New PRS S2 Studio - A strattier PRS?

guitars4you

looks around May-ish on delivery - I can't confirm this or the price as I no longer sell new PRS Guitars but have been given this info by PRS but expect close to £1400/1500 - I dare say you usual PRS Dealers can supply an exact price

Fozz

Looks lovely in white. I'm tempted but will wait for the inevitable price cuts. I bought a satin Vela new and love it, but it was slightly annoying to see it in so many sales towards the end of the year.

dindude

guitars4you said:

looks around May-ish on delivery - I can't confirm this or the price as I no longer sell new PRS Guitars but have been given this info by PRS but expect close to £1400/1500 - I dare say you usual PRS Dealers can supply an exact price

Would be crazy (but not unexpected) if it is priced at that. It has one more pickup than a vela, which is priced around the 1K mark - that would be one hell of a price jump!

grungebob

At that price i'm not interested.

Both my S2's where bought new for less than £750

guitars4you

dindude said:

guitars4you said:

looks around May-ish on delivery - I can't confirm this or the price as I no longer sell new PRS Guitars but have been given this info by PRS but expect close to £1400/1500 - I dare say you usual PRS Dealers can supply an exact price

Would be crazy (but not unexpected) if it is priced at that. It has one more pickup than a vela, which is priced around the 1K mark - that would be one hell of a price jump!

grungebob said:

At that price i'm not interested.

Both my S2's where bought new for less than £750

it looks to be a limited run based on as and when dealers actually place there orders, so chances are a limited supply into the UK - new 2018 stock will generally reflect in a price increase over previous 2017 and 2016 stock - best to check with your favourite PRS dealer for an exact price - I know the trade price, but as I don't sell new PRS models I can't give you a street price, but expect it to be in that ball park - I certainly don't see it under £1300/1350

such prices below 1K are often based on either old stock, old colours placed on offer by PRS to appropriate dealers and/or dealers clearing at their old stock - So great as and when such deals are available  - So maybe a long while, if indeed such a limited run will ever get to this stage

Musicman20

grungebob said:

At that price i'm not interested.

Both my S2's where bought new for less than £750

Yeah if this is where the pricing will sit (£1400/1500) I wouldnt be interested, unless they upgrade the tuners/bridge and gave you a quallity hardcase.

Modellista

guitars4you said:

dindude said:

guitars4you said:

looks around May-ish on delivery - I can't confirm this or the price as I no longer sell new PRS Guitars but have been given this info by PRS but expect close to £1400/1500 - I dare say you usual PRS Dealers can supply an exact price

Would be crazy (but not unexpected) if it is priced at that. It has one more pickup than a vela, which is priced around the 1K mark - that would be one hell of a price jump!

grungebob said:

At that price i'm not interested.

Both my S2's where bought new for less than £750

it looks to be a limited run based on as and when dealers actually place there orders, so chances are a limited supply into the UK - new 2018 stock will generally reflect in a price increase over previous 2017 and 2016 stock - best to check with your favourite PRS dealer for an exact price - I know the trade price, but as I don't sell new PRS models I can't give you a street price, but expect it to be in that ball park - I certainly don't see it under £1300/1350

such prices below 1K are often based on either old stock, old colours placed on offer by PRS to appropriate dealers and/or dealers clearing at their old stock - So great as and when such deals are available  - So maybe a long while, if indeed such a limited run will ever get to this stage

Lots of sense above.  I wonder whether the limited availability angle is designed to prevent these having to be discounted after they've been around for a while.  Just as @Fozz describes, it must be a bit gutting when you buy a guitar at full price in good faith and then see it discounted only a matter of months later.  It discourages early adopters - people put off a purchase in the hope and expectation that they will be discounted at some point in the near future.  This phenomenon hurts sales and necessitates further discounting, and in a way doesn't sit well with a prestige brand like PRS.

The other side of the coin is that there's people like me who picked up a satin Vela in the sales for £799 and love it to bits.

Having said that, I wouldn't be likely pay >£1k for one of these either.  The Velas were just over £1k on release which feels about right to me for these too, although I also expect a price around £1.3k.  On the plus side, the limited availability could mean stronger residuals for those who do take the plunge.

As for the guitar, it's a great shape, some great colours, and the pickups sound great in my Vela.  If you really must have a trem and Strat switching, you might be convinced to stump up the £100s more it'll cost you over a Vela.

darcym

I'd buy this if it had a hard tail option

blueskunk

Wish PRS would stop making guitars I like. I much preferred spewing hate at them etc etc 

Funkfingers

agibbo said:

I really like it! I've got an S2 Vela and it's using the same pickups

#MeToo - except mine is the semi-hollow Reclaimed series version. 

In my opinion, the Starla humbucker and D-Type single coil both have their own distinctive character. The critical question is, does adding another D-Type pickup in the middle deliver Stratocaster "in between" sounds? I like the PRS Dynasonic-style pickup but I do not consider it a substitute for Stratocaster or Telecaster pickup. It does its own thing. Thus, it might actually be fairer to draw comparisons with a Gretsch Electromatic.

Perhaps, the most "Fender" like thing about this recent crop of PRS S2 editions is the adoption of the Fender Short Run marketing strategy. Throw in a few unique features. Promote deliberately restricted availability as exclusivity. Jack up the price. Ker-Ching.



The critical sentence in the web description copy is this. "There is no cap to the number of S2 Studio guitars that will be made, but the order window is limited to January 16 – March 31, 2018." The order window for my guitar was March-April, 2017. It reached me in late November.

axisus

I do quite like it, but I'd have preferred them to go more stratty with the headstock and have 6 tuners on one side.

Danielsguitars

that's the problem I faced when I made a set neck strat, I'll end up putting another neck on it with 6 in line because of people's perceptions of what they should look like

Arktik83

That Frost Blue Metallic one is lovely!  I always remember seeing the original PRS Mira's in that kind of blue and loved it.  Hated the 24 frets but loved the finish.  I could be sorely tempted in to getting one of those but something would have to go and that's a big decision to make.

DannyP

When PRS launched, there was much written about them being a best-of-both-worlds guitar with the halfway scale length and the rotary switch offering single coil combinations.

Since then they seem to have come to terms with being a Gibson alternative, and I think most signature models dispensed with the single coil switching options in favour of a 3-way.

I don't much like curly tops and birdy markers, but I don't mind the more esoteric PRS like Starla and Mira. This seems to fit more with that section of the range - but I defo agree they could have been bolder with the colours. Maybe an ocean turquoise and a candy apple orange!

sawyer

Digging the cream!

RMJ

Wish they would reissue the original studio. Really regret selling mine. Sadly this doesn't recreate the original, which had 57/08 and 2 narrowfields

crunchman

RMJ said:

Wish they would reissue the original studio. Really regret selling mine. Sadly this doesn't recreate the original, which had 57/08 and 2 narrowfields

The original Studio was:

STUDIO: 1988 - 1991. Specs similar to the Special but with standard neck profile, Hot Vintage Treble pickup and two PRS single-coils. The studio’s single/single/hum pickup configuration was offered as an option until 1997.

From here:

https://www.prsguitars.com/csc/models.html

grungebob

RMJ said:

Wish they would reissue the original studio. Really regret selling mine. Sadly this doesn't recreate the original, which had 57/08 and 2 narrowfields

Wasn’t that the custom 22 studio?

RMJ

crunchman said:

RMJ said:

Wish they would reissue the original studio. Really regret selling mine. Sadly this doesn't recreate the original, which had 57/08 and 2 narrowfields

The original Studio was:

STUDIO: 1988 - 1991. Specs similar to the Special but with standard neck profile, Hot Vintage Treble pickup and two PRS single-coils. The studio’s single/single/hum pickup configuration was offered as an option until 1997.

From here:

https://www.prsguitars.com/csc/models.html

Ahhhh goo knowledge sir! I meant the more recent version. Didn't realise there was an earlier one.

57Deluxe

I like that off-white/tort quite a bit...