Is the CE24 THAT much better than the S2?

[@Robowx]

The idea of the CE which means Classic Electric was in a way to have a bolt on neck option for the Fender crowd. Not to have a “cheaper” PRS. The S2 was made to have a cheaper PRS.

[@andreil1234]

It is, however I think it has a good niche. Some don't care about fancy tops and inlays. I think outside of the pickups the most striking difference is the bridge. I've not been expecting the S2 to be as good as it is.

[@lordoftheriffs3387]

Originally yes. But since about 2015 or so, they're meant to be a cheaper alternative. Although now they're what $500 more now than in 2019 or so. I've had two. Loved them. I loved my 93 better though.

[@engelsjn]

Still loving my ce24. Never tried an S2, but the 85/15 pickups really steal the show in the CE. I love the coil split in the CE as well. Probably the best sounding split out of any guitar I’ve ever owned. Great video as always Jim! 👍

[@AudiomoMusic]

The entire reason I decided to flip this specific ce24 was to take the pickups and put them into the s2, they are outrageously good indeed. Glad you still love yours John and im happy i helped push you over to buy one!

[@JoonKimDMD]

Isnt CE using core pickups? Now S2 10th annoversary has the same pickups and close price.

[@cabuns334]

the CE24 is a killer. :) the pups on this is clear and articulate. pickup configurations cover all bases. BTW, I have the S2 Custom 24 35th anniversary and I was blown away. They play great and they sound great! Looking forward to having the CE24 in my hands soon! It would be like having a Les Paul and a Strat plus other guitars I guess. Great video!

[@warlockbob5518]

Both Awesome guitars, I've had both of them, I settled on the CE24. I would recommend the brass tremolo upgrade on both, Total Next Level Upgrade. And yeah, the S2 Needs the pickup upgrade also.

[@AudiomoMusic]

It should ship with the 57/08s or 59/09s, Paul already sells those individually for people and it would justify the prices imho

[@warlockbob5518]

I found my CE24 used, it had EMG’s it it and came with the 85/15’s (which were butchered). I had some McCarty Hollowbody pickups on the shelf and threw them in, sounds incredible. Also, swapped out the SE tremolo for the Mann Made brass trem, night & day. I think the S2 is a great base guitar, it just needs a complete rebuild, the CE just needs the upgraded tremolo.

[@staleyexplores]

Thx for the Dave’s guitar shop suggestion, saved a friend of mine like $400, good looking out, now I’m stoked to see and play this new prs.

[@AudiomoMusic]

Which one did he end up getting? Dave's really is amazing and I can't recommend them enough.

[@staleyexplores]

@@AudiomoMusic he got a custom 24-08 lime green for like $600. He had ordered one for almost twice that new. So I'm always willing to help a friend out if I can!! I'll kick you down a donation for the good call! What's the best medium for u for that Patreon?

[@AudiomoMusic]

Don't worry about it, I gotta redo that whole thing anyways. You don't need to give me anything I genuinely just want people to get as good of a deal as possible, this market is wild.

[@staleyexplores]

@@AudiomoMusic 🙏

[@AudiomoMusic]

Best way you can help me out is to share my store link with the guitars i have, I know the majority are expensive-ish but im still by far the cheapest pricing on the internet for them 😂

[@nickm8354]

I agree with this review for sure. I went back and forth for quite a while as to which of these two guitars to take home and ended up settling on the CE24. It’s a great guitar, equally suitable for live or studio application. As any musician will attest, buyer’s remorse is real and happens all the time, but I have been very impressed so far and haven’t thought twice about my choice!

[@AudiomoMusic]

Oh Buyers remorse is very real, I have core pickups in the s2 with a mannmade bridge and if I could go back and just not have gotten this guitar at all I wouldn't have haha. Happy you love your ce24 though

[@ignacedelyon9988]

Bonjour from France, My PRS CE 24 is my only gigging guitar until recently. I bought it used in two thousand eight and it was made in two thousand three. I take two guitars when I gig ,in case I break a string but I never break strings . I don’t break strings because I change them every three months , because I never play this guitar at home, and because I have a light right hand attack. 1. What do I like about this guitar ? - I like the neck width and profile, it’s a flat and wide neck and I got used to it over time, to the point that I couldn’t play a narrower neck. I like the jumbo frets ,made of a good quality metal. - The nut allows the strings to glide easily. There’s no strings being caught in the slots, my tuning is not ruined all the time. - This guitar has sustain. - The coil splits are very musical. - When I ‘ m on stage I play all of our first gig ,consisting in ballads and lounge covers, on position one and two. Position one is neck humbucker, for melodic lines and solos ,position two is splitted neck humbucker, for rythmn. WHAT I DON’T LIKE. I definitely hate the place where Paul Reed Smith installed the jack socket ,although the jack socket in itself is remarkably reliable. T The tuning pegs. They frightened me in the first months I was playing this guitar. I thought “ what I am gonna do if I must change a string during a concert ? “ This guitar is not lightweight.

[@dmv1023]

Thanks for the helpful comparison. I just stumbled upon these guitars recently and I have been looking for something exactly as you mentioned near the end of your video. That is, I am a Strat player who wants something a little beefier once in a while, but I don't want the feel to be so far from the Fender that I feel like I can't play it well. My first guitar was a Gibson, but now I don't bond with them very well. I also dig the color of your S2. I usually don't like the look of PRS guitars as I prefer solid colors instead of showing off wood grain, but that pink/orange one appeals to me for some reason. Anyway, thanks again.

[@barrettflorida]

The CE 24 over the S2 all day every day. You get Core pickups, Core wiring, and much better fret finish. I just bought a beautiful used CE 24 instead of a nice new S2 Custom 24. Basically the same price, but after playing both in person, it was an easy decision to grab the used CE 24.

[@AudiomoMusic]

IMO, you made the right call on that. What finish did you end up going with congrats!

[@Tekenduis98]

You look like your mom put out your clothes for you this morning. Kidding, great video Jim, as always! Love your channel.

[@AudiomoMusic]

The funny part of this comment is my mom hates when I wear sport kits like this one, so she would not have been pleased and I'm sure if she is watching this as she sometimes does probably is thinking of how I look like an idiot 🤣

[@sandrashermanjazz]

That S2 is way muddier in the low end. didn't expect that. Great review, thanks. Subbed

[@IanNorsworthy]

Both fantastic guitars! For me, I’d be likely to change the pickups anyway so the additional switching options of the S2 would appeal to me so then I’d head to fralin, the creamery or just stick some bare knuckle nailbombs or something similar in there for fun. Both fantastic and I enjoyed my ce24 a lot when I had it but I think that would be my route out the two given prices and goals with it etc

[@AudiomoMusic]

Yeah it certainly makes the appeal much more interesting, but I really was surprised how different they felt to play back to back. I was not expecting that at all. I edited the part where I gave my personal preference, but if I was sitting and playing these unplugged I'd pick the s2 every single time which REALLY surprised me.

[@IanNorsworthy]

@@AudiomoMusic yeah its really interesting that isn't it - the preference thing when, even with years of experience you think 'i'll like that one better', play a couple of them and its the opposite. But always good to recognise the actual preference and not let your head convince you otherwise I think - as that can end up costly haha!!! I definitely think the S2 is a great option if you want a fantastic, perfectly built 'base' to just put pickups in to taste and have a killer guitar.

[@AudiomoMusic]

Plus if you ding it who cares and you can gig it without as much worries which is what I plan on doing! haha

[@IanNorsworthy]

@@AudiomoMusic that is also a good point - I think if I had some of the full core near 4k guitars I’d be terrified gigging them 😂😂

[@UncleYoshi]

Great comparison video. Helps us out who are looking into getting a PRS. The SE are all Wide Thin necks so it's difficult to play 4 me. The S2 & the CE both have pattern thin necks & are still in a price range that can be managed. Your video clearly shows the CE sounds better overall b.c of the pickups. Would be interesting to see if swapping the pick-ups out of the S2 would level the playing field so to speak, sound wise.

[@AudiomoMusic]

I made a recent video where I put PRS Core 59/09 pickups into a S2 guitar, it definitely levels the playing field but if buying new I think it's overkill. Used Core Custom 24's can be had for around 2 grand at some shops like Dave's Guitar Shop in Wisconsin on a fairly regular basis. New PRS pricing is to me some of the worst value out there, but on the used market - the CE's for 1400-1500 and the S2s for 1k are great value.

[@UncleYoshi]

​@AudiomoMusic can you post the link to that video? Thanks 👍🏻

[@lazarboskov481]

The sound and the look of the CE24 is a win for me. I played a bit CE24 i late 90ties and it was a mid road between Fender and Gibson. I really like Custom 22 and Custom 24, but Im not really impressed with S2 line, hopefully time will tell... Loved the comparison video, keep up the good job.

[@AudiomoMusic]

Thanks Lazar! The CE24 is awesome, but these ones are really different than the original ones from the 90s. The ones from the 90s really were core gutiars that were bolt ons, the hardware was all the same. Those are still soem of the best value guitars that I see at times for like 1300-1500 bucks imho. Great, great, great guitars indeed.

[@mistreated]

Great comparison! I have to agree with you. I'll be getting one (S2 24), used, then upgrading the PUP's. I have an S2 SC-250 the I put Dragon ll's in. It's been my #1 for while.

[@AudiomoMusic]

Used S2 is the way to go my friend, can be had at crazy good prices, just swap in whatever electronics you want and boom, you have yourself a winner.

[@mistreated]

@@AudiomoMusic Yep, but I'm not sure what pup's I'd get. I also have a 2020 CE 24. So, probably not 85/15's. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[@AudiomoMusic]

@@mistreated 57/08s work very well and are quite a bit different than the 85/15's, a much more vintage style tone and I love them clean.

[@sublyme2157]

I had a S2 Custom 24 35th Anniversary, it was one of the best guitars I'd ever played. Then I bought a CE24 Semi Hollow at ridiculously low price; it is better in every conceivable way. Both guitars play and sound great, but the difference is noticeable, especially in the pickups. The split coils in the CE are some of the best sounding single coils I've heard (not just good for a split humbucker, but better than most single coils), while the S2's split coils are ok. I sold the S2 a few weeks later. Never imagined a guitar could be that much better, but in my case it was.

[@AudiomoMusic]

It infuriates me Paul charges 2k for an american made giitar with the same pickups as a 700 dollar import. Its literally the difference in the CE and this. I took the 85/15 out of this ce24 and put them into the S2 and the difference is genuinely laughable. Completely different guitar.

[@sublyme2157]

@@AudiomoMusic I share the belief that the S2s should have better components than the SEs. It's not that the S2s (or SEs for that matter) come with bad pickups, they're just not as good as the American versions and it's noticeable. On a positive note, used guitar prices will likely plummet soon; I can see a market flooded with inexpensive S2 models just ripe for modding.

[@andreil1234]

​@@AudiomoMusicYeah, I don't think they should've cut those corners but I guess then they'd be shooting their own foot. If I even liked the pickguard satin s2 better than maple top ce models then - which is the case, I imagine I wouldn't be alone and they'd sell less of the entry level cores.

[@ignacedelyon9988]

Bonjour from France, My PRS CE 24 is my only gigging guitar until recently. I bought it used in two thousand eight and it was made in two thousand three. I take two guitars when I gig ,in case I break a string but I never break strings . I don’t break strings because I change them every three months , because I never play this guitar at home, and because I have a light right hand attack. 1. What do I like about this guitar ? - I like the neck width and profile, it’s a flat and wide neck and I got used to it over time, to the point that I couldn’t play a narrower neck. I like the jumbo frets ,made of a good quality metal. - The nut allows the strings to glide easily. There’s no strings being caught in the slots, my tuning is not ruined all the time. - This guitar has sustain. - The coil splits are very musical. - When I ‘ m on stage I play all of our first gig ,consisting in ballads and lounge covers, on position one and two. Position one is neck humbucker, for melodic lines and solos ,position two is splitted neck humbucker, for rythmn. WHAT I DON’T LIKE. I definitely hate the place where Paul Reed Smith installed the jack socket ,although the jack socket in itself is remarkably reliable. T The tuning pegs. They frightened me in the first months I was playing this guitar. I thought “ what I am gonna do if I must change a string during a concert ? “ This guitar is not lightweight.

[@daveshamir729]

Spot-on analysis. I'm a lifelong Fender fanboy and I have a hefty Les Paul with a fat neck and even fatter sound, as well. I recently purchased the CE-24 in Mateo Blue and it's proving to be a real love affair. As a Strat/Tele player, it is at once strikingly familiar and yet decidedly different. The 85/15 pickups offer a lot of versatility that conjure the sounds of the Fender/Gibson universes, while offering sonic textures that are purely PRS. I always pick it up when I want to go with a more full-bodied tone with greater clarity that what the Les Paul affords. A real winner.

[@UncleYoshi]

What is the dark red color called on your CE24 model?

[@peternatens6789]

Only the CE 24 is the most versatile guitar..more Mahoney and less maple gives a great tone with the maple neck. I had them both. And sold the s2.

[@AudiomoMusic]

The pickups make this one much further apart than it would be if they had the same ones which is really unfortunate, the value proposition for the S2 kind of goes out the window when shopping new to new for me based on that alone. The CE24 is a jack of all trades in many ways, and that's why I have one of those again and no long have any of the S2s.

[@jasong546]

Great job Jim!

[@AudiomoMusic]

Thanks Jason I appreciate it!

[@bodybysoul_]

your playstyle is very emotional. I like that

[@AudiomoMusic]

thanks i appreciate that, i try not to just mindlessly blues pentatonic and play stuff that resembles music haha

[@bodybysoul_]

of course. Sounds good bro@@AudiomoMusic

[@gorlagOv]

I own both. The S2 there are a lot of cool options in the S2 range, like the Vela, 594 or the studio. Where as CEs just offer the Custom 24. The pickups are much better in the CE. If you like a good modding platform, the S2 is fantastic. I have core pickups in my s2. I prefer the neck carve of the S2 over the CE. I like the satin finish neck of the CE over the S2 gloss and nitro finishes. The body of the CE’s are much thinner and I think the s2’s are more comfortable to play. Both are fantastic instruments. Try and get your hands on both is you are interested. It’s really all personal preference.

[@samm9074]

I know you mentioned the pickups aren’t as good on the S2, but are they actually bad? I love what the S2 offers but I wouldn’t want to change the pickups right away. I play mostly contemporary worship.

[@gorlagOv]

@@samm9074 the s2 stock neck pickup is fantastic. I am about to put it in a friends guitar. I prefer the 57/08 pick ups by PRS over the 85/15 pickups over all, core and not core. It’s all personal preference. It’s not a bad pickup. It sounds very modern and has a lot of treble. It can be tamed with the tone knob. I also think the S2 body carve is more comfortable. New s2s have the CE neck carve, so if you want a regular profile find an older s2 or a different model of s2. I would find one that’s comfortable you can’t replace a neck and body you can easily replace a pickup. Like the S2 594 is the most versatile but it has a fat neck and a shorter scale length. a You could absolutely do a worship set with an s2 cu24. Hope that helped God bless.

[@samm9074]

@@gorlagOv thanks so much ! At this point I am going for versatility and comfort and of course the added notes a 24 fret guitar offers. I have fenders , a Gibson a gretsh a CE prs. Everyone is using Fenders, Gibson and Gretches for worship, but I am sure you know they might not be the most comfortable guitars to play at times or it might limit you as what you want to do. Thanks so much for your help, appreciate it.

[@gorlagOv]

@@samm9074 if you can find one, check out the Se hollowbody II piezo. It’s a really good guitar because you can get electric and acoustic and blend them.

[@samm9074]

@@gorlagOv for sure. I’ll try to find one but I’ve been really digging the S2s since the previous model with was the 35th anniversary. I love this Bonnie pink cherry burst model and I like how you can split each coil independently. Like you mentioned, I offers a modern platform but it’s still a Prs. I’d rather get a Prs any time than say a high end Ibanez or any other modern “rock “ guitar lol .

[@jimmyjames2022]

Great comparison, very useful thanks! SE pickups including the 85/15(S) sound too thin and bright to me whether in SE or S2. CE 85/15 pups have a bit more mids, sound less thin and are way way more articulate, very nice to me. Had a Korean SE and same thin, bright pups in that. Had HFS pups in an old EG-2 and prefer them to SE pups. S2s are a big disappointment to me by using SE pups. I'd jump on one given better pups, and yes I've swapped pups in a PRS and it works but why should I have to in a PRS.

[@AudiomoMusic]

EXACTLY! These things are two grand and come with the same pickups as their entry level guitars. Im sorry but that’s unacceptable to me.

[@JustChiminin]

Well presented. Good job.

[@AudiomoMusic]

Thanks Frank, glad you enjoyed it

[@Brad143]

Which guitar you recommend for,thanks

[@AudiomoMusic]

between these two, a used CE24 is the way i'd go about it 100% of the time

[@dylanlamarre3768]

I like how you dialled in the PRSs to sound like PRSs instead of trying to tweak them to imitate LP or Strat or Tele or whatever. They sound the best when you don't have any pre-conceived notion of what they "should" sound like.

[@AudiomoMusic]

Man thank you so much, I did that deliberately because I can't stand when people try to get guitars to sound like things they are not then get angry when it doesn't turn out that way.

[@jorgea3507]

First off nice vid. Ok, so I took a plunge an purchased the CE 24 demo and have to say its moderately nice. Disclaimer, my workhorse is a Novo Serus J so anything IMO compared is already has a super high standard. My take off the bat, weight was nice, finish cosmetics and quality were good. The fret work was nice but overall fretboard seemed wide for me, especially when I attempt what I call my John Mayer chord shapes, I don't have his freakishly large rubber fingers. Still not a deal breaker however Im not sold on the pickups. IMO they clarity when you get to some gain playing. I tried it on my Fractal FM9 then went to amp, both same results. The heavier the gain (Humbuckers) the muddier or darker it seemed. Rolling off the volume to 7 helped to clear the muddiness but also takes away the gain. I have 29 days left to test yet. Having the Novo with P 90's really spoiled me, I have yet to find another guitar come close to its precision. Still would like a Humbucker guitar though.

[@AudiomoMusic]

Thanks Jorge alright let's see here, first of all the Novo's are great sounding guitars congratulations on having that as your main guitar. I also didn't get on with this version of the PRS neck for a while it absolutely feels much more modern and wider than the traditional necks I typcailly play, but now I don't mind even for doing the thumb over chord work. As far as the pickups go, one thing that you have to really nail with this specific set of pickups are the height of them, that made a night and day difference for me in the guitar mudding out really badly due to the height being a bit too high. Since they are on the higher output side of things lowering them really helps bring out some clarity and removes some of the mud. Give that a shot and let me know how it works out for you

[@shawnmcginnis2508]

Found lowering the pickup height on my CE24 made an improvement to my ear too 👍

[@MrRafaztar]

This is a good one! Affordable options, not cheap ones! Although the ce pickups did sound better the s2 wasn’t bad, but side by side it is quite obvious

[@AudiomoMusic]

That my friend is the killer, you don't notice it until you play them back to back, or in the case of the other S2's I had that were stock... in the recording studio it was night and day sitting in the mix. I'm excited to put the 85/15 USA versions from this CE24 into the S2, that will be a fun before and after video

[@Alex-jw4jc]

CE 24 all day long. That satin neck is glorious. And yes the price for American pickups are worth it. Plenty of stupid good deals on used CEs. If you go S2 then I would lean toward the Vela or McCarty 594 line.

[@AudiomoMusic]

It's weird to say but I really like the gloss feel way more on a PRS, all the S2's including a certain blue 594 felt nicer to me than the CE24s do 🤣 They did a hell of a job with the CE24 though, it's a shame they are now 2300 bucks new, market is wild.

[@jasong546]

I would go with the ce, the sound is sweeter and I really am a strat bolt on guy.

[@AudiomoMusic]

Paul is really smart to not put the same pickups in these two guitars from the factory, that's where the entire gap is imho.

[@ThorHammer88]

That s2 is effing beautiful. The CE killed it tho

[@AudiomoMusic]

Yeah it's not close. The old S2's were horrible value new because of how poor the SE electronics that came with it were.

[@misterroberts344]

From personal experience, Yes!

[@AudiomoMusic]

I tend to agree, unless you get the S2 for half price used and have a set of pickups at the ready to swap in for those very lackluster stock ones... even then I don't know - the CE24 is just great.

[@RobTackettCovers]

Based on this demo, I would have to say yeah, the CE is that much better...cost justified based simply on how the CE sounds vs the S2...the S2 sounds good...the CE vs the S2 sounds great...

[@AudiomoMusic]

Yeah it's really, really obvious especially in the room it's not even close. It's a shame because the S2 is by no means a cheap guitar in it's own right, and I feel the SE electronics seriously let it down.

[@RobTackettCovers]

@@AudiomoMusic Hey, thanks for responding back! PRS sells their pickup set that comes in their core line models for $500 bucks retail...hmm, maybe they should put Fishman Fluence or something else in the s2 range...just do something different with them that neither the import or core guitars have...just an idea...regardless of that, I don't think a US made S2 should come off as a "it plays like a PRS, but I gotta swap out those pickups" deal....and, to be fair, it shouldn't sound just like a US made Custom 24, either...but if the look, appearance, and most important, the sound of an import PRS is in the the exact same ball park as an S2, then what's the point of getting an S2? I think they should have their own sonic deal going on...

[@skye7690]

The S2 probably costs more than the CE24 at this point. And both now come with USA pickups.

[@AudiomoMusic]

They both come with US pickups now actually, but funny enough they use the same bridge as the SE versions which is kind of insane to think about.

[@RobEspinoRealEstate]

I like the tone of the CE better

[@AudiomoMusic]

Absolutely agreed. The CE's pickups are much, much better than the import ones in the S2.

[@RichMorgan-o8x]

Looks like yes was the answer.

[@AudiomoMusic]

Yep, but I wouldn't recommend either at new pricing.

[@chewchy9052]

8515's is where it's at ty6

[@siegriedroy6467]

Unbelieveable that both Guitars sound so different! I cant say which one is better, sorry!

[@AudiomoMusic]

Just shows how big of a difference the electronics make! Its a huge difference indeed

[@olafburgermann806]

I recently bought a mint CE24 second hand for the same price as a new SE. Absolute bargain. And I swear I got even luckier and it's a 1 piece body as I cannot see any evidence in the wood grain that it's not. Will keep it forever, amazing guitar. Much prefer the satin neck to gloss too. Plan to put a brass block in it but that's it.

[@AudiomoMusic]

You had me at lucky when you told me how much you paid for it, that is a steal indeed

[@jaymax3201]

CE is Fender luxury. S2 is Les Paul Studio. Ha ha, That's the difference of price.

[@psyanide4082]

seems like s2 is more country style

[@randyrandle399]

All prs pickups and electronics are limp in my opinion. I will take two S2s with Duncan pickups for price of one core...and totalky pass on tbe SE. I k ow this post is old...but ger tired of people over justifying student editions. As far as bolt on necks...I have a real strat for that.

[@nuendo2496]

Yeah….I’m not sure which is worse.