Is It Worth It? $1549 PRS SE Hollowbody II Piezo Vs $4900 Core

As the most expensive PRS SE ever built, we begin a quest to discover the pronunciation of the word piezo and the differences between the new Chinese built SE flagship guitar and it's $4900 USA built Core cousin.

[ishguitars]

TIME STAMPS
Intro Shred: 00:03

Sound Samples
-SE HB II Piezo Direct Into Interface: 01:05

-Core HB II Piezo Direct Into Interface: 01:47

-SE HB II Piezo Acoustic Amp Direct Out: 02:29

-Core HB II Piezo Acoustic Amp Direct Out: 03:11


SE HB II Piezo Control Layout Overview: 03:55

SE vs Core Differences: 06:35

Which One Would We Pick? 13:20

[anotherstart]

Really couldn't hear a $2500 difference. The SE is a good guitar. The core is a great guitar. Whichever you can afford. My heart wants the core but my wallet likes the SE.

[chris.d]

I bought the SE model and love it. It’s a great guitar. Especially when running the piezo through a Fishman acoustic amp. Sounds great. If I need a more authentic acoustic sound, I pull out one of my Taylors. The core is nice too. Just not $3k nicer. Just my 2 cents….

[BrentAdams]

They are both GREAT! I'd go for the SE. I'd rather play the heck out of a less expensive guitar...and not worry as much about dings on that more expensive one. Sound differences....are virtually non-existent if you dial in what you want to hear from either one on your amp.

[footcandy]

I think the issue of the difference is more in feel than in sound. The core models feel a lot nicer than the SE models to me.

[bradmalinowski]

Hey guys, thank you so much for this video. I just ordered the SE Model from Sweetwater. I sent your video to my sales engineer Cory. He is going to check with the tech department to see if they can do the modifications that you discussed in this video, which will include the "Fun Switch" and coil tapping the pickups. We'll see what happens. I'll keep you posted and I'll let you know how much it will cost. Sweetwater just discounted the SE Hollowbody Piezo models, so I could not resist. Again, this was an extremely helpful video.

[letz_getschwifty]

The PRS SE hollowbody all day long, I mean if money was not a problem then sure I'd splurge on the core. But value for money and a guitar that's going to be just as versatile especially after a couple of modifications. The SE is the one all the way!

[ryanbaggott]

Great info. Loved the good-natured banter at the end. Thanks for the vid.

[burtclarke]

IMO, the quality of products coming out of China, Korea and Indonesia is presenting a serious challenge to US manufacturers today. I Pre-ordered the SE with PRS locking tuners today from Sweetwater. I just love the look and the tones. If I need to mix up single coil sounds, I’ll either break out the Tele or my LP with push-pull coil splits. This is the neatest all-around guitar for any genre I’ve found. I love the fact that I can send the under-saddle transducer to the PA system and the Mag/Piezo blend to the guitar amp. This will be my first guitar with a circuit board; I don’t know enough about the circuitry to be confident that changing the impedance with coil-splitting switches wont negatively impact the output frequency response. Everybody knows we’ll never be satisfied with just one guitar anyway. LOL!

[James-cnno]

The SE acoustic sounds more authentic to me. The CORE acoustic timbre sounds electric.

[VexxJam]

I love how candid this review was lol 👍 👍

[joshc]

Do a Ernie ball majesty piezo vs PRS piezo core video. I'd like to see how they sounds since I'm debating between the two and they're similar price points

[RavnerRavner]

the difference is a living wage for the workers

[neal_laugman]

Thanks. I'm thinking about replacing the PUs on my PRS SE Hollowbody II with a set of 58/15LTs (that are in the core model.) They were $500. This is an older video, but if there is anyone out there with an opinion on this mod I would appreciate the feedback.

[billyscrapper]

ill bet the piezo would sound more similar if the guitars had the same gauge strings.. put 11's on the SE and test the piezos again... makes a big difference. thanx for the review BTW...

[professordeb]

I swear, does no one know it's pronounced "pee-AY-zo"?!

[jordancohen]

I just found out my SE (in that same blue!) just arrived after months of waiting. This video helped me feel good about my choices! Were you ever able to mod this with the coil taps? Just curious ... That's pretty much, in my opinion, the only con of this guitar (since other PRS have such good coil tap via the push pull knob).

[JTroskaTV]

The Core does sound slightly better. But I’m wondering if the SE could sound about the same with just a little EQ. Piezos produce a very raw sound and almost always require some EQ tweak to sound good anyway. Guess it’s a moot issue as I’m past the stage of spending Core guitar money to play $100 gigs with. 😅

[prcc]

I own the SE. The main difference to me is that gorgeous curly maple binding my guitar has around the body, in the f-holes, along the neck and around the headstock. The Core doesn't have any of that. Compared to the SE, it really looks like a stripped-down, cheaper version... which is nuts.

[JoshSarwono]

I’m glad the guy is honest and picked the core… not like any outher youtubers that leave you wondering and Not being straight