yes or no SE PRS Hollowbody II piezo

RaymondLin

Personally I have a Taylor T5 so GAS for one of these are suppressed, USA made and not laminate with ebony fretboard.  

guitargeek62

Yes.

*edit* I'm going to expand on TTony's points here. Personally I think the price is a little high compared to the used market, but otherwise isn't awful (however much I might prefer it to be lower) when compared to equivalent quality new guitars. I would much rather hold out and splash a few hundred more on a used core-model HBII, as they do crop up from time-to-time for <£2k with the piezo.

I'd also echo the other SE HB owners in that the quality of the build is nothing to be scoffed at, and would put a lot of USA-made guitars to shame.

RE the construction questions: The HBII has a 5-play maple top and back, with flamed maple veneers on the facing sides of those. It looks like the binding is flamed maple that has been added, not scraped binding ala core-models.

*edit* redacted the solid comment, @andy1939 confirmed they’re 5-ply - very unlike PRS!

andy1839

guitargeek62 said:

Yes.

*edit* I'm going to expand on TTony's points here. Personally I think the price is a little high compared to the used market, but otherwise isn't awful (however much I might prefer it to be lower) when compared to equivalent quality new guitars. I would much rather hold out and splash a few hundred more on a used core-model HBII, as they do crop up from time-to-time for <£2k with the piezo.

I'd also echo the other SE HB owners in that the quality of the build is nothing to be scoffed at, and would put a lot of USA-made guitars to shame.

RE the construction questions: The HBII has a solid maple top and back, with flamed maple veneers on top of those. It's hard to be certain from those photos but it looks like the binding is flamed maple that has been added, not scraped binding ala core-models. @Chris78 These are not laminated guitars like that of a typical ES-xxx type.

Definitely a 5 piece laminated top and back.

1m 20s

Jez6345789

Hi 
I have to say around most forums and FB there is considerably groaning about the price for a Chinese made instrument. That said having done some business in China over the years Cheap china is really coming to an end or cheap like it was 10-15 years ago when it was filling a container full of stuff that cost a dollar and sold for 20. 

I recently because of Covid ended up getting something made in the UK as China were too hard to deal with and for a cost difference and the commitment to high volume to justify shipping made it not cheaper in the UK but easier and better value. 

A similar product I had built 3-4 years ago with a similar amount of work and acrylic costs 60% less and I shopped this around various suppliers so the ridiculous cheap is coming to an end. 

As always as they get better at making stuff and PRS obviously have put a lot of effort into getting them building to his standards the cost rises considerably from the old shonky Telecaster for a tenner it used to be. Also decent machinery to cut the work to standard and use of quality controlled materials all plays in. Yes in Asia labour is still cheap but there is less regional development subsidies slushing around and rebates from centre on products exported. 

So yes PRS is a bit ahead of the curve but I think you will see 2k Chinese guitars in the next few years. 

ICBM

Politics aside, I don't care where something is made - only about the quality. I'd rather buy British if possible, not because I'm a xenophobe but because it's better for our own economy and probably slightly greener by avoiding global transport (although you still don't know where the raw materials come from). If I can't buy British then I'm not fussed - if I have any reason for not buying Chinese it's because I don't want to support their regime and help them take over the world... although that feels a little like the old story about King Canute now. And possibly because the working conditions for their workers aren't always that great, although as far as I know they're now much better than in some other emerging manufacturing nations.

People are the same wherever they're from - they're just as intelligent and just as skilled, similarly motivated, and given the right investment, training, management and quality control procedures there is no reason a high-quality product can't be made in any country. Obviously it's not possible just to set up a modern Western quality factory and train a workforce overnight somewhere there is no history of that type of manufacturing, but it can be done with a little time. Marshall seem to have done well with theirs in Vietnam - the first amps they had made there weren't brilliant, but the latest ones are at least as good as the British ones they have (somewhat sadly) replaced.

RaymondLin

I don’t think anyone has a problem getting a Chinese made phone, consoles or TV but why do we have a problem getting a Chinese made guitar or amp?

Is it because traditionally they used to be crap? But clearly the quality has been going up with quality going up the logical thing is that price goes up with it? Is it not?

ToneControl

Jez6345789 said:

Hi 
I have to say around most forums and FB there is considerably groaning about the price for a Chinese made instrument. That said having done some business in China over the years Cheap china is really coming to an end or cheap like it was 10-15 years ago when it was filling a container full of stuff that cost a dollar and sold for 20. 

I recently because of Covid ended up getting something made in the UK as China were too hard to deal with and for a cost difference and the commitment to high volume to justify shipping made it not cheaper in the UK but easier and better value. 

A similar product I had built 3-4 years ago with a similar amount of work and acrylic costs 60% less and I shopped this around various suppliers so the ridiculous cheap is coming to an end. 

As always as they get better at making stuff and PRS obviously have put a lot of effort into getting them building to his standards the cost rises considerably from the old shonky Telecaster for a tenner it used to be. Also decent machinery to cut the work to standard and use of quality controlled materials all plays in. Yes in Asia labour is still cheap but there is less regional development subsidies slushing around and rebates from centre on products exported. 

So yes PRS is a bit ahead of the curve but I think you will see 2k Chinese guitars in the next few years. 

Ibanez top-level Chinese-made Artcores were £750 a few years back, decent Korean electrics £900+, so for me £1300 sounds OK for this instrument RRP 

btw I have a £4.5k Chinese classical guitar, so we are well past £2k Chinese guitars

Philly_Q

Chinese, Korean or whatever else, I think it looks pretty stunning.  And £1,350 is (sadly, perhaps) really not all that much in today's guitar market.

dindude

I’ve never had a Chinese guitar that wasn’t finished like a toffee apple, until they fix this I won’t be buying even though the non piezo version ticks a lot of boxes for me. This isn’t a nitro vs poly argument, just the finish looks and feels cheap to me on most Chinese guitars. 

Winny_Pooh

@dindude said:

I’ve never had a Chinese guitar that wasn’t finished like a toffee apple, until they fix this I won’t be buying even though the non piezo version ticks a lot of boxes for me. This isn’t a nitro vs poly argument, just the finish looks and feels cheap to me on most Chinese guitars. 

You have not played an Eastman, they are excellent. My first Chinese guitar was a lovely Guild GAD30, since then I've been quite open to the idea of Chinese made guitars.

earwighoney

Winny_Pooh said:

@dindude said:

I’ve never had a Chinese guitar that wasn’t finished like a toffee apple, until they fix this I won’t be buying even though the non piezo version ticks a lot of boxes for me. This isn’t a nitro vs poly argument, just the finish looks and feels cheap to me on most Chinese guitars. 

You have not played an Eastman, they are excellent. My first Chinese guitar was a lovely Guild GAD30, since then I've been quite open to the idea of Chinese made guitars.

I applaud your fine taste, I also have a Guild GAD series guitar (F212) and an Eastman. Both guitars are superb, but they aren't even my favourite MIC acoustic which is a Stanford guitar, which was an MIC made Furch OM32; light as a fly and even though it's poly the finish is thin enough to see the ripples in the spruce.

sunshinewelly

The neck finish on the prs aucostics is the only thing that let's them down 

chris78

Winny_Pooh said:

@dindude said:

I’ve never had a Chinese guitar that wasn’t finished like a toffee apple, until they fix this I won’t be buying even though the non piezo version ticks a lot of boxes for me. This isn’t a nitro vs poly argument, just the finish looks and feels cheap to me on most Chinese guitars. 

You have not played an Eastman, they are excellent. My first Chinese guitar was a lovely Guild GAD30, since then I've been quite open to the idea of Chinese made guitars.

I was going to mention Eastman, but you got there first.

Theres a huge difference between an Eastman lp style though, which is a stunning guitar, thinly hand finished and built by some great luthiers and a PRS SE. I think the SE are amazing build quality, but they’re still built to a price point so as not to compete with core models and I genuinely think £1300 is insane for one

guitargeek62

andy1839 said:

guitargeek62 said:

Definitely a 5 piece laminated top and back.

1m 20s

Apologies, I stand corrected!

TTony

TBH, when I bought mine, I really didn't know where (ie which country) it was built.  It wasn't a relevant consideration.

I was fairly comfortable that, with PRS on the headstock, it would be built to a quality standard compatible with the price point.  PRS are not going to compromise on their reputation for quality and consistency by allowing any factory, wherever located, to churn out sub-standard goods.

You might not have got that out of a Chinese factory 10 years ago, but they're following the same evolution curve that Japan followed back in the 60s/70s, when MiJ went from meaning cheap'n'cheerful to being aspirational.  China are doing it more quickly, because it's easier to learn now.

I'm guessing some African countries might be next to volunteer themselves as the world's cheap factory ...