PRS Guitars has unveiled a limited run of the super-versatile S2 Special Semi-Hollow that is made from timber that its senior wood buyer, Michael Reid, has salvaged on his travels – and some of this precious tonewood has quite the origin story.
The S2 Special Semi-Hollow is limited to just 700 units worldwide, and upon learning what these electric guitars are made from, you will understand why.
The tops are made from peroba rosa, aged somewhere between 100 and 150 years old, and recovered from abandoned houses in the south of Brazil, where it was previously used as exterior panelling.
PRS uses guaribu preto from the support beams of old Brazilian farm houses for the fretboards. Again, this wood is over a century old. “It is hard and durable with a consistent dark brown to purple color and is ideal for making guitar fretboards because of its durability,” says Reid on the PRS Guitars blog.
And the necks? They are carved out of Cuban mahogany that was felled when Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico in 2017.
Reid, a man who could sniff out a piece of curly maple in a forest full of spruce, got wind of it at Experience PRS 2018, when Carlos Narvaez, a Puerto Rican fan of the brand, told him that there was a lot of mahogany going to waste.
“After initial pleasantries and introductions, I asked Carlos about the hurricane recovery efforts on the island and at some point during our conversation, Carlos made a comment about the enormous quantities of mahogany trees that had blown down during the hurricane that were now being turned into mulch at FEMA sites around the island,” says Reid. “Shortly thereafter we planned a visit to Puerto Rico and made a connection with a local saw mill that had been salvaging ‘Maria wood.’ The mill has been cutting high quality Cuban mahogany neck blanks for us ever since.”
This has been the year of limited edition high-end electric guitars from PRS. The Maryland company’s 40th anniversary has delivered a slew of collectible releases. It brought back the cult classic CE22 in April.
It teamed up with DragonForce shredder-in-chief Herman Li for Chleo, a built-for-speed signature guitar that offers 13 unique tone combinations from its HSH Fishman pickup configuration (they’re only making 200 of ‘em). But this arguably even more special; each guitar, because of its nature, will be unique.
Appropriately, PRS has given them a spritz of satin nitro lacquer. This is a guitar where the wood is doing the talking.
Elsewhere, it is the S2 Special Semi-Hollow you know and love, with the Pattern Regular neck, the 25” scale, the Humbucker/Narrowfield/Humbucer electric guitar pickup configuration with 5-way switching and a pair of mini-toggles that give you a dozen core sounds.
As Paul Reed Smith says, this run is all about the wood and the stories behind it.
“Wood is a crucial element to our guitar making heritage. Michael Reid, our senior wood buyer, has been my curly maple wood provider and buyer since 1980 – before PRS was officially PRS – and we still work together as partners today,” says Smith. “The deep relationships Michael has formed worldwide with our wood suppliers are remarkable. Guitars like this are a great way to highlight some of the interesting, personal stories from his travels and musical wood understanding.”
PRS had a similar limited run of Reclaimed instruments in 2017 and they sold out "overnight" so don't sleep on these.
Limited to 700 units, the S2 Special Semi-Hollow Reclaimed is available now, priced £/$2,699. See PRS Guitars for more details and pics.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.