yes or no SE PRS Hollowbody II piezo

sunshinewelly

https://www.prsguitars.com/electrics/model/se_hollowbody_ii_piezo_2020

always wanted a hollowbody but is it me or is that priced a tad too high £1350 for an SE

nothing wrong with SE's as i have played a couple - never kept the ones i have had though. 

RaymondLin

Yes, because the Core is like 4k !  Desperate the SE tag it sounds 95% of the core for 1/3rd of the price.

Of course...get it used will be where the smart money would go.

Musicman20

That is a LOT of money for an SE. It will be a decent guitar no doubt, but it seems a lot of SEs end up going in a big sale eventually. 

ThePrettyDamned

These are really nice - looks like a proper solid figured maple top, not a veneer like you'd get on regular SE models. Could be a great guitar. 

ThePrettyDamned

Ahh the listing says veneer. Maybe the stripes on the scraped binding are... Er... Fake? Or maybe they've bound with maple? 

andy1839

ThePrettyDamned said:

These are really nice - looks like a proper solid figured maple top, not a veneer like you'd get on regular SE models. Could be a great guitar. 

ThePrettyDamned said:

Ahh the listing says veneer. Maybe the stripes on the scraped binding are... Er... Fake? Or maybe they've bound with maple? 

Yeah, maple binding on the body and fingerboard.
Looks nice.

I've got the normal SE HBII and it's a great guitar, very nicely made indeed.
Still wished I'd have known about the Piezo as I would have held off and bought that one instead.

ICBM

It’s either maple binding or the top is solid maple but of a lower grade and so is veneered with a more highly figured piece. It could be either since the neck also appears to have maple binding.

The thing that would put me off is the piezo bridge. I don’t think they sound all that great and are known for occasional reliability problems.

sunshinewelly

 the piezo bridge does not sound that good on the core model from the examples i have heard on its own - sounds nice though when mixed with the standard pickups

i also think these will at some point be on sale and if at £1000 it would be more of an impulse buy

darcym

looks exceptional value and if it didn't have a pizeo I'd be really interested (ironic that the pizeo is the selling point and it's the thing that puts me off)

RaymondLin

darcym said:

looks exceptional value and if it didn't have a pizeo I'd be really interested (ironic that the pizeo is the selling point and it's the thing that puts me off)

They do one without Pizeo.

ToneControl

how much is it to add piezo to a HB1?

Alterlifeson

ToneControl said:

how much is it to add piezo to a HB1?

I imagine after buying the kit, drilling for an extra pot, enlarging the route for the extra output jack, drilling under the bridge etc that the extra £350 would be worth it.

EricTheWeary

RaymondLin said:

darcym said:

looks exceptional value and if it didn't have a pizeo I'd be really interested (ironic that the pizeo is the selling point and it's the thing that puts me off)

They do one without Pizeo.

The Standard; to my eyes better colours too ( the blue option on the Piezo model is yuk).

Roland

It’s a personal view, but I think that piezos are outdated. Acoustic simulation has moved on, and you can get a better sound using IRS and other electronics than you can from most bridge piezos.

chris78

I think they’re pushing their luck for an se. Laminated body, Chinese made for £1350. Ouch. Shame as I’d have been interested in one and if a store blows them out around £1000, I’d probably try one 

sunshinewelly

chris78 said:

I think they’re pushing their luck for an se. Laminated body, Chinese made for £1350. Ouch. Shame as I’d have been interested in one and if a store blows them out around £1000, I’d probably try one 

yep thats my view as well

DanR

sunshinewelly said:

chris78 said:

Laminated body, Chinese made for £1350. Ouch. 

yep thats my view as well

Don’t click on this then.

https://www.guitarsuperstore.com/collings-i-35-lc-5398-p.asp

sunshinewelly

my understanding is that the hollowbody's are built in the same chinese factory as the PRS aucostic models. I have to say the only experience i have with that factory is the prs A50 acoustic i bought. The guitar was actually better put together than  the martin OM18 i bought. there were no glue runs or issues cosmetically. it does not sound as nice as the martin however and there was an issue with the fishman tone dial so i have had to send it back. but the quality coming out of the PRS overseas factories seems very high 

mrkb

The quality of my Hollowbody SE standard (mahogany laminate, no f hole binding) is superb. The piezo version fixes the awful binding they put on the IIs, especially around the f holes, which had a weird cheap colour to it that clashed with the wood finish. The natural wood binding and abalone birds look much better on the piezo version, but that’s quite a price hike over the II (+£350)

TTony

I've got the SE HB II - without piezo.

When they were launched at £999, I really fancied one, but thought the price was a bit toppy for a PRS SE, so I waited for the price to move, or s/h ones to show up. 

Neither happened, other than a couple of ex-demo models that I spotted.

But I got lucky and managed to get a new one at a price that was more in line with SE prices.

Absolutely no regrets with it, and at the price I paid, I do feel like I got a lot of guitar for the money.  Happy TTony.

Putting a piezo on it and charging an extra £350 does seem to be really really pushing it though, and I'm not at all tempted.  You can buy a lot of very good guitars for £1350, and even more s/h, many of which I'd probably choose in preference to an SE HB II with a piezo.

In fact, for that sort of money, you could get a very decent electro-acoustic (always going to be better than a piezo) *and* a semi of some kind ... and we all know that 2 guitars is always better than 1.

skunkwerx

Yeah I saw these too and noticed they were Chinese made and thought wowzers! 

Though I guess country shouldnt matter over who is actually making them. 

My latest Korean experiences have been pretty grim and I thought they came from the same factory as Prs se’s