Dang! PRS S2 Wood Library??

JasonE said:
I didn't really make it clear that this was for the wood library S2. The regular S2 with a maple top is 3/8" after carving. They probably start around 5/8" The carve on the S2 looks a little more severe in pictures than it does in person. The violin carve on the core models is much deeper.
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Yup. All about amount of wood “wasted” in the carving, as well as time spent.
Makes me wonder why Suhr gets $4000 for a plain fiesta red strat, but people balk at a $4600 set neck, carved top PRS Core. They’re absolutely not the same level.
 
My CE-24 is close to a 10 top...they can sneak through! My S2 594 is lightly figured but the finish is a really dark burst so you can barely see it. All the S2's have solid maple tops.
 
paisleywookiee said:
Yup. All about amount of wood “wasted” in the carving, as well as time spent.
Makes me wonder why Suhr gets $4000 for a plain fiesta red strat, but people balk at a $4600 set neck, carved top PRS Core. They’re absolutely not the same level.
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While I am a Suhr fan and have a few of them, I completely agree with you. It is kind of funny that I judge the prices of guitars by PRS prices. I have a couple of custom built Suhr guitars and one of them is more on the PRS level. It is a set neck, carved top Modern. The other custom build is a carved top Standard. They are fantastic instruments. I have had the Modern for over 10 years and I had the Standard built 10 years ago this year. I got in before the prices went crazy. It would cost me 1k more on each of these guitars to have them built today.

The third one is a Classic Pro. This one is also 10 years old this year. I would never pay what they sell for today to get it. It is a fantastic guitar and a better Strat in every way. For what the Classic is selling for today I could find a US made PRS for, and possibly a core level PRS. Those are just a better value IMHO. They are not exactly in the same category but I find it hard to pay the price of a guitar that PRS makes for a bolt on Strat copy.
 
dk_ace said:
it’s not bent, it’s cut into shape. They start with a maple blank and carve it to final shape. The s2 carve is just a lot simpler than the standard line carve.

D
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I am not sold. Just doesn't make sense to my mind. :idk That's a lot of precious wood
wasted if that is the case. If that is legit flamey or quilted tops why would they carve it like
that. It's the kind of top you would leave in tact if it were not a foto top or a veneer, no?

Doesn't mean that I think the top is not Maple. I have no doubt that it is. Just that the blingy
surface is probably not the same exact wood as the "top."
 
la szum said:
I am not sold. Just doesn't make sense to my mind. :idk That's a lot of precious wood
wasted if that is the case. If that is legit flamey or quilted tops why would they carve it like
that. It's the kind of top you would leave in tact if it were not a foto top or a veneer, no?

Doesn't mean that I think the top is not Maple. I have no doubt that it is. Just that the blingy
surface is probably not the same exact wood as the "top."
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They are definitely solid figured maple tops that are carved.
 
la szum said:
I am not sold. Just doesn't make sense to my mind. :idk That's a lot of precious wood
wasted if that is the case. If that is legit flamey or quilted tops why would they carve it like
that. It's the kind of top you would leave in tact if it were not a foto top or a veneer, no?

Doesn't mean that I think the top is not Maple. I have no doubt that it is. Just that the blingy
surface is probably not the same exact wood as the "top."
Click to expand...

I don't understand...are you saying that beveled tops shouldn't be made from figured maple?

Knaggs does the same thing, he was the best of the best at PRS before starting his company.

Guitars-Knaggs-Severn-T1-Larry-Mitchell-3.jpg
 
Ever since they switched the S2 line to US electronics, those models became some of the best values in the guitar world (even with the associated price increases)! And these WL versions are a steal IMO!! If I were in the market, it would be hard for me to justify a core or more at twice and thrice the price ;~))
 
ᛗᛜᛜᚺDᛜᎶ Ꮤᛨᚳᚴ said:
Ever since they switched the S2 line to US electronics, those models became some of the best values in the guitar world (even with the associated price increases)! And these WL versions are a steal IMO!! If I were in the market, it would be hard for me to justify a core or more at twice and thrice the price ;~))
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You can get some great used prices too. I got my S2 McCarty 594 for $1100 last year with hardshell case. I rewired mine with CTS pots, Switchcraft toggle, and Wolfetone pickups and it's killer. Today a new one is $2300, but I don't think I'd bother replacing the USA pickups and electronics.
 
Jarick said:
I don't understand...are you saying that beveled tops shouldn't be made from figured maple?

Knaggs does the same thing, he was the best of the best at PRS before starting his company.

Guitars-Knaggs-Severn-T1-Larry-Mitchell-3.jpg
Click to expand...

Totally different price point, though, no? :idk
 
JasonE said:
While I am a Suhr fan and have a few of them, I completely agree with you. It is kind of funny that I judge the prices of guitars by PRS prices. I have a couple of custom built Suhr guitars and one of them is more on the PRS level. It is a set neck, carved top Modern. The other custom build is a carved top Standard. They are fantastic instruments. I have had the Modern for over 10 years and I had the Standard built 10 years ago this year. I got in before the prices went crazy. It would cost me 1k more on each of these guitars to have them built today.

The third one is a Classic Pro. This one is also 10 years old this year. I would never pay what they sell for today to get it. It is a fantastic guitar and a better Strat in every way. For what the Classic is selling for today I could find a US made PRS for, and possibly a core level PRS. Those are just a better value IMHO. They are not exactly in the same category but I find it hard to pay the price of a guitar that PRS makes for a bolt on Strat copy.
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Yeah, I agree. Suhr was awesome when a Strat from them was $2200-$2500. That wasn’t that long ago, either.
I get there’s inflation, they’re in CA, etc. but yikes. I’ll pay a grand more, and get a Tom Anderson.
 
Bay Tunes Guitars also has an awesome run of S2 Wood Library available, but Custom 24s. They’re so juicy I don’t even want other people to know about it. They’re around the corner, so I don’t know how long I will hold off before checking some out in-person.
 
SpaceMan said:
Bay Tunes Guitars also has an awesome run of S2 Wood Library available, but Custom 24s. They’re so juicy I don’t even want other people to know about it. They’re around the corner, so I don’t know how long I will hold off before checking some out in-person.
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The big question is, will this become a trend? Will more dealers do wood library runs on S2 models? I am betting part of that will depend on how well the ones that have been done sell. PRS was notorious for doing special runs during the leaner economic times back in 2009 and a few years after that. You can't buy any of those guitars now unless you find a used one. These could end up going the same route. If it were me and I ran into one of these that I really liked, I would buy it. You never know if you will be able to get another one.
 
la szum said:
I am not sold. Just doesn't make sense to my mind. :idk That's a lot of precious wood
wasted if that is the case. If that is legit flamey or quilted tops why would they carve it like
that. It's the kind of top you would leave in tact if it were not a foto top or a veneer, no?

Doesn't mean that I think the top is not Maple. I have no doubt that it is. Just that the blingy
surface is probably not the same exact wood as the "top."
Click to expand...
That’s how guitars get made. I’m not going to try to sell you on it, it is what it is. Something has to get carved if you want it to have shape, either the body wood or the top wood. The top wood makes far more sense if you’ve ever worked with wood, and that is what they do.

D
 
JasonE said:
The big question is, will this become a trend? Will more dealers do wood library runs on S2 models? I am betting part of that will depend on how well the ones that have been done sell. PRS was notorious for doing special runs during the leaner economic times back in 2009 and a few years after that. You can't buy any of those guitars now unless you find a used one. These could end up going the same route. If it were me and I ran into one of these that I really liked, I would buy it. You never know if you will be able to get another one.
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They’re also coming out with more “affordable” Cores and another bolt-on this year.
 
la szum said:
Totally different price point, though, no? :idk
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What would that matter? Both guitars are using figured maple tops and the carve is more of a bevel than a Les Paul style. I think you may be confusing these with the SE models, which have a much shallower carve and use veneers on top of plain maple.

Generally with the S2's, there's a lot less time required to make these guitars because the bevel is simpler than the carve on the Core models, so a lot less time spent sanding and finishing. They also tend to use less figured tops, saving the quality ones for the $4k guitars and of course the $5k+ 10 tops. And they tend to have more basic finishes where they aren't dying and sanding back the tops, or doing natural binding.

paisleywookiee said:
They’re also coming out with more “affordable” Cores and another bolt-on this year.
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I could see that...Cores have crept up past $4k and even the bolt-ons are well over $2k. As nice as the S2's are, they used to run about $1500 and now are closer to $2500. So they need to keep hitting lower price points.

I'd still like to see them do more with traditional shapes, like Teles and Strats that aren't signatures.
 
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