PRS Guitars and Ed Sheeran have teamed up once more to add his hollowbodied baritone signature guitar to the regular SE lineup.
You might remember the PRS SE Ed Sheeran Hollowbody I Piezo Baritone from January. This was a limited edition version of the electric guitar he had custom made for the F1 soundtrack, featuring on the video for Drive and used on Sheeran’s live performance of the track on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
It was finished in a graphic finish designed by Sheeran himself, with custom inlays on the fingerboard.
These new SE models have a similar build. You’ve still got the an electric guitar pickup pairing of PRS 85/15 “S” humbuckers, the long 27.7” scale length, the piezo pickup for acoustic guitar voicings, and once more you have the full hollowbody design with centre block to kill the feedback – only this time they are offered in PRS exclusive finishes Kaleidoscope and Pink Ombre, and in Orange Tiger Smokeburst.
Also, PRS enthusiasts will be glad to know, we have birds returning to roost on the fingerboard inlays.
This is a guitar that might confuse some. Who is it designed for? Sheeran urges us to think of it as a blank canvas. He used it for the F1 soundtrack. He plays pop music.
But the invitation is there to use it as a jazz guitar, a blues guitar, or even as a metal guitar.
“Metal guitarists will absolutely shred on this, jazz guitarists will love this, and it will be able to fit into so many great scenarios,” says Sheeran. “For all the guitar people out there who look at me as not an electric player, don’t let the person behind the guitar fool you. This is an incredible instrument and will fit in many, many guitar players’ collections.”
If the longer scale puts you off, PRS has also announced a regular 25” scale SE Hollowbody I Piezo, which similarly has the PRS x LR Baggs designed piezo system, the same pickups, and will be a similarly versatile platform.
It is a little different to the superlative SE Hollowbody II Piezo, with these new models featuring a carved top and a “slimmer, contoured ‘flatback’ design” on the player’s side.
“This guitar is a fantastic example of what happens when you have real partnerships with 100 per cent of the group like-minded and on a quest to do something special,” says Jack Higginbotham, COO, PRS Guitars. “Everyone involved at every level has the goal to deliver to musicians an experience that we would want as a player.
“We are trying to give somebody a thing that we would want to get. It’s all about what’s best for the instrument and the player. That’s a big reason why our partnership with LR Baggs is working,”
The release of these two electrics is joined by a refresh of the SE guitar amps, with PRS offering the Sonzera 20 combo and HDRX 20 amps, and the matching HDRX 1x12 cabinet, in limited edition new coverings, Indigo, with wheat grill cloth, and Black Paisley.
The PRS SE Ed Sheeran Hollowbody I Piezo Baritone is priced £1,499/$1,499. The SE Hollowbody I Piezo is priced £1,449/$1,449. For more details, head over to PRS Guitars.
