When I wrote the original 52 Guitars article series, one of my favourite guitars was the PRS Dave Navarro signature model. Years later and I still find myself wanting a Paul Reed Smith (PRS) guitar. One day I hope to make it happen. Perhaps I’ll make it happen with the SE Hollowbody II.
It’s one beautiful looking guitar.
I’m honestly surprised that I don’t already have a guitar like the SE Hollowbody II. As I’m always looking to add something I don’t have in a guitar to my collection, having a hollowbody guitar makes perfect sense. The guitar has all of the features of an electric guitar, but the added benefit of the resonance only a hollowbody guitar can have.
As someone who likes to occasionally play some acoustic-styled guitar tracks, but lacks the confidence the acoustic guitar requires, this hybrid is perfect.
Another feature I’ve seen on many PRS guitars is the string wrapping bridge. I’m sure I could do it on an existing guitar I own, but these guitars and bridges are made for this.
Then there’s the visual appeal of this guitar—or most other PRS guitars to be honest. This is a beautifully designed guitar. The dual cutaways and the F holes … it’s simply stunning.
Having dual humbuckers doesn’t hurt either. On this guitar these pickups make more sense than they perhaps do for me on my existing guitars. With my guitar playing style and the genre I spend 99% of my time listening to, it’s rare for me to consider using the neck pickup. On this guitar however, acoustic mode and a neck pickup … I could make this work.
But how does it sound? Luckily PRS have a video that answers that for us.
My preferred finish style is obviously going to be the trans-black style seen in this article’s header. The finish on the guitar in the video though … I’d be quite OK with that as well. It’s just a beautiful guitar.
I’m nearly halfway through this article series and I’m genuinely still surprised by how much versatility still exists in a busy market. The SE Hollowbody II is another prime example of why choosing a guitar is so difficult. There are so many things to consider when looking for a guitar and this model ticks a lot of different boxes.