Excellent, Well Rounded Guitar

I've been using this for approximately 5 months or so. I have it in the McCarty Tobacco Burst coloring.

Body: The body is excellent. The wood grain texture is very nice and coloring is very clear. No grain filler gives the body a slight porous feel. The coating they use is extremely thin and my top concern is scratching it given the minimal protection. However, I have had no issues so far. The neck feels different than the body as it has either a different or thicker coating. Probably to prevent it from wear from hand oils. It is smooth but still feels quite different to other necks I've played.

Tone: Great warm tones, especially on the neck pick up. Sustain is quite present in this guitar, I assume due to the all mahogany build type. Using the bridge pickup, you can get quite a bit of snap and twang in the treble range. There's quite a contrast between the two pickups. Unit has coil tap present and I've never used such a feature very much prior to this guitar. The functionality is excellent and the tone change is quite evident. You also don't lose much volume even though you're essentially playing single coil. There is a slight drop off but not like others I've played. Most coil taps I have played have a deadened humbucker sound versus having a single coil sound. That's not the case with this. I use it quite often in my clean tones.

Overall: The guitar plays like it costs twice as much. I'd take it over anything else I've played in this price range and over numerous guitars that I've played in the >$2,000 range. It's not as fancy as other Paul Reed Smith's but pictures do not do it justice. It is quite attractive, especially to those guitar players seeking a less decorative PRS.

From Gear Setup

Best guitar I've ever played!

It's got everything- looks, feel, sound, everything. The finish is perfect, super smooth and feels like bare wood. No more glossy necks for me. The fretwork is impeccable and the setup & intonation is perfect. PRS does an outstanding job with quality control, and deserve every bit of praise they get for it. You can tell a lot of work goes into making sure every guitar is perfect. The rolled fretboard edges feel great. The bridge is outstanding: I'm not an EVH divebomb kind of player, but I'll do subtle trem stuff here and there. I was used to playing a trem on a Squier Strat that never stayed in tune and was really stiff so I always stay away from using it. I then moved to an Explorer with a Gotoh stop tailpiece that holds its tuning really well, so I was totally sold on stop tailpieces. Then I got this PRS, and I wish every guitar had this same bridge. It holds its tuning incredibly well, and I'm sure you can definitely do Pantera whammy stuff without it going out of tune. The trem is super smooth & fluid, so it's not stiff and tense like some cheaper trems you see. Not trying to down Squier at all (I actually highly recommend their Bullet Strats) since there's obviously a big difference in quality between Squier and PRS. In my opinion, no one should have their first guitar be a really nice Gibson or Fender or PRS, it should be a beginner's guitar that makes you appreciate a really nice guitar like my PRS. I love the vintage sounding pickups, they're super versatile and the knobs and coil split are great too. If you ever get the chance to play one of these, I can't recommend it enough. It's incredibly comfortable to play, looks great and sounds great. Fantastic guitar, I absolutely love it.

Great guitar.

It is very well built and the fit and finish is perfect. The simple controls with the coil split will cover a large range of tones. What I like most about this guitar is the resonance. It really comes to life in your hands. Running it through a BD-2 is tactile paradise. Can’t say enough about it. I really like the feel of the satin finish and the neck feels a lot like my Strat. It was also very reasonably priced for a PRS USA made guitar. Strongly recommend.

Best quality for the price.

My S2 is my absolute favorite guitar. Better than my Gibsons. Might always be my #1.

GREAT

All mahogany body and neck. Rosewood Fretboard. PRS S2 HFS and Vintage Bass Pickups. S2 Locking Tuners. 3 way blade switch with push-pull coil tap in the tone knob. Very versital guitar.