PRS Paul Reed Smith 2019 S2 Custom 22 Electric Guitar (with Gig Bag)
Meet your new workhorse guitar! The PRS 2019 S2 Custom 22 includes appointments like a PRS tremolo, push/pull coil tap and 85/15 pickups for versatility.
Overall User Ratings (based on 2 ratings)
Submitted March 17, 2019 by Robert L
"Awesome Guitar!!!"
Verified Purchaser
zZounds has verified that this reviewer purchased this specific product from us.
One of the best guitars I've ever owned.
Sound
The most important part, is this guitars weakest point, at least stock. The pickups are lifeless, very sterile. They're G&B pickups, made in Korea, same as the SE line, but for what it's worth I don't much care for PRS USA made pickups either. A new set of Duncan's fixed that.This guitar covers all the bases well, I play mainly blues rock, hard rock, and classic metal, and don't feel a need to switch between guitars.
Features
This guitar is pretty no frills, so there is no useless components.Some might be put off by a $1600 guitar made with lower quality Korean (pickups, bridge, and tuners) and Chinese (pots and switch) parts, but the tuners and bridge work flawlessly,
Ease of Use
Again, it's a no frills guitar, volume, tone/push pull, and 3way switch.The playability is A+, butter, the fretwork is super clean, the setup out of the box was spot on, even after detuning the strings to replace the pickups it tuned right back up and played flawlessly. The neck is rounded, so you have something to wrap your hand around, but not overly thick.It's also quite comfortable to have strapped on, fairly light considering the mahogany body with full maple cap.
Quality
This is where the guitar shines, and well worth the price, in spite of the imported parts. At no point in playing this guitar do I get a sense that corners were cut, because the tuners and bridge while imported parts, and the bridge particularly being a pot metal mold instead of a machined piece of solid metal, are still high quality in their own right. They cut corners in the right spots, for a comparison, this guitar is comparible to the Gibson Les Paul Studio, that's the market PRS is trying to hit with this... Now on the surface, the Les Paul Studio might seem like a better deal, it has all USA made parts, better pickups, and a hard shell case, but they are typically heavier than Standards and Traditionals, the attention to detail isn't quite there, the fretwork is typically nowhere near as good. This S2 Custom 22 had all its corners cut on easily replaceable parts, the type of carve they used on the top, and on the simple finish, and with a $160 upgrade on USA pickups and pots, it's still under 2k for a guitar PRS could justify selling for $2600. If you care more about the guitar than the origin of the replaceable parts, and you don't care about the PRS vs Gibson vs Fender vs etc sound, this S2 Custom 22 is what you want.
Value
Did I stutter? This guitar is the best guitar I've played at this price point from any of the major US or Japanese companies. This S2 plays and feels closer to the Core series, while IMO the equivalent Les Paul Studio plays and feels closer to those $600 or $700 faded series Les Paul Studios... How's that for a comparison?And for the record, I love Les Paul's, bought a Traditional from here a year ago, for about the same price as this S2, cause it was an overstock 2016 model, and it is a glorious guitar in every way... But quality is quality, and when Gibson cuts corners they screw it up.
Manufacturer Support
Never dealt with them
The Wow Factor
The playability is the wow factor, I love this guitar. I hope PRS expands on this line, and offers a finish with a natural back.
Musical Background:
35 years playing, mainly a living room player now
Musical Style:
Hard rock, metal, blues, polish death polka
11 of 11 people (100%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
Submitted January 28, 2021 by Kevin K in Brooksville, FL
"Excellent instrument, outstanding customer service from zZounds"
Verified Purchaser
zZounds has verified that this reviewer purchased this specific product from us.
This guitar reflects incredible craftsmanship by PRS, I am completely happy with all aspects. The tone and playability are perfect, and the finish is top-notch. I chose this guitar to replace my most recent purchase from zZounds, a Gibson Tribute SG, which simply would not play in tune. I have owned numerous guitars and basses over my 30+ years as a working player. I appreciate quality regardless of brand names. This S2 Custom 22 is comfortable in any playing position, I am 6'4" tall with large hands. The neck on this guitar is fantastic, excellent fretwork, and the intonation is perfect - these were obvious before ever plugging it into an amp. The plugged-in tone takes that even further, these 85/15"S" pickups have their own character. Between the humbuckers and single-coil tapping, the tone control opens a range like I've never experienced on any other guitar. Best of all, it plays perfectly in-tune in every position, on every string. Perhaps someone should point out to JC at Gibson that blue jeans and guitars are very different animals - You can cut the nut wrong and blue jeans will still work. Thankfully, Paul Reed Smith has this figured out. zZounds took great care of me, making a return process easy and getting my new favorite guitar into my hands quickly.
Sound
I love the locking tuners and the tremolo which always returns the guitar to perfect tuning. The wood used in my S2 Custom 22 is very attractive. I didn't expect a 10-top in this range and my expectations were exceeded. I love how the top is matched on this guitar.
Ease of Use
The range of great tones from this guitar is enormous. The electronics are intuitive and provide great results with a little tweaking. A new PRS player will likely be shocked at how much variety is available simply from the tone and volume controls.
Quality
The pride that went into building this guitar is obvious. PRS is truly on a higher plane of quality than most other US guitar manufacturers.
Value
I would purchase this guitar again in a heartbeat. I wanted a solid US-made instrument that I can enjoy and gig with occasionally, I should have chosen this guitar long ago.
Manufacturer Support
I have not had to deal with PRS.
The Wow Factor
This guitar gets very high marks for visual appeal, it's so appealing that I want to pick it up constantly. The sound of this instrument inspires things I've never played on a guitar before, and that's what I want for my money more than anything else.
Musical Background:
Professional
Musical Style:
Country, Rock, Americana
of 1 people (0%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
Please wait.