SC Sunday

Early start to guitar-ing. Feels like playing a singlecut today. Every time this happens, I will always have a PRS in mind, not a Gibson. So today's guitar of choice - the SC250.

Re-visiting the pick that kick-started my custom order itch; the DAW MAN guitar pick. I'm sticking to the ones with rough / unpolished edges for aggressive music. This one does not disappoint every time.

SC Sunday

Was at Beez's yesterday to get this done - dead tone pot (bridge PU). It's been a while since I played this guitar so the different feel got me hooked & I played for an hour. The thing about PRS in general; it's not an instrument that attracts a certain player profile. In fact, everyone who clicked with a PRS would like it for what it is regardless of the genre of music it's used for.

Midweek lockdown

It's midweek & all cooped up at home. Supplies are still good, didn't even step out of the house to buy stuff. The lockdown instruction was simple; stay home. Maybe play a guitar & that happened. So today it was the PRS S2 SC250. I enjoyed playing the pick more than the guitar actually. Hope everyone out there is safe despite having their freedom trimmed a little.

Wider, please

My hand is telling me to lay off Gibsons for a while. That narrow, rounded profile is not doing the fretting hand any good in terms of wide stretches. Ironically, wide stretches are better done on wider, thinner necks. I'm avoiding any Ibanez necks in the mean time, trying to condition my hand to accept thicker, rounder stuff but it's difficult. I've been playing thinner, wider necks since day one, anything different, the hand would tell me to quit playing & switch to something else. So for the last two days, it's the PRS S2 SC250 which sports a wider feel but not Ibanez thin. 

Single with orange

Had been with this set up since Monday:

• PRS S2 SC250: Pickups in there are Seymour Duncan's P-Rails (N)/ Pegasus (B)
• Boss: Distortion DS-1
• Korg: Pitch Black tuner
• DAW: Shredline pick 3mm

Was looking for a different neck feel so the SC250 was the reference. Have been in split mode every time the neck pickup is engaged so might be looking to make that permanent. Also, I had been playing everything through the DS-1 lately & sometimes took things for granted; this orange stomp box is definitely the standard to beat in terms of a no-frills offering. The Pitch Black- had been using this for all pedal tuning reference. One of the best in terms of accuracy & durability. Currently awaiting for new DAW picks to arrive but will not abandon this green meanie. 

Hard tails

Spent the Sunday playing my PRSes, the Mira in the morning...

... the SC250 to close the day. Both guitars were given a fresh set of strings before playing.

I'm not too fond of finished necks so the real reason why I played them today was because I like to hear the Seymour Duncan pickups in action:

• Mira: JB/ P-Rails
• SC250: Pegasus/ P-Rails

Mira's partial hollow body dampened some brightness from the JB so it has a strong bottom end response for heavy music, no problems there. The P-Rails in its full humbucking mode sound very wooly in the neck but unlike a Gibson humbucker, there's still clarity in the mix. 

The SC250 on the other hand was pretty much dictated by the Pegasus. On a personal note, it's a prog-esque pickup for that rock-hippie type of tone very prevalent in the 70s but with a strong distortion presence. Technical geeks would love this pickup for its ability to manifest individual notes very well.

After a re-set up following the re-string & thorough cleaning I came to the realization that I could not get a super low, super shredding action simply due to the bridge type of both instruments Yes, a low action was possible but nothing Ibanez-like. It's a different playing experience but nothing hopeless & struggling when fast playing is concerned. Even for Gibson guitars, hard tail bridges are just not cut out for low action settings. They have this fixed height which was compounded by the top mount nature. We can only go so deep/ low & that's it. But I'm rather sick of this sunburst-type finish- no more for me.

Here's wishing you a good week ahead. Remember to embrace difference but ditch it once it makes you feel stupid. 😁

PRS: S2 SC250 Singlecut (owner's take Part 2)

The PRS S2 SC250 features a pair of #7 humbuckers. These are the preferred pickups for the instrument because they simply bring forth the lightweight goodness of the instrument. They are voiced to manifest both clarity & warmth. Despite the manufacturer's best efforts to recreate a pair of treasured PAF-type tones, these pickups are rather contemporary sounding.

As I spare no romantics for vintage voicings, a pair of Seymour Duncans made their way into my SC250. The objective was not to recreate any PAF-type tones because those would do me no good. So what you see here are the P-Rails in the neck & Pegasus in the bridge position. I prefer a P-90 type tone for such guitars in the neck but require the pickup to be hum-cancelling most of the time so the P-Rails did it for me. The Pegasus is one of the pickups in the Seymour Duncan catalog that I refer to as a 'next gen' model. It was conceived to manufacture contemporary tones with great distortion chemistry which are not heavy metal in nature. It's also a great pickup for prog-type tones. 

In the SC250, these pickups react well with the instrument's lightweight body. There has to be a consideration for weight if one is dealing with a PRS guitar. It's not as easy as buying one's preferred pickups & having them in a PRS because what works elsewhere might prove to be a folly in the PRS. It's all down to weight considerations. But I'm happy with the outcome. Somehow knowing what I am familiar with pays off in this aspect; there's some thinking of what should go into a guitar of a certain nature instead of leaving it to trial & error.

PRS: S2 SC250 Singlecut (owner's take- Part 1)

My initial encounter with the S2 was handling the Custom 24 at the store. I was ready to be a little bothered by PRS' cost-cutting measures in order for them to offer the entire range of instruments at a more affordable price. That didn't happen. What happened was my understanding of the fact that PRS did way more for their core range to justify the exorbitant price tags so what they did with the S2s is an exercise in competence. The right amount of treatment & finishing were given to these instruments so that nothing extras would contribute to costs. So in hand, the typical S2 model will not be giving you that upper end shiver but an embrace of fine existence- you'd feel the goodness of a PRS. So that encounter was a good pre-empt, I know the S2 is something I want & having a personal encounter with one justified my beliefs. It's a matter of selection.

Back then, there was no Singlecut offered. The only S2 with a single cutaway outline was the Starla but the Bigsby-type whammy was unnecessary so my plan to acquire an S2 was put on ice. Fast forward Fall 2013- PRS announced 2 more models for the S2 fans- the Custom 22 & the Singlecut. That got me flipping so it's a matter of time since I already communicated my plans to the good people of Davis GMC. A few shipments later, the SC250 made it here & I just have to try one (with a very high probability of acquisition). 

The last time I bought a PRS was more than a decade ago. I was expecting a vast difference in standards between my McCarty & this SC250 but no stark differences were observed. By this, I was referring to revisions in hardware, construction philosophy & tone but PRS kept what worked for them. This successful formula was perpetuated so nothing was fixed if it wasn't broken before. The SC250 in question was thrilling in every aspect despite a very fundamental core line feature being excluded- it wasn't curved top. The finish & fitting is immaculate as ever & the instrument is lightweight, staying true to PRS' belief that weight plays an integral part in tone generation. 

OK, so from this pic you'd notice the 'strange' pickups in there but that's for another episode.