Is The PRS SE Hollowbody II Piezo the Gimmick That No One Wants to Admit?

[@remocwen]

Respectfully disagree on your conclusion, but I understand where you're coming from. I fall into the church guitarist category and run the 2 outputs through a Helix where I can configure separate signal chains for both. I can swap/blend between inputs with a button or expression pedal depending on the needs of the song. It's extremely versatile for my application and has become my main guitar. A note of clarification- the humbuckers are totally split from the piezo such that you can take the battery completely out of the guitar and it won't affect the tone on the electric side of things. I've had multiple piezo-equipped electric guitars over the years and notice the behavior you mention where the tone is affected by the battery being in the loop but it doesn't apply to the PRS SE Hollowbody II Piezo. Dropping the price of the guitar over Christmas is kind of a dumb reason to hate on it IMO. The entire PRS SE range was on sale, along with Fenders and a ton of other guitars due to overproduction during COVID. That being said, I bought it for over $600 off list and would never pay full price for it, so... I'm a bit offended at being told I "don't understand what my sound is or what to play", but I'll get over it. You got me to click on the video and comment, so mission accomplished I guess. :)

[@IkeGuitar]

Appreciate the insight! Thanks for being willing to share your thoughts on it.

[@shakarocks]

I respectfully disagree. These types of guitars go all the way back to the Hamer Duotone. They work amazing for what they are. Those who run the guitar into an electric amp and then try to get the acoustic side to sound good are missing the point. You run electric to a normal guitar amp and the piezo to an acoustic processor. Even better run it into an acoustic processor that can run an impulse response. For anyone who needs both acoustic tones and electric tones in the same song, this type of guitar is money. You can also get some excellent stereo-type tones when you blend a highly effected piezo (delay, verb, whatever) going direct with the electric side going to an overdriven amp. As a gigging musician, I love these kinds of guitars. It helps that I know how to set them up. As for onboard processing for the piezo, you don't need it. Acoustics should usually be processed outside the guitar anyway.

[@fluffytoaster427]

Just out of curiosity, what's your setup? How do you run this rig at home vs when you're out in front of people?

[@shakarocks]

@@fluffytoaster427 I run things the same at home as I do live. I explained how I do it above. Electric side into an overdriven tube amp and the acoustic side into an acoustic processor and then straight into the board.

[@nicholasaragon4126]

There's a few ways I use mine. Most of the time I blend in a hair of piezo for some extra sonic dimension and/or tight percussive attack, the amount of piezo I blend depends on the vibe. Another way I use it is to run the electric pickups to my pedalboard and/or effects-heavy profile with ambience and volume pedal for some swells. Then I play the piezo through a traditional Acoustic amp. The acoustic does the music while the ambient signal fills the room. There's a bunch of other ways I use it but I play pretty much every genre except country, and when it comes to R&B, Neo Soul, Jazz or Pop, this guitar dunks all over any of my other guitars (or that I've ever played). I have a bunch of guitars with no "gimmicks" and they don't do what this guitar does, they're the same thing we've been hearing for over half a century already. It's nice to have a unique sound and functionality in my arsenal and it's absolutely one of my favorite guitars. *Edit: Although it can rock if you need it, I have like 6 guitars that do Rock/Metal better or they are set up for dropped tunings so obviously I just grab one of those.

[@IkeGuitar]

Love to hear it! Thanks for sharing!

[@randomistmech]

I don't own A PRS SE Hollowbody II Piezo, but I do own a PRS SE Hollowbody II. I couldn't resist, it was less than half price. However, the guitar is much better than I would expect of a Chinese guitar. Actually I think you could put mine up against some Gibsons and it wouldn't be embarrassed. Is it my best guitar? No. My best guitar isn't American either, though. I have had Indonesian and Korean guitars that were well received, got great reviews... but they were not anywhere near this level. I do agree with the Piezo, for most users it really needs a built in or at least provided preamp, but having it as a separate output doesn't necessarily make that a gimmick. The guitar is probably just more suited to the studio than the stage. Some players have the luxury of multiple amps on stage too, they could take advantage of the second output. That said, I think for 95% of players, the Hollowbody 2 without the piezo is probably a better option. They're great guitars for what I paid, for the asking price they're at least competitive.

[@larryh.3173]

Agreed. Or one could just buy it with piezo capability, but then choose to use it most or all of the time as simply a “straight” Hollowbody PRS for that resonance alone. Like a Core Hollowbody model. Just because you have the piezo ability doesn’t mean it’s gotta be used on everything, right? I happen to think the hollow body magnetic tone (alone) is pretty cool, def different than my several other Core solidbodies. (But then I have the piezo as a secret weapon special sauce if I want, too.)

[@MichaelBarr]

Great review, for me it’s one of the best choices I’ve made . I use it live and a ton in the studio , True when using piezo pickup I know and always adjust the amp settings, and on my board I have created a patch set

[@MrJbangoy]

My IR-200 makes the Piezo absurdly good. With 1 button and a quick knob pull I go from full bodied acoustic sounds to dirty electric sounds. I picked it up on a whim when i found one used for $650 in the case. It replaced my Martin acoustic, Schecter S1 elite, and my other PRS SE pretty much immediately as my main gigging guitar. I can't say any of my guitars are better than it, even more expensive ones.

[@jackbandel]

Can you share which IR you are using?

[@transistorsect11]

Definitely some legitimate criticism on the electronics on this guitar, though I will add that I use this guitar with my FM9 and I run 2 different inputs for each output jack and process both the piezo and the humbuckers independently from each other (humbuckers through an amp + cab, and piezos through an acoustic amp IR + some multiband comp and EQ). Then I just use scene changes to choose which output I want to hear at any given time (just humbuckers for a lead sound, just piezo for acoustic stuff, etc.). Overall, I think it's a much more "niche" guitar than what it was marketed as, and I'm not sure how many people are going to really have the right rig to make use of it.

[@IkeGuitar]

It’s good to hear how you use it. When I’m imagining running acoustic and electric sounds parallel, I have a heard time justifying it because stylistically electric parts are so far apart from what I would play acoustically. Doubling a part seems like it would be more trouble than it’s worth but I’d like to see it more in practice. And your rig sounds like what would be the natural step in that style.

[@nealtircuit9373]

“To be fair, and to be honest, I generally judge all of my guitar models based on the national market…” “There’s currently three or four on Facebook marketplace and they haven’t moved in months.” The first quote shows me that you care more about what guitar model is cool at the moment. I prefer to judge a guitar by the tone and playability. And yes, the tone and playability of my Hollowbody II Piezo are great. As to the second quote, as of 5:45am CDT, 11 March 2024, there was not one single PRS SE Hollowbody Piezo for sale. I also check reverb and all but a few(and these few looked like they were floor displays in stores) were at MSRP prices.

[@Coldbeard6571]

I loop with a dual output guitar though it's a godin and there is dedicated 3 band eq on the guitar itself for the piedzo and it makes a huge difference. I dont blends the sounds i just loop a chord progression then add some fingers style stuff and then solo on top with the magnetic pick up, it just makes thing stand further appart when you add many layers with the same instrument. Works for me but yes, dedicated tone control or eq is key

[@russshaber8071]

Like most guitar players, I'm not a professional. I play for fun. I own a core 10t wl PRS HB2. I love blending the tones, or running an acoustic amp and an electric amp simultaneously. It's a very versatile guitar. I could never make it as a musician, so I made it the old fashion way. Now I have a great guitar collection. No Chinese guitars.

[@Jojopal333]

I specifically bought the HB II because I needed to know if I could program my Katana MK II to produce a great acoustic tone through the piezo. I already get beautiful electric tones with this combo. I am using the deepest editing of Boss’s Tone Studio. I am having a heck of a lot of fun diving into this as well as achieving super usable acoustic sounds. I am also experimenting with a separate TC Helicon Play Acoustic system through an acoustic amp. The built in body rez is also thickening and dequacking the piezo. The HB II Piezo is not in fact a gimmick but no doubt needs outboard treatment to arrive at believable acoustic tones. Finally the Katana-Axe effects-Helix-Kemper type devices can give you the flexibility to make the PRS Hollowbody II Piezo extremely useful at home, stage and studio. If nothing else the tone quest is mentally stimulating. P.S. I restrung the HB with 11-49 strings for a better acoustic feel.

[@vincentcirille1628]

This guitar is a great tool when you have gigs with medleys with first song acoustic and 2nd one electric. I have no car. So I have to wear my setup. Trust me when I say that taking this guitar and my Strat is the best combo I've found on all my gigs. Btw It fits very well in the Reunion Blues RBCE1.

[@cheesesteak59]

I own it and love it. I just play for myself and record my own stuff with my DAW. I use the Nembrini Audio Acoustic Voice Preamp plugin which was a lot cheaper when I bought it.

[@martinspreiter8240]

Thanks for your good job. I use always two Amps. So I can equalize the piezo sound at the Amp. And for me, the only thing I would change at this beauty, is the piezo volume knob to a magnetic/ piezo blend knob. So I did use a volume Pedal to blend the magnetic pickup´s in. So I had only to turn back the piezo pickup. But now I have a little more practice, and I am able to turne the two knobs at once. I am verry happy to have this guitar. I have a Tele and a ES335, but since I have this versatile, absolout beautyful and perfekt crafted instrument, I only play this one. I think it´s more then worth the price. You pay for the all in the United States made PRS Hollowbody II with solid AAA Maple (the SE has only a AA Maple laminate) $6500 - $7000. I think the workers in China are doing there a verry good job, and they should be payed good. Mark Knopfler did take his guitars to Christies auction, and they payed two hunderdthausend dollars, for a Schecter Tele. This is expensive. 🤨🤔🙄🤥

[@Durmomo0]

A lot of people use modelers etc so you can have your own patch for the acoustic. I do hate that it doesnt have a toggle switch for the piezo vs mag pick ups though. I think that makes it much less useful live which is really what a piezo type guitar is for. If im playing a song with an acoustic part and an electric part I want to flip a switch and stomp a button and have it switched 100 instantly. I dont want to turn 1 knob up then turn another knob down. If I ever bought one of these I think I would have to add a mini toggle.

[@rageagainstmyhatchet]

I want to buy this guitar, but then I'll have to finally decide how to correctly pronounce "piezo"

[@MikeJones-wl6gb]

So you are saying it is not a live guitar. Studio?

[@brandonanderson2066]

I have a piezo core custom 24 and what i use it for is country music and rock ballads. Allows you to play the acoustic verses and kick in on the chorus/ solo without needing a second guitarist. This one you've demoed sounds great! But i know exactly what you mean by Chinese quality as I've returned a china made electromatic (900 bucks) for those same reasons. The Indonesian made models (some much cheaper) are better in quality.

[@allena3430]

Thinking of getting a 10 top 594 piezo semi hollow or a custom 24 piezo semi hollow. Any feedback after another month of use with the custom 24?

[@LumaTo]

Hey at least you bought it and tried it. The old video came across as a kid that just wanted to cut something popular down without giving it a fair shake - which came across as petty and pointless and honestly a waste of time for someone trying to get info on the guitar. Now you at least have a basis to measure it on. Had you had the guitar on the first go you may have received a similar reaction - but at least blokes like me would have cut you some slack. I ended up getting mine not too long ago but had to get the piezo bridge fixed and adjusted by PRS due to the unexcusably fragile soldering work on that battery compartment. It's going to be the first thing I replace once the warranty runs out. At least my RMA experience wasnt a nightmare like with my Ultra Strat. I was waiting on that thing for months. 💀

[@ronedee]

A LOT of them out there USED! Obviously, there is buyers remorse going on? IMO this is a guitar looking for a niche, that doesn't exist. Nice try though! If they separate the circuits and could figure out a trem-piezo bridge, they may have a hit?

[@harimathur2191]

Thank you for the time uve put making this video, but.... its relative... that piezo guitar is just great for jazz. Again, relative

[@larryh.3173]

Actually, jazz was what I bought my spruce-topped black Doghair Hollowbody for, with its somewhat mellower tones. Then I can always add the piezo sparingly as a hint of “air” if I’m feeling so inclined. Anyway, I mostly just use the magnetic neck pickup alone. Not only do I rarely use the full piezo but I also rarely use the bridge pickup for jazz. Still, nice to have both those other choices on board, and it’s overall quite a great guitar. But YMMV, of course.

[@prjackson7802]

Honest review

[@joncole4918]

Even if not necessarily an fully accurate reflection of others’ experiences… 🙏

[@barondavis5692]

Ok, so what would your recommendation be for a first guitar for a beginner?

[@IkeGuitar]

Not a $1,200 Chinese model!

[@IkeGuitar]

A D’Angelico Premier DC is great and you can find them for $400 used

[@barondavis5692]

@@IkeGuitar ok I’ll check it out.

[@BennyCornelissen]

Let's start with this: I love people being honest, and you also decided to actually get the guitar in for review. Props for that. That's not to say I agree, though 😉 Let's start with the price, which you feel is too high. I agree. But you also mentioned that retailers are dropping the prices, so that argument kind of goes out the window. Would I get one for 1500? No. For 1100, I just might. You mentioned they aren't selling. It's a niche guitar. Nothing surprising here. Resale value is another thing. People may not want to buy a second-hand Chinese made PRS. But if they want a second-hand PRS Hollowbody with a piezo, it's either the SE or the Core, and the Core is about 4 times as expensive (and second hand this will be worse). Then there's the purpose. I think you're overlooking the jazz people. A hollowbody with a piezo is awesome for jazz, also with the blended output. Having the mellow neck pickup tone, but blend in a bit of piezo for some high-end clarity. It would also work fine as a 'one guitar to do everything' solution in some bands I've played in, where most of my parts were electric guitar ranging from pop to jazz to some rock but nothing too heavy, and then the odd acoustic part. I'm not bringing a dedicated acoustic for that, but this does it _fine_. Yes it's a piezo and they generally don't sound great, but they are perfectly ok with some good EQ. In terms of practicality live I think this guitar pairs very nicely with a good modeler. I would be comfortable gigging this with my Helix. Hook up both inputs to the Helix and you can have completely separate signal paths, even in 1 preset. Switching from an 'acoustic' verse to a crunchy chorus would be one button. If I wanted to blend both I'd do it in the Helix, so I can separately EQ both inputs, etcetera. That would also solve the issue of the MIX output getting pre-amped and potentially messing up gain staging when switching guitars. In terms of 'who should buy this?'.. it's a niche guitar. Most people won't actively seek a hollowbody electric guitar with a piezo. And those who do either know precisely what they're looking for, or they're looking for a quiver killer (which I personally don't really believe in 😉 ). I'd buy one for practicality as a one-size-fits-most live-rig combined with my Helix. But I don't currently need to fill that void.

[@larryh.3173]

Well stated!

[@Lawrenph]

Piezo needs to go to an acoustic amp to get the correct sound. Feeding it into an electric amp will not give you the correct tones or the sounds of an acoustic guitar. It is at the amp that any further adjustments can be made if you want to. The humbuckers are American design not Chinese and are quality. This review shows a lack of research into the product. In 50 years of playing guitars, this Guitar has become my most used and favourite one of all time. Compared to it's big brother, the Pro version, it is difficult to tell the difference in a blindfold test as to which one is being played, this SE version is that good. This is definitely a superior guitar to many more expensive offerings out in the marketplace only less expensive because of some of the materials used cosmetically. So the volume and tone knobs are plastic rather than wood, the fret inlays ablone rather than mother of pearl and no locking tuners. No rare woods are used. The nut is bone as it should be, as that is critical to how the guitar plays. It plays well. If you want soft mellow jazz then you can have it or hard rock rifts, then you can have that as well. Play chords on an acoustic backing to a country song and you can do that as well. It is all up to you. This guitar can do it all and do it well. My best guitar ever and I have had quite a few.

[@joncole4918]

Your premise seems akin to click-bait, and is quite the opposite of my actual playing time on one … impressive period, let alone at the price.

[@andrewchristie6483]

Part two wind up again. Going for more monetisation, I guess. Didn’t even mention the straight humbucking sound. “Must be made in China cos the wiring is junk,” I paraphrase. Show us the junk wiring, then. Are Eastman’s the same? Joker. I’m a Fender owner and you’re persuading me to buy this PRS. Guessing you had a bad PRS experience somewhere in the past.

[@coreymineard]

This guy wants to be right about something soooo bad. Opinions aren’t facts, kid. 😂

[@ericblair1984ish]

You do come across quite petty.

[@IkeGuitar]

Uh bro you have Satan as your user thumbnail let's not cast stones

[@ericblair1984ish]

@@IkeGuitar what utter nonsense.. stupid american christian dribble