main guitar throughout the Peterson years. Sounded great.

Heavy LP copy or light PRS SE?
PRS SE hollowbody – this is not a rock guitar.That's why you can find it on the used market...I think.

[Flat]

It would probably help to use heavier strings, but I don’t know.

I wonder how it would sound with flat-wounds?

(Confession: I have a 1990 PRS Custom 24 that I like a lot--but I have other guitars better suited for jazz.)

[bluejaybill]

To my mind, the PRS is not a hollow body in the way we use that name in jazz guitars.

The PRS, like many of these type, are hollowed out hunks of mahogany, with a fairly inflexible "10 top".

None of these materials are particularly responsive acoustically, in the way a jazz hollow body might be.

So my question would be, how close can they get to the jazz tone that we are looking for? I mean other than the way that we can get solid and semis to work for jazz.

[DawgBone]

To my mind, the PRS is not a hollow body in the way we use that name in jazz guitars.

The PRS, like many of these type, are hollowed out hunks of mahogany, with a fairly inflexible "10 top".

None of these materials are particularly responsive acoustically, in the way a jazz hollow body might be.

So my question would be, how close can they get to the jazz tone that we are looking for? I mean other than the way that we can get solid and semis to work for jazz.

Maybe I'm wrong here but I thought the more expensive PRS USA hollowbodies had actual carved backs and tops both? Was the picture posted earlier an SE model? Looks like it was just machine routed out of a solid piece rather than carved. I realize that's technically carved I guess but I had the idea that the US models, front and back, were carved and then glued to the rims.

As for PRS in general I tried a newer SE custom 24 and the guitar played excellently and the pickups were really nice. They had some older 4k used models and while nice, the finish on one was blushed out badly and they both had really tubby sounding pickups. Seems like PRS has definitely improved since the early/mid 2000's in the pickup department.

[rictroll]

If memory serves, @Mark Kleinhaut sounded great playing a PRS HBII.

[Oscar67]

To my mind, the PRS is not a hollow body in the way we use that name in jazz guitars.

The PRS, like many of these type, are hollowed out hunks of mahogany, with a fairly inflexible "10 top".

None of these materials are particularly responsive acoustically, in the way a jazz hollow body might be.

So my question would be, how close can they get to the jazz tone that we are looking for? I mean other than the way that we can get solid and semis to work for jazz.

I wish I could give you a definitive answer but it’s more complicated. The amp and the player have to come into the equation. You can hand the same vintage 175 or L5 strung with 013 flats to a hundred different players and only some of them will make it sound like you want it to sound. If you were in the room with me and we’d try guitars, the sound I get from them will be very different from the sound you get, even if we never touch the amp. It really is in the hands.

I have two PRS hollowbodies from the Core range: a 2011 JA-15 and a more recent 594 Hollowbody-II. When I play the JA-15 through my amp, it sounds remarkably like Kenny Burrel’s tone on the Midnight Blue album. Which makes me very happy indeed (but course I can’t play like Kenny). And that’s with roundwound 11s. If I switch to TI 12s the guitar loses half of its brightness and responsiveness: it will do the mellow jazz thing but I have to work harder to maintain the liveliness I need to play well.

The 594 wasn’t designed for jazz but it can do the Grant Green stuff like there’s no tomorrow. You just have to try a 594 HB-II if you ever see one. Try it with rounds and flats and see what happens. You may not like the sound but I can almost guarantee that you’ll walk away thinking about the incredible touch sensitivity and liveliness and overall quality of the instrument. It’s my #1 and I play it into the ground.

[joebloggs13]

I wish I could give you a definitive answer but it’s more complicated. The amp and the player have to come into the equation. You can hand the same vintage 175 or L5 strung with 013 flats to a hundred different players and only some of them will make it sound like you want it to sound. If you were in the room with me and we’d try guitars, the sound I get from them will be very different from the sound you get, even if we never touch the amp. It really is in the hands.

I have two PRS hollowbodies from the Core range: a 2011 JA-15 and a more recent 594 Hollowbody-II. When I play the JA-15 through my amp, it sounds remarkably like Kenny Burrel’s tone on the Midnight Blue album. Which makes me very happy indeed (but course I can’t play like Kenny). And that’s with roundwound 11s. If I switch to TI 12s the guitar loses half of its brightness and responsiveness: it will do the mellow jazz thing but I have to work harder to maintain the liveliness I need to play well.

The 594 wasn’t designed for jazz but it can do the Grant Green stuff like there’s no tomorrow. You just have to try a 594 HB-II if you ever see one. Try it with rounds and flats and see what happens. You may not like the sound but I can almost guarantee that you’ll walk away thinking about the incredible touch sensitivity and liveliness and overall quality of the instrument. It’s my #1 and I play it into the ground.

Great post. Whether or not one is a fan of PRS, there is absolutely NO denying that their high end stuff is nothing but STELLAR.

[Bob_Ross]

I have two PRS hollowbodies from the Core range: a 2011 JA-15 and a more recent 594 Hollowbody-II. When I play the JA-15 through my amp, it sounds remarkably like Kenny Burrel’s tone ...[snip]... The 594 wasn’t designed for jazz but it can do the Grant Green stuff like there’s no tomorrow.

Slight digression: Irrespective of how your PRS guitars approximate those iconic tones, how would you describe the difference between Kenny Burrell's and Grant Green's sound?
Thx

[Jx30510]

Kenny Burrell is a warm mellow sound, hence humbuckers, Grant Green is typical P90 grit, brighter, at the edge of breakup.
But does this really have to do with the guitars themselves ? Pretty sure each of them would sound like they are if they swapped guitars.
Their sound has more to do with amp settings and right hand attack.

[Oscar67]

I associate Burrell with full-size hollowbodies and Green with thinline hollowbodies. Quite different. Both great.

Here’s a vid about the Core HB-II (so not the 594) which for quite some time now has been PRS’s only jazz-oriented model in their range.

Sounds great to me. Your mileage may vary.